I stood stunned for what felt like forever.
Reading the first few lines over and over again, I struggled to believe what I was seeing. A studio was offering a position to me?
To me…?
“No, wait. This shouldn’t be strange.”
Thinking about it, I had released two fairly successful individual games.
This offer wasn’t at all strange.
’Yes, right. I’m no longer just some unknown game developer anymore. My first game trended for a little while, while my second game is en route to beating my first game by a large margin. My current worth is relatively high.’
Thinking thus far, I calmed down and looked at the offer more calmly.
As a result, I found rather quickly that it wasn’t a very good offer. The salary that they offered was decent, but it wasn’t anything close to the amount of money I would make from the game I created myself.
It was also a fixed salary, and I wouldn’t get any percentage from the games I developed.
While they did provide me with more advanced technology to work with, that was irrelevant to me since I had to make money.
In that case, there was no longer a need for me to look at the offer.
“Still, I shouldn’t reject the offer outright. I’ll give them my terms and see if they accept them. If not, well, it’s a pity.”
The terms weren’t even that many.
A good percentage of the revenue from the games that I developed.
A designated team that would work with me in developing said games.
Lastly, creative freedom to create my own games.
I could see how the demands sounded unreasonable, and they were, but why would I downgrade literally on everything to work in some crappy studio?
“It’s just stupid.”
And with that, I put my phone in my pocket and headed towards the orphanage.
*
“Haha, play with me!”
“No, me!”
“Okay, relax. I don’t have an infinite number of hands. One at a time. I’ll play with everyone.”
The first thing I saw while coming into the orphanage was Kyle being surrounded by a bunch of kids. They all hopped on his legs, jumping up and down while demanding he throw them in the air.
This wasn’t an unusual sight.
Kyle was generally popular with the children.
Me, on the other hand?
“Ah!!”
“Who is that?!”
Well, I tended to scare them.
I didn’t even know why.
“A ghost!”
Okay, maybe I did.
“Relax, guys! That’s just Seth! He used to be part of the orphanage like you guys.”
With a helpless smile, Kyle patted the children in the back while looking at me. I shrugged. What was I even supposed to do? This was way out of my control.
Thankfully, not all children were scared of me, with some curiously walking up to me. One in particular, a girl with twin tails and a round, chubby face, walked up with a finger resting near her mouth.
She looked adorable.
Tugging my pants, she shyly asked,
“Are you really from the same orphanage?”
“…I am.”
I tried my best to smile while talking to her.
She lowered her head a little.
“Will I turn out like you in the future?”
“Well…”
“I don’t want to. I.. I… don’t want to! Whaaa!”
“…..”
The chubby girl suddenly burst out crying, leaving me at a complete loss for words.
Feeling Kyle’s glare, I was speechless.
I didn’t do anything!
“Whaa! I don’t want to! I don’t wwant toooo!”
Hearing the girl’s cries, I was suddenly reminded of the Section Chief’s motto, and my leg started to twitch.
’She may not be a ghost, but—’
“Oh, sweetie. Please don’t cry. There’s no need to cry.”
All of a sudden, a soft and warm voice echoed, and two elderly hands reached out for the little girl, picking her up from the ground as she buried her face into the chest of a woman whom I knew all too well.
My expression turned a little complicated as I lowered my head.
“It’s nice to see you, Matriarch.”
“…It’s good to see you, too, Seth.”
Her smile was as warm as I remembered. She looked older now, her face containing a lot more wrinkles than I remembered, and her previous brown hair containing a lot more gray.
She changed a lot, but that smile of hers…
It hadn’t changed one bit as I pursed my lips tightly, feeling a sudden surge of emotions.
Amongst them, guilt was the one I felt the most.
She was the person I was most indebted to in my life. She was the person who had insisted on keeping me in the orphanage despite my condition, and she was also the one whom I refused to meet after leaving the orphanage.
I wanted to come back and show her how much I had changed.
That I was successful, but…
All I did was loiter away with my life in a company that made me work overtime while slowly waiting for the disease to consume me.
I… became nothing but a failure, and as such, never found the guts to visit her.
“Why aren’t you looking at me, Seth? Is something the matter?”
Feeling her warm hand on my shoulder, I shook my head and properly looked at her for the first time in a very long time. Her pure blue eyes were still the same.
“…No, nothing. I was just thinking about the girl’s previous words. If I were in her position, I’d also not want to be me.”
The Matriarch paused for a moment before suddenly smiling, her hand smacking against my shoulder.
“Oh, you! You’re still as silly as before.”
No, I wasn’t really joking…
I really wouldn’t wish anyone to be in my position.
Putting the girl down, the Matriarch patted her on the back, ’Go on. Go play with Uncle Kyle while I talk with Uncle Seth.’
“Mhm.”
The little girl nodded before trotting away to Kyle.
A smile blossomed on her face the moment she moved to him, and my leg twitched once again.
’This little bi—’
“Don’t blame the little girl. It’s not really her fault. Your eyes are really intense.”
“My eyes are intense?”
I turned to face the Matriarch as she placed her hands on my cheeks and positioned my face straight.
“Mhm. They’ve gotten even more intense than before. It’s no wonder the children are scared of you. This isn’t much different than in the past.”
Letting go of my face, she nudged me with her finger.
“Come, there’s someone that I’d like you to meet.”
“Oh?”
Curious, I decided to follow her to the orphanage. The set-up was the same as I remembered. Besides the stairs in the middle that led to the second floor where the children rested, the first floor was separated into three sections. The kitchen, the play area, and the teaching area.
This excluded the garden where the playground was.
The playroom was amongst the largest areas within the orphanage, with toys strewn all over, and small tables flipped all over.
Moving into the playroom, the Matriarch stopped for a moment as she looked towards the corner where a child with black hair sat by himself, his hand holding onto a small pencil as he focused on drawing.
The child looked no older than ten. As he sat quietly on his stool, the other children seemed to steer clear of him; some were busy playing with the large plastic castles behind him, while others were focused on the TV across the room.
Looking at the TV, I couldn’t help but make a face.
’Why is that thing still here?’
The TV was something that had been present since I was a kid. It was… rather old.
Unaware of my thoughts, the Matriarch spoke.
“That’s Chris over there, and he’s a lot like you when you were young. He usually keeps to himself and spends most of his time drawing. I’ve tried many times to get him involved with the others, but he always goes back to doing his own thing. I wanted you to meet him to see if you could do anything about it. Maybe you might know how to get him to engage with the other children.”
Despite the Matriarch’s words, I wasn’t able to focus at all on them.
Because…
Ding!
…Of the sudden notification that I received.
Ding!
[Quest Activated]
• Difficulty: Third Order
• Reward: 50,000 SP
• Objective: Hide and Seek.
• Location: N/A
Description: Find Mr. Jingles before it’s too late!
Time Limit: 2 days.