Click! Click!
The steady clicking of the keyboard echoed through the room long after Seth had left.
Sitting by the desk, the CEO’s gaze remained hollow.
It stayed that way for the next several dozen minutes before he finally exhaled and gave his head a small shake.
"Huh?"
He blinked a few times, his eyes slowly adjusting to the harsh glow of the monitor in front of him.
"What’s going on?"
He reached to grab his head.
"...Ugh."
His head throbbed as he tried to remember. The memories were muddled, slipping in and out of focus until a faint recollection surfaced. "Right... we’re about to release the new game. Seth handed over the programs, and out of the kindness of my heart, I told those from Dock to retreat. Yes, that’s it."
Snap!
He snapped his fingers, finally recalling all of the key information.
"Yes, that’s what it was."
He chuckled.
"...As expected. He was a pushover until the very end. Gave in to my demands without much resistance." A faint smirk tugged at his lips as he leaned back against the seat. "Now that I’ve secured the programs, it’s only a matter of time before we climb into the Global Rankings."
The moment a studio entered the Global Rankings, it marked its true ascent into prominence, recognized not just locally but across the entire world. It was the ultimate milestone, the dream every developer aspired to reach. And for Theodore, that dream was no different.
"Hur. Hur."
Drumming his fingers over the table, he leaned further back in his chair.
’I can’t wait to see the result of the upcoming update. I’m sure it’s going to propel our game to the next level.’
"Oh, right."
Recalling something, the CEO laughed in amusement.
"...Isn’t his game coming out soon as well? Hur hur. Although I did promise not to interfere any further, I won’t be changing the release date of our update. I’m afraid that even after giving in, you’ll still end up being buried."
The CEO shook his head, clicking his tongue at the same time.
"Should’ve given in when we first asked. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done something like this."
***
"Boss!"
"You’re back, boss!"
"Where were you? I tried to reach you, but I couldn’t get hold of you!"
The moment I returned to the Studio, I was met with a wave of panic. The members rushed toward me, their faces pale and voices overlapping in confusion and worry. I lifted my hands slightly, motioning for them to calm down.
"Relax, nothing happened," I said, my tone steady as I glanced around at their anxious faces. "I just stepped out to take a breather and deal with the situation. I’ve managed to strike a deal, so everything should be fine."
"A deal? What sort of deal? With who?"
Their confusion was understandable.
None of them really knew the full extent of my issues with Nightmare Forge Studios. They had a rough idea, bits and pieces of what had happened, but they didn’t understand just how deep it all went, or how they were the ones responsible for most of the trouble.
It was also a little too troublesome for me to explain the situation to them.
As such, I kept it relatively simple.
"...Nightmare Forge Studios is my old company. I’m sure the three of you know. Let’s just say that my relationship with the CEO isn’t good. He tried to block the release of the game with his connections, but I managed to stop him."
This was all I revealed to them. Even though all three looked to be eager to know more, I didn’t elaborate further and just pointed at the laptops.
"Check if you can release the game now. It should be solved."
"Ah, right!"
The three immediately snapped back to work, rushing towards the computers.
Watching them dive into their work, I glanced around the room for a moment before finally making my way to my seat and sitting down.
’That’s one problem down.’
Honestly, I felt tired.
Rubbing my forehead, I took a slow breath, doing my best to hold myself together.
The side effects of whatever had been happening to me moments prior were starting to calm down, and alongside it was a certain pain that I couldn’t shake away. My head felt light, and an odd heaviness settled in my chest.
’Great... It also looks like I’ve oversued my node. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like there’s any fractures.’
Going into the other realm put quite a bit of stress on my node.
Thankfully, as a Third Order, this wasn’t too bad for me.
I could manage.
’I’ve also dealt with the CEO. There should also be no repercussions for my actions.’
The CEO probably didn’t remember a single thing that had happened between the two of us. I had rewritten his memories in a way that made it seem like he had been the one to stop the Dock block, and at the same time, made him think that I had also given in on his demands.
I had done it this way so that he wouldn’t suspect any foul play.
Although I wasn’t worried about the BUA, it would still save me a lot of trouble.
"Done!"
A voice shook me out of my thoughts.
When I turned my head, I saw Noah staring at the monitor in front of him with a look of excitement.
"The game is out! It’s official! I can see it on the page!"
"Yes!!"
"Heyyy!!"
Everyone celebrated, throwing their hands in the air.
For a brief moment, I caught myself smiling at the sight, but only for a brief moment. I knew things were far from over. Pulling out my phone and opening the forums, the first thing that hit me was the sudden flood of messages filling the screen.
—He’s finally released the game!
—@Samurai71! He’s finally released the game! You should start playing the game!
—Should I buy the game? I’m kind of feeling tempted.
—He’s finally released his game! @Samurai71! Show this guy his place. Play the game! Play the game!
—Play the game @Samurai71
The first thing that caught my attention was all the @’s that were directed towards one specific person.
Staring at them, I frowned.
’Right, there’s this guy as well. He’s been pissing me off quite a lot lately.’
Taking a moment to open up his page, that was also the moment that he made an announcement.
[Samurai71]: Haha, looks like the game’s finally out. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long that I almost started to think it would never happen. Still, I’m glad to see it’s here at last. In that case, just like I promised, I’ll play it tonight. @SethThorne. You’d better think of switching careers.
"Huh?"
Seeing him directly @ me, I was left shocked for a moment.
I didn’t think he’d actually fan the flames further.
Not even a second later, my comments were flooded by his fans, each one hurling insults, telling me to quit and find a new career. The sheer number of them was overwhelming, leaving me momentarily at a loss for words.
Eventually, I shook my head.
"As if I’m going to fall for such cheap provocation."
I put my phone away, shaking my head at the same time.
"...I’m not that easy."
[Seth Thorne]: I’ll do you one better. I’ll retire completely if my game doesn’t make you jump in fear.