After a few minutes of hesitation, William decided to hear her out.
Wendy picked up immediately. "Hello, who's this?"
Ahem. William cleared his throat, speaking clearly. "Hi, this is William."
"William!" Wendy sounded thrilled, clearly not recognizing his voice from their earlier call about Earth Games. That conversation must not have stuck with her.
"Finally!"
"Is there something you need?"
"Well, it's like this. I'd really like to use Canon in D in tonight's show. But before that, I need your permission. If you don't want the piece to be revealed just yet, I completely understand. Still, I sincerely hope you'll say yes. It would make our program more convincing."
Wendy's explanation helped William understand why she had faked her identity earlier to ask Earth Game for permission.
Using someone else's music without authorization can lead to huge fines. Small streamers or shows might get away with it, but Riverdale TV is one of the top platforms. They wouldn't — and couldn't — make such a rookie mistake.
But to get what they want, they don't mind using some dirty tricks.
Originally, William played Canon in D to gain attention through the program. But things had changed — the show was no longer a New Year's special. It had turned into a "special report" that would frame him and Earth Game as rivals, and the outcome could completely backfire.
"Can I tell you something?"
"Of course."
"Uh…" William started thinking about how to make up a story. "Actually, just now, Earth Game bought the rights to Canon in D from me. They're happy to work with me closely. So… is it possible to cancel the show? I mean, I can ask them to give you permission to use the song so your program can still go on. Would that work?"
As he spoke, William had to keep acting like he was just an 18-year-old kid who had just left the mountains — someone who could easily be tempted by money.
"You… sigh." Wendy let out a long breath. "Does Lisa know about this?"
"You're the first person I've told."
"I don't even know what to say… You're an adult now, right?"
"Yeah."
"Since you're already an adult, then you have to take responsibility for your choices. I trust your judgment, but I also hope you'll listen to our advice more. Earth Game — or any capital for that matter — isn't good. All they care about is draining you dry, squeezing out every bit of your worth. With your talent, you shouldn't waste your time on that. There are way more meaningful things waiting for you."
William understood what she meant. The problem was… he is Earth Game. And Earth Game is him.
"Got it. Thanks for the advice."
"Keep going. I believe you'll write even more amazing music in the future. But after this, don't sell your rights so easily, okay?" Wendy did her best to persuade him.
"Okay."
"Alright then. Tonight's show will still be a music special. I'll save Canon in D for the grand finale. How do you want me to introduce you?"
"I'd rather keep my identity secret for now."
"Got it."
After the call, William finally let out a breath and picked up his other phone to send Wendy a message.
At last, the issue with the program was sorted. If they really ended up making him and Earth Game look like enemies, public opinion would surely side with William. Earth Game, on the other hand — painted as greedy, evil capital — would be slammed as the villain ruining the future of the culture scene.
It was all about cultural context. Games were still looked down on in the market, and game companies didn't have a great image either.
But a genius pianist? That had huge potential.
Canon in D would air as the final piece of the show — great news. It meant William still had time to work on the update for Piano Tiles.
The new mode was basically a simpler version of the original. A lot of the old code could be reused, so it wouldn't take too much effort.
Time slowly passed.
"William, Wendy's show is on." Aunt Lisa came knocking on the door.
"Okay, I'll come out in a bit," William replied. He was finishing up the last steps of the new update.
This update was about 10MB in size—almost as big as the game itself.
The reason it was so large was because the new song had really high sound quality. After all, it was recorded using professional equipment at the music store, completely different from the first three songs he had recorded at home with his crappy phone.
William planned to re-record the original three songs one day—partly to improve the game experience, and partly to make more money.
But the traffic revenue from update packages was different from the main game. It was only half, meaning a 10MB download earned him only five cents.
The platform's commission, however, stayed the same—between 2% and 5%.
After thoroughly testing the new mode and making sure everything worked, William set a timer for the update to go live.
He walked out of his room and saw a warm, cozy scene of the family together.
Jenny sat between Aunt Lisa and Uncle Zach. Aunt Lisa was holding Jenny by the waist and leaning against Uncle Zach.
Aunt Lisa glanced at William and said, half-annoyed, "Took you long enough."
William just gave a sheepish smile without saying anything.
Jenny slipped away from her parents and ran over to hold William's hand.
He sat down with Jenny on the couch, and Aunt Lisa and Uncle Zach went back to enjoying their couple time.
The TV was showing the girl who played the guzheng—the one William had seen earlier that day at the music store. Judging by the time, the show had been on for over twenty minutes. It should be nearing the end.
"It's coming, it's coming!" Aunt Lisa suddenly pulled away from Uncle Zach, sat cross-legged, and leaned forward excitedly.
Dun.
As the first piano note played, Aunt Lisa—who had heard it live—shouted the name without hesitation: "Canon in D!"
On TV, William's face was hidden behind the piano, giving off a mysterious vibe. It also made the audience focus more on the music than the pianist's hand movements.
Aunt Lisa was fully immersed, and so was Uncle Zach.
Jenny closed her eyes, her brows tightly furrowed, trying really hard to grasp emotions she didn't quite understand. But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't do it.
"Brother William, can you teach me how to play this?"
"Yeah."
"Then it's a promise!"
William affectionately patted her head, thinking that once the show finished airing, the scheduled game update would go live too.
After listening to his own performance, he didn't even wait for Aunt Lisa and Uncle Zach to shower him with praise. He made an excuse and slipped away.
What William wanted most now was to see how players reacted to the new mode. So he opened the comment section of Piano Tiles and sorted it by newest.
"Oh. My. God. What did I just update into?"
"This is the seventh time I've opened and closed the game today, and surprise! A new update! The new mode is awesome! Mom won't worry about me raging at this game anymore!"
"New mode? Just the developer's pity for weaklings, that's all."
"What kind of hidden gem is this music???"
"Guys, I wanna fall in love. Even online is fine."
"Count me in on that love talk."
"This song is so beautiful. I'm definitely using it as background music at my wedding."
…
Every single comment was positive.
Looks like people really liked the new mode. Now the question was—can this hype boost downloads?