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BigFishGaming and JakeYardley didn't hesitate for even a second. The moment the settlement screen cleared, they smashed the Ready button like their lives depended on it and queued up again.
"How about the Substation this time?" BigFishGaming suggested, already studying the map in his head.
"Let's go! Heard that place is loaded too!" JakeYardley rubbed his hands together eagerly, practically vibrating with anticipation.
The game loaded. The two vanished into their screens once more, plunging headfirst into another round of combat and scavenging at Zero Dam.
Time blurred in that tense, addictive cycle. Gunshots, explosions, excited cheers, frustrated groans — the testing floor was alive with noise, a constant symphony of digital warfare and human emotion.
The sky outside the windows shifted to warm dusk hues, painting the clouds in shades of orange and pink. The three-hour test limit was drawing to a close.
Most players were either making desperate final pushes in their last rounds or sitting back, processing their experiences with thousand-yard stares. Faces showed a mix of lingering adrenaline and bone-deep exhaustion — the satisfied kind that comes from being completely absorbed in something.
Blake exited the game and leaned back in his chair with a long, satisfied exhale. His shoulders ached from tension he hadn't even noticed building.
He turned to look at Ivy beside him.
She'd just finished a match too, studying the settlement data on her screen with an intensity that suggested she was committing every number to memory.
The mask still covered most of her face. But her eyes — the only visible part — curved slightly at the corners. Obvious pleasure. Immersion. Satisfaction.
"How was it?" Blake asked with a knowing smile.
Ivy turned at the sound, meeting his gaze. For a moment, her guard was completely down.
Perhaps realizing this, she cleared her throat and reconstructed her CEO composure with visible effort. Deliberately casual tone: "Ahem. Not bad."
Not bad, she said. As if she hadn't been completely engrossed for three hours.
The game's quality far exceeded her expectations. Which meant her "Infinite Loss System" mission was looking increasingly impossible in the short term — creating a flop that surpassed Desert Bus had become a cosmic joke. Blake Weiss wasn't making garbage. Blake Weiss was making art.
But then again... with Delta Force's overwhelming polish, profitability after launch was practically guaranteed. The game would print money.
Hitting ten million might just be a matter of time. Whether she earned it now or later was the only difference. The numbers would come eventually.
And she had to admit: the game was genuinely, dangerously addictive.
In over two hours of gameplay, she'd only found one red-tier item — a heavy [Gold Bar] worth 370,000 HAF.
But the thrill of finding it? Intense. Electric. The kind of excitement that made her forget she was supposed to be hoping for failure.
Especially the Gold Bar's inspection animation. That pushed the feeling to its absolute peak.
The character casually tossed the multi-kilogram bar into the air, the metal catching the light. It fell back into their palm with satisfying, tangible weight. The metallic luster and texture, rendered by top-tier hardware, looked real enough to touch.
An indescribable sense of wealth and accomplishment washed over her. Far more satisfying than the Fossil she'd found earlier, even though both had similar in-game value. Something about that weight...
What made her even more comfortable was the overall experience.
She didn't need to carry pressure. Blake's D-Wolf was dominant — a one-man army regularly pulling off 2v1s, even 3v1s, with casual efficiency that made it look easy.
She only needed to provide area denial with Vyron's Tiger Cannon. Block paths with C4. Force enemy movement. Support work.
Even when she made mistakes and got downed — which happened more than she'd like to admit — there was no blame. No criticism. No sighing.
And D-Wolf's rescue voice lines were... engaging. More than she expected.
"Come on, get up and fight back!"
"On your feet. Don't make that mistake again."
"Emergency medical!"
"You can't fall here."
"You'll be fine. Get up."
"I'm here — hold on!"
Calm reliability in every line. She'd heard them several times over the course of their session. More times than she cared to count.
Whenever Blake charged into a fight, she'd follow behind at a safe distance, taking potshots and trying not to embarrass herself. Sometimes she'd catch a stray bullet and go down, her screen flashing red.
Then she'd watch D-Wolf clear out the enemies like a god of war, methodical and unstoppable. Return to her body. Execute the revive with precision.
That feeling of being carried and protected... hard to describe. But good. Better than she wanted it to be.
Blake himself hadn't found any reds. Plenty of small golds and purples, but red light never favored him. The RNG gods had not smiled.
