"This needs to be changed, Ethan Reed, did you hear me?"
"Yes, yes, boss. The issue here is that the Mage class might cause a black screen when drawing cards, right?"
"Ethan Reed! This needs fixing too! The BOSS isn't losing health at all!"
"Send me a screenshot. Let me see—boss, are you messing with me? Didn't I already explain this already? This BOSS has a second form. You need to break his armor first, or his health will regenerate endlessly. You have to burst him down in one go."
"Oh… oh! That's my bad. I forgot, hehe!"
"Ethan Reed! Another problem! These two cards—why aren't their effects stacking? Didn't you say they would?"
"…You're right. That one's on me."
"Ethan Reed! Ethan Reed!"
"Ethan Reed!"
"Hey! What are you doing? I just finished showering—no makeup, wet hair, so no video call. Voice only!"
"Boss, I honestly don't mind."
"I do! Get lost!"
With a long, tired sigh, Ethan Reed closed his phone.
For now, the argument was over.
He leaned back into his chair, the faint hum of his PC filling the room. His gaze drifted toward the second monitor, where forum threads, comment sections, and endless player discussions scrolled nonstop. Every refresh brought new speculation, new complaints, new praise, and—occasionally—new panic.
The topic dominating the page was unmistakable.
Night of the Full Moon.
Contrary to what Ethan and Vivian Frost had initially expected, the game wasn't struggling at all.
If anything… it was gaining momentum fast.
A faint smile crept onto Ethan's face.
Over the past few weeks, the two of them had practically lived inside the game. Vivian had thrown herself fully into the role of primary tester—pushing extreme builds, intentionally breaking mechanics, forcing edge cases, and stress-testing systems in ways no normal player ever would. She chased bugs like a predator, gleefully tearing apart anything that felt even slightly unfair.
Ethan, by contrast, remained in the shadows.
He watched.
He listened.
And he quietly fixed everything behind the scenes.
During work hours, Vivian tested builds in her office. After hours, she sprawled out at home with her laptop balanced on her knees, headset on, voice channel open. Ethan stayed connected the entire time, listening as she rattled off bug reports, balance complaints, and what she dramatically labeled "fatal design flaws."
Unfortunately, at least half of what she called "bugs" were actually hidden mechanics.
Or worse—
Intentional emotional traps.
And that, in Ethan's eyes, was unacceptable.
If Vivian hadn't been lounging so casually in oversized homewear—looking relaxed, unguarded, and annoyingly charming—Ethan would've argued far more aggressively.
What? Only girls were allowed to complain?
After finally saying goodnight and hanging up, Ethan turned back to his work.
The final build notes were open on his screen.
Most of the major issues were already resolved.
Vivian's first full playthrough had gone smoothly.
There was only one problem left.
One issue she refused to drop.
She wanted a perfect happy ending for the Little Carpenter.
Ethan rejected the idea without hesitation.
Absolutely not.
Only half the knife had been stabbed into the player's heart.
The other half was left protruding—so the player could decide whether to pull it out themselves.
That, in Ethan's mind, was already mercy.
What more did she want?
Because Ethan and Vivian released small bits of information about Night of the Full Moon every day, the game had quickly become a frequent topic online. Whenever Vivian posted updates from the official Northstar Games account on BiliZone, the replies ranged from dozens to hundreds within minutes.
Ethan's situation, however, was on a completely different level.
Ever since his identity as the designer behind Getting Over It was exposed, every single one of his posts exploded with activity. His very first post alone had surpassed two thousand replies.
Unfortunately… almost none of them were about the new game.
Instead, the comments were filled with things like:
— Is this the guy who made that cursed rage game?
— Can you make the lighthouse section easier this time?
— Why do you hate players so much?
— Is Ethan Reed your real name? Anyone wanna go IRL with him?
— Are you Lead Planner Reed from Northstar Games?
Ethan ignored all of it.
He didn't believe anyone would actually show up to "go IRL" with a game developer.
Still, numbers didn't lie.
His follower count had crossed forty thousand.
And these weren't bots—every single one was real.
Vivian couldn't accept it.
She had spent days posting cute promotional content, acting playful, replying nonstop, carefully nurturing the Night of the Full Moon tag… only to gain just over a thousand genuine followers.
But when Ethan thought about it, it made sense.
No one online could imagine that the person behind the official Northstar Games account was actually a young, attractive female CEO.
To outsiders, the account looked like it was run by some thirty-something guy with a beard who enjoyed typing cute emojis after work.
