"Sarah is calling me. This late," Jack muttered, reading the caller ID.
"Don't pick up…" Gal muttered in his sleep.
Jack frowned as he felt unnerved. His palms become sweaty as memories of his ghost encounter flash through his head.
"Sigh, I'm being paranoid. What are the chances that this is a ghost? The last ghost came through my TV." Jack thought to himself and looked at everyone else. At this point, they were too drunk to do anything.
So he answered the call.
"Hello?" Jack put his phone to his ear and greeted Sarah, expecting an answer.
"Hester," Sarah breathed out a sigh of relief.
"What's up?"
"I think I messed up," Sarah said as a heart-wrenching scream came from the background.
Jack's heart skipped a beat. He turned to Gal and saw that he was peacefully sleeping. Snoring like it was the end of the world.
"What's going on? What happened? Are you in any danger?" Jack asked hastily.
Sarah's lips twitched when she saw the collapsed bodies. Their twitching fingers and deathly pale faces made it look like they were Pale Zombies.
"On a better note, I think I got you a lot more players." Sarah brightly smiled.
"And a lot of money."
To understand what she meant, you'd have to go back two hours earlier.
"Geez, why is the fourth floor so packed?" Sarah said, flabbergasted.
She stared at the thick crowd of students who slowly made their way out of the elevator. The chatter on this floor was even louder than in the lobby, which was crazy.
Even Starn and Izak were stunned by how packed it was. They knew this floor would be popular, but they didn't think it would be like this.
This was more like a game convention than a college party.
A dream come true!
Starn clenched his fist as he knew that this was his chance to get his game out there.
"So many people. How will we get to the main hall and put on our games?" Betty asked with a frown.
"Oh yeah! The spots are filled out by now. Not to mention, there is definitely a long line of game developers wanting to show off their games." Izak's eyes widened from realization.
This was a grand opportunity, but how would they capitalize on it if they had to wait hours before they showed off? By then, the party would be over.
"You're right," Starn said with less pep in his step.
"Come on, guys, we can't lose hope. If there is a line, we have three beautiful girls, so I'm sure we can cut the line." Sarah said half-jokingly, causing everyone to roll their eyes.
But her joke restarted the fire in their hearts. Unfortunately, Gloria spotted something that made her frown.
"It seems that we are too late," Gloria said as she pointed toward a sign.
"I don't think they allow people to show off their games in the main hall anymore."
The sign was slapped on a glass window that led into a dorm classroom that had been cleared. The tables were neatly stacked to the sides of the room, and several large flatscreen monitors were placed around the room.
Inside, you could see a crowd of students circling the monitors like flies to a fire. Each monitor played different games at various development stages.
Sarah, Betty, Starn, and Izak turned to see where Gloria was pointing. Unfortunately, Izak couldn't see past the crowd, even standing on his tippy toes.
"2D Platformer Games Play Here…Reward for best game of the night 3000 dollars." Betty read out loud.
"Is this some type of tournament?" Sarah muttered as her eyebrows scrunched.
If everyone wasn't allowed to put on any game in the main hall anymore, and this was the only place available, how was she supposed to show off Windor's Siege?
Although the game made her blood pressure shoot up like she was exercising at the end of the day, the game wasn't a platformer. She couldn't register it.
"Look, there are other tournaments in the other classrooms. The prizes are crazy, too." Betty pointed out with shock.
Each had crowds of people rushing inside them to play the games inside. Each classroom had different signs that showed off their game categories.
The others quickly caught on to what was happening.
Sarah's eyes eagerly scanned the signs and froze.
"3D Dating Sims, a reward of 2000, First Person Shooters a reward of 6000, VR Horror… a reward of 10000 dollars." Sarah sucked in a cold breath.
Her brain was tingling from the outrageous amount of money these quick set-up tournaments offered. She was confident that they would win if she could register Windor's Siege in one.
This game was addictive. If Betty, Gloria, and her, who all hated gore, were addicted to playing Windor's Siege, they would eat this all up if she found the right crowd.
"Hester, I'm really the best investor in the world." Sarah cheerfully thought to herself.
