Chapter 257: Game Preparation.

[Edward POV]

Inside my basement, several character design sheets and arts were scattered all over the table. It was 4.30 in the morning, the sun hadn't risen yet. Vader was actively running around the house, even visiting my lab a few times to play with me.

"Focus on completing Ashe and Garen first, then if we have the time, we can do the others. Annie's cinematic is almost done right?" I said to Robin.

There were several dots on my face in order for me to use motion capture technology for the character's facial expression references. It made the animation feel more fluid and human.

Robin replied, "Yes. It's currently 99% done." The video of Annie, one of the champions in the League of Legends game, was displayed on the holographic screen in front of us. In just a few short minutes, the clip was finally rendered.

It showed Annie, the little redhead girl, running from her enemies. Then, the teddy bear in her hand burst into fire, turning into a huge 10 meters tall flaming bear. It roared to her enemies, and she sat on its shoulder with a maniacal, smug, and psychopathic expression on her face, a stark contrast from her innocent look in the beginning.

I nodded in satisfaction after watching the 40 second clip introducing the champion. It was supposed to be one minute, but I cut 20 seconds from the champion's clips in order to set it aside for the music video. 

After getting the holographic tech, I didn't need to set up numerous monitors inside my basement anymore to work on a few things simultaneously. The artwork and designs were already scanned into the computer, and ROBIN made the final edit for them. 

"Can you get an estimate on how long it will take for us to finish the music video?" I asked with some slight concern. Currently, the company is almost done with the cinematics of the heroes' introductions. The music video was a totally different thing.

"Even with the entire company working on the video, it would take you at least 1 week to achieve the quality you're striving for," Robin replied. "Unless you use the Unreal Engine." She added.

I thought about it for a while and replied, "Okay. Sure. Start up the program. Have you learned how to animate yet?" 

Robin had lurked behind the animator's computer, learning their ways of animating without anyone realizing it. Currently, her hour of work alone was worth 100 animators working full time, 24 hours a day. However, she couldn't strive for creative thinking on her own, which made her need someone to direct her on what to do.

The Unreal Engine could create worlds as I based it on SAO's Aincrad. However, compared to Aincrad, its capability was limited. The difference between them was that my engine could create one floor of the tower, while Aincrad had 100. 

I canned the map of Runeterra into the Unreal Engine and also inserted the characters there. It'll take at least one day before completion before I could direct the clips with Robin.

While I was mulling, Robin asked suddenly, "Mind telling me why did you agree to an impossible deadline? It doesn't seem like you, to make this type of mistake."

"Sometimes men become quite stupid in the presence of a beautiful woman. We also want to show off to them, even if it'll put us in danger in the process." I replied casually.

"Men are weird then," Robin replied.

I laughed, "Yes we are. We don't have to make everything an animation. We can piece it together with some real people shot– But, put that as the last thing we would do. We'll try to get the animation video ready first."

"What about the song? You still haven't made it yet." ROBIN asked. I rubbed my head as I replied, "I already have a song. Well, songs. But I need a second person's opinion to pick one of them."

"I will contact Miss Sun-Hee and let her know." Robin texted the vice-head of the gaming department right away, but I stopped her, "Wait till morning. She'll get cranky and vengeful if she doesn't get her 10 hours of beauty sleep. Then, I'll never hear the end of it."

"Women are also weird." Robin replied.

"Yes. Yes they do." I agreed with her while chuckling.

"Should I reach out for someone that's already up right now?" Robin asked helpfully. 

"I don't think there's anyone that has a similar work schedule as I do. " I replied, not thinking much about it as I was focused on finishing the background music for the animated clip. 

Suddenly, I heard a ringing sound coming from the left projector screen. I turned immediately, panicking, "Robin– WAIT– DISCONNECT–"

"Hello?" Claire picked up the call within 5 seconds. Her voice was raspy and dry, sounding like someone who just woke up from her sleep.