Online…
You never really know who's on the other side of the screen.
Among the countless comments and discussions, two familiar names caught Ethan's attention.
Spiritist-sama.
And Aaron Cole, better known online as The Mad Demon Who Loves Getting Beat Up.
Both were top-tier streamers from the card battle game Spirit Realm War, and both had publicly expressed strong interest in Night of the Full Moon.
They shared one thing in common.
They had both suffered deeply at the hands of Getting Over It.
So when they learned that the same developer was launching a new card strategy game, they couldn't sit still.
A card game?
Then of course the so-called elders of the genre had to take a look.
Both streamers announced on their live broadcasts that they would play Night of the Full Moon the moment it released.
Because of them, the game's hype surged overnight.
This was the ripple effect of creating a hit title.
After one final meeting, Ethan and Vivian locked in the release date.
Night of the Full Moon would officially launch at noon on July 5th.
---
11:00 AM
SharkStream — Spirit Realm War Section
The moment the stream went live, the chat exploded.
[Just joined—why is Uncle getting beaten up already?]
[Getting beaten again! Again! Again!]
[Aaron Cole stacking armor, face red, yelling: "This isn't losing, this is strategy!"]
[Stack the thickest armor, take the most brutal beating!]
On screen, a bespectacled young man in a simple T-shirt leaned toward the camera, voice raised.
"Stop yelling! Once my rage meter fills, I'll wipe the opponent in one wave! What's there to be afraid of? I'm playing Tank! Tanks take hits early—don't you do the same?"
Aaron Cole slammed his desk lightly.
"Next round, I'll delete that Elf. I guarantee he doesn't have Natural Return in hand. He didn't even use the one-cost Spirit Detective—there's no way he can pull it. If he can't, I win next turn!"
Confidence filled his voice.
Then it became the opponent's turn.
A six-cost card hit the field.
The artwork showed a beautiful elf with closed eyes, hands clasped in prayer.
The next second—
Every card on the battlefield vanished.
Aaron stared at the screen.
Silent.
"…It's over," he muttered. "How is this playable?"
His frustration finally erupted.
"Can Spirit Realm War PLEASE balance this game? Because of this one card, tech-ramping Elf decks have almost a sixty percent win rate! Do you know what that means? In a card game where luck matters this much, sixty percent is broken!"
"Tanks? Forty-six percent win rate. Bottom tier. Absolute trash."
"If they don't fix this, Spirit Realm War is finished."
This time, his anger was real.
The early version of the game had been fun. Cards were accessible. Strategy mattered. Luck mattered. It felt fair.
Now?
The balance was a disaster.
Half a year ago, Elves received a one-cost spell that let them search three cards.
Then they received a six-cost board wipe.
All their weaknesses vanished overnight.
"Are the designers balancing this game with their feet?"
The more Aaron thought about it, the angrier he became.
He loved Tank decks. He had built his entire streaming identity around taking hits until opponents surrendered.
Now?
Tanks stacked armor… and still lost.
A card game without fairness had no meaning.
The bullet comments flooded in.
[Uncle, the devs stopped caring months ago.]
[Original Company: Not satisfied? Then don't play.]
[They're untouchable anyway—number one forever.]
[Pot Man! Pot Man! Pot Man!]
[Spirit Realm War is done. Spiritist-sama hasn't played in days.]
Aaron took a deep breath.
Then—
A bright, colorful comment flashed across the screen.
[Uncle Cole! Night of the Full Moon just launched!]
Night of the Full Moon.
Northstar's new game.
The one claiming to offer a completely different card experience.
Aaron's eyes lit up.
This was it.
This was his next stream.
He logged into his Skybound account and searched the Northstar tag.
A new icon appeared on his screen—
A crescent moon shaped like a claw.
---
Game: Night of the Full Moon
Developer: Northstar Games
Genre: Card Strategy
Price: 25
"…That's a bit expensive."
The chat detonated instantly.
[You spent 100 on one legendary card and blinked once.]
[Buy-to-play is quality. Refund if you hate it.]
[Check your Spirit Realm War spending history before talking.]
[The art style is insane though—this Red Riding Hood is adorable!]
[Red Riding Hood with a dagger? That's fire.]
Aaron coughed awkwardly.
"…Alright. When you put it that way… maybe it's not expensive after all."
And with that—
He clicked purchase.
The stream audience surged.
Night of the Full Moon had officially entered the battlefield.
-----------------------------------
Visit our Patreon for more:
patreon.com/Samurai492