Aiden’s eyes widened, his head sharply turning over in Theo’s direction.
’Thirty-eight thousand?!’ he repeated, the words echoing within the confines of his mind.
"Oh. That’s even more impressive. Last I checked yesternight, it was twenty-nine thousand." Casper audibly muttered, a thoughtful expression on his features.
The rest of the gang looked just as unbothered as the blonde-haired youth, though there was a palpable hint of pride and respect on their respective features directed solely towards their buddy.
As Clarissa watched the gears in Aiden’s head spin as he slowly walked over to the curly-haired youth, a resigned smile touched her lips as she followed after, opting not to disrupt his flow.
’If that’s the concurrent number of players...’ the youth pondered.
’It shouldn’t be a stretch to estimate sales are close to double that number, right? Perhaps, sixty thousand?’ he assumed.
Damian was still in the corner speaking with his father so he wasn’t paying attention to Aiden right now.
Megan on the other hand, had a rather puzzled yet curious expression on her features as she watched him, her head tilted slightly.
Noticing this, Theo explained with a pointed thumb behind him as Aiden leaned over to check the metrics;
"He’s been secretly working on the PC port of our game whilst practicing for the decathlon over the last three weeks,"
"And he launched it yesterday morning on Portal, one of the biggest PC gaming platforms to stellar reviews and sales," he continued.
"Though that’s also largely because the mobile game itself was also a hit." Theo concluded as he handed over the laptop to Aiden.
"Ah~. I see." Megan nodded in understanding, finally understanding the reasoning behind Aiden’s reaction, and equally why he’d been so sleep deprived yesterday.
It also explained why the rest of the gang weren’t as surprised as he currently was as they’d obviously already seen the numbers a day earlier.
"So, where should I put this?" Clarissa offered after a while, raising the plastic bag in a small gesture.
Considering his hands were holding the laptop at the moment, Aiden replied, his tone appreciative;
"Sorry about that, Rissa. You can just place the fruits in the fruit basket on the counter and the chamomile tea as well."
"And the scent candles?" she followed up.
"My room. Upstairs, first room on the right." Aiden casually said and gave her a thankful smile, his attention naturally drawn to the laptop’s screen just after.
At first, Clarissa had simply nodded, happy to help as she made her way towards the kitchen.
Then she came to a sudden realization, her eyes flickering.
Still, she calmly went through the motions and made her way upstairs a moment after.
Meanwhile, having confirmed that sale numbers were in fact within his assumption, Aiden had shifted from reviewing the metrics, to checking the latest reviews of the game and its new content.
-
Woody The *** Toy:
Already bought this game on mobile before. The moment I got the notification that the PC port had gone live, I didn’t hesitate to get it again and boy am I impressed. Can’t wait to see what you guys cook up in the coming months.
Potato Gamer:
Another five dollars well spent.I’ve been so hooked on the new action-arcade rogue-lite mode, I haven’t even bothered paying any attention to the new story content and map expansion. I also love that it runs great on my potato system. Great optimization for a port of an already fun game.
Powder Sniffing Muppet:
I really look forward to the next game these teens build. Such an addictive, fun, gameplay loop that never gets tiring. Beware though, that new game mode especially is literal crack in game format!
Press X to Doubt:
Me before playing game:Let’s see what the rave is all about.
Me twenty hours later: Just one more run. Just one more run.
Indiana Goons and The Gold Circle:
The free DLCs are just the cherries on top. Sucks that I can’t port over my saves, but eh. It’s fine. Time for another playthrough. Gotta say though, that new rogue-lite mode’s sum real gud shit.
-
Aiden wasn’t particularly surprised to see that most of the reviews had come from customers whom had previously bought the game on mobile.
That was what he had been planning on capitalizing on after all, so it was great to see that it had worked in spades.
What did have him surprised though, was how most of these reviews kept mentioning the new rogue-lite mode.
As at the time he and Theo had been implementing said mode, they hadn’t given it much thought and had simply returned to finishing up the other contents they’d felt were much more important.
