Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary!

Chapter 304: I’m not a therapist [1]

”...Thank you all for coming.”

I looked at the three figures standing before me. Each wore a suit, but given the wrinkles on it, and how one was too large, and the other was too small, I knew that they had most likely come with their old suits.

That didn’t really matter to me.

I wasn’t the type to care for this type of stuff.

”Sit down for now. If you wish to get a drink, you can do so. I suggest you don’t pick the Kyle special. I’m just here to talk with you about the terms of the contracts that I’m about to offer you, and what I expect from you.”

Noah, Ryan, and Joseph.

These were the names of the three employees that I planned on hiring.

After some back-and-forth, I convinced them to meet with me to discuss the possibility of working full-time under my employment. Given how well they had done in the past, I felt that they were the right people for the job.

”Ehm.”

I cleared my throat before taking a stack of papers out and laying them on the wooden table.

”I’ll keep this brief. I’ve reviewed all of your résumés, and I believe you three are the right fit, especially after seeing how well you worked together in the previous game. Because of that, I’m offering each of you a fixed starting salary of $10,000 per year, along with a bonus proportional to the sales of the game we develop.”

As an old corporate slave, I understood just how hard this industry was.

I also understood the standard salary for those who worked in this industry, which was around 2,000$.

I was now offering them five times that.

’The happier they are, the better they’ll work.’

The little performance boost was an extra incentive to have them work to the bon—well. To work well.

”.....”

”.....”

”.....”

What followed my words was an odd silence, broken only by the hiss of coffee brewing and the low murmur of background chatter.

Seeing them so silent, I frowned.

Was my offer too small? Did someone scout them before and offer them more?

’Now that I think about it, with the success of my previous game, they most likely must’ve received an offer from some serious gaming companies. In that case, should I increase my offer?’

Just when I thought I had to change the terms of the contract, a shaky voice broke me out of my thoughts.

”T.. this is serious, right?”

I turned to the one who had spoken. With ginger hair and freckles scattered across his face, Noah lowered the contract in his hand and fixed his eyes on me. One glance was enough to see he was utterly shocked.

The other two also wore similar expressions.

I looked between the three of them and understood.

’No, it doesn’t look like they got a better offer. The opposite. They’re probably shocked by my offer.’

It was indeed a good one.

”Yes, this is serious. If you don’t believe me, then you can try hiring a lawyer. I’m currently being sponsored by the Severed Stars Guild, so if you have any doubts with regards to me, you can talk to them directly.”

The good thing about the Guild backing me was the fact that it made my offer a lot more credible.

I made sure to highlight this in the contract.

”For now, the three of you will be my only employees. You won’t have to do much, and you can even work remotely if you wish. I also have all of the equipment ready and have a studio that is being set up. I’m rather flexible with this type of stuff, so just tell me how you want things to work, and I’ll arrange it.”

To me, how much someone worked was irrelevant.

I only expected results.

Even if they were slacking around the entire time, or even went on vacation for several months, so long as they accomplished the desired task, I was fine with them doing whatever they wanted.

I’d seen it too many times...

Programmers pushed to work beyond their limits, leading to countless errors in the script and hours wasted tracking them down and fixing them.

I didn’t want to waste time repeating the same mistakes.

”I’ll repeat this again. So long as all of you achieve results, you can do whatever you want. Develop your own game? Feel free to use any of the equipment in the studio. Exercise? Even better. Just do whatever you want. I only want results.”

I pressed my hand onto the table and slowly stood up.

I had said everything that I wanted to say.

”Look over the contract carefully and then come back to me. I’ll show you the studio further down the line. It’s still in the development phase right now.”

Thinking about the studio, I started to feel a little excited myself. There were a lot of things that I wanted to do with it. From the dedicated music area to the main development area. I could already imagine the studio turning into a game-making machine.

Of course, that was way further down the line.

For now, I needed to get employees.

”I hope to receive a positive answer from the three of you.”

I took my leave after that.

***

After Seth’s departure, the café fell into silence. None of the three spoke a word as they stared at the contracts before them, their faces frozen in disbelief.

It took a while for them to recover as Noah tapped on Ryan and Joseph’s legs.

”...!?”

”...Huh!”

It was only then that the two snapped out of it as they stared at the documents in front of them.

Swallowing silently, Ryan adjusted his messy hair as his eyes once again swept over the contract.

”This is real, right?”

”...I think so.”

Joseph relied, swallowing hard.

This all felt like a dream to him. Not just him, but the three of them. The game they had worked on had only been released recently, and yet, for almost an entire month, it trended throughout the entire island.

Especially when the multiplayer feature was released. The game reached the peak of popularity within the island, with teens and even members from other Guilds playing the game with each other.

Outside of the scare factor, the game had another factor that drew a lot of customers.

...It was funny.

Playing the game and watching their teammates leap into the air generated countless entertaining clips, which only boosted its popularity even more.

The three benefited quite a lot from the game.

They had all received lucrative offers from rather famous studios. In particular, Nightmare Forge Studios, one of the most powerful and important studios on the island.

And yet—

Their offered paled in comparison to the one before them.

Not only was the salary better, but the freedom that they were provided was something that no other company provided.

This contract...

No, this opportunity.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime!

Especially since they were aware of the person who had presented the offer to them. While still not big within the space, Seth Thorne had slowly and steadily built up some reputation within the gaming space.

With three back-to-back successes, he was starting to develop a cult following.

He didn’t seem to be aware of it, but his reputation within the circle was growing with each passing day.

Just thinking about what his next game could be made the hearts of the three developers palpitate with excitement.

”Let me send this to my lawyer.”

”I’ll do the same.”

”If there’s nothing wrong, let’s sign this.”

The three got to work.

Standing up, they hurriedly phoned up their lawyers.