I grimaced and put my knuckle in front of my mouth, calming myself down. "Sorry, Claire. It's a sleep dial," I greeted, not even believing the excuse coming from my own mouth. 'What?' I mouthed.

After a brief pause, Claire chuckled. "It's 5 am, it must be," she played along. "Alright, you can continue sleeping." I said as I wanted to end the call. "Bye-"

"Before that." Claire stopped me from doing so and asked, "How are you?"

"I'm fine." I replied hastily. "I really need to go now. I have a lot of work to do."

"You said it was a sleep dial." Claire retorted. I was speechless for a moment and replied, "Sleep-y dial. I had just woken up."

"Oh. That's alright then. Don't work too hard, and make sure that you go to school." Claire advised. "Bye bye." 

"Bye Claire." I said as I cut the call. Then, I asked ROBIN flabbergasted, "Why did you call her?"

"She has the most similar work schedule as you do, and she has been awake for 10 minutes." Robin replied innocently. Speechless, I stood there motionlessly for a few seconds before letting out a sigh.

"Let's just go back to work." I said tiredly. Robin asked, "Are you going to school today?"

"We'll see how the work goes. I have just a little bit over 48 hours to finalize everything for the launch."

"Wouldn't it be better for you to launch it on the weekends instead on a Wednesday?" Robin asked.

Most game companies do tend to release on Thursdays or Fridays, capitalizing on the weekend sales rush. But I answered Robin's question casually, "Well, we don't really need to chase sales here. This is a free-to-play game, so people can just download it straight from our website. In fact, I think releasing on a Wednesday could work to our advantage. Less competition means easier words to get out there."

Right now on the game website, there was a timer countdown to the release of the game. The game's website had already racked up over 1 million visits per day, thanks to the pre-launch hype we'd built up. Ashe, the beautiful frost archer, was immediately beloved by the fans after the preview of the game went up on the website.

We even went on marketing it the old school way, using the billboards. Ashe the archer, Garen– the charismatic juggernaut, Ezreal, and even Amumu had their own solo billboards scattered all over the country. 

The decision to market the game through expensive marketing was laughed at by the other game competitors in the country. After all, the game concept was free to play. People thought I just had too much money on my hand by doing this type of 'useless' marketing.

GameSpotTV, X-Play, and G4 show in the G4 tv channel had been talking about the game non-stop, creating a buzz in the gaming community about the game. Olivia Munn, a G4 host, and future Psylocke actress, rambled on about the game in every platform she could talk into. 

After watching how they were looking forward to the game, I made SunHee contact the game show hosts and invite them to the game launch. 

"Robin, send a note to the game department. Try to get Olivia Munn to host the launch event. If it's necessary, I will get in contact with her myself." I said casually as I ate a cream puff.

…

[General POV]

While Edward was busy doing work inside his lab, inside the Dunphy's house, Phil finally woke up and went to the kitchen where Claire was making breakfast for the children.

"Hmm? Honey, I thought you were working from home today?" Phil asked with some puzzlement as he saw Claire wearing her office clothes. Claire smiled and said, "I know it's abrupt. But I had already worked from home for a week."

Phil was dissatisfied and said, "You want to meet Edward behind our back don't you?"

Claire grinned and said, "It's not my fault he's my boss."

"But I want to meet him too." Phil exclaimed whisperingly, making sure that none of the kids could hear him. "Believe it or not, I even had a dream that he called us this morning," He added.

Claire nodded bewilderedly, "He did call me this morning."

"What?!" Phil was surprised. "That was real?"

"Yes, I was right beside you when I picked up the call. That's maybe why you dreamt of it." Claire guessed.

"Why didn't you wake me up when he did?!" Phil asked, frustrated. 

Flabbergasted by Phil's reaction, Claire said, "Honey, we didn't even talk for long. He said he dialed my number by mistake. And then we hung up."

"He must miss us too," Phil said emphatically. 

