Note: It's been a while since I last posted a chapter, hahaha.
Thanks to everyone who sent messages; I have to admit I laughed at some of them, hahaha.
I think I overestimated the time it takes to heal. I thought my wrist would be fine in a month, but I still feel some pain while writing (not to mention the rest of my body).
I'm not 100%, but I'm better, so I want to start posting chapters again. I won't make any guarantees, but I'll post what I can write, so until I'm fully recovered, there won't be a set release schedule.
I hope you enjoy this chapter; it's not the best, but it's not the worst either, hahahaha.
(Maybe it's a good idea to reread the previous chapter before this one.)]
.....
"Game designer competition?! That's great; it's like God is smiling at me."
Arthur felt like his luck had changed. This competition was the perfect opportunity for him. Games are one of the most streamed things; if someone is good at a game, they can gain a loyal audience very quickly.
While installing the game, he started thinking about the best way to get attention. The only thing that came to mind was increasing synchronization. The problem with doing that is that with high synchronization, he would need to be very careful.
When playing with high synchronization, it's possible to feel almost everything the character feels, such as cold, heat, pain—every sensation the character has is transmitted to the player. The problem is that playing this way for a long time can lead to phantom sensations.
Players who spend too much time in virtual wars end up developing this symptom. Even when simply sitting down, if someone touches them, they might feel like they've been shot or suddenly experience extreme heat or cold. The brain ends up sending false sensations of pain and discomfort throughout the body.
Some people may even become a bit paranoid because of this, staying on high alert all the time, with their brains continuously sending danger signals. Because of these issues, 100% synchronization has been banned. Currently, only synchronization of up to 70% is allowed.
But even if the government wanted to, they couldn't ban it entirely, as it would cause a significant public backlash. The last thing they want is more people protesting, especially since a large portion of them are active military personnel. So they just implemented a limiter, which was enough to make older players complain, claiming these issues were "for weak kids."
Arthur was aware of these things but also knew that streamers who use high synchronization attract large audiences. The reactions of those playing at high sync are much more realistic, and it obviously increases the difficulty dramatically. All of this makes for a great show for viewers. While thinking about how to start, Arthur launched the game.
"This bald guy looks amazing."
Looking at Kratos surrounded by flames, Arthur was impressed. He was very excited; this would be the first time he would play a game in his life. He never had the money to buy immersion equipment, let alone games. Even trying to focus on what he should stream, he was still thrilled. When the game started, he discovered he could choose the difficulty.
"Difficulty selection?"
[Mortal (Easy): This is for those who lack the courage to face challenges. Kneel and start worshiping the Gods; maybe they will save you.]
There was an image of Kratos with a pacifier in his mouth and two rattles instead of his blades.
"... Definitely not this one."
[Warrior (Normal): You are willing to explore this world and overcome its challenges with your own skills. The Gods may not bless you, but does a true warrior need the blessing of a God?
Demigod (Hard): A true challenge made by the Gods. Only the greatest of warriors could overcome such a challenge and enter the pantheon of heroes. Neither man nor God will stand in your way.
God of War (Very Hard): Only the most insane beings would dare to challenge a God. Embrace your rage and destroy all who stand in your way. Men or monsters, demons or Gods—all will fall to your blades. (Locked)]
"This is interesting, I think... Wait, what if I set the difficulty to the highest with 70% synchronization? That would definitely make people watch me. But I can't handle the highest difficulty yet. Besides, it's better to get familiar with the game first."
Arthur felt excited thinking about it. But before starting, he quickly set up his account to begin a stream. Once everything was ready, he started the game on normal mode, and for a while, no one joined the stream. This was normal considering the number of people streaming the same game.
(I'll get used to the game as quickly as possible, then I can start on the hardest mode.)
Arthur could hardly wait. As the game began and the first cutscene rolled, he found himself absorbed. Kratos was unlike anything Arthur had seen before: with sad, lifeless eyes, a body covered in scars, and gray skin that evoked a strange feeling in anyone watching.
The narration, delivered with an old, tired, yet deep voice, sent shivers down Arthur's spine. Once he took control of the character, all thoughts about credits and streaming vanished. He simply started enjoying the game.
Testing his skills slowly, discovering the secrets of this world, and exploring every possible corner, Arthur jumped like a child when he solved the puzzle involving a giant ballista. He laughed out loud when he used the same ballista to destroy a cracked wall, uncovering a hidden chest.
He grew nervous when he faced his first minotaur, a creature twice his size. Battling the monster made him feel like the hero of a grand epic—though instead of wielding traditional weapons, he used blades; instead of keeping his distance, he faced his enemy head-on, trading blows with the creature.
Arthur laughed, shouted, and even spouted cheesy lines to get into character. This was his first gaming experience, and without even realizing it, he spent the whole day playing. He didn't notice as more and more people began joining his stream.
Unbeknownst to him, over 50,000 people were watching him play. For some reason, Arthur's first gaming session captivated a massive audience.
...
While Arthur was being swept up by gaming fever, Claudia was busy controlling her robots to deliver the materials gathered during the day to the factory. Being a scavenger wasn't much different from being a treasure hunter.