She could feel her heart racing as she realized that the possibility that Hester's game was gaining traction was way higher than they thought.
If it went viral, when they published it, it would immediately enter the charts and enter a beautiful cycle.
Their high school dream of creating a game studio would have a chance of becoming a reality.
She felt excited.
"Betty, look for a category in which Hester's game could register." Sarah, with excitement, her shining crimson eyes scanning the dorm classrooms.
"I know, I'm already looking," Betty answered.
After their group figured out the situation, they quickly searched for rooms. As classrooms inside a dorm, there weren't many classrooms. Only about six classrooms.
But as they reached the last room, Sarah and Betty glanced at each other with worry.
They couldn't find the category for a game like Windor's Siege.
How would she show off the game if there wasn't a category?
Luckily, the other inspiring game developer, Starn, eventually found the proper category.
"VR Platformer…thank goodness. I nearly had a heart attack." Starn breathed a sigh of relief.
Izak nodded his head. He was also relieved that their hard work could be shown off to the world.
It would be depressing if they couldn't after all this work.
"If we can get first place, we will win five grand. Hahaha, the world is looking out for us." Izak laughed heartily.
"Speak for yourself," Gloria said with a frown.
"Sarah is looking for a room for her friend's game, but there doesn't seem to be a 2D puzzle game category." Gloria pointed out, which made Izak and Starn turn red from embarrassment.
"Sorry for being inconsiderate," Starn said in an apologetic tone.
Sarah softly sighed, clearly deflated, but she didn't want to bring down the mood any more than it already had. So, she smiled and waved her hand.
"Don't worry about it. It sucks, but there is nothing we can do about it. Maybe it will come up later in the night." Sarah said.
"I can see that. But why don't we try the VR Horror category?" Betty said, trying not to give up hope.
"But it isn't horror?" Sarah replied with puzzlement.
Betty stared at Sarah and slowly blinked.
Betty grabbed Sarah's shoulders, "Really?"
"That game is so disgusting with the graphics, even in 2D. If it's played in VR, I can't imagine…" Betty's face paled before gagging.
She almost vomited at the thought.
"Holy shit, you're right," Sarah said with realization, which confused Gloria.
From what she knew, Windor's Siege was a regular 2D tower defense game like Plants vs. Zombies. Why would they think about registering in the VR Horror category?
It's disgusting and horrifying, yes, but it isn't VR-compatible.
"Isn't the VR part of the problem now?" Gloria asked with visible confusion.
Sarah shook her head vigorously. A prideful grin appeared on her face.
"Nope! Hester made the game VR compatible completely from the very beginning."
Sarah's grin grew wider as she rubbed her hands like a supervillain. She could already imagine what would happen as the hyper-realistic Zombies approached the players.
Even surrounded by walls and sentient plants wouldn't make them feel safe as they waited for the day the zombies eventually broke through. God, she couldn't wait to see it.
"Hehehe, VR Horror it is." Sarah licked her lips as she evilly chuckled.
Starn and Izak once again look at each other with puzzlement. They couldn't figure out which part of this they should ask about.
But they both came to the same conclusion after seeing Sarah's evil grin.
"We'll register our game first. Let us know if you get registered successfully. Gloria, are you coming?" Izak asked, bouncing up and down as if he was a spring.
Gloria awkwardly scratched her cheek as she said, "I'm thinking I'll stick with the girls. Although, what I'm about to see will ruin my appetite for next week. I can't help but want to see it."
"You girls are evil," Starn said as he secretly felt irritated.
He wanted to show off his masterpiece and boast about it, but how would he do that if most of his friends weren't there?
"Have fun. Send us a video of their reaction if we can't make it." Izak said eagerly.
He was already returning to the room they needed to register for before finishing his sentence.
"Starn, let's go! If we don't hurry up, we might miss this opportunity." Izak yelled, already vanishing into the crowd of students.
"Coming," Starn said and anxiously followed.
Watching Starn and Izak leaving, Sarah, Betty, and Gloria glanced at each other without speaking, a mischievous grin spread across their beautiful faces.
If anyone looked at them at that moment, they would have thought they were evil witches about to spread doom to the entire school.
And maybe they were.