[ PROLOGUE: "ADAM CRANE, AND THE GAME DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM" ]
"No, that-that doesn't look right."
Ever the perfectionist, Adam gave one glance at his work and couldn't help but feel like he's missing something. Something crucial.
A certain aspect that escapes his mind, a certain taste that he doesn't know the ingredients of. And to him, that's wrong.
And if his work isn't complete, then why publish it in the first place. Key point, the map that he's creating; something seems to be missing, but he couldn't tell what exactly.
He did his magic and flew around in the air, scanning for anything wrong that may have happened, or any oversight that he hadn't noticed before.
Green eyes ever vigilant trailing on each tile on the cobblestone floor, and onto each of the castle walls. And in seeing that everything is in perfect condition---in disarray, olden' feel, and nearly destroyed---he felt satisfied.
So Adam turned his attention to the surroundings instead, at the movable items scattered about in the map that he created; ranging from vase, to weapons, and even to usable bow-turrets atop the walls.
Again, he saw no problem. Which led only to one conclusion. "Am I finally going crazy?"
He was about to believe such a conclusion, but then noticed the pile of corpses scattered about the battlefield that he created; and when he did, he finally realized the problem. "Oh..."
In a fighting game where the focus is on swordsmanship and dodging before anything else, Adam seems to have forgotten the side piece, as in, the Non-Playable Characters.
"There's no NPCs." He murmured, as he floats down near a lifeless NPC near the middle of the map, where blood is most prominent.
The NPCs which have all been long dead. All Knights which are either painted in blue or red in some parts of their armor and helmet. The distinctness ends there though, as they are all practically copies of one another.
Adam couldn't help it, he wasn't an arts major, and he doesn't have any hidden talents relating to model creation; so even with his perfectionist streak as a first-time game developer, he shrugged and moved on.
He created a single model for all the Knight NPCs and moved on. And now, apparently, he didn't create enough, as all of them are dead after a certain period of time with all the fighting, and murder going around.
Sighing to himself, Adam needs to figure out when all the Knights die, as that would be a great starting point for his question; and of course, the eventual solution.
[ CREATION MODE: TIME MANIPULATION ]
Spending time in development, he was able to figure out some hidden powers that come along with being a game developer. And, possibly, with most others still hidden.
But amongst the ones that he does know includes Time Manipulation; not like the ones shown in popular media, but instead, this ability works like a clock.
Think of time as linear, as it is. And every second it keeps moving, without a care for anyone else's feelings, as time alone is a fundamental law and couldn't be changed.
That is, in the real world. But Adam is not in the real world, he exists inside the game world which he could bend, twist, and manipulate to some degree, all for the sole purpose of game creation. Whatever game that may be.
And so, like a clock, or a grandmother wanting to adjust that said clock. He could in theory, and in practice, move the hands of that clock---time---and either fast forward or rewind it, with everything following suit as he does.
And... he did.
[ TIME: 35:13 MINUTES ]
[ TIME: 00:00 MINUTES ]
Albeit too much, apparently, as every single Knight---100 on each side---are now alive and kicking, ready to barge into skirmish and die. Again, with no one left standing.
"Charge forward!"
"Die, filthy Heretics-!"
"In the name of the Lord-!"
Loving the fact that he added superficial, brutish, but somewhat historically accurate Knight behaviors corresponding to the 1800s; for immersion and personality sake.
Though sadly, he needed to interrupt them before they could do so much as slash and stab one another with their identical swords. Or, worse, pull out a Glock.
And did it by gesturing for time to move forward, twisting reality itself as he adjusts it to his liking, this time though, carefully.
[ TIME: 00:06 MINUTES ]
[ TIME: 11:46 MINUTES ]
He watched as the noise around him ceased, and for the movement of the Knights to pause, before then moving forward at absurd speed that one would think it would fit right in a comedy film, if not for the blood and death.
Thankfully though, Adam wasn't brutal enough, so he didn't add extra realism like headless bodies or spilled intestines to his game, as at the end of the day, it's still a game.
And after some time of investigation, moving forward and reversing the time, he was finally able to answer why something felt wrong.
"I need to add more NPCs..." He scratched that, and eyed the 200 dead Knights littering the once spacious ground, which now looks to be cramped due to the bodies.
And to some extent, he could say, the bodies plus the blood do add some weird layer of charm for the medieval-themed map.
Alongside the burning houses in the background,which wasn't created with detail as they couldn't be seen no matter how hard the soon-to-be Players try, and the ruined castle.
"No, adding more NPCs wouldn't work." It'll make the map even more cramped, and sometimes more doesn't equal quality. Or so what Abraham Lincoln said, or something.
Either way, he has a problem in his hand. A problem caused both by the limitation of his ingenuity and the limitation of his capital.
As he's dumb enough not to know a proper fix for his problem, and the fix that he does thought of requires money, which he doesn't have at the moment.
