"Rating system down for maintenance?"
Tonight!
Yin was ready to stream.
He'd linked up with Jada Brooks, ShuBro, and Pineapple, set to finish yesterday's brutal map.
But when he tried setting the Twitch stream to 17+, he hit a snag—
No matter how he tried, the system spat back: [Setup encountered issues and failed.]
As a top streamer, Yin had Twitch's staff on speed dial.
He called to check.
The super admin's answer was blunt: an unknown bug tanked the 17+ rating system platform-wide. Fix time? At least four hours.
"Four hours?!"
Yin was floored:
"That's midnight, dude!"
The admin shrugged, promising a quick fix but no guarantees.
Yin sighed, swapped his CloudWave Tech VR cabin, and gave up.
That morning, he'd gotten a game promo ad via Twitch.
The game? No stranger—Fearless Sniper, the one he'd tested at the USEA's 10th VR Game Design Media Conference.
And it wasn't just Yin. ShuBro and Jada got the same ad.
Originally!
The survival squad planned to clear the last map before diving into promos.
But this rating bug threw a wrench in their plans.
With no choice, Yin switched VR cabins.
Fearless Sniper was on both Polar Bear and CloudWave Tech platforms, so no worries about compatibility.
Soon, Yin went live:
"What's good, folks? Showtime."
The barrage lit up—
"Survival, survival!"
"Boss looks wiped, like he's been through the grinder."
"Teaming with those three is straight-up torture."
"Boss, you got played like 20 times yesterday, right?"
"For real. Those three took turns screwing him over. Brutal."
"Boss went mute by the end yesterday."
"That bile face-wash was comedy gold."
"You didn't see? Second-to-last level, a Tank was aiming for Jada, but it slid and smashed Yin's face."
"Yup, yup! Poor guy."
"Hahaha, total bad-luck magnet…"
"Lucky they dodged the Witch all day."
"Now you've jinxed it. Witch is coming today."
"I'm dying laughing…"
The crowd's chatter was too good for Yin to cut off.
But finally, he spoke:
"Alright, sorry, folks."
"Rating system's busted today. Twitch's working on it. Survival's on hold."
"Let's check out Fearless Sniper for now."
Ugh—
The barrage quieted, fans clearly bummed.
But knowing it was out of Yin's hands, and with Fearless Sniper's heavy promo as a hot title, they bounced back quick, keeping the stream lively.
"No biggie!"
"Fearless Sniper, huh?"
"Just say it! Screw the haters!"
"Hahaha!"
"Let's see this shooter with 'top-tier graphics.'"
"Saw the demo. Visuals are better than Left 4 Dead 2."
"Yeah, but one's budget is a canyon compared to the other."
"Heard it's second-gen FPS too. Let's see how bad they copied."
"For real, dude?"
"Haha, stream it. Can't play survival anyway, so roast it…"
"…"
The fans' chill vibes eased Yin.
"Thanks for the support, y'all. Appreciate it."
He hopped into the VR cabin.
The game was pre-loaded, so Yin fired up Fearless Sniper and jumped into the single-player campaign.
Buzz buzz buzz—
Helicopter blades hummed, feeling like the rooftop from Left 4 Dead 2's Dead Center.
But the screen cleared, snapping him out of it.
A lush rainforest greeted him.
He crouched behind a tree, silenced pistol in hand.
Warm, humid air carried the stench of rotting leaves.
Vines and moss clung to trunks, vivid and real.
A nearby stream gurgled, sunlight slicing through the canopy, sparkling on the water with Tyndall rays.
With cutting-edge full-sensory tech, sight, smell, touch, and sound hit all at once.
Humidity, heat, scents, sounds, textures…
Paired with crisp visuals, it was like stepping into the game world.
This was the VR cabin's peak form.
Back when Boss Harper made Phasmophobia, he wanted this tech, but it was too pricey.
Even by Left 4 Dead 2's release, WindyPeak couldn't afford it.
Yin couldn't help but blurt: "Holy crap—"
"These visuals… this sensory feedback…"
No denying it!
With its massive budget, Fearless Sniper's graphics and sensory immersion outclassed Left 4 Dead 2.
Yin sighed, a bit wistful.
With this tech in Left 4 Dead 2, it'd be next-level.
The barrage raved—
"Smells like money."
"Feels like I'm there."
"Man, this tech is unreal."
"Gameplay aside, the quality's insane."
"Hope WindyPeak gets this tech someday."
"Phasmophobia with this would be wild."
"Yeah, but we'd disconnect every three minutes."
"Hahaha…"
Suddenly, voices murmured from a forest path:
"No clue where the last guy went…"
"Two days searching, nada. Probably animal chow."
"Same…"
Footsteps neared, and Yin instinctively wanted to drop prone.
No dice—this game didn't have that move.
So, he slid behind the trunk, hiding as best he could.
Rustle—rustle—
As two enemy soldiers closed in, Yin raised his pistol.
