Inside NetPack's Headquarters.
During the lunch break at NetPack's office, employees gathered around chatting as they ate.
"Everyone saw that perfect playthrough of Silent Hill, right? I seriously didn't expect anyone to clear it like that!"
A senior employee let out a sigh, "Not only are the graphics top tier, the story design is brilliant too!"
"Yeah, this ga is insane. If you ask , Silent Hill might just take 'Ga of the Year', even though it's technically still in beta. Nothing else compares." another employee added.
The Ga Awards, is the gaming industry's highest honor, often dubbed the Oscars of gaming. It's co-sponsored by giants like Sony and Microsoft itself.
"I wouldn't be so sure," another voice interjected. "Is there even another title this year that can challenge Silent Hill?"
"What about the next ga from New World Studio?" soone suggested.
"Oh right! Didn't our project team try to reach out to New World for a collaboration?"
"They did," ca a reply. "But New World turned them down flat. Said they had no interest in working with us."
"No surprise there. With a ga engine that advanced, why would they let anyone else take a slice of the pie?"
While the group debated, a young employee sat quietly at his desk, typing away. He hadn't joined the conversation.
Suddenly, he jumped up with excitent. "Guys! Soone from New World just contacted . They said I'm one of the top 50 players who completed the ga perfectly!"
"They're sending their new ga, 'Subnautica'! For free!"
The office instantly erupted with surprise.
"Whoa, you actually made the top 50?!"
"Great, John! You've got skills!"
"Quick, inform the Director!"
Monts later, the director burst into the office with a team in tow. Although the promising exclusive rewards for top 50 players, had been announced on Natalie's stream, NetPack was well aware of it. They had even encouraged employees to compete.
Sure enough, John had done it.
"How is it?!" The director asked as he stord into the room.
"The new ga is downloading now," John said, grinning. "It's called Subnautica."
The director frowned in thought. "Must be ocean thed... Pirates, maybe?"
"Director is sharp!" John flattered imdiately. "That's what I thought too."
The director nodded, pleased. "Good job, John. Go pick up your bonus from Finance later."
"Thank you, Director!" John bead.
A few minutes later, the download completed.
"Director, want to try it first?" John offered.
"Of course." The director geared up in the company's full-motion VR suit. "Let's see what kind of quality New World can really deliver."
He muttered as he suited up, "If it's mostly outdoor scenes, this ga might actually fall short. Outdoor environnts are much harder to render well than indoor ones."
Industry veterans knew this well, many gas excel in tight indoor environnts, but falter when transitioning to large, open spaces.
Secretly, the director was hoping the ga would flop. After all, in this business, competitors were still competitors.
But the mont he entered the VR platform, he fell silent.
The employees watched in confusion as the director stood completely still, unmoving.
After half a minute, soone cautiously asked, "Director? What's going on?"
The question seed to pull him back to reality. Slowly, he removed his helt.
Tears stread down his face.
The entire office was stunned. No one dared to speak.
Finally, the director said quietly, "It was beautiful?"
"First, this ga's realism. It's even better than Silent Hill."
"Second... I feel powerless. Our team may never be able to surpass New World."
"They're like a mountain standing in front of us..."
The employees murmured in disbelief.
"Try it for yourselves," the director said, waving a hand wearily.
One by one, the employees stepped onto the VR platform to experience it. And one by one, they all fell silent too.
The entire office was filled with a heavy, suffocating atmosphere.
It was like being a casual gar in a competition watching pro tear through all their strategies. An overwhelming sense of helplessness.
But the director clapped his hands and broke the silence. "Enough! Don't lose heart. We may be behind now, but we can still learn from them."
"Let's do what we did before, split into teams. One group plays and docunts the ga experience. The other analyzes the files. Anything valuable, we extract."
"Even if it's just a small bit..."
Everyone got to work.
First up, make copies of the ga for internal use.
"Wait a second," the director said. "Doesn't Subnautica have an activation code?"
"Nope," John shook his head. "You just open and play."
"That's strange..." The director frowned. Most unreleased titles have strict anti-piracy protections.
Would New World really release a high value beta like this with no safeguards?
"Darren, check for hidden anti-piracy asures!" the director ordered.
"Yes, sir!"
Darren, a spiky haired tech wizard and forr black hat hacker, got to work. If anyone could crack this, it was him.
But minutes later, Darren frowned.
"Director... I didn't find any anti-piracy code."
"What? New World just gave it away like that?" the director muttered.
But before he could dig deeper, sothing happened.
A dialog box suddenly popped up on Darren's screen.
"I'm very disappointed in you."
Underneath it, a smug emoji stared them down.
Darren's heart sank. "Oh no..."
A second later, the entire ga folder refreshed, Subnautica was gone.
Deleted.
"Director..." Darren turned pale. "The ga's... gone."
"WHAT?!"
The director lunged for the mouse and frantically searched. Nothing. All gone.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"
"There was a hidden Trojan," Darren admitted. "As soon as we tried to duplicate the files, it activated and wiped everything!"
"Didn't you say there wasn't a Trojan?!"
"It was too well-hidden! I've never seen sothing like this. I couldn't detect it..."
"You useless-!"
"Give one more shot! Maybe I can recover it!" Darren begged.
But after another round of frantic typing, he slumped. "I'm sorry. It's completely gone."
"Check the cloud. Is it backed up?" the director shouted.
"Nope. Nothing there either."
The director nearly fainted on the spot.
They had just gotten their hands on the ga, and lost it within minutes.
"I didn't expect this... Microsoft's tech is getting scary," the director muttered.
"Uh... Director," soone said awkwardly. "Didn't New World say their whole team was indie?"
"You believe that?" The director scoffed. "No way a indie team could make sothing like this. If this isn't Microsoft's work, I'll retire and give you my job."
No one dared argue.
After a long pause, John hesitantly asked, "So... about that bonus... I still get it, right?"
anwhile, all the big tech companies were watching 'Subnautica' closely. But none of their employees had cracked the top 50. So their next plan? Buy a copy.
Microsoft was first. They contacted the top ranking player known as PureWhite, offering cash in exchange for a copy.
But PureWhite imdiately refused and hung up.
Then ca NetEase, Sony, JetWing... all with the sa offer.
PureWhite declined them all.
He was now a loyal fan of New World after Silent Hill, and the devs had clearly told him not to share the ga. He wouldn't betray that trust.
anwhile at Microsoft...
"The guy said no," the staff mber reported. "Even offered cash, he wouldn't budge."
"Stubborn..." the exec muttered. "Fine. Track down another top 50 player."
Eventually, they found soone willing to sell. The price: $10,000.
A steal, considering the ga hadn't launched yet.
But the mont that player tried to make a copy, the sa ssage popped up.
"I'm very disappointed in you."
And just like before, ga deleted.
"WHAT?!" the player shouted. "My ga's gone!"
The Microsoft rep understood imdiately. "Looks like New World installed a Trojan. File tampering triggers a self destruct."
"What now?!" the player panicked.
"Let's sue them," the rep said calmly. "Say they infected your PC."
"WHAT?!"
"Why not? The court might take your side. You get justice, we get New World to show up in court. Win-win!"
"I'm not suing! That's insane!"
The player had already promised New World he wouldn't leak the ga. Now they wanted him to betray that trust and play victim?
Forget it. He still had so dignity.
"Well, then there's nothing more we can do," the staffer replied coldly.
New World had planned for all of it.
1396 Words.
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