He seemed unbothered, though. Completely zen about it.
In his previous life, he'd gotten used to his "unlucky" streak. Some things didn't change between worlds.
"Um, Mr. Weiss?"
A voice pulled both of them back to reality.
Blake turned. Vinny stood there, expression polite but questioning, shifting his weight from foot to foot like he had somewhere to be.
"Hey. What's up?" Blake responded warmly.
Vinny was there to ask about NDA specifics — what exactly could he share publicly without getting sued into oblivion?
Blake patiently explained, counting off points on his fingers:
"Item quality colors and the HAF economy system — those are fair game. Talk about them all you want."
"Maps: only the areas shown in the trailer and gameplay demo. Admin Building, Visitor Center, Substation. Unreleased maps like the Cement Factory and Military Camp?" He shook his head firmly. "Absolutely off-limits. Don't even hint at them."
"Keycard mechanics: you can say keycards are special items with blue minimum rarity. You can mention the quality tiers — blue, purple, gold, red — but don't go into specific drops or uses. Keep it vague."
For red items, Blake's instructions were clear:
"Don't name specific red items. Don't describe their exact inspection animations or precise values."
"But you can describe the feeling of finding a top-tier reward."
"Visual impact. Psychological satisfaction. The excitement. The way your hands shake."
"Focus on conveying emotion, not data. Sell the experience, not the specifics."
Vinny nodded immediately, the instructions clicking into place.
"Got it. So I can share 'I got a red! Holy shit!' but not what it was, right?"
"Exactly." Blake smiled approvingly. "By the way — did you actually find a red yourself?"
"Once!" Vinny perked up instantly, his whole face lighting up. "Small safe in the East Wing Manager's Office. Gold Bar!"
"Dude, my hands were shaking." He held up his hands, demonstrating. "Like, actually trembling."
"After that round, I just... camped. Hid in place for like ten minutes, barely breathing. Made it to extraction at the last possible second because I was terrified of losing it. Heart pounding the whole time."
Blake grinned knowingly. "That's the spirit. That's what this game does to you."
"The Gold Bar's inspection animation stuck with you, right?"
"So deep." Vinny nodded vigorously, eyes distant with memory. "That weight. The way it falls back into your hand. It's insane."
"Talk about that feeling on stream. Your audience will get it." Blake emphasized again. "That's what sells this game. Not numbers. Feelings."
After the NDA discussion, Vinny couldn't help asking the question every tester cared about:
"Mr. Weiss — when's Delta Force officially launching?"
Blake considered for a moment, choosing his words carefully.
"Development progress is actually pretty fast. Core content is nearly complete. We're ahead of schedule, honestly."
"The biggest issue right now is the publishing license. Paperwork. Bureaucracy."
"Optimistically? If licensing goes smooth, maybe two months."
"If approval drags... timing's hard to say. Could be longer."
He paused, then revealed a bit of the roadmap:
"But the next test won't take that long. About a week out."
"New maps. And Zero Dam will have a..." He chose his words carefully, eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Let's call it a super intense random event. Absolutely thrilling. Game-changing."
"Also — next test is non-wipe. Everything you've earned today carries over."
He was referring to the challenging "Wall-Breaker Operation," but didn't say so explicitly. Some surprises needed to stay surprises.
Vinny's curiosity spiked visibly. Eyes full of longing and barely contained questions. But he was disciplined enough not to press for specifics.
At that moment, Ivy spoke up from beside Blake. Voice clear and cool:
"Don't worry about the publishing license. I can handle it."
Vinny blinked, startled. He looked more carefully at the girl who'd been sitting next to Blake the whole time — the one he'd barely noticed, assuming she was staff or another tester.
"This is...?"
"Ivy Harper," Blake introduced. "CEO of Crane Interactive. Also my boss."
Vinny immediately straightened up, his casual posture snapping to something more respectful. "Ms. Harper! Sorry, I didn't recognize you!"
He hadn't expected the company's boss to be so young. Or so... present. The kind of person who commanded attention without trying.
After a few more pleasantries, Vinny took his leave.
He had a lot to digest. And a stream to plan.
Watching him go, Ivy stood up from her chair, stretching slightly.
"Let's go. First test went smoothly. I'll take you to dinner — consider it a celebration."
Blake nodded, rising to join her. "Sounds good. Thanks, Ivy."
