Jack Of Arts

April 21, 2014 – Wednesday 10 AM – New York, New York – Game Media Arts

A man in his early 30s, is currently standing, lost in his own thoughts, outside the office of Game Media Arts' Chief Operations Officer. ​​

He gets distracted from his thoughts as he smells a whiff of perfume go his way from the secretary seated in her own desk right beside the office door.

He steals a glance at her before going back in his own thoughts.

While he finds the secretary attractive, he does not like the perfume she is wearing.

Suddenly, the door of Stuart's office bursts open and three suit wearing middle-aged Caucasian men briskly walk out.

"HEY FUCK FACES!" The three men freeze in their steps as Stuart, from the inside yells out.

"Don't fuċkin forget how you were all excited for your games!" Stuart continues to yell.

"…" The three men have nothing to say and they continue on their way with annoyed faces.

"…" Nick and Stuart's secretary exchange glances, both curious at what just transpired.

The secretary brushes aside her curiosity and, "Nick, Stuart will see you now.", she gestures Nick inside Stuart's office.

'The fuċk? Didn't you just see what happened?' Nick gives the secretary a look, and the secretary simply shrugs.

"Hey Stuart." As soon as he steps in, Nick greets his boss casually but cautiously.

"Hey Nick. Please. Sit." Stuart offers as he sighs.

"So. What just happened? Who were those people?" Nick asks as he takes a seat on the office couch.

"NBA, NFL, and NASCAR representatives." Stuart says as he pours himself a drink from under his desk.

"Oh…" Nick immediately connects the dots.

Game Media Arts is the video game development company that is the exclusive partner of all the five major sports organizations in America. That allows Game Media Arts to have nigh monopoly when it comes to video games by NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, and NASCAR.   

"What happened?" Nick asks.

"It's the sales of NBA14, NFL14, and NASCAR14. They're very low compared to usual." Stuart says.

"Huh? What's that got to do with you? Shouldn't they ask Craig about this?" Nick asks, referring to the CEO.

"They did, and Craig passed them to me. The ȧsshole." Stuart says.

"It couldn't be that bad, right?" Nick asks.

"It's not that bad. But compared to the first two weeks of sales of the prequels last year, the games we released this month sold only half at the same amount of time." Stuart says.

"Well… That's quite bad." Nick says.

"It's only slowed down. Sports fans will still play them eventually. They were just… distracted." Stuart says.

"Distracted… It's Big Pear City, huh?" Nick asks.

"Half Basin Games didn't release any numbers we can compare to." Stuart says.

The both of them know however, that Big Pear City has something to do with it.

"Who would have thought that someone is crazy enough to make a game like that…" Nick sighs.

"Heh. Yeah…" Stuart can only scoff before sipping on his whiskey.

"What do you think of that game by the way?" He asks Nick.

"I don't know…" Nick does not want to answer honestly so he chooses to play clueless.

"… Come on, Nick. As head developer, you must have analyzed the game. I spent hours on it myself." Stuart says.

Nick, seeing Stuart is open, decides to be honest.

"It's a masterpiece." Nick says, surprising Stuart.

"It has everything in it. It's funny, exciting, a compelling story, and a whole lot more. It's hard to believe that it's the first 3d game of Half Basin. In fact, it's even harder to believe that it only took six months for them to make." He continues.

"SIX MONTHS?!" Stuart is shocked at the information. While he is not as knowledgeable as Nick in the game developing process, he is not ignorant.

"Wait. Wait a minute. How did you even know it's only six months?" He asks.

"I know a few people who worked on the game's ȧssets." Nick explains. "They said that the graphics team only consisted of fifty plus people. It's possible for them to finish their job at that small amount of time because they bought ȧssets and resources online. But do you know what's actually shocking?" He pauses, making Stuart lean forward.

"The graphics team took five months to make the ȧssets and models and a month after that wrapped up, the game is out." He says.

"How's that even possible? We take a few weeks to a few months for the Alpha and Beta." Stuart is dumfounded.

"And a lot of work even before the alpha stage of a game. Not to mention the voice acting required, setting up the gameplay, applying the AI." Nick sighs.

"But it's possible." He says however.

"How?" Stuart is taken aback.

"Well. Theoretically. But for that, the game design has to be already complete, and whoever are lead developers, already know what they want before production even begins.

"That means that the idea, concept, genre, story and characters, gameplay, and how Big Pear City itself looks like, they're all done. All the production people have to do is to work around the plans." Nick says.

"So the pre-production must have been in the works for a long time, right?" Stuart says.

"Yes. For this type of game, it must have taken years to plan, even if it's only a 3d game." Nick nods.

"Hmmm. Why don't we scout the developers of the game?" Stuart gets an idea.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Nick says.

"What do you mean?" Stuart asks.

