The room tensed as the investigators looked at the man who sat before them.
From the very beginning, there was something about him that unsettled them both. Was it his eyes? The pallor of his face? Or perhaps the quiet, unreadable way he carried himself...?
Neither of them could quite tell why, but the longer they looked at him, the stronger the feeling grew... That something about him was deeply, unmistakably off.
It wasn’t until Seth spoke again that the two snapped out of their daze, exchanging uneasy glances before slowly taking their seats on the sofas.
"Right, I apologize for that."
Luke took out his notepad again, turning his attention towards Seth.
"You must be Seth Thorne, correct?"
Seth didn’t look at all surprised that they knew his name. He had revealed it to the assistant, but that wasn’t really the main reason why.
"I’m sure the two of them must’ve talked about me, right?"
Neither investigator said a thing.
They just sat in silence.
This didn’t seem to bother Seth in the slightest as he went on, his tone calm and steady. "Actually, you could say my relationship with them isn’t all that good. I’m sure you’ve already looked into it, and you must know I was accused of stealing from them."
Yet again, the investigators remained silent.
They allowed Seth to say everything that he wanted to say.
"I never stole anything from them. The programs were something that were developed by me, but..."
He reached for his pocket and passed over a certain contract.
The two investigators looked at each other before Luke reached for the contract, giving it a quick skim. It didn’t take long for his expression to change.
Adrian, the other investigator, took the contract and skimmed through it himself. It didn’t take long for his expression to shift, his eyes widening slightly as he lifted his gaze toward Seth.
"I’ve worked for this company for several years. This is the type of contract that I’ve signed with them. What do you think?"
The room fell silent once again, but this time it wasn’t out of restraint; the investigators simply had no words.
Both sat frozen, utterly speechless at the terms laid out before them.
What sort of predatory contract was this?!
The more the two read, the more shocked they were.
’Their "Bonus" only comes after the company subtracts every possible cost, marketing, production, ads, distribution, platform fees, all of which are completely decided by the company itself. That means their payout could easily be zero. They don’t even get paid unless the total goes over a hundred dollars.’
It was one bad term after another.
But the nail in the coffin was the last term they read.
Clause (1.1.7) — Any work, creation, or intellectual property developed by the Employee within six months following the termination of this Agreement that relates to the business, products, or services of Nightmare Forge Studios shall be deemed the property of Nightmare Forge Studios.
"This is what they meant by ’stealing’ from them."
A heavy silence fell across the room, the two investigators going through the contract for the ’nth’ time. They were utterly shocked by the fact that such a predatory contract existed, and they started to feel sympathy for Seth, but at the same time...
"That still doesn’t explain what happened."
Luke spoke, heaving out a long sigh, putting the contract down.
"While I do feel some sympathy for you, considering the kind of company you had to work with, that doesn’t change the fact that an anomalous object was used in the game. Is it possible you provided them with the object yourself...? Perhaps as a way to get revenge? Maybe disguised as a program?"
The room grew tense, the Investigators’ eyes narrowing.
However, Seth’s expression remained the same.
"Actually, I never handed them a program."
Seth passed on another piece of paper.
"This here is a bank statement for a payment that was made to them. It totals 1.4 million dollars, and that’s all the money I’ve managed to earn from the games. I did this so that I wouldn’t have to give them my programs."
This sudden piece of information changed the situation significantly.
It didn’t take much to verify the bank statement. After asking their assistant to check, she returned a short while later and gave them a brief, confirming nod.
The situation shifted yet again.
"Actually, there’s something else that I wanted to share with the two of you."
Seth looked a little hesitant, but he eventually made up his mind and took out another piece of paper. He slid it over the table, and the moment the two investigators took a glance at it, they realized what it was.
"I signed it, and technically speaking, I could get into serious legal trouble for sharing this. But I believe they’ve been trying to use me as a scapegoat, which is why I felt compelled to come here. And the reason I showed you all of this first was to give you a sense of what kind of people they really are."
He pulled a pen from his pocket and set it on the table. At first glance, it looked ordinary, almost unremarkable, but the moment he pressed the tip, something changed.
A static sound came out of it.
It carried on for several seconds until a voice echoed a moment later.
—...H-nd over... programs.
The voice grew smoother and smoother with the passing of seconds.
—I know that you’ve already paid, but I’ve... got many ways to make your life more miserable. Don’t even think for a second that you’ve got the upper hand. I’ve got connections in all sorts of places. Even Guilds!! If you don’t think you can hand the programs over, I’ll just contact them and have them frame you for some shit!
—Be... obedient and hand them over.
The recording stopped there.
The room fell silent, and the two investigators were at a complete loss for words.
"Like I previously stated, I’ve never handed them the programs. I recorded this even though I had signed an NDA to protect myself. Seeing how the situation turned out , I am of the belief that they are trying to frame me."
Seth passed the pen over.
"You can verify the legitimacy of the recording. There are no alterations. This is really the CEO trying to threaten me."
He pressed a small card over.
"This is my Guild ID card. In here, you can see all the transactions that I’ve had with the Guild. You can see exactly which items I took from there, or not. I can assure you that you won’t find much. I’ve only just started half a year ago."
For the finishing touch, he extended his arm forward. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by n0velfire.net
"I’m powerless too. If you want, you can check for yourselves. I don’t even have a node. I’ve been trying to form one, but I haven’t managed to open it yet. Right now, I’m just an ordinary citizen."
Looking at the two investigators, Seth smiled.
"This should be enough to prove my innocence, right?"