Zoey Parker's eyes widened. "No way! A hidden achievement system?!"
Was this the Investment Rebate System's way of throwing her a bone after two failed rebates?
Reading the prompt again, it clicked. The system wasn't just a safety net for her investments—it was designed to push her toward successful ones, ensuring she wouldn't go broke if they tanked.
But Zoey? She'd twisted it into her personal scam machine.
And she wasn't sorry.
With a shameless grin, she shrugged. Two "successful" investments had earned her peanuts compared to what a single loss could bring. Why settle for chump change when failure meant millions?
Life's too short not to gamble. Turn a bicycle into a motorcycle, a motorcycle into a yacht. Flopping was her path to riches.
Zoey summoned the Settlement Time Reduction Card in her mind. The description was simple:
Note: Activates a random reduction in settlement time.
A fine-print warning caught her eye: (Using this may affect future achievement unlocks. Use cautiously.)
Zoey nodded, piecing it together. The system rewarded successful investments. Her "First Pot of Gold" achievement came from a successful project. More successes—two, ten, twenty—would likely unlock more rewards. But a failed investment with a rebate? That'd reset the counter.
The system wanted her to win. Too bad she was a loser by choice.
"Screw success," she muttered, smirking. Small profits from winning? Nah. She was all-in on catastrophic flops.
Without hesitation, she activated the card. It dissolved into golden light.
Ding!
Settlement Time Reduction Card used!
Random reduction applied. Next investment settlement time shortened to: 15 days, 22 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds!
Zoey gasped. "Fifteen days?!"
Nearly 16 days slashed off! She could start a project, tank it, and cash out millions in rebates almost instantly.
She grabbed her phone to call Gus Shepard. "Make something, anything—dump hundreds of thousands in!" she thought, visions of dollar signs dancing.
But the system, as if reading her mind, chimed in: Note: Reduction time must be less than the project's estimated rebate settlement time, or an error will occur, and the system will fail.
Zoey's grin faltered. "Of course it's not that easy."
She pivoted, rethinking her plan. The Indie Game Expo Chloe mentioned was her best shot. The system had pegged its settlement at 30 days. With her card, she'd cut it to 15 days, 23 hours. The expo's 14-day free-play period left just one hour for actual sales.
Jackpot!
No matter how wild Gus's game was or how much streamers hyped it, no one could turn a profit in one hour. This was her golden ticket to a massive loss.
Zoey leapt off her bed, buzzing with excitement. "Lose money in one hour! I'm back, baby!"
She dialed Chloe. "Chloe! Get IndieVibe on the line. Tell them we're thrilled to join the expo and we'll be there on time!"
Gone was the mopey Zoey. She was all fire now, like a general ready to storm the battlefield, eyes blazing with confidence.
Meanwhile, across town at Nebula Games' office, a different kind of storm was brewing.
…
"You call this a result?!"
Bang! A sales report slammed onto the desk, making the man across from it flinch.
Chen Holt, Nebula's pot-bellied, balding VP, glared. "BattleForge! A powerhouse IP! It owned the charts for three months! And the sequel? You let a glitchy indie game steal $150,000 in sales?!"
Jiang Yun, the man on the receiving end, opened his mouth but stayed silent.
BattleForge had been his brainchild, a hit that launched him as a top designer in the indie scene. But he didn't rest on his laurels. He'd pitched a bold action-adventure game to follow it, only for Nebula to shut it down. Why risk a new project when a sequel could print money?
Chen, obsessed with profits, had butchered BattleForge 2. Characters once earned through skill were now locked behind loot boxes. Maps from exploration? Paywalled behind first-purchase bonuses. Even flashy skill effects were sliced out, sold as DLC.
Jiang had seen the failure coming a mile away.
He sighed, nodding. "I didn't deliver, Mr. Holt. My fault."
Like always, Jiang swallowed his frustration. He couldn't afford to walk away from Nebula—not yet.