(A/N):
Thanks for the support!!!
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
-------------------------------------------------
Several more days passed inside Star Entertainment's private VR music studio.
Unlike their previous collaborations, this project demanded far more patience.
There were no shortcuts.
No sudden flashes of inspiration that solved everything overnight.
Instead, it was a slow process of refining, adjusting, discarding, and rebuilding.
Some days they would spend six hours working only on the introduction.
On another day, they would argue over a transition that lasted barely four seconds.
To an outsider, it would have looked excessive.
To Krishna and Kael Virex, it was simply part of creating something they could both be proud of.
The holographic music sheets floating throughout the studio had undergone countless revisions.
Version 18.
Version 24.
Version 37.
Version 52.
Each one was archived before another modification replaced it.
The discarded melodies weren't bad.
In fact, many of them would have easily become successful songs.
But they weren't this song.
They lacked the feeling Krishna was searching for.
One evening, Kael placed his hands over the virtual keyboard while the latest arrangement loaded before him.
"One last time."
Krishna simply nodded.
The room fell silent.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The first beat echoed softly through the studio.
Then the bass entered.
Moments later, the guitar followed.
The rhythm steadily built upon itself, each instrument complementing the next instead of fighting for attention.
Neither of them spoke.
Kael continued playing until the final note faded away.
Silence returned.
For nearly twenty seconds, Krishna remained seated with his eyes closed.
He replayed the entire composition in his mind.
Every transition.
Every rise. Every pause.
Every beat.
Then...
He slowly opened his eyes.
A smile appeared on his face.
"This is it."
Kael looked at him carefully.
"No changes?"
Krishna shook his head.
"No changes."
"This is exactly what I wanted."
For the first time in nearly two weeks, Kael leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
Finally.
They had found it.
Not merely a melody. Not merely a rhythm.
They had finally created a composition that carried the same spirit Krishna had imagined from the very beginning.
Kael couldn't stop smiling.
"I'll admit..."
"I was beginning to think this tune only existed inside your head."
Krishna laughed.
"It did."
"And now it doesn't."
The two exchanged a satisfied look.
The foundation was finally complete.
Now only the recording and music video production remained.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the galaxy, an entirely different storm was brewing.
Inside Super Mario, a player known across UniNet by the username @PipeHunter_09 had unintentionally stumbled upon something no one had discovered before.
He wasn't even searching for secrets.
He had simply taken a wrong turn while exploring an old district beneath one of the Mushroom Kingdom's towns.
Instead of finding another collectible...
He found a hidden NPC.
An elderly mushroom engineer.
After helping repair several damaged water pipes, the old mushroom quietly looked around before whispering,
"You're good with pipes..."
"Interested in earning some real money?"
The player stared at the dialogue box.
"...What?"
A brand-new quest notification appeared.
Hidden Quest Unlocked
The Royal Midnight Plumbing Contract
Conditions:
• Repair all damaged royal pipelines before dawn.
• Complete every repair within the time limit.
• Do not alert palace guards.
• Do not damage any royal property.
Reward:
🎟 Royal Lucky Ticket
PipeHunter blinked several times.
"A lucky ticket?"
Curious, he accepted the quest.
What followed left him sweating.
The mission forced him to navigate the castle's underground plumbing system while avoiding patrolling guards.
Every repaired pipe altered water pressure elsewhere, forcing players to think ahead instead of simply running from point to point.
Twice he was nearly spotted.
Once he accidentally flooded an entire corridor and had to improvise another route.
With only twelve seconds remaining...
He repaired the final valve.
The quest ended.
A golden ticket materialized before Mario.
Royal Lucky Ticket Acquired
The description immediately caught his attention.
"Present this ticket at the Royal Fortune Hall."
"Every ticket guarantees one reward."
"Grand Prize Probability: 1%"
Grand Prize:
💰 1,000,000 Credits
(Real Galactic Credits)
PipeHunter's jaw literally dropped.
"Wait..."
"Real credits?"
He immediately checked the official rules.
It wasn't a joke.
The reward pool consisted of actual currency sponsored through Star Entertainment's promotional budget, alongside collectible cosmetics, rare character outfits, exclusive kart skins, decorative housing items, and dozens of other prizes.
The chance of winning the grand prize was only one percent.
Still...
It was possible.
PipeHunter immediately recorded the entire quest and uploaded the footage to UniNet.
Within an hour...
The video had crossed ten million views.
Within three hours...
Every gaming streamer was talking about it.
💬 [@PipeHunter_09: I WAS JUST TRYING TO FIX A PIPE. HOW DID I END UP IN A ROYAL HEIST?]
💬 [@ViewerPrime: THERE ARE SECRET QUESTS NOW?]
💬 [@ChaosEnjoyer999: WE'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR THREE MONTHS. WHAT ELSE ARE THEY HIDING?]
💬 [@RainbowDrifter: Forget Bowser. I'm becoming a licensed plumber.]
Even LumiNyx immediately dedicated an entire stream to investigating hidden quests whether it was true or not.
She laughed while reading the comments.
"So..."
"We've gone from saving princesses..."
"...to committing legally questionable plumbing operations."
Her chat exploded with laughter.
Meanwhile, inside Star Entertainment's office, Milo Vex rushed into Krishna's workspace holding a holographic tablet.
"You need to see this."
Krishna looked up.
Milo projected the rapidly climbing UniNet trends.
#RoyalPlumberQuest
#OneMillionCredits
#HiddenQuest
#SuperMarioSecrets
Every one of them occupied the top positions.
