Unexpected Connection
"No way. This can't be happening."
Gripping her crystal orb tightly, Hafne glared at the screen with bulging eyes.
Slash!
The unfamiliar hero known as the Clown Assassin was tearing up the battlefield. Just moments ago, it had snuck up behind her hero and stabbed it viciously in the back before vanishing into thin air.
Soon, her hero crumpled to the ground.
But stopping a hero that had grown into a monster was as impossible as halting a natural disaster.
In the end, the Clown Assassin single-handedly whittled down their team one by one, dragging the game to victory. A message popped up on the crystal orb screen.
The enemy is going berserk!
Hafne slammed her fist on the desk in frustration.
"That's a total shit-tier hero!"
She snorted angrily, her face flushing red. She'd faced that hero several times before, and aside from stealth, it had zero redeeming qualities—a complete garbage pick.
Trash base stats, abysmal scaling. Its ultimate barely hit 75% of the base hero's power. And the main ability, Trap Box, demanded insane micro and setup. It was the epitome of a bottom-tier hero stacked with nothing but flaws.
By my calculations, an average-grown enemy ambush shouldn't even be scary!
But... but... She just couldn't shake the injustice.
"This makes no fucking sense!"
Its poor scaling was overcome by overwhelming ganks and kill secures that snowballed gold leads into oblivion. Once the growth gap widened, that annoying stealth and Trap Box turned simply moving around the map into pure terror.
Chat from her other allies flooded the crystal orb screen.
The game ended in a hard carry by the Clown Assassin. Tears welled up in Hafne's eyes. Her hero still lay cold on the screen.
26-win streak. How long has this game even been out? Losing like this...
She bit her lip in humiliation, grinding her teeth as she typed into the chat. At least show some respect to the enemy.
Why the hell is this my fault?!
The teammates' blame game was giving her a rage aneurysm. She gnawed her lip, glaring at the Clown Assassin player's username that had shredded her.
Who the fuck even are you?
"Giving me my first humiliating loss?!"
Not even a close fight—just utterly demolished?! Half-mad with fury, a death cry burst from her lips.
"Just you wait! I'll get revenge! You sneaky Clown Assassin bastard!"
**
The game was a clean win. Seeing the scores made me grin.
"Nice and clean finish."
Victory secured, and that cocky taunter got perfectly schooled. As I admired the stats smugly, Lumine stretched.
"Yaaawn!"
Lumine's eyes were bloodshot as she queued up another room.
"One more round!"
"..."
But Melody seemed satisfied enough now and shot Lumine a sharp glare. Under her stare, Lumine sheepishly canceled the queue and tucked in her tail.
"Alright, time to head out for real?"
"Yeah."
We were all standing to pay when a bloodcurdling scream erupted from the hooded woman across from us playing A.S.
"Just you wait! I'll get revenge! You sneaky Clown Assassin bastard!"
"...?"
Her flushed, snorting face screamed hardcore A.S. immersion.
Eh, must've just lost a game.
Looked like she'd gotten her soul crushed by the exact 'Clown Assassin' hero I'd been playing. Soon, the hooded woman stormed out, packing her stuff with huffs.
"Whatever, no big deal."
Winning and losing games is just gamer life.
No matter how small the world, that 26-win streak player I just matched against isn't gonna be sitting right across from me in this crystal orb cafe.
Melody looked a bit wistful, but satisfied with the clean win, she led the way out.
"Now that we've won clean, time to work."
"Yeah, eat quick and start grinding."
Lumine's face fell dark at that, but it was time to actually work.
"Kinda wanna keep going though..."
Pushing Lumine's dawdling back, we headed to the student cafeteria.
Munching on student specials, Lumine grumbled.
"...So what're we doing first?"
Melody twirled pasta on her fork.
"Time to actually work. We cooled our heads, right?"
"..."
Lumine's face screamed 'no work,' but Melody, head cleared, dove into task talk. Their polar attitudes made me nod.
Programmer vs. artist difference? Or scholarship psycho top student vs. normie?
Anyway, as planner, I gave quick directives.
"Melody, prep to dive into the game engine proper. Lumine, after lunch, simplify those sketches from earlier into low-poly friendly versions."
"..."
