Andrew stepped out of his car and gazed at the sea of people entering the shopping center. The only other experience he had seeing this many people gathered in one place was going to a baseball game with his father when he was a teenager.

Why? Why were this many people willing to stay up so late just to pick up a video game?

The sound of a car horn blaring behind him caused him to jump. He turned around and realized he was blocking the flow of traffic. Andrew waved at the driver apologetically, then he leaned his head into the car.

“Samantha, find a safe place to park. I’ll call you to pick me up when I’m done here.”

A green checkmark appeared on the HUD and the driver’s side door closed. Andrew made his way to the sidewalk and caught a glimpse of his car driving down the road and disappearing behind a building after making a right-hand turn.

Turning his attention back to the horde of people, Andrew found himself looking at all the different types of people entering. There were kids with their parents, teenagers, adults, and he even picked out a few senior citizens moving steadily along with the crowd. They all had an energetic glow to them that he couldn’t help but feel envious of.

When was the last time he had been this excited about something? He really had to think hard about this, which made him worried. He had been dedicating every waking moment to Body Gear to one day take it over… Was he really living a life deprived of excitement?

While contemplating the lack of excitement in his life, Andrew followed the sea of people until he found himself standing in an organized line with a metal barrier to either side of him. Looking to his left and right, he saw that other lines were being formed with similar amounts of people. He glanced over the shoulder of the man in front of him and saw that there were several barriers erected with even more lines of people ahead of him.

Something else caught his eye near the front of the lines. It looked like a… performance platform? Dozens of lighting fixtures hung above the platform secured by a metal caging spanning from the floor and almost reaching the ceiling of the shopping center. Several speakers were spread across the platform and some sort of table-like device set in the middle of it all.

This caused Andrew’s heart to seize for a moment. He didn’t accidentally follow a group of people attending a concert, did he? He looked around again and sighed with relief as he saw literally hundreds of people wearing Final Conquest merchandise.

Focusing on some of the idle conversations around him, all he could hear was excitement towards the game.

Andrew looked down at this watch impatiently and cursed when he realized it wasn’t even midnight yet. How long would this whole process take? Judging by the number of people here, it would take quite a while. And not only that, he seemed to be closer to the back of the line rather than the front. How early did people get here just to wait in line?

“Already impatient, huh? I’ve got some bad news for you. It’s going to take even longer than you think it will.”

Andrew turned around to discover a beautiful girl around his age standing up to his chest with beautiful long brown hair, a sharp angular face, dark brown eyes, and an athletic build accentuated by her blue athletic attire.

A playful grin spread across her lips. “You even dressed up for the occasion!”

It took Andrew a moment to register that she was, in fact, talking to him. He looked down at his clothes and realized that he was still wearing the black suit minus the tie from Vladimir’s funeral. Being in a hurry to get here as soon as possible, it escaped his mind that he probably should have changed his clothes to something more comfortable. Though, he wasn’t too worried. There seemed to be handfuls of people scattered through the lines wearing suits, probably racing here as soon as their shift was over at work.

He chuckled and straightened his suit coat. “You know what they say, you gotta dress for the occasion.”

She laughed and showed off her athletic attire with a wave of her arms. “I clearly missed the memo. To be honest, I lost track of the date and was on the way to the gym before realizing that tonight was the new expansion’s release. Thinking about it now, I probably should have come back in the morning. By the time we get our copies, it will be close to…” She started running calculation in her mind. “Three or four in the morning?”

Andrew’s eyes widened. “Three or four in the morning? It takes that long?”

The girl eyed him suspiciously. “Is this your first time at a midnight launch?”

“That obvious?” Andrew laughed. “If I had known it would take that long I would have hit the gym too.”

Her eyes lit up. “Nice! What stats are you working on?”

What… stats was he working on? Andrew had no idea what she was talking about. Currently, he was working on calisthenics and increasing his cardiovascular endurance with a mixture of HIIT and LIIT training. Was that what she was talking about?

It had been a long time since Andrew had set foot into a gym, seeing as he had his dream workout station in his basement. Were terms like ‘stats’ new gym lingo?

Andrew tried his best to act casually and ‘in the know.’ “I guess you could say that I’m working on my endurance stat.”

“Ahhh – endurance.” She nodded and looked Andrew over again. “Is that a primary stat for you? What’s your class? If I had to guess, you are riding along the warrior, or its variant classes, right? You’ve got a solid build. My second guess is that you’re a duelist – depending how agile you are.”

It was like she was speaking a foreign language to him. Primary stats? Classes? Warrior? Duelist? He had zero idea as to what she was talking about.

“What’s a primary stat? Why do I look like a warrior?”

Andrew looked down at the girl who’s face warped from joy to confusion. “Wait… have you not played Final Conquest?”

As he was shaking his head, Andrew heard scattered gasps around him. He turned around to see many shocked stares from others waiting in line around him. It felt awkward being the odd person out and having this many eyes boring into him – but it was to be expected.