She led him out of the still-buzzing testing floor, past rows of players reluctantly packing up their experiences for the day. They exited Crane Interactive and walked to a nearby high-rise, the evening air cool on their faces.
Ivy took Blake into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor — the penthouse level of a premier commercial tower in downtown Bayview.
The doors opened onto another world.
A high-altitude restaurant called Skyline Palace spread out before them.
Floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped the entire space in glass, offering a 360-degree panoramic view of Bayview's glittering cityscape stretching to the horizon.
Dusk settling over the city like a blanket. Neon lights flickering to life, one by one. Traffic flowing far below like luminous threads, red and white arteries of a living metropolis. The urban sprawl spreading in every direction, futuristic and overwhelming and beautiful.
For anyone with a fear of heights, this place would be an absolute nightmare.
For anyone chasing views and ambiance? Perfection. Worth every penny of whatever obscene prices the menu charged.
A waiter in crisp attire guided them to a window seat with an excellent vantage, pulling out Ivy's chair with practiced grace.
Only then did Ivy gently remove her mask and hat, setting them aside on the table.
Even Blake — two lifetimes of experience, plenty of beautiful faces seen in both worlds — felt a flicker of genuine surprise.
Ivy was stunning. The kind of face that made you do a double-take, then a triple-take. Sharp features, flawless skin, the whole package — and she carried it with this effortless cool that somehow made everything worse. More striking. More memorable.
Easily among the most attractive people he'd ever seen. Either life.
But he only admired. His heart stayed calm. No flustering. No sycophancy. No stammering like an idiot.
He'd lived two lives, after all. And his own appearance — both previous and current — wasn't exactly average either. Beauty was familiar territory.
He simply smiled and offered a sincere compliment: "You're very beautiful, Ivy."
She seemed slightly surprised by his composure — most people, she suspected, didn't react so... normally. But she said nothing beyond a small nod of acknowledgment.
"Thank you."
A beat of silence.
"Let's order."
Meanwhile, Vinny — having checked into a gaming hotel nearby to avoid the commute — was already live.
Stream title: [Delta Force Test COMPLETE! So much to say! IYKYK!]
The moment he went live, viewers flooded in like water through a broken dam. Chat exploded into chaos:
"VINNY'S BACK!""How was it?! TELL US EVERYTHING!""Is it really as good as the trailer?""Does Saeed actually have aimbot?""Did you get any drops?!""SPILL THE BEANS"
Vinny looked at the scrolling chaos, his face showing uncontrollable excitement mixed with that classic "I know things but can't tell you everything" energy. The smugness was almost unbearable.
"Chat! CHAT! Calm down! Listen to me!" He shouted into the mic, waving his hands.
"I can only say this: Horizon Interactive is cracked."
"Blake Weiss is cracked."
"This game is insane."
"I can't reveal specifics — NDA, you know how it is. They'll sue me into the ground."
"BUT!" His tone shifted, voice rising with barely contained enthusiasm. "I can tell you: the quality of this game will absolutely meet your expectations. And then exceed them. By a LOT."
"The gunfeel. The graphics. The atmosphere... especially..." He made an exaggerated expression of pure bliss, eyes rolling back in his head. "That feeling of finding a top-tier reward..."
"Ohhh man." He clutched his chest dramatically. "The inspection animation... you just have to play it to understand. I can't describe it. Words don't work."
"So satisfying. A... uh, anyway, just amazing."
"Saeed? Strong. Very strong. Killed me, actually."
"But not unbeatable. Takes skill. Teamwork. Good positioning."
"Next test is in a week — confirmed. I asked Blake Weiss myself. Face to face."
"Non-wipe test. Plus new content!" Vinny's voice pitched higher, practically squeaking. "Chat, if you didn't get picked today, don't give up! There's another chance! Watch for official announcements!"
He took a deep breath, collecting himself.
"I only have one thought right now:"
"I hope this game goes into open beta immediately."
"I can't wait. This is absolutely going to change the entire gaming industry. Mark my words."
His words radiated infectious enthusiasm, the kind that couldn't be faked.
The specific information was limited. NDA kept him on a tight leash. But that raw excitement and genuine approval? It transmitted through the camera without filter, pure and uncut.
Every viewer could feel it.
And every viewer wanted in.