Claire initially wanted to dismiss Phil's thoughts, but as she considered it, she scrunched her nose and tilted her head thoughtfully, eventually conceding, "He does, doesn't he?"

"God I hope so," Phil replied. "Being apart from him for so long made me feel like I'm losing one of my sons."

"You know what, I wanted to call you insane, but I'm feeling the same way too!" Claire replied excitedly. Phil smiled pitifully and said, "When you meet him, give him a hug from the both of us, won't you?"

"And risk litigation? I'm sorry, I'll just tell him that we miss him," Claire replied jokingly. Phil was taken aback and he agreed, "Yeah, You're right. You're too sexy for anyone to view your relationship with him as pure."

Flattered, Claire said, "Oh, does someone like what he sees?" It was a new dress, and she was feeling particularly confident about it. "Someone does," Phil replied ambiguously.

"And who might that someone be?" Claire asked flirtingly as she moved closer to Phil, putting her hand on her chest.

"Mitchell." Phil replied innocently, making Claire fall in disbelief. "Cam said it made your butt look fat though."

"WHAT?!" Claire was astonished and her jaw dropped. "Wait. Did I flip over who said what?" Phil mumbled to himself. "Oh! And if you do meet him, ask him what he thinks about going to the trampoline park with me and Luke this Saturday. We'll just go there secretly without the girls knowing about it." 

Claire shook her head and said, "I don't think we should teach Luke methods on how to go through someone's back. That'll backfire on us very quickly–"

"Morning Mom." Haley walked into the kitchen as she was getting ready for school. Phil and Claire froze and looked at her with a stiff smile. "Hey! Good morning Princess." Phil greeted fakely.

Claire asked, "How did you sleep last night? I heard some sounds coming from your room."

Haley stopped to get some pancake, barely took a bite and said, "You know what? I think I have finally gotten over him now."

Phil's eyes lit up, "Really, then we can talk to him again?"

Claire was surprised and Haley was flabbergasted. Haley replied with a high pitched voice, "NO!"

"Then you're still not over him." Claire replied snarkily. Haley was stunned and then grumbled, "Ugh! Why am I like this? It usually don't take me longer than a day to move on to another boy–"

"What?" Phil asked with disbelief, not believing his ear. Haley froze and casually shrugged, "Nothing."

…

Mary Cooper and Missy Cooper were having breakfast together at a popular cafe in Beverly Hills. They sat at the outdoor seats, enjoying the morning LA sun. It was a popular spot in town, with multiple celebrities having regular appearances there.

"Mo-Mom, look! Is that guy a celebrity?" Missy pointed to a Kevin Smith-like man waiting to get his order inside the cafe.

"I don't know him, but he does seem familiar." Mary mumbled. She smiled and said, "But honestly, everyone we see here looks familiar to someone. I'm already confused on who's who."

Missy nodded, "Me too. I kinda miss Eddie. If he's here, he definitely can tell us."

"We're here for 2 days now, yet we barely see any other celebrities other than Edward." Mary sighed. 

"Maybe this is normal. Celebrities sightings are rare, even here in this city." Missy said to comfort her mother. 

Both of them were unaware that behind them, Courtney Cox was having her breakfast alone at the outdoor table. Bradley Cooper was standing in line behind the Kevin-Smith-like man inside the cafe. 

Gwen Stephani jogged pass them, but they were too preoccupied with the Kevin-Smith-like man to notice anything. Suddenly, a huge muscular man with a huge bicep approached them.

"Hello, are you Mary and Missy Cooper?" The man asked. Mary and Missy both looked up to see the man's face, with Missy slightly blushing as she saw his appearance.

"We are, and who might you be?" Mary asked with a friendly tone.

The man took off his sunglasses and smiled charmingly towards the duo, "I'm Theodore– Ted. I'm Ted Newgate. I'm… Edward's father."

"Well what a nice coincidence!" Mary said excitedly. Ted smiled wryly and said, "Not really a coincidence. I tracked you guys down."