The virtual crosshair locked on one's head.
Pfft—
Silenced shot. A green splatter bloomed on the soldier's head, and he dropped.
Yin switched to two-handed grip, locking onto the second soldier.
Pfft—
Another shot. The muzzle twitched, a wisp of green smoke curling.
After the quick firefight, Yin went quiet.
Long silence.
Now he got why Left 4 Dead 2 was 17+, but Fearless Sniper had no rating.
Left 4 Dead 2's brutal impression made him forget—U.S. shooters often had green blood.
But that wasn't the real issue.
The iron-sight aiming felt… freaking weird!
The virtual crosshair kill felt fine—first-gen FPS is polished, hard to mess up.
But the second-gen FPS mode was off.
Clunky animations, weak recoil feedback, no smoothness like Left 4 Dead 2.
Worse, iron-sight accuracy was barely better than hip-firing.
Lousy tactile feedback, bad balance between modes.
It screamed rushed add-on to chase second-gen FPS hype.
Awkward as heck.
The barrage caught it too, roasting—
"Classic green-blood aliens…"
"Haha, that blood's straight-up retro art."
"Aiming switch feels okay, I guess."
"Yeah, like they glued the sight to my face."
"Obvious trend-chasing. This 1+2 mashup is weird."
"…"
After a few more aim-and-shoot tries, Yin couldn't adjust and shook his head:
"Forget it, they'll patch the aiming later."
"I'll stick to virtual crosshairs. Just as accurate anyway."
He stood, moving down the path.
Yin's played tons of games, reviewing duds for years. He's got a high tolerance for junk.
So, despite the letdown, he kept quiet for Radiant Games' sake.
He clammed up, played, and skipped the showmanship.
All he could think? When's the 17+ system back so he can squad up with Jada and finish that map…
…
Meanwhile.
Portland Tech Tower.
Dusk settled, cars streamed, streetlights glowed.
In the CEO's office, Zoey Parker typed the last word of her thesis's third section and exhaled:
"Phew—done for today! Time to chill!"
Lately, Zoey rarely slacked in the conference room or watched movies. She'd been grinding her thesis in the office.
Yup.
Zoey believed the best thesis-writing vibe was at home, in PJs, sipping BrewJoy, munching chips.
But after Phasmophobia's unexpected success blindsided her…
To avoid another heart-stopper and protect her ticker, she moved her writing to the office.
And honestly? Her productivity spiked.
Closing her laptop, Zoey stretched, stood, and twisted her waist.
After a bit, she flicked off the office lights, locked up, and headed out.
It was 9 p.m.
She thought she was the last one out.
But next door, a light glowed.
Boss Harper's office.
Hold up?!
Zoey's heart skipped.
Is he pulling all-nighters, cooking up some wild scheme?
She worried.
Victor Lang's morning call had gut-punched her—$800M+ in rebates at risk.
If Harper was boosting sales with some crazy stunt, her last $200M was toast.
Zoey hustled to his door, knocked, then barged in: "Freeze! What're you up to?"
Gus Harper, at his computer, jumped.
Seeing Zoey, he chuckled, spinning the screen: "Watching streams illegal now, officer?"
"Depends on the game…"
Zoey marched in, all business, and leaned over.
On the screen, a streamer battled in a rainforest.
"What's this game?"
Zoey pulled a chair next to Gus, crossed her legs, and asked.
Gus raised an eyebrow.
"You went to the USEA expo for nothing?"
"Huh?"
Zoey blinked, confused:
"Was this there?"
"…So you just took a day trip to San Francisco, huh?"
Gus facepalmed:
"Apex Interactive's booth was huge, right at the entrance. You didn't glance?"
"Uh… heh…"
Zoey scratched her head, sheepish:
"My focus was all on our booth!"
"Fearless Sniper,"
Gus sighed:
"A 1+2 FPS from Apex Interactive."
"Fearless Sniper? Oh, right! Got their push notification this morning!"
Zoey perked up, eyeing the stream closely.
One look!
Her eyes sparkled!
Hot dang!
The visuals! The effects! Way better than Left 4 Dead 2!
"This game's graphics are top-notch…"
Zoey smacked her lips, a grin creeping up, quickly pinching her thigh to stay cool:
"So—won't that tank our sales?"
Heck yeah.
That morning, she'd prayed for a hero to crush Left 4 Dead 2 and save her rebates.
Didn't expect it to hit by night!
Zoey shot Gus a smug look, hoping to catch him rattled, like she'd been.
But Gus stayed quiet, hesitating.
He sighed, nodded:
"Yup, not just the graphics, but their promo push…"
Gus pulled a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled green smoke, staring at the screen, looking bummed.
Zoey pursed her lips.
She should be stoked.
Someone cutting their sales meant she'd lose less.
But for some reason…
Seeing Gus like this, Zoey's brief relief vanished. She wasn't happy.
The office went quiet.
Zoey spoke:
"…Any way we can fight back?"