One hour passed. In the virtual workspace of Round Table Studios, the silence of the forums was deafening. No new threads. No frantic posts. No screenshots of the hidden clue.
"Alright," Arthur clapped his hands. "It hurts my feelings and my savings to see you guys happy that my bet was wrong."
"You had too much belief in the player, Arthur," Logan teased, leaning back in his chair. "Gamers are smart, but they aren't psychics."
Arthur chuckled. "Alright, alright. It seems my players have let me down."
In his mind, however, Dorian thought, 'Good.' He didn't actually want to win the betting pool. The camaraderie, the shared laughter at his expense, that was the real win. It solidified the team.
"Alright, let's wrap up today's work," Arthur announced. "Good work today, everyone. Any questions before we log off?"
"Oh, Arthur," Kasavin piped up. "About the physical studio... will it be in Sela? If it is, I've found some cheap commercial rent around its system."
"You did?" Lin Liseli asked, her eyes lighting up. "Share it, Mister!"
"No, no," Arthur interjected smoothly. "Sela is the center of entertainment, yes. A planet-sized Hollywood. But that's not for us."
The team looked confused. "Hollywood? Never heard such a thing."
Arthur coughed, refocusing. "Ahem. Right. What I mean is... our base of operations will be in Friton."
"Friton?" the team echoed in unison.
Bem Lendu adjusted his glasses and pulled up a galactic map chart. He scanned the sectors. "Found it. A newly stabilized planet, huh? Outer-Mid Rim border."
"How long has it been stabilized?" Logan asked, looking skeptical.
"Hmmm, about 200 years ago," Bem reported.
"Uuuww," Liseli shivered. "That hasn't been that long, Arthur. Are you sure it's safe? The terraforming could still have some flaws."
Arthur leaned back in his chair, exuding confidence. "It's safe. I'm confident because I live here. The air is clean, the gravity is stable, and the rent is... effectively zero because I own the land."
The team felt reassured by his tone.
"We will provide living expenses for the first quarter of us using the studio," Arthur continued. "For now, it's still being built, so just slowly sort things out on your end. Pack your bags, say your goodbyes."
The team nodded. "We will contact you if any complications arise."
"That's what I want to hear."
One by one, the holograms winked out.
As the last connection severed, Dorian sighed, pulling off his headset. He stood up in his Friton home studio and threw a small holographic puck onto the floor.
Hummmm.
A 3D projection of Planet Friton lit up the room. A small golden dot glowed on the surface, his house and the surrounding farm. Then, across the planet's surface, another light blinked into existence.
It was the new studio. The foundation was laid, and the design, courtesy of Marcus's unexpectedly brilliant architectural sketches, was taking shape. It was sleek, modern, yet integrated into the landscape.
"The problem is the network," Dorian muttered, pacing around the hologram.
For now, his home network was secure, bolstered by Leo's custom encryption. But a full studio? With multiple employees and heavy data traffic? He needed to tighten the security several times over. He didn't know what his Gacha system would bring next.
The fact that he hadn't found the "Mastery Cave" the Gacha had supposedly materialized somewhere in the universe was a constant, low-level anxiety. His plan to develop a Dark Souls game had been halted indefinitely. He feared that the Gacha might materialize the actual monsters from the game, just as it had the Junimos.
Hades was risky enough. Bringing Greek myths to life was one thing; bringing Eldritch horrors or hollowed knights was another.
He tapped his profile on the system interface.
[Profile: Farmer of the Past]
He selected it. His form shimmered, shifting from his body back to his "Farmer" look, tan skin, messy brown hair, blue eyes. He looked in the mirror.
"Bepoo," he whispered to his reflection. "Should I reveal my power to my family now? They already saw the Junimos. The veil is thinning."
…
Several days later, on a peaceful, suburban planet in one of the Mid-Rim sectors, a familiar scene of domestic chaos unfolded.
A young boy burst through the front door of his family's home, his school uniform slightly disheveled. He sprinted down the hallway, shouting a quick "I'm home!" before disappearing into his room.
He flung his heavy school bag onto his bed with a thump and tossed his jacket onto the floor in a crumpled heap.
"Junior!" his mother's voice rang out from the kitchen. "Pick up that jacket and put your bag away properly!"
