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#7 Chapter: The Chaotic Game Development Chronicles (5)

To summarize the contract we had with Kainix in the simplest terms:

– Nebula would support the commercialization of ‘Beyond: The Lost Era’ currently in operation and the upcoming ‘Beyond Elysion’.

– They would protect our family and our intellectual properties from various threats, such as crimes targeting other companies, media, and money.

– Ryu Inseo would actively cooperate with the AI technology development department of Kainix as an external advisor.

– The profits generated from ‘Beyond: The Lost Era’ would remain exclusively ours, while the profits from ‘Beyond Elysion’ would be split 50/50.

In my view, it was a nearly jackpot contract, but my older brother guy seemed dissatisfied.

“…About the profit sharing. They said it was fine, so why did you insist on putting it in there?”

“I’ll ask the opposite. Let’s say you’re collaborating with someone. If you’re working together but only the other side benefits, would you feel motivated to work hard?”

“No, I’m helping them out with technology. How does that mean only we benefit?”

“Because it’s not intuitive.”

People tend to fixate on what they can see.

While the AI technology my older brother guy offers is a treasure for those who recognize its value, it’s not tangible how much profit we’ve gained from that technology specifically.

You can’t compare it to sales visible from a game.

“Of course, even if we secured 100% of our income, they wouldn’t neglect game development. A fair exchange is a fair exchange. But then they’d really only work as hard as necessary. If they don’t see the extra rewards intuitively for doing a good job, why would the staff bother putting in extra effort?”

“So, you mean we have to share profits with them too?”

“That way, Kainix will see it as ‘our bowl’ rather than just ‘the neighbor’s bowl’.”

And this is a kind of insurance as well.

Right now, my older brother guy seems to shine with boundless talent like a character straight out of fiction, but there’s no guarantee that this will last decades down the line.

If we monopolized the profits from Beyond Elysion, once my brother’s talent fades, there’d be no reason for them to protect our game.

“Isn’t it natural for them to protect us contractually?” you might ask. But how can you trust that?

“More than that, your dream is to create games, right? Why, is your goal changing now that you’re touching some money? Should we just give up making virtual reality games that aren’t giving enough bang for the buck?”

Honestly, even if this guy nodded in agreement, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Of course, I’d be a bit annoyed since I’ve been giving feedback while supporting him, but if he wants to throw in the towel, what can I do?

It’s not that I’m serving for free; I’m getting dividends regularly.

“That’s impossible. …Yeah, you’re right. Once the environment for making games is set up, that’ll be enough.”

But my older brother guy made a serious face and then, as if recovering his original spirit, reached out for the computer again.

I said to him,

“Do it later. Let’s eat first.”

“I have energy bars and drinks, so I can eat while I work.”

“No, our parents want us to have dinner together starting today, so let’s go.”

His eyes flared with agitation, but hey, that’s not my concern.

*

I believe two things determine an individual’s position within a group.

First is performance—what has been achieved.

For students, grades are the easiest example; for workers, salaries would hold the same weight. Good performance makes it easier to gain recognition within the group.

The second is personality—how strong one’s presence is.

Even a high-performing individual will be overlooked in a group if their presence is weak; in other words, if they can’t assert themselves.

For example, a breadwinner supporting the entire family may still rank lowest within that family.

Or consider an employee who works the hardest yet sees all their accomplishments taken by someone else and can’t even properly complain.

In Ryu Inseo’s case, both of these traits were rather lacking initially.

He had talent but poured all his efforts into the distant future, so immediate results escaped him, and his communication was insufficient to convince others about the work he was doing. What could you expect from someone who can’t even make eye contact with a stranger?

But now, it’s different.

‘Beyond: The Lost Era’ is merely a stepping stone toward achieving our true goal, but even this stepping stone is viewed as overflowing with results by others. The circles accumulating in my bank account day by day prove that.

In fact, my parents, who had no interest in gaming, were still unable to recognize their son’s achievements until the formal contract with Kainix was signed, gradually breaking down their biases.

People from large corporations, not just in the country but around the world, roared about how amazing my son was, what ‘considerations’ they would make to protect him and his family, and if they didn’t change their view after all that, it would rather be odd.

The son, who used to be treated like a fool, a freeloader, or a disruptor in the home, saw his position change.

And of course, with that, the treatment would change as well.

“Yerin, can you tell Inseo to have a meal with us when he has time?”

This is how the process led our Mrs. Kang to ask me to bring my older brother guy to the dining table.

Thus, what happened when a fourth person was added to the table where three had been dining together daily?

“Uh-hum, I heard the story. You got a job as an external advisor at Kainix?”

“Yes.”

“Well, as a man, you’ve got to carry at least that level of a title. Seeing you just stuck in your room every day, I was about to lose my mind, but finally, you’ve found your place.”

“Yes.”

“…….”

What to do? This is an unbearably cramped space.

I was trying to strike up a conversation, but it was really awkward with my stepfather sounding very preachy and my brother guy nervously giving one-word answers.

And our Mrs. Kang, looking like she was about to choke, just sipped water.

Of course, none of that bothered me as I calmly focused on my meal.

When it was just two women living together, the main source of protein was either braised tofu or tofu patties, but now it’s galbi jjim. Dinner has never been more enjoyable.

Honestly, if you left your son to his fate this long, you should endure this level of discomfort.

If you two had done well, I wouldn’t have to put in daily effort caring for his fragile mentality, would I?

You’d start asking if I was just meddling, wouldn’t you? Considering I’m the daughter programmed to kill this older brother guy at a genetic level, I was doing quite well.

What does genetics matter in a remarried family? Well…

Finally, after clearing my bowl clean, I decided to speak up.