"Huh? Why?" Mary asked with a bit of alarm. Inside her mind, she thought that Edward's act of bringing them here was incurring his father's wrath, or maybe he didn't tell his dad about it.

Missy however, was batting her eyes at Ted. His rugged look, his leather jacket, his deep voice, were all hitting Missy's ideal type list. Ted didn't notice the way both of them were looking at him and asked, "Mind if I join you guys?"

"No. Not at all!" Mary replied. "You can sit next to me." Missy even helped Ted to pull out his chair. Ted chuckled awkwardly and sat next to Missy. "So Ted, don't you want to get breakfast?"

" I'd already eaten." Ted replied hurriedly. The table fell into an awkward silence for a while before Mary asked, "It seems that you have something you want to talk to us about."

"I do, but I'm a little bit embarrassed." Ted smiled. "Is this about Edward flying us here?" Mary asked.

"Oh, no, I don't care about that." Ted said dismissively. "I'm actually here, to get some advice from you Mary."

Mary and Missy were confused. "Advice on what?" Mary asked.

Ted scratched his cheek and said, "It's about… Edward. Dr Cooper is a brilliant child, yes? We have something in common there."

Mary smiled softly and said, "Yes. Sheldon is really brilliant. But sometimes, he can be a little too much."

Missy rested her head on her palm as she shot Ted a flirty look, "For me, he's not that great."

Ted chuckled for a bit and said sincerely, "As you have already gone through this, I want to ask you for some tips on how I can be a better parent for him." 

Missy interjected before Mary could answer, "There's nothing much you need to do. He's already awesome. The whole world will agree with me about that."

"That's one of the things I'm worried about." Ted smiled wryly.

…

[Edward POV]

As I drove to the company building, I received a call from Jacob. 

"Hey, you're coming for practice?" Jacob asked.

"You know, I had missed out on a lot of practice. I want to go, but right now, I need to go to the company to record a song."

"The gym workout song? We have been waiting for that for so long." Jacob said teasingly. "By the way, the cheerleaders kept asking if you are coming here."

"Why?" I asked with confusion. Jacob shouted, 'TYLER WATCH OUT! Oof!' from the other side of the call before he replied to Edward casually, "I don't know. Tyrone is the only one who knows the reason."

"Wait. What happened to Tyler?" I asked with some interest.

"Oh, he was practicing his run, and he crashed right into where the waters are." Jacob replied.

"Is he hurt?" I asked with some concern.

"No, just his ego is bruised I think. He looks really embarrassed because his girlfriend sits right in front of the water."

"Pfft–" I laughed at Tyler's misery. After calming down, I said, "The song I'm recording right now can be used as a gym song too. I'll let you listen to it in the group chat after I record it."

"Alright. I'm going to start practicing." Jacob said and we ended the call. 

Walking straight to the Entertainment agency, I walked past the dance studio and caught Vanessa entering the studio with some snacks on her hand. She froze like a deer in headlights, and stammered for excuses while trying to hide the food behind her hand.

"Um, what-What are you doing here? Are you doing spot checks?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Just eat if you want to eat. I'm not the diet police."

She smiled wryly and said, "Sorry. Habits. You still didn't answer my question though."

"Oh, I'm headed to the recording studio. By the way, how's your vocal training going?"

"Not bad." Vanessa replied. "I'm almost at my peak form again."

"In vocal. Not stamina though." I snarked. "By the way, after you're done, come to the recording studio."

Her eyes lit up, "Really? I'm ready for my debut?"

I rolled my eyes again and mumbled, "Talking to you will hurt my eyes. It's not for your comeback. You can't even say it's your 'debut'. Stop trying to erase Sneakernight from your history! Anyway, I'm launching a game this Wednesday. I need a female vocalist for one of the songs."

"Alright. I'm in!" Vanessa said excitedly. I looked at her with a deadpan expression, which made her enthusiasm snubbed.

"What?" She asked with disbelief.

"It's an audition. I'm not just going to give it to you." I smirked.