The problem is this: The game without human interference i.e. the Player not doing anything at all, will end in 11 minutes, with every single NPC dead on the ground.
And without anyone having won the battle. Lorewise, that would be dumb, as they are fighting for territory after all, either defending (for Blue) or conquering (for Red).
And game wise, for immersion, the two Players that will fight against one another in either side of the Knights Faction would run out of NPCs to kill, or aid in their fight.
Which is bad, as a seasoned lowlife, gamer, and man that has too much time in his hand, he knows how important immersion is to a player and to a game. Either they have or not.
And mostly in the case of not, the games are quickly dropped by the players and never again played. A bad thing for Adam who dearly needs player time, which can be converted to money.
Yes, money! That's the root cause of everything that he has been doing, and also the reason why he has a perfectionist streak going on; as he can't fail, as he's kinda broke at the moment, and kinda homeless.
Failing means he wouldn't be able to eat with the rising cost of everything in America, and also, he wouldn't be able to pay rent. And if that happens, then he would officially be homeless.
And being homeless in the city that he lives in is a no go. Adam much prefers to be gutted than to be kicked out of his home, as the latter means he wouldn't suffer.
"Think, think, think." Adam can't decide on what to do, as he tries to calculate everything.
Numbers entered his head; coming and going, the starting capital of his and the overall cost of the map that he created, plus the NPCs and their coded behaviors.
Unsurprisingly, as a business undergrad, he's pretty great at numbers, and could easily remember his spending, and make risky decisions on the fly.
Should he fix the limited NPC problem, or not? Should he develop the map further, or not? Should he use his money as rent money instead of investing it into his game?
Too many questions plugged his mind. But ultimately, he decided with a heavy heart, to ignore the problem at hand. Even if it felt like a sin, to his overly conscious mind that is.
"I-I guess it'll be fine..."
Adam was about to add a "maybe" at the end, but cut himself off, more negativity is the last thing that he needs at the moment.
"Yeah-yeah, it'll be fine."
He added, trying to sound enthusiastic, but failing as he knows his situation, he cannot fail, and if the finite NPC is to be the reason why he failed, then that would undeniably stung him.
Though sadly with the limited money that he has, he couldn't fix the problem at the moment. In the future, yes, but not now; and he could only pray that it wouldn't be his downfall.
For a point of reference, he started his career as a Game Developer with 2,500 Credits as capital. He doesn't know the dollar equivalent of that, but it should be a lot.
Or so he thought. As apparently, after days of coding, of creating the low-cost, budget friendly map plus NPCs. He spent more than he expected to spend.
Initially he thought it would only cost him 700 Credit at most, but he was incorrect. As the map alone cost him 800 more or less, plus the NPC models which he has 200 of.
For each NPC it cost him 1.5 Credits, times that to 200, and that would easily amount to 300. 1,100! More than he expected, and is over the budget that he has.
But the spending didn't end there, as he still needed to code the behaviors and personality of the said Knights. He did, was successful, and it was quite easy.
Though he only made one behavior and personality code, which all the Knight NPCs share. Thus the reason why they seem to appear as simple-minded, as they are.
Because they are. Only commanded to run against the enemy and slash, then die, if not, then find another one and fight. The normal Red against Blue violence.
But that still cost him exactly 300 Credits, which was 300 more than he expected. And thus, with everything totaling to 1,400, and with no other way to earn money---other than publishing the game and waiting for Players---Adam always felt worried.
In the span of three days, in which he created the map with care, that thought that he'll never get his investment back was always prominent either consciously or subconsciously.
Leading him to always be wary, and always watchful in his spending. He could only pray that 1,100 was enough for both advertisements, Player avatar creation, plus the fee for running the map open each match.
All in all, with how unpredictable and untrustworthy the System in his head---The Game Development System---he couldn't very well say if what he has is enough.
Or that, if he needs to find other ways to earn Credits. Like, for example, converting real-world cash into imaginary, intangible System Credits; that could work.
The only problem here is that, he doesn't have enough for his daily life, even with the amount that he has for himself, something that wouldn't even last him for a week.
Either he goes with that path, or try to starve himself to death until his paycheck hits---which isn't a lot to begin with.
If convention holds true. Then, 10 dollars equal to 1 Credit. Which in his eyes, is a sham, and he much rather not go for it, and stop his career in game development. He doesn't have the gift for it in the first place.
Lord knows why a System that is all about game creation, ingenuity, and tactical thinking bond itself to him who doesn't have any of the aforementioned traits.
Scratching his head, Adam eyed the surroundings and decided to continue working; that is with more optimism this time around. Albeit it wasn't much.
"Yeah... everything is going to be fine."
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[ FUN FACT: "The Game Development System is a supernatural, cosmic cheat interference that grants transmigrated souls the tools, assets, and technology to instantly produce masterpiece video games." ]
[ 08/22/2026 ]
[ 08/23/2026 ]