Uproar; Surrounded by Wolves

Jameson cursed as he watched the stream currently live. The man was spotting a grand headache and that was nothing compared to the heartache and kidney failure he was sure was coming.

The girl did it again. Effectively drew the attention of over half the gaming and watching industry. Now while the company had time to tweak and edit the live stream to show what they wanted that was where the problem became an issue in itself.

Trying to flag the words like gods and devils and creator gods and high gods while not impossible would have made the stream confusing. Like watching a plot where half the time everything seemed strange.

With the higher-ups brought in and a brief but heated meeting called up, Jameson finally had a task. Work around the stream. Since the secret was out it was best to use it as a good marketing strategy.

Jameson though didn't have to do anything as the public was already sold on the game. Maybe it had to do with the clashes Hildelith was having with the said devil. It looked insane even to him.

The orders for VR pods were blowing through the roof. Jameson could only shake his head and watch. It didn't matter how many pods they ordered it wasn't time for the game to go public yet. Though he was certain the higher-ups were clamoring to release it publicly.

But that was their problem. His problem. was at the moment fighting a grand battle, a test of her mettle of sorts, a training montage if one could denote what the contract she set meant.

Jameson could already sense other player managers rising their heads ready to lap up this good ole meat from the grill. For the chills of him, he wouldn't let them taint this beautiful potential.

"At least she knows her weaknesses and works around them" he acceded. Still, he couldn't help but wonder how exactly Hildelith gained access to the Nether realms.

"That piece was supposed to come much later in the game. That race should be contended with as a group not single-handedly," he grumbled as he moved through the material he had received about the game searching for more info on the Nether realm.

"Plus just the fact that they are called devils is enough to wonder how all this will go". he shook his head once more before abandoning his search with an annoyed glare at the horde of files around him.

Focusing back on the stream he watched as the girl got pummeled and kept at her toes in a long ongoing fight. Settling down to focus and watch hoping to pick on things he could help her fix a groan escaped his lips as an African pop beat blared from his device.

*****

Jameson frowned internally while he schooled his features in front of the group of bald or greying old men as well as young masters and mistresses.

Jameson would be lying if he said he had no idea what was running through each one of their minds. With his boss seater at the head of the table and him at the man's right hand, it was obvious these folks had managed to convince his boss her their pitch and even better get him on board.

Now Jameson wasn't arrogant enough to believe his decision was needed or valuable but his presence here showed that whatever decision they were about to make needed him on onboard.

'What exactly needs my input or agreement.?' he tried to recollect any kind of authority he had that his boss couldn't simply revoke. In the end, he came up lacking.

" I'm sure you are dying to know why you've been called in amongst us". His boss, Kevin D'man, a middle-aged man wi5h a good head on his head, or at least Jameson would love to think so began the meeting.

"I hate beating around the bush so I'll hit the hammer on the nail. Currently, Mr. Jameson, Creation Online has seen a massive rise in popularity. This isn't the first of many spikes in its surge but it's the truly meaningful one with a good surge of 36% increment in popularity compared to the last of only 17%." he eyed the fellow man fiercely.

"We need to ride this wave, Mr. Jameson. Now the board had met and decided to find a market to boost our massive popularity and this came up." Kevin slid a file over to Jameson who picked it up and opened the blue paper bind.

It was a proposal. The large emblazoned words EsGNT atop it had him calming for a second. EsGNT while money-oriented and all business also had a good neck and head. He didn't bother looking at the other pages much to the disgruntlement of some folks in the room.

"I'm honored to be here and not to sell myself short but I highly doubt you need my penmanship to approve this deal," he replied after perusing the main details of the words.

I was fishing for why I was here and Kevin knew it. The blatant smile he tossed was enough to know.

"Me Jameson. I'm a businessman. While you might not be I'd like to think you should know well enough that any new idea is vetted before implementation." he raised an eyebrow to which Jameson nodded.

"I'm the expert in leaching in the money. No offense " he waved to the guests who ignored him all eyes on Jameson.

"You on the other hand have been running this show. While not playing as a former player-manager I find it imperative to ask your thoughts."

"And will my thoughts be considered even with the little to no power it has?"Jameson fished. Kevin smirked before nodding.

" You say this idea will crash my company then I tell these fine gentlemen to skedaddle and go on home." Jameson exhaled at this answer. It was a good feeling to know that his thoughts would be respected but decided to not overdo it. His palms flipped the pages over slowly. It would be unwise to not at least scan the others before making a proper defense.

It took a heated few minutes before he sighed.

"I doubt I understand much of the legal or business jargon in there. So I focused on the parts that directly affect the games. MedBen, EsGNT, and Fillgyms are the best. Players would need to exercise a bit to halt muscle paralysis and other side effects of staying cramped in a pod for quite a long time. MedBen provides the medical resources we need for the players. EsGNT helps to increase our game popularity but I think that while EsGNT's proposal is good enough we do need another outlet. Maybe PhoenixStations." he looked around seeing some faces beaming and others looking despondent.

Kevin nodded with a frown before speaking.

"The others I understand and already have ideas on how to benefit from them as I'm sure they have on how to earn from us. But I'm interested in how PhoenixStations aids here. "he looked genuinely confused.

" Not everyone watches the game show channels like EsGNT. Most folks are local or business oriented. I would know, I only heard about Creator Online from my son." it was an elder man in his late fifties that answered. Scott Payer, PhoenixStation.

"Yup. So by letting another outlet broadcast as we gain more people's awareness. Just not an advert. I swear it gets annoying after the first two or three watches. Maybe a ten or five-minute replay of an important event within the game. Something mind-grabbing. "

Kevin nodded at the suggestions while leaning back. The air turned frigid while he rapped his fingers against the glass table. The looks of annoyance, defeat, and glee from most of them had Jameson shifting uncomfortably.

It was like a meeting with wolves. Hungry ones.

Kevin smiled after a few minutes before thanking Jameson for his input. Excusing himself Jameson rose to exit the meeting hall wondering what new changes would come from this decision and how it would affect the players.

'Hopefully, it doesn't affect her too much' he wished wistfully. Heading back to his office in a rush he groaned at the unending fight between devil and goddess. Shaking his head he wondered how exactly she would win it.

His eyes went to his device as it once more blared.

"She just had to stir the pot". Grumbling jameson picked up the call.