—Nah bro, wtf was that

  —Yeah, that’s not human. Turn off the aimbot, loser

  —Why did they unban this POS

  —Okay I wasn’t sure before, but he’s definitely hacking lol

  —Presence is requested in Starling City

  —Okay even with hacks, that was really impressive

  —Came here from GamesWatch, was not disappointed

  Max read through the chat comments with a troubled face. Although he’d expected some hate comments from people who still thought he was hacking, he didn’t think there would be nearly thirty thousand of them!

  “GamesWatch? Did you guys come here from a video?” he asked.

  —Bro

  —This guy, acting like he doesn’t know anything hahaha

  —LMAO ICANT

  —Top-level trolling XD

  —Virtek shareholders crying rn

  —LOL

  —Next video title: “Gun’s WW3 Speedrun (Current World Record)”

  —KEKW

  —If he actually doesn’t know, then that’s peak comedy

  —Here: [Link]

  Finding a link in chat, Max attempted to load the video they were talking about.

  “Never gonna give you u–”

  Closing the tab, Max used someone else’s link instead.

  “Hi everyone! Welcome back to Gameswatch!” A well-dressed woman appeared at a news desk, her voice energetic and boisterous. “This episode just so happens to continue off from what we discussed at the end of yesterday’s broadcast – the mysterious red archer, Gun!” An image of Max appeared on the screen behind her, tipping his hat at the camera.

  Max cringed. ‘Mysterious red archer? Why am I being called mysterious when I’m literally livestreaming my gameplay? …If someone calls me that in-game, I’ll shoot them.’

  “For those who didn’t see yesterday’s broadcast, he is an archer-player who has been performing extremely well in World of Heroes, to the point that his game account was suspended last night after being mass-reported by his own livestream viewers. Today, we will be talking about the incredible knock-on effects of that suspension, which snowballed into worldwide chaos!”

  ‘…Wait, what?’

  “After Gun’s suspension, which was made on the grounds of suspected hacks, investor confidence collapsed on the spot, with widespread doubt as to the integrity of Virtek systems. In fact, since trading hours opened this morning, Virtek shares have already tanked a whopping seven percent and are still falling! If Virtek technology is truly compromised, then there is believed to not only be huge cybersecurity issues, but serious concerns about DIVE manufacturing knowledge leaking to foreign nations.”

  “…”

  Dubious of the claims being made, Max opened a tab to check Virtek’s current share price.

  [Virtek Industries (▼12%)]

  ‘D-down twelve percent?!’

  The caster continued, “Despite this, many so-called ‘experts’ are claiming that this decrease is due to the company being overvalued prior to the launch of World of Heroes and is therefore only a market correction. They might be convincing, if not for the fact that diplomatic tensions are FLARING this morning! Already, India, Japan and Saudi Arabia have issued formal demands for an explanation from the U.S. government, concerned that their classified military data could be under threat. According to multiple sources, all three nations use imported DIVE systems in their training drills, meaning that if the breach is genuine, their defence capabilities could soon be exposed!”

  “Wha-?!”

  “Although Virtek belatedly released a statement this morning, citing an administrative error as the cause for the suspension and vehemently denying any possibility of security risks, doubts still remain on the truth of the matter. It seems that a lot will rest on whether Gun is proved as an actual hacker in the coming days. For now, we will look at what famous streamer ‘Lemonade’ – acquainted with Gun – had to say following the suspension. This was posted on his Instagram account last night; I will read it aloud for our audience to hear: ‘Dear Virtek. Our great friend and comrade, Gun, has been unjustly holstered–’”

  ‘…Alright.’ Calming himself down, Max paused the video and saved it to a playlist, planning to watch it later. Since the program was an hour long, it felt inappropriate to watch it when nearly thirty thousand people were on his livestream. ‘For now, I need to defuse the situation…’

  Originally, Max had hoped to take advantage of the whole ‘hacker’ drama to get some free publicity, but he had never expected things to escalate this far. Since the situation was like this, he would do his best to prove his innocence. Otherwise, he could be taken in for questioning, or worse, if people became fully convinced he was hacking, the raid on his house that Rone joked about could become a reality, putting Lina in harm’s way.

  “Chat… if you were in my situation, how would you prove you weren’t hacking?”

  He waited a few seconds for responses to appear.

  —Prove the sky isn’t blue?

  —Actual good question

  —Shoot an inanimate object? No, those trial targets were inanimate… Idk then

  —Hmm…

  —I guess you could release your VODS?

  —Chatters using all 0.5 of their braincells lol

  Slowly, more thought-out answers began to trickle in.

  —Draw an infinity sign in the air with your bow before you release the arrow each time

  —Shoot a perfect shot and then quickly miss something else

  —Yell “I’m a virgin!” while shooting so we know ur not using NPC control

  —Submit yourself to comprehensive PP (Personal Property) inspection

  —Break out dancing in the middle of a fight – preferably moonwalking

  —I’ve got it! – Use your connections as the game CEO’s son to bribe the media into claiming you’re innocent!

