Chapter 26
Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Jane
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Brandon held back from drinking beer even while watching today's football game.
For Brandon, who normally considered NFL games with delivered pizza and beer the height of enjoyment, this was incredibly tough.
'Today’s the day Demon Slayer drops.'
He’d gritted his teeth, worried that getting drunk might cause him to miss out on the Demon Slayer he’d been waiting for over a year.
He checked the electronic watch on his wrist.
23:48.
Twelve minutes until midnight. Time to prepare to receive Demon Slayer.
Brandon headed to his room, sat down at his computer that was already on, and opened an internet window.
'Never thought I’d be logging into the University of Wisconsin bulletin board.'
Unlike other games, Demon Slayer could only be downloaded online, so Brandon had no choice but to access the University of Wisconsin’s computer network server, which he’d never even heard of before.
But,
“What the hell?! Why won’t it connect?”
He’d tried logging in ten minutes early to account for the sluggish internet speed, but the monitor screen and mouse cursor froze like it was lagging. He panicked.
Wondering if there was a problem with his computer, he entered commands to shut down all programs and tried reconnecting, but the moment he accessed the University of Wisconsin network, it froze again just like before.
“Is this just me? No, there’s gotta be a way…”
With less than four minutes until midnight, Brandon frantically checked his usual Usenet group to gauge the situation.
[Server’s crashed from too many users flooding the network.]
-Id Soft’s homepage says they’re urgently adding servers, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be up today.
The first post he saw on Usenet made Brandon realize he wasn’t alone.
He was pissed, but what could he do with everyone swarming to connect?
'Should’ve just gotten hammered and crashed early.'
A bit disappointed but figuring he could grab it tomorrow, Brandon decided to hit the hay early.
“You predicted this?”
“To some extent.”
Scarlett grinned like a prophet straight out of Nostradamus, bubbling with excitement as she asked if I was some kind of seer.
'Close enough. I do know the future.'
Scarlett returned to her desk, beaming as she chatted on the phone with someone.
The reason for her joy? The Demon Slayer fiasco.
[Computer network crashes from game hype?! First time a server’s gone down due to a game since the World Wide Web launched…]
Demon Slayer, released three days ago, shockingly had fewer than 1,000 successful downloads so far.
Part of it was that the game hadn’t even uploaded until two days past the scheduled date—yesterday—but the biggest issue was the servers constantly crashing, making it impossible for most to download properly.
'It’ll improve over time, but it’s frustrating for the players.'
The simultaneous visitors to the Wisconsin homepage had spiked over 10,000 because of Demon Slayer, crashing the server—an event already making headlines.
Local papers and even national cable news had covered it, giving free publicity money couldn’t buy.
Unfortunately, in Id Soft’s current state, that hype was turning into poison.
The initial rush had left in frustration just as the game finally uploaded and servers stabilized a bit.
Then articles and news drew in a fresh wave, crashing everything again.
“Everything set with AE?”
“Yes, sir. All units delivered to retailers, shelves ready by the 16th. Sales start the 17th, as confirmed.”
Answering me was Emily, the new hire from the management support team.
She’d worked under Scarlett at Seton’s marketing division and joined Savior on Scarlett’s recommendation.
Since starting, she’d handled all AE marketing and distribution flawlessly—meticulous beyond expectations. I trusted her completely.
Now, she was briefing me personally, showing a map marked with every retail location AE had stocked.
The dense cluster of pins on the map was downright impressive.
'AE lives up to the name. Delivering on this timeline is no small feat.'
Demon Slayer’s unexpected woes were a huge boon for Savior.
When gamers hyped for a new release can’t play due to unavoidable issues, do they patiently wait?
No.
They hunt for alternatives right away.
And Village Maker was set to inherit Demon Slayer’s buzz for a perfect launch.
“Scarlett, hold down the fort while I’m gone.”
“Don’t worry. By the way, first time in Boston?”
“Yeah. Wait, didn’t you go to college there, Scarlett?”