Afterall, it was something Aiden had come up with on a whim to add another layer of endless replayability to the game, one that was bound to get a bit boring after a while.
Yet, it also happened to be that very mode gamers were praising the most?
Naturally, Aiden’s curiosity was stirred.
At the same time, the seed of an idea had begun blooming in his mind, one that had him thoughtfully stroking his chin a moment after whilst muttering to himself;
’Interesting...’
As that was happening, Clarissa had long arrived in Aiden’s room, her nose catching the faint cozy, nutty, and slightly vanilla-like scent that was indicative of his almond-scented soap.
Having placed the plastic bag containing the candles on his desk, she couldn’t help but twirl a lock of her chestnut-brown hair as she looked around, a rosy hue forming on her cheeks as she silently admitted;
’First time in a boy’s room...’
’It’s so neat.’ she acknowledged a moment after, her cheeks progressively rosier.
Then, after a minute or so, she let out a contented yet resigned sigh and made her way downstairs.
...
...
...
Aiden was currently standing outside his house, the gang piling into Benjamin’s jeep, while Megan and Clarissa retreated into Damian’s Honda Civic--a 2013 model to be exact.
Having already said their pleasantries before exiting the house, the coal-haired youth simply tucked his hands into his pocket, a warm smile on his lips.
However, as he watched the queen bee briefly glance over to him for a moment, a bit of hesitation behind her beautiful hazel-irises, Aiden slightly cocked his head to the side, clearly curious.
Just as he was wondering what was up, his mind suddenly flashed with realization;
’Oh... right... that...’
Exhaling a gentle sigh, the youth then walked over to her before she’d managed to slip into the vehicle.
Naturally, Damian and Megan, alongside his buddies watched as he leaned over and whispered something into her ear...
... only for her eyes to widen in a mix of thrilled joy!
Without thinking twice, she crashed into him with a hug so tight, Aiden would’ve had the winds knocked out of him had he not steadied himself in time.
Donning a gentle smile though, he gently wrapped his arm around her as well, a hand softly patting her back.
As for the other youths watching, they simply looked on in a mix of puzzled surprise... only for a certain thought to click in their minds at almost the exact same time.
’Oh, that.’ they all seemed to think as part of one hive mind.
Disentangling from the hug, her expression cheery and a bright, happy squeal escaping her, Clarissa hugged him yet again to which Aiden simply chuckled in amusement.
Only after she untwined a second time did she finally enter the vehicle with a gleeful smile and a wave, one Aiden reciprocated with a relaxed smile and a gentle wave.
Ticking two fingers off his head in a gesture of goodbye to the rest of the youths, Aiden watched as their vehicles pulled out of the driveway.
Making his way into the house once their vehicles were out of sight, Aiden branched the kitchen and grabbed one of the apples Clarissa had brought.
Then, easing himself onto one of the stools, he pulled up his system.
-
[Aiden North] – Life Points – [0.09]
⸢Stats
› Mind — S
› Strength — C
› Stamina — C
› Agility — C
› Charm — B+
⸢Skills
› {Type Designing - A}, {Digital Illustration - I}, {Drawing - A}, {Cooking - A}, {Brewing - I}, {Singing - I}, {Dancing - I}, {Writing - N}, {Lettering - I}, {Programming - I}, {Riding - N}, {Video Editing - I}.
⸢Special Skills
› {Insight}, {Midas Touch}.
⸢Titles
› {Expand}
⸢Achievements
› {Expand}
⸢Shop
› Browse Catalogue.
⸢Daily Quests
› {Expand}
⸢Exclusive Quests
› {Expand}
⸢Time-limited Quests
› {Expand}
-
⸢FAQ⸥
-
Aiden was rather surprised to see that the interface of his system hadn’t changed much from its previous look.
But then again;
’If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it...’ he inwardly remarked.
That said, he was far more surprised by the new features that he had gotten.
The Special Skill section especially had caught his interest the most, though he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t just as curious as to what lay in the Titles and Achievements tabs,.
But for now, he had to know what he was working with before he got around to doing anything.
Which was why Aiden immediately tugged on the ⸢FAQ⸥ function to start with.
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