Milo couldn't hide his grin.
"We spent weeks wondering whether anyone would discover that quest."
He looked at the view counter climbing in real time.
"They found it in three months."
Krishna smiled faintly who had just returned.
"They were always going to."
He looked at the discussion spreading across UniNet.
And judging by the flood of players now revisiting old levels, searching every pipe, every hidden passage, and every suspicious corner of the Mushroom Kingdom...
Super Mario had just received an entirely new wave of life, all because one curious player had decided to repair a forgotten pipe instead of walking past it.
After finishing the discussion with Kael Virex, Krishna finally logged out of the VR workspace.
The futuristic studio dissolved into countless blue particles.
A familiar grid spread beneath his feet before fading away completely.
The next moment, he found himself back inside his bedroom.
Krishna stretched his arms above his head before letting out a satisfied sigh.
For nearly two weeks, he and Kael had been living inside melodies and rhythms, carefully polishing every note until it matched the image in his mind.
Now that part of the project was finally complete.
The music video could soon move into production.
Thinking that, he walked downstairs.
The pleasant aroma of freshly prepared snacks drifted through the house.
From the living room came the cheerful sound of laughter.
Krishna walked in and immediately noticed his mother, Sara, sitting comfortably on the sofa with one of her teammates from the military.
The woman appeared to be in her late thirties by human standards, though Krishna knew appearances meant very little in this era.
A holographic cup floated beside her as the two women chatted while occasionally laughing at old stories from their missions.
The moment Sara noticed Krishna entering the room, her eyes lit up.
"There he is!"
Before Krishna could even greet anyone—
Zip!
Sara practically disappeared from the sofa.
Her small, youthful body moved with ridiculous speed.
The next second she was already standing beside Krishna.
Without warning—
She grabbed one of his ears.
"Oww!"
Krishna instinctively tilted his head.
"Mooom!"
Sara narrowed her eyes dramatically.
"Young man."
"Explain yourself."
Krishna blinked.
"...About what?"
Sara gave his ear another gentle twist.
"Don't play innocent."
"I saw today's UniNet news."
"You actually put one million credits as a reward inside your game?"
Her teammate sitting on the sofa couldn't help but laugh while quietly watching the mother-and-son interaction.
Sara folded her arms.
"Do you know how much money that is?"
"What happened to my sensible son?"
Krishna chuckled despite still holding his ear.
"Mom..."
"You make it sound like I'm handing it to every player."
Sara immediately replied,
"Aren't you?"
"No."
He finally managed to free his ear and rubbed it dramatically.
"It only has a one percent probability."
Sara blinked hearing him.
"...One percent?"
Krishna nodded.
"Exactly."
He walked over to the holographic coffee table and projected the reward statistics from Super Mario.
Several colorful charts appeared in the air.
"Look."
He enlarged one graph.
"To even obtain that Royal Lucky Ticket, players first need to discover one of the hidden quests."
He pointed toward another statistic.
"Most players haven't even found it."
Sara leaned closer.
"Hmm..."
Krishna continued.
"And even after unlocking it, they still have to spend in-game credits to participate."
The guest looked interested.
"So the ticket isn't the reward itself?"
Krishna shook his head.
"The ticket only gives them access."
"They still need to use the credits they've earned by actually playing the game."
He switched to another graph.
"Those credits don't disappear from nowhere."
"They earn them by completing missions, discovering secrets, participating in races, helping NPCs, clearing challenges..."
He smiled.
"So before someone even reaches that one percent chance..."
"...they've already spent dozens of hours enjoying the game."
Sara quietly listened.
Krishna continued explaining.
"And while they're playing..."
"The game subscription continues generating revenue."
He enlarged another financial graph.
"So statistically..."
"The amount one player might eventually win is significantly smaller than the revenue generated by all of players reaching that point."
Sara stared at the calculations for a few moments.
Then slowly nodded.
"...You already calculated everything."
Krishna grinned.
"I'd be a terrible businessman if I didn't."
Sara suddenly reached out again.
Krishna instinctively leaned back.
"Not the ear again..."
Instead, she flicked his forehead lightly.
"That was for making your mother worry."
Krishna laughed.
"Fair enough."
The guest sitting on the sofa smiled.
"I'll admit..."
"When I first heard about the reward, I thought the same thing."
She looked toward Krishna.
"But hearing the entire business model..."
She nodded appreciatively.
"It's actually clever."
Krishna shrugged modestly.
"I wanted players to feel that impossible rewards were actually possible."
"Even if they never win the grand prize..."
He smiled.
"They'll still enjoy chasing it."
Sara finally sat back down beside her teammate.
She looked toward Krishna with a proud smile that she tried very hard to hide.
"You've really grown."
Then, almost immediately, she ruined the emotional moment.
"But don't think this means you're escaping kitchen duty tonight."
Krishna sighed dramatically.
"I knew there had to be a catch."
Sara burst into laughter.
Her teammate joined in.
For a few peaceful moments, the conversation drifted away from games, movies, and business.
Inside the house, Krishna wasn't the founder of Star Entertainment.
He wasn't the creator of Super Mario.
He wasn't a director or a game designer.
He was simply a son being teased by his mother over dinner, and somehow, after weeks of nonstop work, that ordinary moment felt just as rewarding as watching another success unfold across the galaxy.
**********************************************************************************************************************************************************
(Author's POV)
(A/N):
Check my new Fan fic: Karuppan: King of Openings
Thanks for reading the chapter!
Please give a review and power stone!!!