The Twitch chat exploded with laughter.
"What in the Three Kingdoms is this?!"
"Kid's channeling his inner warrior!"
"Stabbing Dad like it's ancient China!"
"Fruit knife? More like a legendary blade!"
"Hahaha, this game's unhinged!"
"Yin's dad got a deluxe knife set to the face."
"Being a parent looks rough…"
"No way I'm signing up for that family reunion."
"ShuBro's living the chaotic dad life."
"This is peak chaos, not happiness!"
The chat was in stitches, and Alex "Yin" Carter and ShuBro were wheezing through tears. Who's the Daddy was a digital wildfire, sparked by PJ Larson's viral TikTok clip and now tearing through Twitch's gaming scene.
Streamers everywhere hopped on the absurd father-son chaos train. In the single-player zone, streamers SlickRick and Tank were at it:
"Yo, kid! Put that down! That's bleach!" Tank yelled.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp—watch me chug!" SlickRick cackled.
In the music streaming corner, Pineapple and Jada were duking it out:
"Bobby! That's an oven, not a hideout!" Jada shouted.
"I'm going in! You can't stop me!" Pineapple retorted.
"Watch your mouth, kid!"
"I've got no manners, Ma!"
Even indie streamers Rusty and Nomad from a small platform got in on it:
"Help! Nomad, I'm stuck under this barbell!" Rusty groaned.
"Got you! Where's the lift button?" Nomad fumbled.
"Hurry, I'm turning blue!"
"Where's the damn interact key?!"
"I don't know!"
"You said you mastered this game!"
"Oops, wrong button—hahaha, I'm bowing out. Rest in peace, man!"
The game was a runaway hit. Like Gus Shepard said, a game needs killer gameplay and a little time for the "bullets to fly." Once Who's the Daddy hit, it galloped like a wild stallion.
In just one day, the first-day flop flipped. By the end of week one—6 days, 23 hours—sales hit 58,700 copies, smashing Cat Leo's 29,000-copy record. With $293,500 in revenue, it was poised to top IndieVibe's weekly indie bestseller list.
Gus, Luke Bennett, and Jake Rivers were ecstatic, high-fiving in the Seattle office.
Zoey Parker, meanwhile, was punching pillows at home. This wasn't fair! Players were lapping up a game that was supposed to crash and burn.
She couldn't wrap her head around it.
"I'm such an idiot…" Zoey mumbled, slumped in front of her mirror, brushing her hair and channeling a tragic soap opera. "I knew the game was garbage, but I didn't expect this chaotic gameplay to hook people."
"If only… ugh…"
"I'm such an idiot…"
Her phone buzzed, snapping her out of it. Chloe Quinn's name lit up the screen.
"Hey, Chloe…" Zoey answered, voice flat.
Chloe's heart skipped. Why did Zoey sound like she was on her last leg?
"You okay, Zoey?" Chloe asked, concerned. "Caught a cold or something?"
Zoey gave a bitter chuckle. A cold? Try a $1.1 million profit gut-punch.
"I'm fine, just… drained," she said. "No need to update me on sales. I know we're screwed."
"Nah, it's not that," Chloe said, her voice perking up. "We've locked in the weekly sales crown, but I'm calling about something else."
Zoey sighed, uninterested. "What?"
"Your prediction came true!" Chloe said, excited. "You said if we didn't push promo, IndieVibe would come to us. And they did!"
"Huh?" Zoey blinked, confused. What prediction? She'd just said that to dodge Gus's marketing pitch.
"Yeah!" Chloe went on. "Our first-day and weekly sales champs caught IndieVibe's eye. Their marketing head just called. They want us at this season's Indie Game Expo!"
Zoey's jaw dropped. "You serious?"
She'd been joking! It was a throwaway line to shut Gus up. How was this happening?
Staring at her stunned reflection, Zoey wondered if her Investment Rebate System was secretly a wish-granting genie.
"What's this expo?" she asked, voice shaky.
"It's IndieVibe's big event for indie games," Chloe explained. "Tons of studios and solo devs show up, with hundreds of games competing. They're free to play during the event, and the best ones get picked for promotion based on public votes."
Zoey's first instinct was to say no. Promotion was her kryptonite—she'd rather let the game rot than boost it. But then Chloe's words sank in: free to play during the event.
Free?
A spark lit in Zoey's brain. This could be her chance.
"How long's the expo?" she asked.
"Two weeks, fourteen days," Chloe replied.
"Hmm." Zoey nodded. "Let me think on it."
She hung up and summoned her system. "Yo, System! Wake up! How's the rebate calculated for an event like this? Still seven days?"
The system chimed back: Detected: Event has a fixed non-profit period. Rebate settlement extended to 30 days.
Zoey's face fell. Thirty days? With a 14-day free period, that left half a month for Gus to pull some viral stunt.
Forget it.
But before she could nix the idea, a notification rang out.
Ding!
Investment settlement complete!
Project: Who's the Daddy
Investment: $100,000
Rebate: $0
Settlement Time: 0 (settled)
Detected: Host's total investment exceeds $100,000 with $0 rebate. Unlocked hidden achievement - First Pot of Gold!
Reward: Settlement Time Reduction Card
Reward issued. Host may use at any time.