Chapter 27

Melissa muttered quietly and continued watching Catharina massacre the monsters. Alex just sighed. He wasn't going to forbid her from watching, even though he didn't think it was very healthy; she was already seventeen years old, so it shouldn't be a problem to watch things like this. 

(But it's still strange to see a cute girl who looks like she's 11 or 12 years old actually be seventeen and love violent things. If she keeps this up, she's going to end up in the army.) 

Sighing like an old man worried about the future, Alex left Melissa watching and went to look for some games from the competition. He was a little excited; after testing William's game, Alex's expectations had risen. 

In the past, the most creative games were always indie games. After all, only small developers had the courage to try something new. The reason for this was obviously the low investment. Big companies that were spending hundreds of millions would never bet on new ideas that could go wrong. The same can be said now; companies refuse to take risks. 

But in this competition where innovation is the theme, designers are free to go crazy. Alex quickly installed several games and started testing. 

Slowly, time passed. Alex, who was excited, began to furrow his eyebrows. Closing the first game, he quickly opened the second, then the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. 

"What the hell!!!" 

"Huh?! Brother, what happened?" 

*Sigh* 

"Sorry, I just got irritated with something here." 

"....." 

"I already apologized." 

"That's not it, it's just... it's the first time I've seen you angry, what happened?" 

"Nothing... I just got disappointed, you can keep watching." 

"Hmm... okay." 

Alex is a calm man; you could say that almost nothing can make him lose his patience, but if there is one "silly" thing that can affect him, it's definitely his passion for games. 

While testing the games, Alex noticed a certain similarity between them. At first, he thought the similarity was a coincidence or because they were portraying the same fight. But as he continued testing more and more games, he realized that practically all these games were following a formula. 

The way to present the character, the way to tell the story, the points of view presented. While testing these games, Alex had the same feeling as when he was young and started reading Chinese novels. 

In the first story he read, it was unique and interesting, with well-defined power levels and a truly fascinating universe. But when he finished and went looking for others, he realized that basically all these stories were the same with few changes. 

In fact, this kind of thing is very normal and can happen with almost any type of media. Japanese isekai or harem animations are the same; they are usually just someone trying to draw attention to their story using some product that has already been successful as a 'reference,' but in reality, they are just copying. 

These games are the same. Realizing this, Alex couldn't help but get irritated. The reason the game industry is stagnant is easy to understand: all the greatest designers in the universe were ancient monsters over 500 years old, stubborn old men who weren't willing to change anything. But this is not the case in this competition; all participants are under 100. 

(How can this bunch of garbage not make a single improvement and just keep following the formula of the big companies? This kind of competition was the biggest dream of past designers, being able to make a game with total freedom to express their ideas, but what is this bunch of garbage doing?!) 

Alex continued to test several games but found nothing different. The deeper he delved into these games, the more irritated he became. Making games has always been his passion, but playing was also a passion. But if he makes games for others, who will make games for him? 

"It's not fun to play the games I made myself; after all, I know everything about them." 

"If I'm not mistaken, after the first phase of the competition, there will be an interview with the hundred participants who reached the second phase... well, well, I'll hold my frustrations until then." 

...… 

While Alex was trying to hold his frustrations with the designers, Catharina was having a lot of fun. After finding a giant face, she gained the power to shoot lightning. After getting used to it, she finally killed the hydra. 

The thing that bothered her the most was seeing the skills she had trained for hundreds of years slowly rusting. No matter how many duels she participates in or how many times she beats Monica, nothing will keep her senses sharp like real battles. Even though this game isn't perfect, it still left Catharina very excited. 

(Maybe I should ask Alex to make something for me? I bet he can do something that will surprise me.) 

Thinking about this, she happily continued playing. After killing the hydra, the speed at which she was progressing slowed down a lot. Alex wasn't kidding when he said this AI would adapt to her fighting style. 

The monsters began to easily defend against some attacks. Besides, they started flanking and attempting stealth attacks. Whenever one of the monsters was about to die, it stayed behind the others and tried to find an opening to attack. 

Slowly, the cheerful smile was slowly replaced by a serious expression. Catharina also began to have problems with her health. In the beginning, she could find healing chests everywhere, and there were also life sacks in human form running around. 

But as she progressed, healing chests became increasingly scarce, and the life sacks with legs practically disappeared. This made things more complicated; she couldn't be careless anymore, and the enemies were also starting to get stronger and stronger. 

