"Oh… man, I can't take it… I'll do it, alright? I'll handle the housework!"
Zoey Parker collapsed on the sofa, clutching her stomach, tears streaming from laughter, raising her hands in surrender.
"You're ruthless," Zoey gasped, wiping her eyes. "You'll do anything to dodge chores."
"It's mostly 'cause I'm slammed right now," Gus Harper said, checking his bruised, swollen eye in the mirror, wincing. "Outlast is killing it, and the DLC's almost done. It's set to drop this Friday."
Next Friday.
The last day of Outlast's launch week.
Holy crap!
Zoey, still chuckling, froze and shot up from the sofa.
No way! You can't do that!
Outlast's first-day sales were locked at 250,000 to 260,000 copies. Based on past trends, without extra content, first-week sales would hit 1 to 1.2 million copies.
Insane numbers!
A million copies in a week!
That's huge, even for shooters or sports games.
And Outlast? Just a horror game, a niche genre.
But here's the kicker—
1.2 million copies sounds wild, but at $18 a pop, by 8 p.m. Friday, total sales would be about $21.6 million.
After IndieVibe and Nebula Entertainment's 25% platform cut, that's $5.4 million deducted, leaving $16.2 million in profit.
The catch? Outlast cost $18.15 million to make.
That's a $1.95 million loss.
Not a big deal, right?
Wrong. For Zoey, it was massive!
Her system's betting odds were 100x. A $1.95 million loss meant $195 million in winnings!
A fortune!
The wildest payout she'd ever score!
But now—
Gus wants to drop the Outlast DLC at the end of the first week?
That $1.95 million loss? It's just 108,333 copies away from breaking even!
A DLC could spark a hype wave, easily pushing sales past 100,000 more copies!
Players are obsessed with Wallen Parker's story!
They're dying to know his timeline while Miles Upsher was dodging death!
What fluke led them to meet at the exit, escaping Giant Mountain hand in hand?
Some fans are even shipping Miles and Wallen!
With this buzz, dare she let Gus drop the DLC?
"Uh… hold up…" Zoey's mind raced, eyes darting. "Is the DLC that urgent?"
"How do I put it?" Gus left the mirror, plopping onto the sofa. "It's basically done, and Outlast's hot right now. Dropping it Friday rides the first week's wave. Perfect timing, right?"
He had a point.
The Outlast hype was through the roof. A DLC now would be a slam dunk.
Zoey's brain scrambled for a legit reason to delay it.
CPU on overdrive, she got a spark!
"How about… we push the DLC to Friday night, 8 p.m.?" Zoey said. "Big streamers go live at night, and players have free time. They can jump in right after buying, no waiting. It's better for players, and the initial buzz will be bigger, right?"
Nailed it, Zoey Parker!
She cheered inwardly, practically dancing.
Genius move! Airtight excuse!
An 8 p.m. Friday drop would mess with the seven-day settlement cycle.
As for how much the DLC boosts Outlast's sales?
The more, the merrier!
Lose big now, then let Gus's DLC juice up sales later!
This play?
This play's like hitting the jackpot and dodging a bullet—total win!
Gus thought it over, nodding. "Solid plan. Nighttime will spike the hype faster, with instant results."
"But 'better for players'?" He smirked. "Nah."
The Whistleblower DLC at 8 p.m.? That's players diving back into late-night chase terror.
Gus had seen reviews—players whining about Outlast giving them nightmares of psychos hunting them.
A nighttime DLC drop?
Male players especially were in for a fresh round of bad dreams.
Gus chuckled. That'd be some serious entertainment.
"Alright, 8 p.m. it is," Gus said, nodding. "You're the boss, I'm on board."
"Heck yeah, you get it!" Zoey grinned, patting Gus's shoulder, all in.
Everything's set!
The game? She's played it, felt the rush! Explosive hit!
DLC? Convinced Gus to delay it! Won't mess with sales yet!
Somatosensory cabin market? IndieVibe and Nebula have locked in their wins, no big promos left!
All lined up!
Now, just wait to lose big!
$195 million!
Just thinking about it had Zoey buzzing!
Her face glowed with glee!
Zoey Parker was ready to cash in!
"To make up for the eye, I, your president, am treating you to a feast today! Name it—sky, sea, or land, I got you!"
Zoey waved her hand, bold as brass.
"Spill it! What's for dinner?"
…
"…Dang, Gus, who clocked you with a haymaker?"
Monday morning.
WindyPeak Games' VP office.