  Most of the responses seemed only half-serious. Max’s eyes scanned the panel.

  —You could do an irl stream – since it’s DIVE, a player’s raw skills should transfer to real life

  ‘An IRL stream – that would be the only conclusive thing…’ Max deliberated, ‘But that would mean doxxing myself, wouldn’t it?’

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  ‘Doxxing’ was when private information about a person was posted online, making it possible for them to become a target of harassment or violence in real life.

  ‘I guess I already used my face for my game avatar, it wouldn’t really… No, if I expose my location, it could put Lina at risk.’ Max frowned. ‘Damn, I should never have used my real face to start with…’ He regretted his past decision. Initially, he’d never planned on becoming a streamer, so he hadn’t even considered he might need to hide his face. ‘…A real-life stream will need to be a last resort.’

  Storing the other chatters’ suggestions in his mind, he returned to the task at hand. Right now, Derek was probably waiting for him at the city’s auction house.

  Closing the chat, he glimpsed one more answer before the panel disappeared.

  —I know, why don’t you try clearing a seemingly impossible class trial with inhuman aim and reaction speed?

  “Ugh.”

  Max hoped that whoever suspended his account was being disciplined for it right now.

  …

  …

  Clyde clicked away from Gun’s stream tab, frowning.

  “‘It’s good that he came online, since it proves his suspension was lifted, but…’ He recalled the archer’s unbelievable performance during the class trial. 'Was he trying to spite us for not compensating him after the suspension? It’s like he’s trying as hard as he possibly can to paint himself as a hacker.’

  He sighed, rubbing his forehead. ‘Regardless, there’s still the matter of the trial itself.’

  Turning around, he called out to one of his coworkers, “Dinah, you were watching that, right? What do you think?”

  Kicking out from her desk in a swivel chair, a girl with twin ponytails responded, “I think he’s crazy good. Even if the company denies it, I think it’s more likely for the guy to be hacking than to be genuinely capable of that.”

  “No, I meant what do you think about the trial? Is it too unreasonable?”

  “Oh… You’re asking because of the email from this morning, right? About the dev team screwing up super bad again?”

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  During the previous morning, the balance team received an internal email which notified them that the wrong version of the archer class acquisition test had been implemented at the game’s launch. Instead of the revised, easier version constructed after beta-testing, the unrevised, difficult one was mistakenly used.

  Only half a day after this issue was patched, a follow-up email came through, reporting that the mistaken implementation was not limited only to the class acquisition test.

  “I can’t believe they put the wrong version for all ten archer trials! Seriously, how incompetent can those guys be?!” Dinah huffed. “This company’s seriously becoming a laughingstock.”

  “No, it’s not just that they put the wrong version – they didn’t even have the modified versions in the first place.”

  “…What?”

  “I have a friend on one of the dev teams,” Clyde explained. “There’s a whole story behind what went wrong. During the beta, it was found that the class test and trials were too difficult, so they made the lead developer reduce the difficulty. Apparently, the guy objected to it initially and even got into a fight with management, but he eventually gave in and made the changes. Only, before he could commit those changes to the main build, he was fired by the manager, who was holding a grudge. When his tasks were reassigned afterward, the replacement developer assumed the trials were already finalised and moved onto other work.”

  “N-no way… how is that even possible?” Dinah was incredulous.

  “It shouldn’t be. The QA team found out the high difficulty again before launch and flagged it, but their report was mischaracterised as a ‘skill issue’ and buried under more urgent pre-launch bugs. Basically, it was total negligence.”

  “Wow… No wonder our stock is falling.”

  “Yep.” Clyde simply nodded.

  “What are they gonna do now? Will they change the trials again?”

  “It’s a bit late for that. By the time they finish, players will be several trials in.”

  “That’s true...”

  “On the bright side, it sort of balances out that ridiculous archer buff Derrick forced us to put out yesterday. Come to think of it, where is he?”

  “He got a phone call and left. Should be back soo– Oh, speak of the devil.”

  Clyde spun around in his chair. ‘The devil… a very fitting term.’

  Derrick entered the room with a very tired expression – which Clyde found odd, because he’d never done enough work to warrant being tired. Shambling up to his desk, he curved an arm around the top of his desk and began sliding the items on it to one side.

  ‘What the hell is he– !!’

  Lifting up a bag, which was on the floor nearby, he swept the items into it.

  ‘No way!’ Clyde felt a rush of anticipation.

  Without saying anything, Derrick zipped the bag shut and heaved it onto his shoulder. Casting a cursory glance over the people in the room, he made a slight scowl before turning back and leaving the way he came.