Recycling factories had a vast number of robots roaming the continent to collect materials. Despite each factory owning hundreds of thousands of robots, this wasn't nearly enough.
These factories received thousands of orders daily from across the galaxy. Most were for various metals, but there were also requests for rarer parts and accessories—items a bit harder to find amid the colossal mountains of technological waste.
This gap was where scavengers came in. Every week, factories released lists of needed materials and their prices. The lists ranged from common items like metals and synthetic materials to rare and valuable ones such as immersion chips, memetic metals, and other rare components.
Naturally, every scavenger sought the rarest items. Finding an item from the top-tier list was enough to buy a ticket off the continent. However, everyone knew how difficult such treasures were to locate. Hence, most scavengers had their own robots to assist in collecting common materials.
Claudia arrived at the factory and quickly sold the few items she had managed to gather. Unlike what Arthur imagined, his older sister had never been content with life on the recycling continent. She was quietly saving credits.
Looking at her bank account, Claudia couldn't help but smile.
"Just a little more, and I'll have enough for the three of us."
At that moment, she had already saved enough to leave the continent. But having the money to leave wasn't the biggest challenge; the real difficulty was sustaining oneself in a new place.
[Note: I based this recycling continent on third-world countries, where leaving the country isn't the main problem, but sustaining oneself in a new country is truly difficult.]
Claudia walked back to her workshop to store her robots while mentally calculating how much it would take to live off the continent. She would need to secure a place to stay and enough credits to feed the three of them until she could find stable work.
(Arthur is still too young to understand this. He thinks just leaving the continent will be enough to change our lives.)
Claudia sighed softly. Arthur was too naïve. He had no idea how difficult it could be for people from the recycling continent to make a life elsewhere. She knew many who had left only to face hunger in a new place, eventually returning home with shattered dreams, even giving up on scavenging.
Although the recycling continent was covered in electronic waste, regular jobs still existed. However, scavenging offered a greater chance at a better future. Despite the slim odds of finding something valuable, many people still chose to comb through the mountains of junk.
After locking the workshop, Claudia went home, trying to erase the worried expression from her face. She had been saving credits for years while also helping to support the household. According to her calculations, with just five more years of work, she would have enough.
Thinking about this, she felt her determination growing stronger. She opened the door of the house, ready to see if her mother had improved, but as soon as she opened the door, she saw her brother jumping and shouting in the living room.
"Hahaha, I did it! Mom, we're going to get rich, hahaha… Sister, you're here, my plan worked, we're going to leave this place, hahaha."
Claudia looked at her brother, laughing like a madman, then walked over to her mother to ask what was going on.
"What happened?! Has he lost it?"
"I don't understand either, but it seems his secret project worked."
"Hahaha, exactly, Mom! It worked, it turned out way better than I imagined."
After a while, the small family of three sat together, and Arthur told them all about his plan to earn credits. After hearing her younger brother, Claudia also spoke about the money she had been saving. Seeing her two children talk about their plans, Claudia couldn't help but smile happily.
(The kids have really grown up. I don't think I need to worry about them anymore.)
...…..
While the small family was excited about the future, forums and gaming websites were buzzing with reviews and comments about the game. Vortex was completely taken over by gameplay videos, but the ones that caught the most attention were the story summaries.
"The Story of the Gods"
"Discover the greatest mythology in games"
"Zeus with a cow????"
"The Perversion of the Gods"
Thousands of videos, with all kinds of titles, appeared, and within less than a week of release, God of War had basically stolen all the spotlight from the competition, becoming the biggest topic on the Internet.
Bruno Nunes, a mid-level content creator on Vortex, was also paying attention to God of War. All of his videos were about the differences between video game stories and reality, focusing on showing how games exaggerate or even completely change certain historical events.
But God of War truly absorbed all his attention. Bruno had always been a history enthusiast, and he started making videos to vent his frustrations with games that always distorted the truth, but this game was different.
When Bruno studied history, he was always excited discovering feats that seemed unbelievable but were real, learning how certain historical figures were truly incredible.
He loved the feeling of being fascinated by all of this, but over time, that sensation slowly disappeared. It wasn't that he stopped enjoying it, but the novelty had worn off; he had already learned the most interesting parts of history.
So at this point, he was just sharing the things he liked with people through his videos. But when he saw the introductory video of God of War, where Alexandre promised to create a completely new universe, he was a little skeptical, but still decided to install the game to test it out.
Bruno had a lot of expectations for this game, but what he found truly amazed him. It wasn't just the unique mechanics that were incredible, but the world-building was insanely captivating.
Right at the beginning of the game, on the ship, Bruno found a large tapestry in one of the rooms. The tapestry depicted a man descending from the heavens to make love to a cow.
"Is this serious?! Hahaha, he must have been really in the mood, hahaha."
Bruno laughed loudly when he discovered how Zeus had escaped from Goddess Hera to sleep with a cow. At first, he thought it would be just a funny little story the designer put in the game, but as he explored further, more and more pieces of history about this world started to appear.
