After the chaos of yesterday—where we accidentally invented Mind Torture Simulator 3000 (or Cognitive Endurance Mode, for those with legal degrees)—today was the day we had to explain it to the suits.


    A lesser man might have spent the night sweating over potential lawsuits or composing heartfelt apologies for the corporate board, but I had instead used the time to refine the true brilliance of our discovery.


    Pain, in our game, was valuable.


    The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became. The system we stumbled upon wasn’t just immersive; it was a goldmine. Synthetic Dawn had always been designed as a next-gen, AI-driven experience where players learned and adapted in a world without artificial limitations. But what we had actually created was something far more powerful: a performance economy.


    The rich teenagers and overcompetitive adults desperate for an edge? They’d throw money at items that softened the impact of "learning moments," buying boosters, pain dampeners, and focus enhancers. But no matter how much they spent, the underlying pressure to push themselves further would never truly go away. The elite players? They’d be defined by how much focus they could maintain while suffering, it will be a matter of who is able to do so under strenuous conditions. And where there’s status and prestige, there’s profit.


    All that we needed to do, was add some tournament with a hefty prize money, and people might even start making a living off of it. A whole new meta—Suffer to Win.


    When I explained this to Noémie this morning, she nearly knocked over her coffee in excitement.


    "Yes, that makes so much sense!" she said, her eyes lighting up as she paced the room. "Now Legal can’t bury us, because Sales and Marketing are going to back us hard. They’ll see the monetization potential immediately."


    Kenji, lounging against a desk, gave an approving nod. "Pain has never been so profitable."


    I smirked. "A sentence that would be very concerning out of context."


    "Still concerning in context," Noémie muttered. "But I’ll take it."


    Kenji leaned back, crossing his arms. "We’re on the brink of something revolutionary. Or a class-action lawsuit. Possibly both. Either way, history will remember us."


    "Mainly in court transcripts," Noémie quipped.


    "Still counts," Kenji said with a shrug.


    She let out a sigh and rolled her shoulders before glancing at the clock. "Alright, I should go. I need to sell this insanity to people who still think ‘Next Gen AI’ is a buzzword. You two try not to burn down the department while I’m gone."


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "That is an unfair request," I said.


    "That is an impossible request," Kenji corrected.


    Noémie gave us both a long-suffering look before grabbing her tablet and heading for the conference room.


    And just like that, it was quiet.


    Not real quiet—TitanWorks was never truly silent—but in the way that mattered. Without Noémie running interference, it was just Kenji and me left to our own devices.


    Two hours had passed. Light work had kept us entertained, but I could already feel Kenji growing restless.


    Kenji spun his chair idly, staring at the ceiling as if it held the answers to life’s great mysteries. Then, without preamble, he asked, "Do you ever wonder how we would be if we worked as corporate goons in marketing, sales, or God forbid, legal?"


    I snorted. "We''d last a week, tops. And that’s assuming we weren’t fired on the spot for creative misuse of company resources."


    Kenji grinned. "Oh, I’d give us at least a month. Imagine it—‘Kenji Takada, Head of Marketing.’ I’d roll out a campaign so unhinged it’d go viral within hours. Something like: Digital Babes: Interactive Porn for Everybody! PG-13 for sure."


    "Not bad," I said, rubbing my chin. "We would leave the porn industry in the dust, that''s for sure. I see the potential! Although some people might find it offensive. Cannot imagine how dating will be after launching that."


    Kenji clapped. "Yeah, no kidding. Who will want to pay for expensive dinners to get laid? Only McDonald’s from there on out. The world is a better place already, I can feel it!"


    I smirked. "And imagine the chaos if we ran legal. We’d draft a contract so convoluted that even we wouldn’t understand it. Someone would try to sue us, and we’d counter-sue them for emotional damages caused by their lack of faith in our corporate vision."


    Kenji grinned. "Oh, and don’t forget Sales. Our strategy? Sell nothing, promise everything, and charge extra for explanations. You want a refund? That’s a DLC."


    I leaned back. "We could even introduce a new corporate policy: Every complaint must be submitted in haiku form. Just to filter out the weak."


    Kenji laughed. "And for the strong? A boss battle. Legal will have a final boss. If you win, you get one contract clause removed. If you lose, we own your house.”


    I nodded solemnly. "Bold. Ruthless. I love it."


    Before I could add more, the door swung open, and Noémie walked in looking like she had aged a decade. Her hair was slightly disheveled, and she had the hollow-eyed expression of someone who had been through bureaucratic hell.


    She dropped her tablet on the desk and leveled a glare at both of us. "Hey, you two, guess who are the two new game testers? It''s you two!"


    Kenji immediately threw his hands in the air. "Welcome aboard the newest and most brutal Mind Torture Simulator 3000! Round of applause, please!"


    "I am serious, Kenji!" Noémie fumed.


    I blinked. "Wait, we’re actually—?"


    She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Yes. Since you two are so confident in this system, the higher-ups decided you should be the ones pushing the boundaries. Your job is to experience firsthand how those pain-disorientation-learning cycles feel. You’ll be playing Synthetic Dawn for the next three months. The company is even providing the immersion pods."


    I stared at her. "No good job goes unpunished, huh? I can only hope it''s not as bad as those logs seemed to show. Those testers quit shortly after that."


    Kenji shrugged. "Feels like paid vacation to me, even if we are turning ourselves into guinea pigs."


    Noémie smirked. "I can only hope your brain melts a little, Kenji. Maybe you become a better man."


    Kenji grinned. "Unlikely, but hey, worth a shot."


    Noémie exhaled loudly and sat down, rubbing her face. "You two are going to make my life hell, aren’t you?"


    "Wouldn’t dream of it," Kenji said innocently.


    I patted her shoulder. "Besides, we’re in this together now. If we go down, we go down as legends."


    She groaned. "I hate both of you."


    Kenji winked. "You love us."


    She didn’t deny it, which meant we had already won.