"The only developers credited in the game are the developers who worked on just the graphics. Even if other developers who worked on other aspects are listed, it's no use. I don't think they're any better than the people we already have. What we need instead are their game designers and writers." Nick explains.

"Alright. I'll send people to look for them." Stuart immediately pulls out his phone to start his move.

"I don't think it's possible to scout them either. Or him…" Nick says, stopping Stuart from dialing.

"What?" Stuart is confused.

"Check the list of the game credits." Nick says.

After a simple search on the internet, Stuart simply stares at his ŀȧptop screen, not knowing what to say.

"Isaac." He can only mutter.

He sees that the game designer, writer, and the soundtrack composer of the game are all credited to one Isaac Yawat.

"This can't be all done by one person." He says in denial.

"I thought it wasn't possible too, but after looking more into him and his work, it is very possible. It's not only me who thinks so. Other professionals from other companies feel the same." Nick sighs.

"The folks I know who worked on his game claimed that he himself made the artwork and sketches of graphics. I also heard from a friend that he was also hands-on, talking to each game developer on the specifics he wants on his ȧssets." He continues to explain.

"Are you sure? Are they even allowed to talk about it?" Stuart says.

"Yes. Their NDA is quite loose. It's not like they're leaking anything important anyways." Nick says.

"Oh… How about the story?" Stuart moves on with his ȧssessment of Tayaw.

"Him being the writer is even more believable. If he can write and make great films, how can he not come up with a good story for a game? Big Pear City is just like a long, playable movie." Nick explains.

"Makes sense… But the songs though. They can't be all originals, right?" Stuart asks.

"He's a songwriter who has almost a hundred song credits from his albums, movies, and the songs other singers bought from him. So, yes. All 54 songs. He definitely wrote them all." Nick says.

"*sigh* Wow. I thought he was just the face of the game." Stuart shakes his head.

"I thought so too. But. Remember, he made five great casual games by himself that had a combined download of over a hundred million. Even if those were just 2d games, he is still a game developer himself. Combine all of that…"

"He's the brain of the operation." Stuart comes up with the conclusion by himself.

"Yes. That too. But I was gonna say, combining all his skills, he is the perfect game designer. He also has the formula to keep making great sequels to Big Pear City. And if he keeps making games like Big Pear City… We will have to up our shit to match up." Nick says.

"Hahh… I thought the sales are only going to be Craig's problems… F*ckin Isaac. Why can't he just stay in movies?" Stuart sighs.

The two become silent.   

"Hey. Interesting story." Nick suddenly says, the situation reminding him of something.

"Yeah, what?" Stuart wants to forget the Tayaw threat for now.

"You know AE Interactive? They delayed their release of their sequel to WBO Fight Night." Nick reports.

"That boxing game? Why?" Stuart asks.

"A friend of mine, who used to work here, is one of the executives there now. He said they tried to start a smear campaign against Big Pear City. You've heard about that petition to take down the game due to the violence?" Nick asks.

"I've heard something about that. That was them?" Stuart asks, in surprise, having heard of it in the news.

"Yeah. That was them. They delayed the release of their game to prevent competition." Nick nods.

"Well, what happened? Wasn't there an issue about children playing it? Their argument seemed valid." Stuart says.

"Yeah, well. It didn't work. Half Basin released a statement saying that they did their best to only sell their game only to 18+ audience. That is through selling their game exclusively in their website so it can only be purchased with credit card or PayPal which only ȧduŀts have." Nick says.

"Hahah.. Bull. My kid buy stuff all the time online with my credit card." Stuart scoffs.

"Well. That excuse was enough to silence a lot of their critics. Especially after Half Basin insinuated that it's not their fault that the parents are not supervising their children's online activities enough." Nick shrugs.

"…" Stuart is speechless. "Well how about the violence?" He brushes aside Nick's unintended slight.

"Even if the game is itself, violent, it does kind of discourage violence and crime." Nick says.

"HUH?..." Stuart wears a mocking expression.

"Didn't you play the game? If a player steals a car in the presence of a cop, he gets chased by cops. If they punch a pedestrian, or run one over one, they get chased by the cops. If they kill a cop pursuing then, they get two stars wanted and the cops will kill them. If their wanted level rises to three stars, they will have to fight off waves of cops.

"If the player dies in the game, they lose money and their weapons. That way, the players are discouraged from committing senseless massacre." Nick explains.

"Seems like Half Basin already considered the backlash before they even released the game." Stuart chuckles, impressed.

"That they did. And. Joke's on AE Interactive and their friends. They just added to the public and online presence of Big Pear City." Nick says.

"I hope Craig's not planning on doing the same thing." Stuart shakes his head. 

"Uhn... Why am I here by the way?" Nick asks.

"Oh. Last night, I was watching… Fuck." Stuart stops mid-sentence and curses in frustration.

"What?" Nick raises his brows.