He almost expected people to start laughing at him or even be angry with him for wasting a precious spot in their midnight launch… but instead, the shocked expressions of those around him turned into glittering eyes. Andrew turned his attention back to the girl he was talking with and saw one of the most genuine smiles he had ever seen.

She crossed her arms under her chest and shook her head in bewilderment. “I never thought I would meet someone who’s never played Final Conquest before. Your kind are very rare.” She reached out a hand. “My name’s Camille, by the way. It’s nice to meet you!”

Taking another glance around him, Andrew noticed those who had been looking at him a moment ago had their attention elsewhere. He took her hand and shook it. “My name’s Andrew, likewise.”

Suddenly an alarm blared over the entire crowd, causing everyone’s attention to shift towards the front where the stage was located. Everyone in the crowd started cheering loudly and jumping up and down in excitement.

Andrew looked down at his watch and saw that it was now finally midnight. Was the midnight launch finally starting? He looked over at Camille, who was in the process of trying to see over him to get a look at the main stage.

For some reason, Andrew felt a weight at the bottom of his stomach. Guilt? Why was he feeling guilty? Sure, he was taking up an important spot in line that should probably go to someone who was way more into the game than he was, but he was here on an important mission. He was here to make sure that all of them still had a game to play in the coming months.

Still, though. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was ruining someone’s experience. Camille’s experience. Since they were both going to be here for a while, he might as well play nice with her.

“Hey, you wanna go in front of me? I don’t want to block your view.”

Camille stared at Andrew as if he were an idiot. “You want me to go ahead of you? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I have no idea what’s going on and don’t want to ruin the experience for someone who’s clearly more excited about all of this than I am.”

His new line friend looked up at him with calculating eyes then smiled. “That’s very nice of you. Don’t worry; when we get to the registers, I’ll be sure to give you your spot back. I know you’re in a hurry to get out of here.”

He nodded appreciatively and created enough space for her to pass by him in their line. As she was passing, he tapped her shoulder – getting her attention. “What’s going on?”

Camille grinned and winked. “You’ll find out shortly.”

As if on cue, another loud siren blared over the crowd. Shortly after the siren, a large screen on the main stage switched on, revealing a figure in a navy-blue business suit, white dress shirt, brown dress shoes, and wearing a giant helmet that looked like a snarling wolf. They brought a microphone up to their mask and shouted.

“Helloooooo heroes of Melartus! How is everyone doing tonight?!”

The crowd, including Camille, cheered at the top of their lungs. Andrew reeled backward by the sheer force and volume of the crowd.

The wolf… man… thing strutted confidently across the stage, hyping up the crowd with his arms. He stopped in the middle of the stage and pointed out towards the crowd. “It is my pleasure to be up here tonight hosting tonight’s release of Final Conquest Fire Skies!”

The crowd cheered again.

“Soon, the registers at One Up Games will be fully functional and the staff will be helping you with your purchase. Please remember that the staff are human and deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. I know all of you will be on your best behavior, but you never know what kind of trolls lurk in these crowds.”

The crowd laughed in unison.

“If you don’t know who I am, I am DJ WolfCannon. I am tonight’s main entertainment and will be performing a full set!” The DJ stopped and leaned his head away from the crowd. He nodded his head and addressed the crowd again. “We just got word that the registers are fully operational. Let's get this launch started!”

Lights, lasers, and smoke spewed out of the stage simultaneously – nearly blinding Andrew. The enthusiastic crowd began cheering. The DJ took his place behind a large table and started mixing EDM music, which people danced enthusiastically to.

While all of this was happening, the first line of people were being ushered into what Andrew could only assume was One Up Games.

Camille started dancing and singing to the music blaring through the shopping center. She must have been a big fan of DJ WolfCannon’s music because she knew all the lyrics.

Andrew felt a smile spread across his lips as he gazed upon the thousands of people having an absolute blast. This type of music wasn’t his favorite, and he actively avoided loud places due to getting headaches easily – but tonight, for some reason, it didn’t bother him. He couldn’t help but feel proud, witnessing Vladimir’s handiwork at play. This is what he meant by building a community.

His smile turned into quivering lips as tears started rimming his eyes. He quickly rubbed them away and forced back more that were creeping in. For six years, he had been ignoring what his best friend had worked tooth and nail to build. What he gave his life to create. Happiness.

He knew that Final Conquest was a huge success, but he only saw the numbers side to it. He never saw sights like this… Thousands of people smiling, dancing, meeting new people, and happy being where they were – celebrating something they all loved.

Why? Why had he convinced himself that the only thing he could focus on was Body Gear? Visions of him wasting his life away sitting at a computer typing up emails, sitting through meetings that should have been emails, and forcing fake smiles at work events scrolled across his mind.

Even though his intentions were great, he always had the feeling in the back of his mind that he was neglecting something, but he couldn’t sit down and think about it because he continually absorbed himself in work to not think about it.

Andrew shook away the thoughts and smiled to himself. That was all going to change. He would start allowing himself to have fun. And with the decision made, he tapped his foot to the music.