The smoke from the crashed sci-fi dropships was still rising from the arena, but Fang wasn't looking at the battlefield. He was looking at the bigger picture.
[Active Players: 192]
He was close. Agonizingly close to the 200-player survival threshold. The invasion had boosted his numbers, attracting curious onlookers who wanted to loot the high-tech corpses of the invaders, but the surge was slowing down.
Fang sat in the VIP box of the Colosseum, swiping his hand through the air.
The holographic [Global Chat] window floated before him, now rich with the new multimedia features.
It was a window into the multiverse of other Developers. And it was a window into failure.
[Developer Feed - Region 774]
Fang scrolled past a video posted by FairyQueen_09.
Video: A lush, vibrant flower garden. Pixies flying around. The graphics were stunning, clearly high-budget assets.
Caption: "Flower Festival! Come catch a butterfly! <3"
Player Count: 150.
"Pretty," Fang muttered. "But empty. No conflict. No stakes."
He swiped up.
Image: A blurred, low-resolution screenshot of a desert.
Caption: "SAND WORLD. JOIN PLS."
User: Desert_Hobo.
Player Count: 3.
He swiped again.
GIF: A player spawning in a pitch-black room, screaming, and falling into a pit of spikes instantly.
User: DeathTrap_666.
Caption: "LMAO get wrecked."
Player Count: 0.
Fang stopped scrolling. He stared at the zero.
"Do they not understand?" Fang whispered to the empty air. "If you hit zero, you die. Your physical body in the real world... erased."
He looked at the feed again. It was filled with half-finished assets, glitching textures, and generic store-bought templates. These Developers were treating this like a mobile game jam. They were burning their starter coins on flashy intros or useless gimmicks, ignoring the core gameplay loop.
They didn't care about their lives. Or they were too stupid to realize the danger.
He looked down at his own players. They were looting the invaders, cheering, and tea-bagging the corpses. They were high on dopamine.
But dopamine crashes. Once the loot was gone, what would keep them here?
"Combat is the hook," Fang analyzed. "But Community is the anchor."
If he wanted to cross the 200 mark and keep them there, he needed to stop investing in monsters and start investing in... vanity.
"System," Fang commanded. "Open [Social & Leisure]."
The menu popped up. It was filled with things that offered zero combat advantage. Things that "Hardcore" gamers claimed to hate, but secretly loved.
[Construction: The Rusty Tankard Tavern]
[Cost: 500 Coins]
"Build it," Fang ordered. "Place it in the center of Shadow's Rest."
[Ding!]
[Construction Complete.]
A large, warm, wooden building materialized next to the Town Square. Smoke puffed from its chimney. The smell of roasted meat (digital scent data) wafted through the air.
But a building wasn't enough. Fang needed mechanics.
[Unlock Feature: Alcohol Physics]
[Cost: 200 Coins]
[Unlock Feature: Emote Pack 1 (Dance, Taunt, Sit)]
[Cost: 300 Coins]
[Unlock Feature: Global Voice Chat (Proximity)]
[Cost: 500 Coins]
He was spending money fast. His balance dropped to near zero again. But this was an investment in the most powerful currency of all: Social Clout.
"Now," Fang grinned. "Let's monetize their ego."
He opened the [NPC Shop Manager] for the new Tavern Keeper.
[Item: Mug of Dwarven Ale]
[Cost: 10 Gold]
[Effect: Screen blur. Character stumbles. +10 Confidence.]
[Item: Golden VIP Ticket]
[Cost: 1,000 Gold (Real Money equivalent)]
[Effect: Adds a shiny crown icon next to the player's name in chat.]
Fang leaned back. "Update live."
[Ding!]
[System Announcement: The Rusty Tankard is now open!]
[System Announcement: Emote System Unlocked! Press 'G' to flex on your enemies!]
[System Announcement: Proximity Voice Chat Enabled. Speak to your neighbors!]
Down in the Colosseum, the looting stopped.
"Voice chat?" TankTop's voice echoed, sounding crackly and loud. "HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
"Ow!" DarkElf_Waifu's voice came through. "Turn down your mic gain, you idiot!"
"This is awesome!" GlassCannon shouted. "Everyone to the Tavern! Drinks on me!"
The players surged out of the arena. They weren't running to a dungeon. They were running to a bar.
Fang watched through the interior camera of the Rusty Tankard.
Within minutes, the tavern was packed. Avatars were sitting on stools, chugging digital ale. The screen blur effect kicked in, causing characters to walk into walls, which prompted uproarious laughter over the voice chat.
