Night Studios

In a random New York apartment, the sound of laughter, clinking glasses, and excited chatter filled the air.

"Cheers!"

Glasses were raised high in celebration as Henry's family toasted the two young game developers.

"Congratulations to Luke and Henry for achieving something incredible!" Henry's dad announced proudly. "You boys made something you love, and against all odds, you've accomplished something no one thought two 15-year-olds could pull off!"

Two weeks ago, Luke and Henry had released Hollow Knight—and it had been a massive success. In just fourteen days, they had earned a staggering ten million dollars. It still didn't feel real.

Luke had expected excitement when they told Henry's family the news. What he hadn't expected was the detour they took before getting there—specifically, the part where Henry's parents found out their son hadn't been going to school for the past month because he had been working on the game full-time.

Naturally, they were furious. The yelling had been intense. Luke had sat through it awkwardly, pretending to inspect a crack in the floor while Henry got an earful. But the second Henry pulled up their earnings on his phone, the entire room fell silent.

His mom had snatched the phone and stared at the number for a full ten seconds, blinking rapidly.

His dad had sat down.

His older sister had nearly dropped her drink.

His 11-year-old sister had immediately asked if this meant they could buy a pony.

And just like that, the yelling had magically transformed into excited planning. Henry's mom, just minutes earlier on the verge of grounding him for life, was now brainstorming investment strategies. His dad, who had been shaking his head in disappointment, was suddenly talking about setting up savings accounts and tax consultations. The shift was instantaneous.

Now, the apartment was alive with celebration, and Luke couldn't help but enjoy the moment. The food was good, the atmosphere was lively, and best of all, he got to witness Henry's suffering.

Currently, Henry sat across the table, looking absolutely miserable as his older sister kept ruffling his hair and teasing him about his success.

"You're a millionaire now, huh? You better start paying me rent for all those times I let you use my laptop!" she joked, poking his cheek.

"Get away from me, woman!" Henry groaned, pushing her hand off. "You just want free stuff!"

Luke smirked. Watching Henry suffer was always entertaining.

Unfortunately, Luke had his own problem to deal with.

Henry's older sister had taken a suspicious interest in him ever since his physical transformation after gaining his powers. Before, she had barely acknowledged his existence, treating him as nothing more than "Henry's weird friend who stayed over too much." Now, though? She was sitting far too close to him, leaning in with a playful smile, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"You know, Luke," she said, voice just a little too sweet, "I've noticed you've changed a lot lately. Have you been working out?"

Luke resisted the urge to groan. Here we go again.

This wasn't the first time she had tried getting closer to him, and he doubted it would be the last. But he had zero interest. Not only was she Henry's sister—which was already reason enough to never go there—but it was obvious why she was suddenly interested in him. She had only started acting this way after his appearance had changed.

Before? Nothing.

After? She suddenly found him fascinating.

Luke glanced toward Henry, who was glaring daggers at him, clearly not enjoying the scene unfolding in front of him. He looked like he was one second away from throwing his drink in Luke's face out of sheer spite.

Luke sighed. As funny as it would be to mess with Henry, he wasn't that cruel.

"Don't worry, Henry," he said dryly, leaning back. "Your sister and I? Never gonna happen."

Henry visibly relaxed, though his older sister frowned.

"Oh? And why not?" she asked, tilting her head.

Luke shrugged. "Simple. I wouldn't date someone who only became interested in me after I got more attractive. Feels a little shallow, don't you think?"

She blinked, caught off guard. Henry, meanwhile, burst out laughing.

"HA! He got you there!" Henry cackled. "Rejected instantly!"

His sister huffed, crossing her arms. "Tch. Whatever. Your loss."

Luke just smirked. Crisis averted.

But before he could relax, Henry's actual little sister—his 11-year-old one—suddenly piped up with an excited grin.

"Hey, Henry! Now that you have all this money, do you think you could use it to meet Windwalker?" she asked, practically bouncing in her seat. "I really, really wanna meet him

Sorry, Ellie, but I don't think money could help us meet Windwalker," Henry said, ruffling his little sister's hair.

"But why do you want to meet him so badly?"

Their mom chuckled before Ellie could respond. "Oh, she's become quite the little fan. She even asked me to set his picture as her wallpaper on her iPad."

Henry's face twitched. "Oh, really?" His voice was calm, almost too calm, but Luke—having spent enough time around Henry—immediately caught the subtle shift in his expression. Outwardly, Henry looked unbothered, but his eyes flickered toward Luke with a silent but clear message:

"I'm going to kill you."

Luke furrowed his brows and shot back a look that screamed, "What the hell am I supposed to do about this? Not my fault!"

Before Henry could retaliate with another glare, his dad cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Alright, you two. I know you've made something successful, but I think it's time for you to go back to school."

The room went completely silent.

Henry and Luke turned to look at each other, their faces unusually serious.

Henry's dad raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Henry sighed. "Dad… I already dropped out a month ago."

"…And I'm about to do the same," Luke added.

Silence.

A long, heavy silence.

Their dad slowly placed his drink down on the table, folded his hands, and gave them both a look that sent a chill down Henry's spine.

"Son," he said, his voice steady, measured. "I know you think you can just live the rest of your life off the money you've made—and you're probably right—but you still need an education. You need to learn. You need to have a backup plan. If one day, for some reason, all that money is gone, then what? What are you going to do?"

Luke and Henry exchanged a look.

Henry's dad continued, his voice firm. "It would be better if you stayed in school and let us invest the money for the family's future. We could put all of you in amazing colleges—"

"Dad, wait." Henry held up his hand. "We're not saying this because we want to be lazy and live off our earnings. It's because Luke and I have already made a decision."

His dad frowned. "What decision?"

Luke sat up straighter. "We made a game that earned us ten million dollars in two weeks. Just the two of us. No team. No investors. No marketing experts. Just us." He let that sink in for a moment before continuing. "So we decided we're going to reinvest most of that money into hiring people and making a company. We're starting Night Studios."

He looked Henry's dad straight in the eyes, waiting for his reaction.

The man was quiet for a long moment, his gaze shifting between Henry and Luke, studying them both. Finally, he exhaled and leaned back in his chair.

"You two… are confident about this, aren't you?"

Henry nodded. "We are."

His dad crossed his arms. "I'm not saying you're not talented. I'm just worried. The world is changing. Superheroes are real now. Business is going to get tougher. I don't know if two kids can navigate all of that on their own."

Luke and Henry looked at each other and, without hesitation, smiled.

"Don't worry," Luke said. "We're going to be fine."

Henry grinned. "Yeah. We've got this."

Their dad let out a deep sigh, rubbing his temples. "I swear, you two are going to give me gray hairs…"

Their mom chuckled. "Oh, come on, dear. Let the boys dream big."

Henry's younger sister tugged on his sleeve. "So… does this mean you can't use your money to get me a Windwalker meet-and-greet?"

Henry groaned. "Ellie—!"

The table burst into laughter.