Work talk dropped, and suddenly everyone clammed up. Their eating slowed weirdly in the cafeteria.
Mentioning work tanks morale like physics law.
Irrelevant of skill—'work' hits morale like gravity. Still, as planner, I had to motivate, not slack.
I tossed 'encouragement' at the slumped duo.
"But hey, we're making this fun-ass game for real. Box office hit guaranteed. No other shot like this."
"True that."
A.S. comrades all smiled faintly in agreement.
"Poly modeling ain't my job anyway, so you guys grind."
"..."
"Engine tweaks, I'll help plan but coding's all you, Melody—you know."
"..."
Their eyes flashed murder for a sec. Game dev reality: cold and brutal.
We wolfed down food and recapped tasks quick.
"Studio ain't ideal for group work, so home/dorm solo grind. Messages for sync."
"Got it."
We finished eating and stood. Before splitting, I called them back.
"Melody, Lumine. Still though."
"More to say?"
Melody asked coolly; I grinned.
"Making games is fun, right?"
"Hmph. Fun?"
They both snorted.
"No need to repeat."
"If I hated it, I wouldn't be in graphics."
Work sucks. But we know and do it anyway.
Gamedev gets shat on, but...
Deep down, it's fun—that's why we walk this path with our baggage. To their faint smiles, I spun around waving.
"Hurry and send drafts by email!"
"Senpai!!!"
...Work's gotta happen. Curses trailed me, but with my own planning mountain, I bolted to my place light-footed.
"That annoying senpai—gonna kill him!"
**
First thing home: draft the assignment planning doc while syncing dev schedule details.
Small team means...
Planner or not, jack-of-all-trades.
"Gotta gather data first."
Past-life Cancer's Rift was legendary trash, but this world might not vibe with parts.
Games evolve via patches.
Balance tweaks, number crunches for Melody. Can't neglect the Use Map either.
Use Melody's A.S. data to steadily build more users.
Beyond assignment—solidify launch base. Back at the cafe, stomping that arrogant 'ASMasterAccount'—wanted to emote and teabag over the corpse, but Use Map limits blocked it.
Full release must have taunts and teabag emotes.
Skeleton took days; holding back now, but gamers crave mocking crushed foes post-stomp. I know that dopamine hit from past life.
"...Sound and VO though?"
Free tracks exist, but commercial-use ones? Nah. Even if, gotta match game vibe perfect.
"Ugh, starting from zero is a headache."
Early Cancer's Rift looked indie but packed volume. Misconception: it's 'online live service.' Live service needs way more TLC than packaged games.
"Sigh, I can handle basic sound myself but..."
Fired up music software on crystal orb, mood heavy.
"VO?"
...Voice packs later fine, but 'Welcome to the Rift' voice line? BGM/SFX I can patch amateur-level, but pro sound director? Night and day.
"...Workload's insane."
Kri-lyric!
Just started, and the whole wall shook like thunder.
...Ah!
Electric guitar. Then it hit: why I hate coming home.
"That insane noise!"
Screeech! Bang bang!
Mysterious racket shredded my eardrums from all sides. Practical music major next door.
"Ugh, seriously!"
Gut-punched but gritted teeth for basic sound work. But noise ramped up, not down—right when I'm on delicate audio.
Finally, complaint/plea time: stormed out, pounded next door.
"Hey!"
Bang bang bang! Music cut abrupt.
Red-haired woman flung door open, face beet-red.
"What?!"
"Noise too loud. Working here—can you turn it down?"
"...Hell no?! Not night, daytime in my room—can't I play? Just lost a game, pissed as hell!"
Slam!
No rebuttal—door shut cold. Stunned in front of it, jaw dropped.
"Hey, wait!"
Bang bang! No dice—racket resumed louder.
What the—psycho much? Lost a game and daytime meltdown?
"...Ugh!"
Stormed back fuming, but endless hell-noise killed audio work dead.
Sigh... screw it. Hire a sound director.
Gotta scout a new 'sound slave' tomorrow.
Balanced game data, checked Lumine's model draft, synced overall with Melody via messages.
Tutorials, growth curves—recalc even basics.
Just sighs.
"Sigh, wish a solid sound director dropped from the sky."
Kri-lyric! Bang bang!
As if answering, next door blasted endless electric guitar chaos.