"This way, please. I’m sure you’re familiar with the place, but it has changed a little bit. I’ll introduce you to the CEO. He’s very excited to see you again."
The man before me was very cordial. His smile was friendly, and he carried himself with quiet professionalism. There was something reassuring about his presence. The moment I saw him, I felt instantly more at ease.
’He seems rather friendly.’
Of course, the more he was like this, the wearier I was.
There was no such thing as a kind person in this industry.
’He’s without a doubt a snake.’
"This is...?"
Suddenly, he turned his attention towards Zoey.
Despite the hat that covered her face, she still stood out quite a bit. With both her hands in her pockets, she looked at Daniel and then me.
"I’m..." Her lips pursed, seemingly from trying to figure out what to say. In the end, she went with, "I’m his assistant."
I nearly smacked my hand against my forehead.
This girl...
"Assistant?"
"Oh, yeah."
Zoey looked at me, pulling her hands away from her pocket.
"He’s been doing quite well recently, so..."
"Oh, that’s fair."
Daniel just kept smiling, but it was obvious from his expression that he didn’t believe her at all. I, too, wouldn’t believe her at all. The fact that he had yet to recognize her despite her popularity was the real surprise.
"In any case, we’re almost here. The CEO is waiting in his office."
Leading us to a long corridor, a large wooden door greeted us at the end of it.
He stopped just before entering, turning his attention towards the two of us. As he did, several people who had been attending suddenly approached us.
"Huh?"
"What are you doing?"
"Don’t mind this. For security reasons, we’ll be taking your phones and items. We’ll be discussing several sensitive matters. Of course, we’d also like you to sign this."
Daniel handed us several papers while the people patted us and searched for any ’hidden’ device.
I frowned, but let them be as I was more focused on the contract.
There weren’t many words, but looking at the files, my lips twitched.
’Snakes...’
: I hereby declare that I will not record or film any part of the discussion held within the CEO’s office. Should I violate this agreement, I understand that I will be held legally liable in court.
I secretly clicked my tongue. I had been planning on recording the conversation just in case, but it looked like they were extremely careful.
Still, it wasn’t like I had to attend this meeting.
I could just leave...
"It would be in your best interest if you sign this. There are quite a few important things that we’d like to discuss, and it’s not like we’re demanding much."
"....."
I gave the paper another scan, looking at Zoey, only to be surprised by her as she had already signed the paper.
"What?"
She looked at me with a shrug, looking completely unconcerned.
I sighed at the sight.
"Fine."
And as such, I signed it as well.
"That’s great."
Daniel smiled happily, taking the contracts away.
Then—
To Tok—!
Knocking once, Daniel pushed the door open to reveal a spacious room with wide windows that spanned the walls, offering a clear view of the bustling streets below. Sitting by the end of the room, and behind a dark wooden table, was a figure I was somewhat familiar with.
He grinned broadly at the sight of me.
"If it isn’t Seth! How have you been?"
He didn’t even bother standing up while greeting me, remaining in his seat and pointing at the seats on the opposite side of his desk.
"Come, have a seat. There’s a lot that I need to talk with you about."
I paused at the door, staring at the CEO for the briefest of moments.
Then—
"...It’s a pleasure to see you again."
I followed along with his words and sat down on one of the seats.
"Haha, you’ve changed quite a lot since the last time that I saw you."
The CEO started with some light talk. One that I tried my best to play along with.
"I’ve... been doing quite well recently, so I’ve managed to take care of myself more."
While this was true, the part that was nonsense was his words.
He was the CEO of a major company, while I was just another employee tucked away in the programming division. I could count the number of times I’d seen him on one hand, and even then, our interactions had been brief — little more than passing exchanges in the hallway.
He probably didn’t remember me at all.
"Haha, of course. I’ve been following you for quite some time. Your recent work has been really amazing. I’ve always known that you were great!"
Then why did you fire me?
I tried to maintain my smile while looking at him.
"Thank you for your compliment."
I felt like spitting on his face, but just barely held back.
"But by the way..." Suddenly, the CEO stopped, turning his attention towards Zoey as he finally took notice of her. "This is...?"
"My assistant."
I just played along with whatever nonsense she had started.
’It’s a good thing he doesn’t recognize her as well. Well... I guess her hat is lower now, so it’s not exactly easy.’
"Oh, assistant."
The CEO nodded, losing interest rather quickly.
The atmosphere in the room shifted then. Although it was subtle, I noticed it rather quickly as the smile slowly started to fade from the CEO’s face.
"I’m very glad that you’re doing very well outside of your time with us. It brings me a lot of joy when I see someone who was once under our guidance spread their wings and make it big elsewhere. It really does bring me immense joy."
Bullshit.
I kept smiling.
"Thank you."
"With that being said..."
Ah, there it was. The real reason why he had called me.
"...A large part of the reason they were able to spread their wings is because of our guidance. Without us, without the foundation we provided, you, and anyone else who found success after leaving, wouldn’t have been able to achieve it on your own."
The smile had long faded from my face. I could already see where this was heading, and the uneasy feeling that had been lingering in my chest from before fully settled.
’I should’ve known.’
I had really hoped things wouldn’t turn out like this...
"You’re understanding where I’m getting at, right?"
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Did I understand? Of course, I understood where he was getting at. But did I agree to his stuff?
’Fuck that.’
I opened my eyes while looking at him.
Pressing my palms against the armrests of the chair, I pushed myself up, steadying my balance as I rose to my feet.
"I understand, and that’s why I’ll be taking my leave."
"You’re leaving?"
The CEO didn’t look at all disturbed by my sudden actions. In fact, he smiled. He seemed to have expected my reaction from the start as he reached for his drawer and took out a thick stack of papers.
I paused the moment I caught a glimpse of them.
My heart slowly began to sink.
Placing his finger over the papers, the CEO began to read.
"...Any work, creation, or intellectual property developed by the Employee within six months following the termination of this Agreement that relates to the business, products, or services of Nightmare Forge Studios shall be deemed the property of Nightmare Forge Studios."
The more he read, the more my heart sank.
"To summarize this well, any work that you’ve created in the six months that you’ve left belongs to us. That applies to any software that you may have developed."
The CEO pushed the contract forward, his hand pressed forward in an inviting gesture.
"If you don’t believe me, you can start reading it. I’m sure you have a copy of it in your email. This is the clause that was added to your contract. In this regard, you can say that all the games that you’ve created are owned by us."
"....."
"Of course, I’m a very reasonable man. I’m not going to take away any of the profits that you’ve made so far from the games that you’ve developed. I’m not that petty. All I’m going to ask is for the programs that you’ve used to create your games. You know... "
Pausing, the CEO gave me a meaningful look. He didn’t continue, but the meaning behind his gaze was clear.
He wanted the special programs that the system provided me with.
"If you hand me the programs over, I won’t bother asking for any of the profits. I will let you keep the games, too. Just hand over the programs, and we’ll both be happy. How about it...?"