Junior grabbed his heliopad from his desk, already turning it on. "Later, Mom!"
"JUNIOR ORYN LYN! PICK UP THAT JACKET!"
His father, sitting in the living room reading a news feed, chuckled softly. "Just pick it up, son. Save yourself the headache."
Junior sighed, a dramatic sound of immense suffering. He put the heliopad down for a second, picked up the jacket, and hung it crookedly in the closet.
His mother walked past his room a moment later, peering in. She saw the bag on the hook and the jacket hanging. The room was still a mess of toys and clothes, but the mandate had been fulfilled.
"Put that heliopad down and clean your room properly," she tried, though her tone had softened.
"Come on, Mom!" Junior groaned, flopping back onto the mattress. "I just got back from school! I'm tired!"
His dad walked up behind his mom, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Come on, honey. Let him rest for a bit. He finished his exams yesterday." He pushed her gently toward the living room, trying to coax her away.
She huffed, looking at him with mock annoyance. "Oh, you're taking his side now?"
"Now, now," the dad soothed. "How about you rest and let me help with the chores today?"
Junior grinned as his parents walked away, the sounds of their playful bickering fading down the hall. He was free.
He hyped himself up and focused back on his heliopad. The outside world blurred away as the familiar, comforting pixel art of Stardew Valley filled the screen.
He looked around his virtual farm. It wasn't the vanilla game anymore. The mods he had installed, these creative miracles made by people in the forum had been a game-changer. He felt like he had bought Stardew Valley once, but through the mods, he was enjoying a hundred different games. He had a mod that turned the farm into a space station, another that let him marry the modded female Wizard, and one that turned all the cows into miniature dinosaurs.
He looked at his mod list. 'All of them played. Nothing new.'
"Hmmm," Junior muttered. "Should I download more?"
He navigated to the Stardew Valley community forum. As usual, it was bustling with activity. People were posting fan art of Abigail, debating the best crop for Fall, and sharing layout designs.
As he browsed, a new post popped up near the top of the "Hot" section. It had a simple screen capture of the game but an intriguing title:
DO I FOUND NEW EVENT?!
The description read: "Hey guys, so I was doing my usual fishing routine to hunt for the legendary Crimsonfish at the beach. But instead of the fish, I encountered... this sparkling swan thing? Has anyone seen this?"
Junior sat up straight. "Whoa. That's new."
He tapped the video attached to the post. The holographic screen expanded, filling his view with a playback of a small-time Stellarcaster named "RetroRogue."
The VOD started mid-stream. RetroRogue was fishing in the mountain lake, looking bored. He glanced at the chat, grinning mischievously. "Should I get a mod to make all the fish in the pond legendary? Save us some time?"
The chat on the side of the screen burst into a flurry of red text.
: BOOO
: Lame
: Noob caster!
: Cheater!
RetroRogue laughed, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Whoa, whoa! Relax! It's my second save file, chat. My first save file is already 100% everything. Perfection achieved."
: Show us
: No proof mean hoax
: Im rebelling
: Where is your first save file?
RetroRogue leaned into the mic, his face deadpan. "In your mom's."
He laughed hard at his own joke, slapping his knee. The chat instantly flipped.
: DAMN
: lol
: Burn
: He got your ass there lol
: RIP user77
But then, the laughter cut short.
ZZZT.
A spark of blue lightning crackled in the middle of the peaceful pixelated pond.
"Whoa," RetroRogue said, his smile vanishing. He leaned closer to his monitor.
The chat froze, then scrolled wildly.
: ???
: What was that?
: Visual bug?
: Ayo?!?
RetroRogue reeled in his empty line. He moved his character closer to the edge of the water. "Did you guys see that? It looked like..."
Then he saw it. A swan. This one was majestic, white, and surrounded by a crackling aura of static electricity. It swam gracefully toward the shore, right up to where the player stood.
As it got close, an interaction button popped up over its head.
RetroRogue clicked it.
A speech bubble burst out, the text shaking violently: "GET OUT OF MY DIVINE SIGHT!"
CRACK.
The screen flashed white. When it faded back in, RetroRogue's character was lying in his farmhouse bed. The morning rooster crowed. He had passed out instantly.
RetroRogue sat in silence for a full ten seconds, his mouth hanging open.