"Look at this!" A player named SimpLord shouted.
He activated an emote. His character did a backflip and landed in a superhero pose.
[System Notification: Player 'SimpLord' has purchased 'Premium Emote: The Hero Landing' for 500 Gold.]
"Dude! How did you get that?" another player asked.
"I grinded zombies for six hours," SimpLord bragged. "Worth it."
Fang watched the gold drain from the economy.
Every coin they spent on ale and emotes was a coin they didn't spend on armor.
This meant they would die faster in the dungeons. This meant they would have to grind more.
It was the perfect loop.
[Active Players: 195]
"Five more," Fang whispered.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out near the fireplace.
Two players were arguing. Not fighting with swords, but arguing with... fashion.
[User: Fashionista]: "You look like a hobo, TankTop. Goblin leather is so last level."
[User: TankTop]: "It has good stats!"
[User: Fashionista]: "Stats are temporary. Drip is forever. Look at my robe."
Fashionista was wearing a [Midnight Silk Robe]. It had zero stats. It offered no protection. But it had a particle effect that made it look like it was made of stars.
Fang had put that in the shop as a joke item. It cost 5,000 Gold.
"He actually bought it," Fang said, stunned. "That's the equivalent of killing 5,000 goblins."
Fashionista spun around. "You look like trash."
TankTop grunted. "Where do I get one?"
"The tailor NPC. But it's expensive. You can't afford it."
"Watch me!" TankTop yelled. "GUILD RAID! WE NEED GOLD! EVERYONE TO THE GRAVEYARD!"
The tavern emptied instantly. The urge to look cool had overridden the urge to rest.
Fang smiled. He checked the [Global Chat].
His game's thumbnail on the global list had updated. It wasn't just a picture of a monster anymore. It was a picture of the Tavern, filled with players drinking, dancing, and showing off glowing gear.
It looked... alive.
Compared to the empty, pretty landscapes of the other developers, Fang's world looked like a party at the end of the world.
[Ding!]
[User 'LonelyGamer' has joined.]
[User 'SocialButterfly' has joined.]
[User 'MerchantKing' has joined.]
[User 'RP_Lover' has joined.]
The social players were arriving. They didn't care about the hard bosses. They heard there was a tavern where they could roleplay and show off skins.
[Active Players: 199]
Fang held his breath.
A figure spawned at the altar. A small, gnome-like character.
[User 'Economy_Bot' has joined.]
Fang blinked. A bot? Or a hardcore trader?
The gnome walked straight to the Whispering Well, dropped a coin in, listened to the insult, laughed, and then walked to the Auction House (which Fang had auto-built with the tavern).
[Active Players: 200]
[Ding!]
[Ding!]
[Ding!]
The sound effects overlapped into a cacophony of bells. The sky turned gold.
[GLOBAL SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT!]
[Congratulations, Developer Fang!]
[Event Complete: The Culling of the Weak.]
[Objective Met: 200 Active Players.]
[Reward Distributed: 10,000 Creation Coins.]
[Reward Distributed: Developer Rank Up (Apprentice -> Journeyman).]
[Reward Distributed: Random Rare Asset Box.]
Fang exhaled, slumping back in his chair. He hadn't realized how tense his muscles were.
He had survived. He wasn't going to be erased.
"10,000 Coins," Fang said, looking at the massive number. It was more money than he had ever seen.
He could build a castle. He could build a dragon. He could fix the glitchy physics in the arena.
But first, he checked the [Random Rare Asset Box].
"Open."
The box spun in the air, glowing with rainbow light. It shattered.
[Asset Acquired: The Tower of Infinity (Procedural Dungeon).]
[Description: A tower with infinite floors. Each floor is randomly generated. The difficulty scales endlessly. No Developer input required.]
Fang stared at the item.
"Infinite content," he whispered. "Automated suffering."
He stood up and walked to the edge of the VIP box, looking down at his bustling town. The players were drunk, they were poor, and they were preparing to die for shiny clothes.
"System," Fang said, his voice brimming with new ambition.
"Clear the center of the Weeping Graveyard. We are planting a Tower."
He checked the Global Chat one last time.
[Global Chat]
[System]: Developer 'Desert_Hobo' has failed the objective. Account Erased.
[System]: Developer 'Bug_World' has failed the objective. Account Erased.
[System]: Developer 'Happy_Farm' has failed the objective. Account Erased.
The names turned grey and vanished. Real people, gone.