  ‘Ha~ Hahahaha!’ Making an immediate conclusion, Clyde burst into celebration. A parade of trumpets sounded inside his head, filled with cheers and confetti cannons. If Dinah looked over right now, she would see an ecstatic smile plastered all the way across his face.

  ‘H– Eeek!!!!’ Masterfully controlling his facial muscles, Clyde dropped his smile in an instant after seeing someone enter the room, brushing shoulders with Derek on his way in. ‘Th-that, that’s…’

  The person who entered the room was a well-dressed man, seemingly in his mid-thirties. Unlike Derrick, who had just left, he was strikingly handsome, with a full head of styled brown hair and a well-proportioned, sinewy frame. Passing Derek’s desk, he braced himself on the adjacent railing and surveyed the room, his gaze sharp and assessing.

  ‘Why is HE here?!! So suddenly?!’

  Clyde quickly steadied his nerves. Taking a deep breath, he stood and addressed the man, “Sir, it’s an honour to meet you here… Did you come to give an announcement to our balance team?”

  Alerted by Clyde’s tone, the other employees all stopped what they were doing and turned their attention over to the visitor. Upon seeing him, many opened their eyes wide and rose from their chairs, prompting the others, despite not knowing what was going on, to rise in turn.

  The man’s eyes met Clyde’s. “Perceptive. Yes, you are correct – a few announcements, actually.” He gave a congenial smile. “First off, hello everyone! For those who don’t know me, my name is Lucas Wright, founder and CEO of Virtek Industries.”

  For those who hadn’t recognised him, their eyes practically fell out of their heads in shock. Despite not everyone knowing his face, the name ‘Lucas Wright’ was practically mythic. As the man who all but invented DIVE technology and built Virtek from the ground up, he wasn’t just a CEO – he was a living legend.

  “The first announcement I have is fairly simple. Your team leader, Derrick, has been fired from the company. I’d expect that you all have at least some idea why.”

  Heads nodded around the room.

  “In the interests of clarity, I’ll still explain in detail. Derrick made three large mistakes: The first was pushing a large buff patch for archers without obtaining permission from his superiors. The second was suspending a player’s account for cheating despite such a thing not being possible in Virtek games, and the third was disproportionately bullying that same player with targeted nerfs.”

  Since nobody seemed to disagree, he continued speaking, now making a stern expression, “Seems like you all understand… His replacement will be arriving tomorrow morning. Until then, you are not to implement any new patches. I’ll remind you that your role here is to balance the power of the game classes, not to control the number of players in any given class through power incentives. You should also not be aiming to weaken top performers, as this game is meant to unlock the potential of the players, not suppress it.”

  Lucas paused for a few seconds.

  “…Lastly, some bad news. I observed when I came in, and received prior reports based on CCTV footage, that many of you on this team have been idling during work hours. Personally, I dislike euphemistic words like ‘restructuring’, so I’ll give it to you straight: There will be layoffs. In the coming days, for those of you who have not been working, and who have uploaded significantly fewer reports than your peers, your position will be given to those who are more willing to do their jobs.”

  At that, half of the faces in the room lost their colour.

  “In addition to that, we do not need a group of yes-men who just go along with whatever their superior says. If an action by your team leader or a suggestion by your coworker could produce a negative result, I expect you to challenge it, as you will not be exempt of responsibility for the consequences.”

  “…” The room went quiet.

  Lucas sighed. “It is really unfortunate to meet you all with a heavy announcement like that. Hopefully, I can come here again sometime under better circumstances, but for now, that’s all I have to say. Are there any questions?”

  After a momentary pause, a girl off to the side hesitantly raised her hand. “Um… Is he really not hacking?”

  Without bothering to ask who she was referring to, Lucas replied, “Yes, he’s really not hacking. Is there anyone else?”

  Clyde raised his arm. “You said a replacement will arrive for Derrick tomorrow. If it’s okay for me to ask, why wasn’t I promoted to team leader? I even put in a request for the position.”

  “…” Lucas observed him for a moment. “Your name is Clyde, right?”

  “Y-yes, how did you know?”

  “Intuition. In regard to your question, I am aware that you objected to the archer class patch and counselled Derrick that he should run it by the board of directors first, so I thank you for that.”

  Clyde smiled.

  “However,” he continued, “it also did not escape our notice that you waited until after the patch had been released to notify us.” A cold gleam flashed across Lucas’s eyes. “Was it to put your boss in hot water, since you didn’t like him?”

  “I-I…” Clyde stammered, at a loss for words.

  “It was very smart, but we expect people to place duty before personal vendettas, especially in management roles. For that reason, you will not be promoted today.”

  “Yes… I understand…”

  “Good.” Lucas checked the room. “Then, if there are no more questions, I will be leaving now. Best of luck to you all.”

  Wearing a bitter smile, Lucas left in silence.