Jake Rivers eyed Gus's half-panda face. "Who did it? Why didn't you call me and Luke? We'd have backed you up!"
"Don't need more casualties," Gus said, slurping noodles. "The enemy's too tough. You two wouldn't stand a chance."
Luke Bennett, sharp as ever, kept quiet, munching his bun. He could guess who threw the punch.
But Jake wasn't having it. "Who's that cocky?"
Big, burly Jake never backed down. "Gus, name 'em, and I'll make 'em front-page news tomorrow!"
Gus raised an eyebrow. "Zoey Parker."
Jake's fire fizzled.
After a beat, he pulled out a boiled egg. "How 'bout you roll this on your eye? They say eggs cut swelling."
Gus stared. "What, just take your tea egg and bounce?"
Pfft—
Luke, sipping porridge, choked, grabbing a tissue. "Cough… what kinda nonsense do you guys spew all day…"
The trio cracked up, and Gus spilled the panda-eye story.
"Brutal," Gus said, touching his eye, wincing. "Got kicked half-asleep."
Luke grinned, teasing, "Smell nice?"
Gus frowned, thinking. "Hmm!"
"No saving you…" Luke sighed, facepalming. "I don't fit in here—I'm not weird enough."
"Oh, on that note," Luke said after a pause, sipping porridge. "What's your next step?"
"What do you mean?" Gus asked, slurping noodle soup.
"Living situation," Luke said. "You're buying a house soon, right?"
Yeah.
Gus had his eye on a mid-to-high-end place, recently built.
Deep down, Gus was old-school.
Online, folks argued high housing prices made renting smarter.
You only live a few decades, same for housing needs.
But Gus felt a house grounded him, gave him roots.
Renting forever? Felt like drifting, rootless.
With his $1.5 million salary plus dividends, a loan for a 2,000-square-foot apartment was doable.
Comfy living.
But the catch…
"What'd you tell Zoey?" Luke asked. "You buy, renovate, air it out—move-in's six months out. Then what? End the roommate deal? Or become her landlord?"
Luke's question stumped Gus.
Neither option felt right.
End the lease?
Theoretically, either he or Zoey could've bailed on sharing months ago.
Zoey's cash crunch only lasted a month or two—she dropped thousands on gifts for him, after all.
But become her landlord and keep sharing?
Would that vibe shift? What would Zoey think? Would she pull the plug?
Gus was lost.
"What's so hard?" Jake said, chomping his tea egg, wiping his hands. "Just get together. Couples living together makes sense. Heck, put Zoey's name on the deed if you want."
Jake, always blunt, bold, and a bit shocking.
Luke, surprisingly, didn't push back. He scooted closer to Jake, nodding. "Zoey's dad sees you as family, and you two have been roommates for almost a year."
Luke smirked, almost disappointed. "If it was me, I'd be throwing a party by now, kid or no kid."
"I…" Gus started.
Why?
He didn't know.
He'd tried piercing that hazy veil so many times.
Late-night hospital talks, goodbye hugs, welcome-back embraces, the SamGu＆MiiaShen buzz, mornings curled up together.
He'd psyched himself up, only to hold back.
The weight of responsibility made him tread lightly.
The closer he got, the more he hesitated.
He lacked Luke's chill or Jake's bold streak.
What he wanted? Nightly cuddles, morning hugs, a warm home, a lifelong hand-in-hand journey.
He'd shoulder the responsibility but wasn't sure he could handle it.
"When the road hits the mountain… there's always a path…" Gus mumbled, stumped. Maybe he wasn't ready.
"Let's focus on now," he said, dodging.
Luke chuckled, poking at Gus's panda eye. "Can you even see what's in front of you, man?"
"I got one good eye," Gus said, trying to open his swollen one. "No problem."
The trio burst out laughing.
That's guy friendship—peak form.
Say what needs saying, then trust each other to handle their own mess.
They hashed out the Whistleblower DLC.
Gus took Zoey's idea, pushing the launch from Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Luke and Jake were cool with it.
Like Zoey said, the delay would spike hype faster.
For sales? All upside, no downside.
After locking in the Outlast DLC date, Gus pivoted to the next plan.
"The market's in our corner," he said. "I've been mulling the APEX motion-assist system upgrade. I said before, this tech's a game-changer. For our next project, I wanna lean into it—hard. Komina came at us, so now it's our turn…"
But then—
Knock knock knock—
A rap at the office door.
"Come in!" Gus called.
Chloe Quinn, chief secretary, appeared, nodding with a smile. "Mr. Harper, Ms. Parker needs you in her office. We got an invitation—your call…"