<h4>Chapter 10: Nous Studios</h4>


    "How many characters are in this game?" the man asked as he continued to watch, now curious as to how many yable characters thispany could fit into their game.


    He counted until he forgot why he was counting and simply began to enjoy the stupid content the ount created. It had everything; there were animated videos of their characters, even the serious ones, doing popr trends in ways you would expect someone with such a character to do.


    From the voice-overs in the videos, he managed to grasp the general idea behind the game. The game was based on the idea of parallel Earths; each character is on each Earth, but you can y as any of them; however, your decisions can change the ending dramatically. Basically, everything was up to the yers.


    It was an interesting concept, and he wanted to see it at y. If the yer''s decisions decide everything, does that mean that it''s like those dating Sims where they are given options to choose from, or do they get to just speak their minds and the NPCs will work around it?


    The more he watched, the more annoyed he was that they weren''t truly addressing that particr matter as though it were nothing. They introduced all the yable characters, which was a lot, meaning that when you unlock them, you get to y as them, and each one is asplicated as a regr human being.


    However, theck of more information on that topic made him even more curious, so he checked the name of the gamingpany, Nous Studios, and without hesitation went to search for the game online. As soon as he did so, he found several articles rted to the game in various print media and, finally, a website for the game itself.


    "Oh? The game isn''t ready for download yet; six more days to go."The man read out loud.


    Since the game wasn''t out for download yet, he spent his time going through the website to gather as much information as he could, since he was now interested in the game.


    ====


    Due to Nous''s maniption, nearly 465 million people on TikTok saw a video from Nous''s ount. Not all of them were gamers; however, they still enjoyed the content, and their likes and follows made the ount grow massively.


    Apart from that, Nous advertised the game in any way she could; however, she didn''t take it so far that she used illegal means. Though she did use loopholes in certainws to advertise the game, it wasn''t an exaggeration to say that by morning, at least half the world would have seen it.


    David, on the other hand, was still stuck on hisputer ying the same game. He had gone far into the plot of the game, and unlike before, he had gotten used to the game''s mechanics. However, the game had him talking to himself like some maniac.


    [Sir, I would advise you to go to bed. The game won''t end anytime soon and would take you at least two months and some weeks toplete for the default character alone]


    "What?" David asked in shock as soon as he heard what she said.


    "What do you mean by default character?"


    [The game was designed to allow you to y as practically anybody youe across; however, you would have to finish ying as this character first]


    "So, I can y as Snaketer on?"


    Yes, even as Inspector Herman or Burns]


    "That means this game is a trap, then? Nous, that is evil, very evil," Davidmented as he smiled.


    If the default character was this entertaining to y, then he imagined how it would be for others. He could see some sort of onlinepetition on who could unlock the most characters—apetition on how far you had gone. People would do nothing all day apart from staring at their screens.


    [Is that bad?]


    "What? No, that is great; the point was to create a game that people would love to y for hours on end, and this is it; there are no dull moments, and the story is incredibly engaging. Also, turn off myputer next time; I spend too much time on the game, and I don''t want to get brain-dead."


    [As you wish, sir] Nous replied


    "Good, now while we''re at it, how long before the game goes online?"


    [Six more days... An immediate release wouldn''t allow it to grow in poprity; however, a much longer release would make the build-up excitement vanish, hence the six-day wait.


    "It makes sense, but during this time, do you have any other ideas? We could start something that would begin bringing in the money."


    [We could offer my services to the world; however, that would mean that your next edit as the editor would be for a new server to handle all other processes that aren''t mine.]


    "I thought I created you with infinite storage."


    [Yes, but I also have infinite information. Within said information is information rted to everything about everyone, and I do not n to ever mistakenly give that information to someone, so a different server is needed to host their data and allow me to easily provide my services without being afraid of releasing information they do not need to know]


    "I doubt you could make such a mistake; omniscience sort of also means perfection, but I will do as you said, so what services are you referring to?"


    [I could make the mainpany apany that deals with AI generators]


    "What''s that exactly?"


    [It''s simply a website where people can turn text into various things like images, write-ups, etc., and many other things]


    "Can you show me an example? I don''t truly understand."


    [Yes, sir] Nous replied as a holographic screen appeared, and on it was a very engaging website.


    It was engaging but also simple; he saw a text bar where he was to put in a prompt and then select what he nned to turn it into. Selecting the option for an image, David typed in a mythical creature with the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and a snake as a tail''.