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I expected to feel a whole range of emotions, but they never hit me. Instead I was just proud of him for managing to make something so amazing.
As my fingers danced over the fresh bite marks and I watched Lake battle another monster to reclaim a fresh part of Locked Inn, I only felt content.
Finally, a day later, we were standing on top of the hill in the game, facing off with a final monster. We’d done our version of a speed run, skipping some of the smaller quests to keep forging ahead. We used the last code to unlock a special sword.
The final monster was slashing a large sword at our character, but thanks to the bonuses, we were able to overcome him.
Riven, Drew, and Micah jumped in every so often, taking turns as the battle raged on. I was happy to watch from the sidelines.
This was the first of many moments like this, of our pack gathering together and playing the games that one of us created.
This time it was Everett’s game, I hoped the next, it would be mine.
As I played, I was taking notes – things I thought that could add to it, some that didn’t quite work, and the tiny bugs that might have slipped through. I planned to call Landon soon, but this inspired me to want to keep going, to take those last classes, and use my degree.
“Yes!” Lake screamed as the monster fell, fire erupting from his chest before his ashes were swept away in the wind.
Little Everett appeared on the screen, but now he had large, white wings behind him as he gave a long-winded speech that named us a hero.
The way they set it up meant that we could keep working if we wanted to and build the inn up even more. There were side quests left untouched, and we could grind the monsters to gain more goals.
But for now, I was happy. It seemed like Lake was too as he shut the game off.
We all sat for a minute before I pulled out my phone, not wanting to waste another second before calling Landon.
A glance at the clock told me it was only seven, and I hoped that he was around. I was also glad that we didn’t finish at three in the morning because that wait would have killed me.
The phone rang twice before his voice echoed through.
“Did you finish?” he asked.
“We did,” I confirmed, “and it was amazing.”
He didn’t get a word in as I gushed about all the amazing features and quests we’d gone through, what I loved about it, and what I thought we could add to improve it.
“Sorry, I know I’m getting ahead of myself. You probably didn’t ask for this level of feedback.”
He was quick to reassure me. “No, no, this is exactly what I wanted. You are the first outside of my team to play the demo like this. Now, forgive me if I’m wrong or if I’m reaching, but you seem to know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, before I came back to Lockwood, I only had two classes left for my game design degree. I messaged my counselor last week, and I can finish them online, so I should be done and officially graduating in the spring,” I admitted.
“He thought that might be the route you went.”
“Just how much did you and Everett talk?” I laughed. “You seem to know more about all this than I expected.”
“We talked a lot,” he admitted. “Everett was a great guy and he had a lot of passion for this. We met in a forum. He helped me work some bugs on my game, and I helped him do the same until he had me join him.”
“Do you guys have plans on adding anything else to this game, or is it a finished product?” I asked, the guys shooting me curious glances.
“The main storyline is a finished product. That was exactly how he wanted it to end, and I respect that. He wanted it playable beyond the ending scene. Actually, I’m interested in hearing more about what you would add to it.”
My cheeks heated. It was nice that he was taking me seriously and hearing me out, though I felt like we were worlds apart in our game knowledge.
We talked back and forth, going over my notes more than once. Eventually, I opened up a document on my computer and typed up everything we discussed. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss a thing.
After two hours, the guys started getting listless, getting up and working on dinner while we continued to talk.
“This is incredible,” Landon said. “I can’t wait to get started on this. You’re in, right? You’re going to join the team? We’re always willing to bring in great designers. I can send you the details if you’d like?”
