"I'm Radiant Games… Hello? Dang it!"
Meanwhile, in the chief planner's office at Radiant Game Studio!
Felix Warren roared, slamming his phone on the desk!
I'm not a freaking telemarketer!
"No thanks" my foot!
What a slap in the face!
Felix, fuming in his boss chair, had nowhere to vent, so he pounded the table!
Bang!
"Screw this! Everything's going nuts!"
Left 4 Dead 2's Creative Workshop breaking their media blockade was wild enough!
But the last two days? Pure chaos!
After Left 4 Dead 2 outdid Fearless Sniper in sales, Dylan Kane ordered a fast-track poaching plan.
Poach WindyPeak's execs this month, and they could still flip the script.
Any producer—Gus Harper or otherwise—would do.
Radiant could spin it as "original team," rebrand second-generation FPS as their "RFPS."
But!
Things got weird.
No elite headhunter in Silicon Valley would touch their offer!
Price too low? No time? Excuses galore.
Every top firm ghosted them!
Felix tried Portland headhunters.
Same deal—rejections, then blocked numbers!
Out of options, Felix played headhunter himself.
Today's call was to sweet-talk Gus Harper for a private meet.
Salary? Projects? Name it, they'd talk.
Felix prepped two pages of pitch-perfect lines to win Gus over.
But—
The call connected, and Gus thought he was a telemarketer!
Hung up!
Called again—blacklisted!
Felix sat, stunned, in his chair.
"…Fine, you wait. Can't poach you? I'll poach someone else!"
Truth be told, Felix doubted he'd snag Gus.
As IndieVibe Tech's golden boy, even if WindyPeak let him go, IndieVibe wouldn't.
But Gus's attitude? Infuriating!
One line spiked Felix's blood pressure!
Felix grabbed his phone, dialed Jake Rivers, WindyPeak's art director.
Beep—beep—
A chill voice answered: "Takeout? Hang it on the door, I'll grab it later. Thanks."
Click!
Felix froze for three seconds.
Takeout driver now?!
Called again—no answer.
"Screw this—"
Felix was livid.
Just let me finish a sentence!
He dialed a third number—Luke Bennett, WindyPeak's programming director.
The phone rang forever before a tense voice answered: "Yo, who's this?"
Felix hesitated, thrown off: "Uh… hey, Mr. Bennett, I'm—"
Cut off!
Luke relaxed: "Not my ex, babe, listen!"
To Felix: "Say something."
Felix, dazed: "I'm Felix Warren…"
Luke laughed, pulling the phone away: "Wrong number, see? I'm not nervous, haha… hold up, I'll—"
Beep, beep, beep…
Silence.
Felix's face turned gray.
His hand shook, knuckles white.
Finally, he leapt from his chair, smashing his phone to the floor!
Bang!
A roar echoed through the office!
"You're all clowns! What kind of losers are these?!"
Pure rage!
Felix was losing it!
Three execs! Three calls!
One thought he was a telemarketer! One a delivery guy! One used him as a shield!
Not one complete sentence!
Worse—
These three—a smug jerk, a clueless goof, a jittery weirdo—weren't exec material!
Yet their game crushed Radiant's $50M+ Fearless Sniper across two platforms!
Felix couldn't wrap his head around it!
He stomped, cursing, voice hoarse, then collapsed in his chair, staring at the ceiling.
I'm Radiant Games, one of Apex Interactive's top studios…
Beaten by three idiots.
Like a fish out of water.
Tears welled up.
…
Fearless Sniper didn't just lose—it got buried.
IndieVibe Tech announced Left 4 Dead 2, a $10.85M game, sold 150,000 copies in week one.
The gaming media lost it!
Like they'd just remembered Left 4 Dead 2, headlines flooded in—
"MFGA! Supernova prediction hits! Second-gen FPS redefines shooters!"
"Scarier than Phasmophobia! Left 4 Dead 2 sells 150,000 copies in week one!"
"Golden Miracle! Left 4 Dead 2's Creative Workshop sparks sales boom!"
"Black Box Review: Games that respect players win—Left 4 Dead 2's Workshop shines!"
"Kill fest! WindyPeak tops weekly charts!"