: ???
: What was that?
: What did you do?!
: Lightning Swan!?!
The clip ended with RetroRogue frantically opening his file menu to prove to the chat that he had zero mods installed.
"Whoa," Junior whispered, sitting up on his bed. "There is an event like this? But how?"
He scrolled down to the comments section. It was chaos.
: How did the event trigger?
: Yoo I never encounter this in my 500 hours save file!
: Why is there sparks of lighting in the swan? That's not normal Stardew lore.
RetroRogue, clearly overwhelmed by the sudden viral fame of his clip, had only replied to a few comments: I don't know! But all I did that day is in my channel history. The full VOD is already uploaded.
Junior muttered, "He really uploaded the full VOD?"
He clicked over to the channel. There it was. "Chill Fishing Stream - Road to Legend."
Duration: 10:14:22.
Junior's eyes went wide. "Ten hours?! There is no way I am watching ten hours of content just to see how to trigger it."
He slumped back. "I'll just let the forum simmer with it. Sooner or later, some speedrunner or forum admin will figure it out and give us the guide."
He started to close the app. He looked at the clock on his wall. It was barely evening. He looked back at the VOD.
He rationalized it in his head. 'If I wait, I'm just a follower. But if I find it... I'm a pioneer.'
"Aaagggrrhh, fine!" Junior groaned, sitting up and cracking his knuckles. "But I will find it first."
He tapped the screen, scrubbing the timeline. He decided to skim through the VOD, looking for anything unusual, specific crops harvested, specific clothes worn, specific paths taken.
Junior wasn't the only one. Across the galaxy, millions of players began to scramble. Couples playing co-op dragged their spouses to the mountain lake. Lore-hunters played alongside the VOD, mimicking every step RetroRogue took.
Stardew Valley was trending #1 in the gaming community once again, and the hunt for the "Divine Swan" had officially begun.
…
The Stardew community was buzzing with an enthusiasm that bordered on mania. The discovery of the "Divine Swan" event had ignited a firestorm of speculation and experimentation.
At one point, a dedicated speedrunner named FramePerfect managed to recreate the encounter by meticulously copying RetroRogue's inputs frame-by-frame. The chat cheered as the swan appeared, crackling with its electric aura. But when he interacted with it, the result was disappointingly identical: "GET OUT OF MY DIVINE SIGHT!" followed by an immediate blackout. There was no further event. It was a dead end.
The forum threads grew despondent. "Is it just a troll event?" "Maybe it's random RNG?" "Is the dev just updating small encounters to keep the game alive without real substance?"
Until one player decided to change the perspective.
Her handle was LoreSeeker_Yna. She wasn't a speedrunner or a combat expert; she was a librarian in real life who scoured every nook and cranny of the game for dialogue and hidden text. She read the guide RetroRogue had inadvertently created, and she noticed something. The swan's dialogue was hostile.
'Why would a 'Divine' being reject a player?' she wondered. Maybe it's not about what you do, but who you are.
She decided to test it on her own main save file. She followed the steps: mountain lake, rainy day, fishing near the logs.
As she cast her line, the spark appeared. The swan swam closer. Yna held her breath, debating whether to record it since there were already countless videos of the rejection. She decided to hit record anyway.
She clicked the interaction button.
This time, the swan didn't shout. Instead, a new speech bubble appeared, the text elegant and flowing:
"Humph. You are worthy of my blessing."
Yna gasped. A choice menu popped up:
[TAKE FEATHER] [LEAVE IT]
She chose [TAKE FEATHER].
The swan sprite did a little smug animation, puffing its chest out. "May the blessing of Zeus guide you."
Then, it flew away into the sky, leaving a trail of sparks.
"What the..." Yna whispered to her empty room. "Who is Zeus? Is that a god of the Yoba religion in the game? Or something new?"
Her screen flashed white, and her avatar passed out. But when she woke up the next day in her farmhouse, there was something different. Sitting on her bedside table was a new item: [Blessed Feather].
She hurriedly saved her game in a different slot to preserve the timeline, then uploaded her recording to the forum with the title: "I FOUND THE KEY! HE DIDN'T REJECT ME!"
The forum exploded.
: "WAIT. Why did it work for her?! I have 100% completion too!"
