"How did you find me?" I asked her.
"Huh?" She turned to me.
"I swore I’m really good at hiding my identity!"
"Your infamous username, CJS69, is your full legal name, Cory Jay Smith"
I knew I shouldn’t have kept my decades-old username. But, branding! BRANDING!
"Also... You used your government ID to sign up for your character, as well as giving us your address to ship the pod itself."
"You should’ve lead with that." I said, "So you’re a game developer... But you don’t look like a depressed sleepless skank?"
"I’m not a game developer, Cory. My name is Eirlys Sonder."
"The heir to Sonder Interactive." She added.
I know where that name came from now.
Hailie told me her full name was Hailie Sonder, but I didn’t really pay attention.
Sonder Interactive was the largest video game publishing company in the world. With at least 50 different branches across the world, and is the publisher of [Darkmoon Adventure].
One of the most recognizable woman in the world was trying to fuck me.
At least that was what I assumed, she probably was just being friendly.
"Whatever the case might be, you can’t just break into my apartment, have you watched Breaking Bad?" I said weakly, voice cracking like a wet noodle. "And why are you even here? To give me a beating because I killed your little girl? This conversation could’ve been an email... But I do enjoy your smell...."
She gave me a stern look of disapproval.
"I needed to see you," she said, her eyes didn’t leave mine. "I need your help."
My brain skidded to a halt.
Eirlys stood up, crossing her arms and crouching down next to my pod once again, "For the longest time, I’ve been viewed as a useless heir. Because ever since my dad founded Sonder Interactive at 20 years old, he’s been in charge. And while I study, I could never catch up to him and his team, so when I read through your history, I thought of something..."
She leaned in once more, mouth to my ears, "What if I become the best exploit hunter in the team without having enough knowledge to found those said exploits?"
Her fingers ran through my naked ribs as she continued, "You’ve never been banned after all those years of your infamy of leveling up way too fast and dealing too much damage, have you wondered why? Because I’ve been personally dealing with your cases, every report, every logs, and now I’m here to collect my payment... I want you cause a panic among players with your exploits, give me the details of every exploit you’re done, and tell me how we can patch them."
I stared at her blankly.
This woman is fucking nuts.
Half the thing she said doesn’t even make sense.
If you wasn’t good enough to lead a company, then maybe... Don’t? Or just get good? Why would you want me to find bugs and for you to take the credit to patch them?
My brain caught up just enough to let me mutter, "What’s in it for me?"
She looked down at me, considering.
Then, with the grace of someone deeply accustomed to dealing with degenerates, she leaned back so that we were in view of each other.
"From your forum posts across the years, I can imagine that you’re into boobs." She said, "You can touch mine... And more if things go well."
My soul left my body. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ N0veI.Fiɾe.net
"...Are you serious?" I asked, eyes wider than the sun.
"You can do one right now to seal the deal instead of a formal contract." she said flatly.
I reached out like I was parting the clouds of heaven itself, fingertips trembling like they were being guided by the hands of fate.
Before my skin even made contact, she leaned in just slightly and added,
"If you refuse... I have enough evidence to ban you permanently. On every device you’ve ever owned. I’ll make sure to monitor you so even a fake government ID or any other exploits to get in the game wouldn’t work."
My hand froze mid-air.
That’s when I knew... this woman was dangerous. Not because she was strong, but because she understood exactly how to play me like a flute carved from pure shame.
"Boing... fehehe" I giggled degenerately.
"Don’t make sound effects," she said coldly.
I pulled my hand back like I’d just made a blood pact. Which, in a way, I had.
Eirlys gave me one last unreadable glance. "I’ll be in touch, Cory Jay Smith... And by the way, Hailie didn’t know you killed her, she thought her system glitched, so let’s keep it that way."