"Aim, grip, fire! It's called second-gen FPS!"
Tons of coverage! Zero paid ads! All voluntary!
A tidal wave of hype swept gaming circles!
Fearless Sniper?
Like Left 4 Dead 2 days ago, it vanished from chatter overnight.
"RFPS" was dead in the water.
The media's flip was wild but logical.
When you're up, everyone cheers; when you're down, they kick you.
Before, media took Radiant's cash to hype Fearless Sniper and dunk on Left 4 Dead 2.
Now, Left 4 Dead 2 fought back.
WindyPeak wasn't some pushover!
Media weren't dumb—they'd hedge bets.
Skip praising WindyPeak now, and good luck getting interviews or demos later!
If WindyPeak kept this momentum, they'd be a giant.
No exclusives, no scoops—how do you compete then?
Every outlet that backed Fearless Sniper pivoted hard.
Free promo exploded.
"These flip-floppers! I'll make them pay someday!"
Jake Rivers sneered at the news flurry.
"There'll be a chance," Gus nodded, grinning:
"We're small now, but we'll call shots later."
While chatting with Jake, Gus doodled on paper, his system panel open in his mind.
Multitasking like a pro.
Left 4 Dead 2 was a banger!
$10.85M in week-one sales!
Gus's system emotion points soared, especially post-Creative Workshop.
In one week, the 100,000 points spent earlier were back—emotion ROI achieved.
By month's end, he'd hit 300,000.
"Keep this up, we'll drop a masterpiece in four or five months…"
Gus smirked, seeing a bright gaming future.
Knock, knock, knock—
His office door.
Chloe Quinn, his secretary, leaned in:
"Got a sec, Director Harper? Guests are here, and Zoey wants you in the meeting."
Chloe winked—big shots, and Zoey's out of her depth.
"On it."
Gus followed Chloe to the conference room, whispering:
"Who are they? What's their deal?"
"James Carver, Vice Chairman of the PacificTech Council," Chloe said, raising an eyebrow:
"They want to talk big collaboration."
Gus sucked in a breath.
Vice Chairman of PacificTech?!
WindyPeak wasn't big enough for that league, right?
What's the play?
Gus was stumped.
Knock, knock, knock—
Chloe rapped on the conference room door. Zoey's voice called: "Come in!"
Click.
The door opened.
Three people sat across the table.
A middle-aged man, mid-forties, in the center.
A young man and woman flanked him.
They stood as Gus entered.
Chloe introduced:
"Director Harper, meet PacificTech Council's leaders: Chairman James Carver, Assistant Zoe Adams, and Assistant Simon Tate."
"Leaders, this is WindyPeak's game director, Gus Harper."
Gus, no stranger to big meetings, stayed cool, shaking James's hand:
"Heard a lot about you, Chairman Carver. Sorry for the wait."
"No way, Director Harper!"
James, all smiles, gripped Gus's hand, eyeing his Mickey Mouse watch:
"That's a unique watch."
"Haha," Gus chuckled:
"Friend's gift. Been rocking it since."
"Love it," James nodded:
"Keep a young heart, and creativity never fades!"
After chit-chat, they sat.
Gus slid next to Zoey, trading looks.
Zoey: You got this, Boss Harper. I'm just the mascot.
Gus: Used to it. I'll handle it.
"Didn't know you were visiting," Gus said, smiling:
"No prep, sorry about that."
"No trouble!" James waved it off:
"We dropped in unannounced. Hope we're not a hassle."
Bit late for that, Gus thought, keeping his smile.
You didn't come to chitchat…
"It's an honor," Gus said:
"PacificTech inspecting WindyPeak? We're thrilled."
"What's the word today?"
James got to it:
"No orders, just a bold ask."
"We're here to pitch a favor to you and Zoey."
"This month's end—"
"The Asian Esports Game Developers Conference, held every four years, kicks off in Tokyo."
"Top designers from China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and West Asia will swap ideas on game dev."
"Winners get funding from the organizing committee for an S-tier esports tournament across Asia."
"Games like League of Legends, Dead or Alive, Heroes of Gunfire? Born from this conference."
"This year's theme is motion-sensing pod esports games."