"This is actually still really good. I’ve already done about three tis better than my first ga."
The only reason I felt slightly disappointed was because of the first day’s sales. My expectations shot through the roof. However, if I were being realistic, this was already an extrely good result.
Although it did feel kind of weird that the sales dipped by so much after the initial montum.
’Now that I think about it, the main reason why the ga was selling so well is because of the video that ca out.’
Opening my chat log with Jamie, and finding the link to the video, I quickly pressed on it.
[Sorry, the video has been deleted.]
"Eh...?"
Deleted? The video was deleted?
I refreshed the link, but even as I did, I received the sa ssage.
"....No wonder."
Everything started to make sense now. With the video deleted, my main source of ’traffic’ and marketing was gone. With this, the sales naturally dipped.
But why was the video deleted?
"Let ask Jamie."
It wasn’t like I had a problem with it. Thinking about it, the video was quite embarrassing. Perhaps the guy who made it got embarrassed after a while and deleted the video on impulse.
’That’s a bit of a pity, but it’s not like I don’t understand. In that case, I should hurry up and develop the multiplayer feature. That will give the ga a good boost.’
I wasn’t disheartened.
Realizing the reason why the sales had stalled, I felt a lot better.
And soon, I received a ssage from Jamie.
[The video has been deleted? This is news to . Let talk to Idris about it.]
[Sure.]
I replied rather quickly, feeling satisfied.
Jamie was quite reliable.
Pulling the chat away, I looked at my chat with Kyle. He had yet to answer my ssage.
’Strange. He usually replies rather quickly. Is he that busy?’
I tapped the side of my arm anxiously. This looked to be the most likely situation, and the sinking feeling that I felt before grew even more pronounced.
’I’m going to have to wear the glasses by myself, don’t I?’
This...
I wasn’t looking forward to it.
Ding!
Just then, pulling out of my thoughts was a chi, and when I looked back at my phone, I was surprised to see that it was a friend request.
"Idris?"
I blinked slowly before suddenly recalling.
"Ah, he’s the one who made the video."
I accepted the friend request and was prepared to say hello when...
Ding!
[I didn’t delete my video. Soone flagged it, and it got taken down. I’m trying to get it reinstated, but it’s taking longer than usual.]
"Eh...?"
The sudden text froze in place, leaving at a complete loss. What did he just say?
I deleted my greeting and got to texting.
[You were flagged? By who? How?]
[I don’t know. I was hoping that you might know.]
?
How in the world was I supposed to know?
[I have no idea.]
[None at all? Usually, only major companies have the power to take down a video this fast. Have you done anything lately that might have put you on their radar?]
[No, I—]
I paused mid-text, suddenly recalling sothing.
’Wait, it can’t be them, right?’
Pursing my lips, I deleted the ssage and wrote a new one.
[I recently rejected a job offer from Nova Studios. Could that be it?]
[Nova Studios?]
The chat paused for a few seconds until I saw a ’typing...’ bubble on the screen. The ssage took longer than the previous ones to load, as Idris seed to have gotten an idea.
[...So it’s them. The studio has gained a reputation recently for false flagging rival gas when they’re about to launch a new ga. Seeing how there’s a new ga coming from them in the next week, it makes even more sense.]
"That’s..."
[Given how your ga was recently doing very well on Dock, I can assu that they falsely flagged my video in order to reduce the montum of your ga so that when theirs cos out, they’ll be able to take over the ’horror’ section completely. Yes, looking at the other content that was made about your ga, it looks like several other smaller creators are facing the sa problem.]
Reading Idris’s ssage, I was left stunned.
How was this even allowed?
’No, I shouldn’t even be surprised. Be it this world, or the one before everything changed, shit like this always happened. It’s not like the studio that I was a part of didn’t do this shit. I just never thought I’d be on the other end of this bullshit.’
It had been quite a while since I had felt this annoyed.
Tightening my grip on my phone, I took a couple of deep breaths before looking at the new ssage from Idris.
[...I will try my best to fight back the claim, but do not hope for too much. I will keep you updated if I get sothing.]
This was the last ssage that Idris sent .
I stood in silence for a few minutes before eventually putting my phone away and sighing.
"What a ss."
Not only did it seem like Kyle was not coming, but so company was also ssing with my ga sales.
This really didn’t seem like it was going to be my day.
"I really don’t like this, but it looks like I’ll have to wear the glasses."
I couldn’t afford to waste ti.
Without wasting another second, I headed towards the back of the main stairs, where a wooden door appeared. Staring at it, I recalled how, back at the orphanage, everyone would treat this door as so sort of cursed door.
One that would lead to the scary basent.
In short, everyone avoided this area. Naturally, I also avoided this place.
’I think I’ve only been to the basent once before, and that’s because I had to. I also rember puking back then.’
Shaking my head, I reached for the knob of the door and gently turned it.
Click!
The mont I opened the door, a tallic, dusty sll hit my nose. The space beyond was shrouded in darkness, and only the beam from my phone’s flashlight let make out the wooden stairs leading down into the basent.
Even at a glance, I could see the shapes of nurous boxes below, their shadows flickering across the walls as I moved my phone around.
’Well, I can see why I used to be so scared of this place."
Taking a step down, the stairs creaked under my step, and I moved down slowly, moving down until I finally saw the switch and flipped it open.
Click!
...Or at least, tried.
"Looks like the light is busted."
Shaking my head, I moved the torch around. The basent wasn’t very big. It was about the size of a dium-sized room. While there were boxes littered around, there were also a lot of shelves that contained all sorts of things.
From tools to toys that I rembered playing with since young.
There was a lot of stuff.
Looking around, I felt a little overwheld by the sight as I stretched my back.
"I know I’m supposed to be looking for clues to the anomaly, but I don’t think I’ll find anything here."
The main reason I went here was for another reason.
To see if I could learn more about the Seth that was here before . Was his life exactly the sa as the one I rembered, or were there differences between us?
User Comments
0 comments from readers