“Good morning, Miss Lily,” Mr. Wace greeted as Lily walked into his office carrying two cups of steaming hot coffee.


    “You look exhausted,” she chuckled, and she set a cup before him. With a nod, he picked up the coffee cup and carefully took a sip. “How is it going?” She asked.


    “I called you here because I’ve been able to rope Drake Gibson to our side. He’s agreed to work with us on a contract term of two years,” Mr Wace exined as he passed Drake’s file to Lily.


    “That sounds suspicious,” Lily muttered. “I wasn’t expecting him to agree that readily. What did you offer?”


    Hearing her words, Mr. Wace scrunched up his nose before letting out a smallugh. “I didn’t offer anything out of the ordinary. It was the sry we both agreed on previously and yes, he rejected it at first,” he exined.


    “So what changed?” Lily asked with raised brows.


    “I showed him half of the game blueprints you made, and he was hooked and even offered to be on the project with a sh in his payment,” Mr. Wace announced with a grin, and Lily nodded knowingly.


    Lily couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction knowing that her work had been instrumental in securing Drake Gibson’s involvement. With his expertise and her vision, their project was sure to make waves in the gaming industry.


    “I knew your designs were something special, Lily, but I never knew it was so special that it would convince the game lord to join us,” Mr Wace said, pride evident in his voice. “This is just the beginning. Once we have Drake on board, we can start assembling the rest of the team and begin production.”


    Lily nodded with a smile. “No, we won’t have to stress about other teammates. Drake will do that by himself.” She chuckled. “I wanted him first, not just for his brains, but because he has a perfect team to work with,” she exined.


    “My goal from the start was to have him and his teammates, you see.” She added it mischievously. “When will the contract signing be?”


    “He’ll be here any minute from now; do you need me to introduce you two?” Mr Wace asked while gathering the needed paperwork for the signing process.


    “You can introduce me as the game program writer; we’ll have to work together on it anyway,” she replied.


    As if on cue, there was a soft knock on the door, and Mr Wace called for the person to enter. The door opened to reveal a young, fresh out of college Drake Gibson, his charismatic presence filling the room as he stepped inside. Mr. Wace greeted him warmly and introduced him to Lily.


    “Hello, it’s nice to have you here,” he beamed.


    “It’s nice to be here. I hope I’m not intruding bying early; I just couldn’t wait any longer.” Drake chuckled awkwardly as his sses shifted slightly.


    “Hahaha, you don’t have to worry about that.” Wace encouraged me. “This is Lily Turner; she is the game program writer and Lily, this is Drake Gibson; he’ll be the game production director,” he introduced, and the two exchanged handshakes.


    Drake’s eyes sparked with interest as he shook Lily’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet the creative mind behind the brilliant designs I saw. I can’t wait to work alongside you and bring this game to life.”


    Lily smiled, feeling excited to start a real project she was interested in for the first time since she got reborn into the body. With a twinkle in her eyes, she beamed at him and replied, “The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Drake. I’m looking forward tobining our strengths and creating something truly exceptional.”


    As Mr. Wace prepared the contract, Lily and Drake took their seats, discussing the initial steps of the project. The contract was soon ready, and Drake carefully reviewed the terms before signing on the dotted line, officially joining the team.


    “So, when do I get to meet the rest of the team?” Drake asked carefully.


    “Well, for now, we are still awaiting replies from the others; we only have the program writer, which is Lily, and the story writer, avable now,” Mr. Wace exined, and Drake frowned thoughtfully.Content protected by N?v/el(D)rama.Org.


    “Do you mind if I bring some of my old teammates in?” He asked. “They have nothing to do at the moment, and I think it will be better for me to work with familiar faces; of course, you don’t have to agree to it,” he added, and Mr Wace grinned.


    His eyes momentarily flickered to Lily while he was thinking about her calctive brain. After working with her for a few days, he could already tell what kind of person she was.


    Goal-orientated and very focused.


    Someone who had every step of her work nned out in a way that it would go her way without failure.


    ‘I’m so happy I epted her request. This is the most rxed I’ve ever been while working under any cooperation,’ he thought to himself before addressing Drake’s offer.


    “If it’s okay, then yes, please do. I’ll draft the contract for them, and you can go through it as soon as possible,” he noted.


    “I’ll reach out to them immediately; trust me, with such a well-written program and storyline, they definitely won’t reject the offer,” he assured.


    “By the way, I heard we will be working on the project with Alpha Tech; will they provide the device?” Drake asked carefully.


    “Yes, the game, as I’ve mentioned, will be in virtual reality settings, and they are in charge of producing the devices. Is there a problem?” Mr. Wace asked.


    Drake shifted awkwardly in his seat, not knowing how to say his next words. After deliberating for a while, he sighed, “Do you think I can talk with their representative?” He asked.


    “My friends and I have been working on virtual reality technology, and although we haven’t gone that deeply, it’ll be an honour to be part of the team working on it,” he exined.


    Mr. Wace looked at Lily, unsure of how to reply, Lily got his signal and took over the conversation. “I’m on the team working on the virtual reality pod; we are working on the pod directly since the helmet is quitemon and we want something unique. The research part is done for the most part, and the first set is under production,” she exined.


    “However, since you are enthusiastic about the project, I’ll put in a word for you with the team leader and see how it goes,” she provided.


    “Thank you so much; I truly appreciate your offer!” He replied with a grin.


    With the formalitiespleted, the trio dug into the details of the game’s development. They discussed the overall vision, the unique elements that would set it apart from other games on the market, and the timeline they hoped to follow.


    They all got so lost in conversation that they didn’t realise it was time for lunch until Mr. Wace’s phone rang and his assistant reminded him of his lunch appointment.


    The three dispersed after making an appointment to start the game production properly the following week.


    Once this part was settled, Lily breathed out a sigh of relief.


    {You haven’t learnt anything new in recent months; aren’t you afraid you’ll get rusty?} The system asked as she got into the cab, heading for Lily’s fashionplex.


    “Going rusty would happen if I’d only spent my days lounging around, don’t you think?” She replied. “But now that you’ve mentioned it, do you have something new for Mr. to learn?”


    {I do. However, it’s in line with the vault you are trying to break into. Your mother built the security of that vault, and it’s the same as the one used in the military and national level}, the system exined.


    “Are you saying it’s advanced technology?”


    {It is. It’s more advanced than the things you know right now, and it will take you more time to learn about it.}


    “In one word, you are telling me I’m going to have a long, tiring day ahead?”


    {Pretty much, but first, you should take care of the tail that has been following you around. It’s getting annoying to see their faces.}