He found tapestries, statues, paintings, altars, letters, and even the game's own music telling stories about this world. Everything was fragmented and seemed to have no connection to each other.
[Note: One curiosity is that some of the music in God of War actually speaks about some of Kratos' deeds.]
But as Bruno gathered these small fragments of stories and tales about the Gods, the more he understood this chaotic and strange world. He increasingly realized how cruel this world was, but at the same time, how full of fantastic and exciting things it was.
"Why did this designer hide the world's story so much?! Titans, Gods, monsters, all of it is amazing! I need to make a video about this."
.....
Kepler Galaxy, Cancri Planet
.....
Sitting at the dining table, Elena Maxell was listening to her granddaughter complain.
"Malena, there's not much your grandfather and I can do to help Daniel. Our family has always been involved with the military, we have no influence in the entertainment industry."
"Please, grandma, we just need a few contacts. Since Batata Productions started releasing those films, it's been hard for smaller studios to survive, and I know you've kept in touch with that boy."
"Hump, so what? I like the movies he makes. Besides, I just used some contacts I have in the military to find him. That doesn't mean I have any influence in the industry or anything like that."
Hearing this, Malena lay down defeated on the table.
Sigh
"I guess there's nothing I can do."
"Don't be like that. We can't help directly with the industry, but if you want, we could invest a little in your company."
"No, Daniel won't want that kind of help. When it comes to the company, he's very proud."
Christoffer, seeing the two women talking, didn't want to get involved. At first, he had a certain prejudice against this kid, who appeared and secretly married his granddaughter, but over time, he really started to like the boy. Even though Daniel was a softie, he really tried hard to succeed.
Unfortunately, effort wasn't enough to achieve success. Talent, contacts, and most importantly, luck were extremely important factors, and it seemed like this kid didn't have much of that.
While the three were reflecting on the situation, Daniel put his daughter to bed and quietly left the room. Walking into the small office next door, he sat in the chair and couldn't help but sigh. When he started the company, he was considered a talent. Many investors were eager to throw money his way, but now everything had changed.
Daniel spent hours thinking but couldn't see a solution to the current situation. As he was lost in thought, Malena entered the office.
"Won't you sleep?"
"Huh?! What time is it?"
"It's past midnight."
"I didn't even notice. Your grandparents, they…"
"They've already left."
"Sorry… I didn't even realize…"
"It's fine. I know things aren't going well, but you don't have to carry this burden alone. You can always talk to me."
"Hehe, I know, dear. It's just… actually, I do know what to do; it's just hard to accept, you know? When I created 'Divine Soldier,' everyone loved it. I had so many expectations for the company's growth. But I never imagined an independent production, released for free on the Internet, would turn the animation market upside down."
Hearing this, Malena sighed softly and moved closer, hugging him from behind.
"You're talented. Things might be tough now, but they'll get better."
"I… I'm not so sure. Before Batata Produções, I could make animations with good fights and some decent comedy, and that would be enough. But now, the audience keeps complaining about the characters being too shallow and the stories lacking purpose or depth. I've tried finding good writers, but they're either already hired or demand salaries I can't afford.
If I want to keep the company afloat, I'll have to lay off 50% of the staff. And if things continue like this, I'll soon be working alone."
Daniel vented some of his frustrations. When Alex began making his films, it wasn't a huge issue. But as time passed and he kept releasing more films, the audience slowly became accustomed to a certain quality standard.
It's not that ultra-realistic animations lost their appeal. But once people experience high-quality products, it's hard to go back to watching shows with clunky dialogue, nonsensical stories, and plots that often make no sense.
Many people would love to see these ultra-realistic animations paired with great stories and deeper themes. That's exactly why so much criticism started pouring in for these companies. Unfortunately, the first to suffer from this shift were small, independent studios.
Hearing Daniel, Malena tightened her embrace a little more and kissed his cheek firmly.
"I know things are bad now, but they'll get better. Grandma said she could help by investing a bit in the company."
Hearing this, Daniel was about to refuse when his holographic bracelet vibrated, and he heard the voice of his AI assistant.
"Sir, a new message has arrived. Would you like to see it?"
Sighing lightly, he responded,
"Eric, I'm having a conversation right now. I'll check it later."
"Are you sure, sir? This message is from DreamHeart. The subject is: A Collaboration Proposal."
......…..
Note: For those who don't remember, I introduced Daniel in Chapter 15. I had some plans for him, but I didn't think it would take so long to reach this part of the story.
Sorry if this chapter feels odd. I already had some parts written, but after the accident, I lost my train of thought and had to change a few things.
I kept writing bits and stopping, so I often lost some of the ideas I had for this chapter. In the end, this chapter feels like a Frankenstein, pieced together from different concepts.
In the next chapter, I'll focus on the audience's reaction. I intended to do that here, but I think I lost track a bit, hahaha.
If this chapter has a lot of mistakes, it's the fault of the GPT chat, it keeps changing my sentences and the way I write the text, even deleting some things, very annoying I had to translate this chapter 4 times and it still didn't turn out the way I wanted.