“Yep. Just Harvard, so maybe not worth bragging in front of a Caltech guy, but it’s a damn good school.”
Scarlett winked playfully.
I could only chuckle in disbelief.
Boston was packed with elite schools: Harvard, of course, and Caltech’s rival (though Caltech folks would scoff at that), MIT.
And Berkeley College of Music, renowned for sound engineering.
'Wonder what she’s up to now?'
The sound director I was after was currently enrolled there.
'Oh! Team Leader Kang’s moving up?'
When I joined Nothing, there was already a senior handling sound direction.
A legendary figure from Nothing’s early days, with stellar credentials and achievements. He could’ve been exec anytime.
'Exec life’s boring. I wanna stay on the front lines.'
Dismissing titles and cash, she poured her soul into game audio, holding the role until I became team leader.
'Listen to this. How’s the sound here?'
She’d drag me in for every new game to demo the audio.
'What’s this? Kinda uncomfortable to hear.'
'That’s the point. That dissonance you felt? It builds unease. Mix in industrial noise, and it grates on you. Know why?'
Her enthusiastic breakdowns forced the basics of sound design on me.
'Thanks to her, I can still handle basic audio myself.'
One of my few mentors.
Curious what this early-20s senior looked like now.
She never shared much about her past, so it suddenly intrigued me.
Everyone knew she’d studied at Berkeley College of Music in the US, but details? Zilch.
“Berkeley, huh?”
The school wasn’t far from the airport, so I took a cab straight there.
Unlike Caltech’s drab engineering vibe, sleek, flowing architecture greeted me.
Berkeley College of Music.
My senior had attended this dream school for musicians, rivaling Juilliard.
'Berkeley? No big deal, those guys.'
She’d downplayed it, but a Korean studying there in the ‘90s? Hardly ordinary.
“Know a student named Jane Lee?”
“Jane? Wait—Jane Lee, you say?”
“Yes. Asian girl…”
“Who here doesn’t know her?! Anyway, not my problem—find her yourself!”
With only Berkeley intel, I had to ask every student I saw.
'What’s with these reactions?'
They’d freak at “Jane Lee” and bolt like it burned them.
'She must be infamous.'
Students weren’t panning out, so I headed to the admin office.
Jane Lee.
A 22-year-old Korean woman, currently attending Berkeley College of Music in Texas.
“What if we cut the US population in half?”
“Tsk, that’s why you shouldn’t joke like that—it’s too convincing coming from you.”
“Not a joke.”
Right now, sprawled on the club room sofa, she pondered dangerously radical ideas.
A bold notion even Hitler, the 20th century’s worst, never dared: halving America’s populace.
'Thought it’d be up by now!'
Recalling the still-dead University of Wisconsin board, fury bubbled up again.
Since studying abroad, games were her sole joy—but Demon Slayer, waited on for a year, was driving her nuts.
Server crashed on launch day, and even a week later, downtime outpaced uptime.
Whenever it flickered open, crowds crashed it again. Stress was inevitable.
“Again?”
“Nothing else to do.”
Failed download attempt fresh, she grabbed the gamepad from the table while lounging.
She flicked on the TV and powered the console with her toe—like muscle memory.
The screen lit up—
'Start! game!!'
Seton’s logo, now so familiar it felt cozy.
Jane savored it a moment, then mashed buttons to launch.
'Dead Hills RE.'
Dead Hills RE. She’d cleared hardcore mode multiple times, but nothing beat it.
'Switching characters each run keeps it fresh.'
Random elements annoyed sometimes, but great for replays.
Even as a vet, untried combos remained.
Plus, ‘Nightmare’ mode maxed zombie hordes, challenging even pros—pure adrenaline.
'Did the creator study music?'
Mashing the pad, Jane pondered the by-now-familiar Dead Hills RE audio.
Not real music, just effects, but perfectly pitched—she felt it instinctively.
Rumor was one dev soloed it. Who could craft such a gem alone? She wondered.