: "Is it because her avatar is a girl? RetroRogue plays a male character."
: "I tried on a fresh save file with a female avatar. Still got the 'GET OUT' message. It's not just gender."
The speculation ran wild. Players began comparing their stats, their inventory, their relationships.
: "Guys... wait. I noticed something. RetroRogue is single in his game. I... well, I married Sebastian in mine. Maybe that's it?"
: "On it. Loading my save. Female avatar. Married to Elliott. One sec."
Five minutes later.
: "HOLY SHIT. IT WORKED. I GOT THE FEATHER."
The confirmation flooded in. Female avatar. Married. Those were the conditions.
But as the excitement settled, the conversation delved deeper into the why.
: "Okay, so you need to be a wife to get a feather from a swan that mentions 'Zeus'? Guys... do any of you know your pre-Accord history?"
: "Who is Zeus? I've played 500 hours, read every book in the library. This name has NEVER appeared in the game before. Is he the God of Lightning Swans? God of Swans? God of Lightning? Or just a new NPC?"
: "The dev is up to something... and I love it."
There were too many questions, and the Stardew Valley community felt like they were standing on the edge of a map they didn't know how to read.
…
Inside the home studio, the atmosphere was electric with victory. Dorian stood in the center of the holographic call, surrounded by his team. He tapped a small 3D puck on his desk.
ZING.
A golden, holographic trophy materialized in the center of the virtual meeting room. It spun slowly, the name LOGAN KIM etched into the base in shimmering letters.
"The winner of the bet is Logan!!" Arthur announced, mimicking a game show host's enthusiasm.
The team erupted in cheers and claps.
"Congrats, Logan!" Kasavin shouted, raising a virtual thumbs-up.
"Haaahh," Bem Lendu sighed, shaking his head. "I was way off. I thought they would need at least two weeks."
Ross Dalle let out a mock sob. "You were still closer than me, Bem. I bet twenty-five days. I underestimated the hive mind."
"Our players are really enthusiastic, it seems," Lin Liseli said, her holo beaming.
"They sure do," Arthur agreed, a proud smile hidden in his voice. "They discovered that clue faster than I anticipated."
"We need to speed up the mod pack, it seems," Logan said, accepting his virtual trophy. "If they solve the next clues this fast, the content drought will hit before Hades is ready."
Bem Lendu chuckled. "It will be finished in five days. Don't worry, there are more clues until the mod pack is fully unveiled. We have time."
"Alright guys," Arthur said, his tone shifting to professional focus. "This is it. Bug fixes will be me, Logan, and Bem."
Logan and Bem nodded, their Compadres hovering nearby, ready to dive into the code.
"Dalle," Arthur continued. "I want you and Liseli in charge of the trailer, the trailer is the prize for the community. Make it grand."
"On it," Dalle said, already pulling up sound files.
"And Mr. Kasavin," Arthur said, turning to the writer. "This is the path where we start officially interacting more with our community. Ready the dev account on the forum. Announce that the first clue was found and congratulate the players. But more importantly... I want you to note down the specific people who found the clue. I want them to be the first few who have the privilege to play the Hades alpha test."
Kasavin adjusted his glasses, a grin spreading across his face. "On it, Arthur. They will lose their minds."
"This is it, guys," Arthur said, feeling a surge of adrenaline. "The day of launching is near. I know you are all excited by this. So am I. Let's do our best!"
The team cheered, their voices echoing in the digital space, ready to unleash the Underworld upon the galaxy.
⋘ 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂.. .⋙
🎮:
- Stardwey Valley: Completed.
- Hades: 78%██████▒▒▒
🎬: -
♬:
- Your Song – Elton John (ch.9)
- A Lovely Night – La La Land (ch.20)
- Merry Go Round of Life – Howl's Moving Castle (ch.25)
- Small Fragile Hearts – Victor Lundberg (ch. 27)
- Skyfall – Adele (ch. 29)
- No Time To Die – Billie Eilish (ch. 30)
- Yesterday – The Beatles (ch. 32)
- Lovely – Billie Eilish, Khalid (ch. 47)
**A/N**
~Read Advance Chapter and Support me on [email protected]/SmilinKujo~
~🧣KujoW
**A/N**