Minotaurs, gorgons, cyclops, monsters with stronger armor and weapons—basically, all the enemies were slowly but progressively becoming more intelligent and stronger. Catharina didn't even notice when she stopped smiling and began to concentrate fully on the fight. 

During all this time, she didn't care about the game's story; the only thing she wanted was to fight. But soon, she encountered a scene that left her completely shocked. 

Climbing the stairs of the Path to Athens, she saw a gigantic being larger than a mountain, with red hair and beard, bright blue eyes, and a huge army behind it. 

attacking, but it was like a group of ants attacking a human. Kratos looked at that being with hatred burning in his eyes.

"I have not forgotten you, God of War. For what you did that night... this city will be your tomb."

Catharina was shocked by Kratos' words.

"That bald guy is crazy. He wants to kill that... could it be anything else? Maybe I can kill it with... poison? Does poison work on something that size? I have no idea what Alex was thinking when he made this... but he sure knows how to impress people."

Catharina began to take more interest in the story of the bald guy she was controlling. The hatred she could feel from his gaze was not born from something small. As she advanced, she realized that the streets she was passing through were familiar.

"Wait, isn't this my vacation city?! I thought he was making some kind of relaxation game. How did this turn into a fighting game? Maybe puberty is hitting him a little early?"

Even though she was a little surprised, Catharina continued playing. She was quite immersed and was becoming increasingly curious about Kratos' past. While she was killing some monsters, she encountered a woman. But the strange thing was that the woman was more afraid of Kratos than of the monsters.

"I know who you are. I know what you did. Monsters!"

"Wait."

"Get back, stay away from me."

The woman ran away scared. Catharina followed her, but before she could get close, the woman started to beg her to stay away. Then, walking backward, the woman fell from the balcony. Catharina ran to see if she was okay, but the woman was dead in a pool of blood.

"What the hell did this bald guy do to scare people so much?!"

Catharina was truly perplexed. Now, more than ever, she really wanted to find out what Kratos had done. After playing for quite some time, she realized that Kratos was not just a warrior; he was a killing machine.

He didn't care about anything or anyone. He had a mission, so everything and everyone in his way would die, plain and simple, without mercy, without compassion.

But Catharina wasn't the only one getting hooked on the game. Melissa was also curious about the protagonist of this game. He is extremely brutal, even for someone like her who enjoys this kind of thing. But somehow, she felt that he had a reason for being like that.

So she was entirely focused on watching her mother play. Soon, Kratos encountered a man digging a grave.

"Excellent, my boy, excellent... Athens has chosen wisely. I knew you would succeed."

"Who are you?"

"So, you have the blades, the skin is pale like the moon, you really are the chosen one. Maybe Athens will survive this, hahaha. But be careful, I don't want you dead before I finish this grave."

"A grave? In the middle of a battle? Who is going to occupy it, old man?"

"You are, my boy! I have a lot of digging left to do. Everything will be revealed at the right time, and when all seems lost, Kratos, I will be there to help."

After talking to the gravedigger, everything became more mysterious. Catharina, who was playing, decided to stop. She felt that if she continued from this point, she wouldn't stop until the end, so it's better to go eat something and come back later.

As soon as she left, she saw that Melissa was watching her play. When she saw her mother leave, the girl immediately ran to her.

"Mom, now it's my turn. I want to play too."

Before Catharina could respond, Alex, who had completely given up on the designers in this competition, also came out and heard her request.

"I already said you can't. Do my words go in one ear and out the other?"

"Tsh."

"Haha, come on, don't bother your brother. I also think you're a bit young for this... but Alex, we need to talk later. You're also too young to have made a game like this without telling me or your father."

(Even though I loved it.)

"..."

...

Note: This chapter is a bit shorter. Thursday's chapter should be longer. This week, this story ranked pretty high, which surprised me. I didn't expect people to like it, after all, I'm writing something I would like to read, but I appreciate the support. I saw that you would like me to post more chapters or open a Patreon. I can only apologize, but I really can't do that. Some chapters I write super fast, others may take one or two days, and if I'm unlucky, even three. Many times I write a chapter and then delete and write it again, either because it turned out bad or because I think it had wrong information or opened too many plot holes. So, even though I would like to earn some money, I think it's better to keep it as a hobby. But I appreciate the support, and if you have any advice, feel free to share, haha.