"While I was watching Gold, Blood, and the Deer, I got an idea for a game. But knowing how things are now, I don't think it's possible." Stuart shakes his head.

"Well, what's the idea?" Nick gets curious as Stuart never comes up with any ideas regarding creativity.

"I was just thinking. What if we make Gold, Blood, and the Deer into a game? What do you think?" Stuart asks.

"Oh… That's not a bad idea…" Nick nods, impressed at the idea and his imagination starts running.

"I know. But it's Isaac's film. He's probably already thinking about it." Stuart says, disappointed.

"Why not talk to him, first? It's possible to work with him. You can use our game engine, and our other resources as leverage. He's rich too, so ask him to invest." Nick says, excited to work again.

Stuart smiles at Nick's optimism.

"I'll give it a try." Stuart picks up his phone once again.

.

-

.

11 PM - JM Entertainment Studio, Apgujeong, Seoul.

"ooh… I should get something like this when I go back." Tayaw cannot help but appreciate the recording studio hardware of JM Entertainment.

"My own studio seems to be poor, huh." He compares.

"Is it because they do pop?... Hmm. I managed just fine making the songs for the game though?" He shrugs.

JM Entertainment. Out of all the K-pop companies he could have visited, it is the only one that holds a bit of meaning to him.

In his previous life, JM had a six-member boy band named QNAQ, and one of the members is Teungebian. That one Teungebian member made QNAQ the biggest K-pop export to Teungeb.

Tayaw then steps in the recording booth to further examine the set-up and sound-proofing.

"Doesn't seem to be any different than mine." He scratches his cheek.

"Huh? Who's this guy?" He suddenly hears a muffled voice from outside the booth.

"…!" Tayaw almost jumps out of surprise, but not too much that he maintains his poker face.

He did not expect that someone would walk in on him late in the evening.

Tayaw is very jumpy because he is actually trespassing. He did not talk to the official process to visit the company as he does not want the attention and the company to use him for marketing. For that reason, he decided to simply sneak in.

Another reason for why he resorted to trespassing is because, he simply craves for excitement.

By climbing through a fire exit ladder from the building's parking lot, he managed to sneak in JM building without getting caught.

He did not actually think he might be able to enter, but because the access platform of the fire exit ladder is always open for the smokers of the company, he had a way in. 

Unfortunately, he cannot explore the building as much as he can because of the CCTV cameras covering half of the corridors and rooms. While he knows that he already got caught by some CCTV cameras, he does not want to appear in their view for more than a few seconds in case there is a security guard watching the CCTV live feeds. 

As for being recorded on the other hand, he does not care. All he had to do is to hold his head down to hide his face. After all, no one will think expect that a foreigner will dare to trespass.

"Fuckin soundproofing seems great here. I didn't hear this young lady come in." Tayaw  mutters as he gives the girl a once over through the booth's soundproof glass window.

Tayaw guesses that the girl who just came in the studio, seems to be either a K-pop idol, or a trainee.

Her shoulder-length black hair with beautiful blue highlights, her immaculately pretty face, and her taller than average Korean female height are very much a giveaway to Tayaw.

Also finding the girl familiar, he gets curious and he gets out of the booth.

"Hello senior!" Tayaw bows to greet the girl.

"… Late-night practice?" he asks, noticing the not so expensive acoustic guitar carried by the girl.

"U-uhn…" The girl shyly and cautiously nods. "Are you a trainee?" She asks.

"Oh. Yes, senior. I just passed the auditions in Australia. I'm Do Tae-yang, pleased to meet you, senior." Tayaw immediately makes use of one of the lies he prepared in case he gets caught.

He also wore a fitting black hoodie, ripped jeans, black beanie, and white rubber shoes, to look the part of a K-pop trainee.

"O-oh… That's why I didn't recognize you. You're new." The girl nods. "But… Tae-yang-ssi. You don't look Korean." She notices.

"I'm Teungebian, senior. Tayaw is my name, but to make it easier for everyone, I'm using a Korean name." Tayaw says while hoping that the girl did not process the foreign name.

"I see. What were you doing inside? You didn't look like you were practicing." She asks.

"I just got curious of what the recording studio looked like. The ones I saw before are nothing compared to what's in here." Tayaw says, feigning interest as he looks around the room.

"I see. Well, new trainees are not allowed in this floor. You'll get scolded when you get caught." The girl says in concern.

"O-oh. I'm sorry, senior. I didn't know." Tayaw feigns embarrassment. "U-uhh… Senior. I know a bit how to operate these things. May I record your practice?" He asks.

"Why would you do that?" The girl asks apprehensively.

"I don't want to leave yet. And this is my only chance to play with expensive equipment. So… may I stay?" He asks, with puppy dog eyes.

"…" The girl almost falls for Tayaw's expression, but still is conflicted with the request.

"…" Tayaw on the other hand, is trying his best to remember who the girl is.