“Kainix said if we need anything like TVs or electronics, just let them know. They’ll replace them with new products.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And the same goes for Dad’s car. If there’s something from Kainix you want, just mention it.”

“Hmm, is that so? I’d been contemplating changing it soon anyway.”

“Well, it’s typical for a child to buy a present for their parents once they get their first paycheck, right? Think of it like that, and accept it. This is when you get to enjoy being my son. That’s fine for you too, right?”

My older brother guy, who usually gets talked down to by me, was taken aback when I suddenly addressed him, swallowing his food and nodding.

“Uh? Oh, right… But speaking of which, what about you? You already got your paycheck from me.”

“That’s more of a nursing fee than a salary, isn’t it? What do you think, Dad? Mom?”

“That’s right. Also, make sure to charge for the examination fee along with that.”

“Our daughter turns out to be a medical girl.”

A light laugh bubbled up at the table.

Of course, it was still somewhat awkward, and it showed a bit of forced laughter, but the important thing is that we were laughing.

After experiencing the ‘harmonious family’ that had never existed in life, my older brother guy wouldn’t think about locking people in virtual reality and forcing them to participate in the game he made.

Well, even if that kind of thing happens, I have a bunch of safety measures in place to prevent it, rather than just thwarting it after the fact. After all, preventing incidents is the best approach.

*

After that, the game development between the siblings proceeded smoothly.

‘Beyond: The Lost Era’ cruised along, garnering reviews as a fast-food gacha game while utilizing its overwhelming update speed, and the AI technology provided by Ryu Inseo—particularly specialized in generating and controlling virtual reality—brought enormous profits to Kainix.

The ability to test countless trials that should have taken place in reality within a virtual reality setting replicating real-world precision is an enormous benefit in itself.

The expenses requested by Ryu Inseo and Ryu Yerin for game production were deemed sufficient in themselves, with some executives even claiming they would break even and then some.

However, businesspeople are inherently relentless predators, constantly seeking more profit, never satisfied even when their bellies are full.

“If it’s already a given that we’re going into virtual reality games, instead of just blindly waiting for ‘Beyond Elysion’ to be completed, shouldn’t we be doing market research and prepping in advance?”

“There are quite a few games struggling with development due to budget shortages. If we acquire some of those and use them to test our current technologies, we could validate our worth as a sort of advance party.”

Given that they had already taken over the AI technology, the ones who previously urged not to invest in the uncertain field of virtual reality games now found it hard to reject such a compromise.

And regarding this, the siblings—specifically the sister Ryu Yerin, who was in charge of negotiations—nodded more easily than expected.

“That’s fine. If it was just asking to borrow Nebula, it might have been a bit much, but we can’t object to using another AI based on Nebula as a sample.”

“Are you okay with possibly losing the title of being the world’s first online virtual reality game?”

“Well, the leading party always faces strong winds, right? If they’re offering to pave the way for us, we wouldn’t want to refuse.”

Ryu Yerin’s response came from the calculations in her head—that in the case of an accident later, having multiple games spread responsibility would be better than having just one.

To Bat Byeongjin, who didn’t know the details, her indifference left him in awe.

Thus, the games chosen were ‘Hungry Shadows,’ where you fight off zombies in an apocalyptic worldview, and ‘Dragon’s Dance,’ based on Eastern martial arts.

The reason for these choices was simple. Since the ongoing ‘Beyond Elysion’ had a fantasy or arcane punk flavor, it was to avoid a situation where future games from the same company would cannibalize each other’s profits.

The two games systemically collected data amidst various tribulations and controversies as expected, and that valuable experience became nourishment for ‘Beyond Elysion’.

And then one day.

“Okay, everyone! Welcome back to ‘Lunara’s Fun Shadow Play’ channel!”

>Wow!
>(Clapping)
>Lunara’s the best!

“This time, we’re going to incite a shadow candidate from another world and broadcast the incidents he causes live. If this content goes well, I’m sure I’ll be able to rank up with the big corporations!”

>Is a shadow a shadow? What’s a shadow candidate?

“Well, I mistook it with divination magic!”

>The accuracy is worse than coin tosses, isn’t it?
>Let’s instead try dowsing for magic stone mines. That’s probably more feasible.

“Ahem! The poor accuracy of divination magic only applies to places like ours that have achieved dazzling magical civilizations. In environments where magic and mystery don’t exist, where there are no interruptions from outside, the accuracy boasts at 99%!”

>How can that be a civilization without magic? Isn’t that primitive?
>Isn’t it just taking weapons to primitives and watching them go berserk? That sounds pretty fun.

>So, what candidate did you confirm by divination?

“Um, just a moment. I have it organized here. His name is Ryu Inseo. He was born and immediately lost his biological mother due to birthing complications, looked down on by his biological father, abandoned after his father’s remarriage, robbed of his efforts at work, and dumped by his girlfriend, leading to his despair. He attempted a sort of mass suicide by trapping people’s souls in the game he created. Approximately 1,300 casualties at the end of the incident.”

>It’s laughable how ridiculous that life was.
>I would want to burn down the world too.
>But that feels a bit underwhelming for a shadow, don’t you think?

“The goal of this broadcast is to approach this potential shadow and turn the resulting damage into something far grander and then livestream the fierce realities of life it creates! We’re aiming for at least ten times the expected damage! Doesn’t that sound interesting?”

>The goal sounds a bit modest. There are streamers selling weapons to those primitives and causing a million casualties.
>What should we care when measuring against industry veterans? This is just hako.

>Still, I support Lunara.

“Ahem, anyway, let’s start the operation!”

The seed of evil has arrived.