Chapter 62: Free Time To Game

I left Joe Jay and Ruby to their devices in the studio, letting them lock in on the production. Between Joe’s insane production instincts, Ruby’s raw vocals, and the elite creative team I had put on payroll to handle her brand rollout, she was in good hands. Her launch was going to be an absolute earthquake, but for now, they needed time to cook.

Which left me with something I hadn’t had in a very long time: free time.

I tossed my phone into my pocket and strolled out into the driveway, staring at my twin-turbo supercar resting under the sun. A cool million dollars of pure engineering, sitting low to the pavement like a predator waiting to be let off its leash. Part of me wanted to take it for a burn down the winding coastal highway, drop the gear, and listen to the turbos scream just to clear my head.

Then I paused, glancing back up at the massive silhouette of the hillside estate.

This place was so ridiculously huge that you could literally forget entire wings of the property if you didn’t check your own floor plan. I suddenly remembered the high-end game lounge I had installed in the west wing—a fully customized setup I hadn’t even had the chance to touch since buying the place.

I turned away from the driveway, a slow grin touching my lips as I headed back inside. The car could wait. It was time to actually enjoy the house.

The private elevator glided downward with a smooth, silent hum, descending deep into the bedrock beneath the estate. When the chrome doors slid open, the temperature dropped a few refreshing degrees.

The underground lounge was incredible—sleek, modern interior design with ambient neon lighting tracing the edges of the dark walls, a private bar in the corner, and high-end acoustic paneling. It looked more like a hidden command center than a game room.

Right in the center stood the main attraction: an absolute monster of a custom PC setup built into a custom desk. Triple-curved monitors, liquid-cooled internals glowing with soft ambient light, and top-tier peripherals waiting on the desk.

I sank into the heavy, custom leather chair, adjusting the height until it fit perfectly. I picked up the heavy, noise-canceling headphones, slipped them over my ears, and tapped the power button on the rig.

The monitors flickered to life instantly, booting up in a matter of seconds. I browsed through the drive—it was completely loaded, packed with every high-end game, rare alpha build, and private server access money could buy.

I leaned back, taking a breath, ready to completely block out the industry drama and enjoy the silence.

I scrolled through the installed titles until a familiar logo caught my eye: Apex Realm, a fast-paced, high-stakes online team battle royale. Back on campus, my roommates used to stay up until three in the morning screaming at their monitors over this game. I’d always had to pass, usually stuck pulling late-night shifts or calculating if I had enough cash for instant noodles.

Now, sitting in an underground lair that cost more than a small island, I finally had the time.

I booted it up and logged into a fresh account. I didn’t bother buying flashy cosmetics or battle passes—I just locked in the default, dirt-basic noob skin, complete with the scuffed standard armor. There was a low-key satisfaction in looking like an absolute novice while sitting on a setup worth more than most people’s car.

I threw the headset on, adjusted the mic, and hit Find Match for a squad queue.

The matchmaker ticked away for a few seconds before popping with a loud DING!

I was dropped straight into a pre-game lobby with three random teammates. A quick glance at the overlay showed two of them were rocking max-level seasonal titles, glowing aura skins, and hyper-expensive weapon flairs.

Almost immediately, my headset cracked with the static of an open mic.

"Great, a literal default lvl 1," a voice groaned, heavily filtered through a cheap headset. "Hey, ’Noob_Ethan’, if you don’t know how to shoot, just drop your ammo and don’t get in our way, alright? I’m on a win streak."

I leaned back in the leather chair, a dry smirk hitting my face as I cracked my knuckles over the mechanical keyboard.

"Sure," I said quietly into the mic. "Lead the way."

Before the toxic guy could keep whining, another voice crackled through the comms.

"Hi, team," a soft, quiet girl’s voice said timidly. "Sorry... I’m pretty new to this game too."

A glance at the squad overlay showed her gamer tag: Luna_Sky, running the exact same default noob skin I had on.

The loud guy lost his mind immediately. "Are you kidding me?! Two defaults? Two literal dead weight freeloaders in one match? Man, the matchmaking in this garbage game is so trash!" He blew out a long, dramatic sigh right into his mic. "Whatever. Just don’t follow me around stealing my loot, and if you get knocked, I’m not wasting a revive on you."

Luna didn’t argue. She just muttered a quiet, polite "Okay," and went dead silent, muting her mic or just keeping her head down.

I didn’t bother responding either. I just adjusted my headset, resting my wrist on the desk as the drop ship counter ticked down to zero.

3... 2... 1... DROP.

The loud guy immediately broke off from the team, diving straight toward the high-tier loot zone in the center of the map—the hot drop where half the lobby always went to die in the first two minutes.

Luna pinged a quiet, out-of-the-way compound on the edge of the map, dropping down smoothly. I adjusted my trajectory and followed her right down.

We hit the ground near a cluster of abandoned industrial buildings. While the loud guy was already screaming in the audio feed over gunshots two miles away, Luna and I quietly started looting.

She played cautiously, picking up low-tier body armor, checking corners, and making sure to leave spare shield cells on the floor for me. She was clearly a complete beginner—her movement was a bit stiff, and she took a second too long to organize her inventory—but she was calm, observant, and actually tried to play as a team.

Then, a loud DOWNED icon flashed across the left side of my screen.

"NO WAY! Where is his team?!" the guy yelled, his voice turning shrill as his health bar went completely red. "You guys are trash! Why aren’t you fighting with me?! Come revive me right now!"

I looted a crisp, high-tier sniper rifle off a crate, chambered a round, and glanced over at Luna’s character standing next to mine.

"You want to go save him, or let him bleed out?" I asked into the team voice chat, my tone completely flat.

Luna unmuted her mic for just a second, letting out a small, soft exhale. "He kind of told us not to follow him..."

I smirked in the dark of my underground lounge. "Works for me."