CHAPTER 91: HOSPITAL

Although Natalie had ended her live broadcast, the players passion for Sekiro couldn’t be shut off so easily.

Even after the stream was over, people were still riding high from the hype. With the game not yet officially released and no way to play it themselves, they turned their attention to something else, Natalie’s VOD.

Her recording was clipped, edited, and uploaded across every major video platform. Within hours, the view count exploded, catapulting her video into the top ten trending spots. Other creators jumped on the bandwagon, analyzing every frame, hidden mechanics, story predictions, boss speculation, you name it.

The internet devoured it all.

Because they couldn’t play Sekiro themselves, this was the next best thing. And honestly? It hurt. The anticipation was agonizing.

In a matter of hours, Sekiro dominated every major discussion board, topping trending topics across all platforms.

The kicker?

The game hadn’t even launched yet.

And already, fandoms had emerged. People were sketching fanart, writing fanfics, and, of course, shipping characters wildly:

Emma × Wolf

Buddha Sculptor × Wolf

The fandom went feral, and even Subnautica, which had once ruled the scene, couldn’t compete with this kind of wildfire.

---BREAK---

Meanwhile, across the ocean, inside the offices of NetPack.

The company director had once again gathered the entire staff in the viewing room, just like he had during Subnautica’s reveal. Together, they watched Natalie’s entire Sekiro stream.

By the end, silence.

Crushing, helpless silence.

They couldn’t compete.

Not even close.

They didn’t even qualify to stand on the same stage as New World Studio.

"Sekiro," the director muttered, "...has redefined what action games can be."

Yes, other games had featured flashy combat, aerial mobility, cinematic battles, but that was all on PC, with a controller in hand. The player just watched the character move.

But Sekiro?

You moved. You slashed. You fought with your own body.

The immersion? The presence? Unreal.

The director even thought, forget cutscenes, just record the gameplay and you’d have a martial arts movie better than most in theaters.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. "How did we end up with a competitor like this...?"

During Subnautica, he’d optimistically asked his devs if they could learn a few things from it.

Now?

He didn’t even bother.

Because there was nothing to learn.

This wasn’t copying homework.

This was trying to do calculus when your team was still stuck on long division.

Absolute despair.

Worse, Subnautica had already caused a massive drop in NetPack’s online player base last month. Now, with Sekiro on the horizon, it was like watching a meteor heading straight for them.

The director stood solemnly before his employees. "Everyone," he said. "This is life or death for our company. What should we do?"

Hands shot up.

"We should keep contacting New World Studio, see if there’s any chance of collaboration!"

"Let’s double down on R&D. We need our own proprietary VR engine."

"When Sekiro drops... let’s just play the hell out of it."

That last one made the director pause.

"...What?"

He looked around. Who said that?

No one owned up to it, but in all honesty, he couldn’t even be mad. Deep down, he was thinking the exact same thing.

They were competitors in name only. Sekiro was just too damn good.

And NetPack wasn’t the only company watching.

Over at Nintendo, Ubisoft, Tencent, and others, boardrooms were filled with stunned silence after watching Natalie’s stream.

The verdict was unanimous.

Couldn’t compete.

Couldn’t even qualify to try competing.

Even the tech, like Sekiro’s game assisted VR suit support, was on another level.

The gap wasn’t just wide. It was impossible.

Yet despite all the complaints, envy, and grumbling...

Everyone was secretly counting the days until launch.

Because regardless of corporate rivalry, they all wanted to play it too.

---BREAK---

1:00 AM - Inpatient Ward, Magic City Hospital

Natalie slowly opened her eyes. The ceiling above was a dull white, and the air reeked faintly of disinfectant. She could hear hushed voices and soft footsteps moving past her bed.

"...Where am I?" she murmured groggily. Her body felt heavy. Her mind foggy.

Just then, a gentle but gravelly voice spoke beside her ear.

"You’re awake... To tell you the truth, you died. You’ve been isekai’d to the world of Sekiro. You’ve become... the one-armed Wolf."

"Eh?!"

Still half-dazed, Natalie jolted upright at those words. That voice, it sounded a little too familiar.

Almost like...

The Buddha Sculptor?!

Her heart pounded. She glanced down at her left hand.

And sure enough...

Something felt... off.

Wouldn’t her hand have been replaced by a ninja’s?

Natalie immediately frowned and lowered her head in alarm. Fortunately, her fair and slender hand was still there. Only an IV drip was inserted into her arm, held in place by a few strips of medical tape.

So that’s what it was, she wasn’t missing a hand at all. She was just hooked up to an IV.

"That scared me to death..." Natalie let out a long sigh of relief.

"Pfft, you actually believed it." The old, raspy voice beside her suddenly shifted, turning youthful and playful. Natalie instantly recognized it. She turned to see Tony sitting next to her, smiling mischievously.

"Tony..." Natalie muttered. She squinted slightly, trying hard to recall. She only remembered ending her livestream, sitting down on her chair, about to ask Tony for something, then blacking out completely. Everything after that was a blur.

"Here, drink some water." Tony handed her a cup.

Natalie slowly sat up, leaning against the pillow, took the cup, and sipped. The water was perfectly warm, neither hot nor cold. Tony was always attentive like that.

Her heart softened. She looked at him gently, but then noticed his gaze, strangely complicated, almost... mocking?

Yes, that was it. His expression looked like he was staring at an idiot.

No, that can’t be right... Maybe it’s just me overthinking? Is it because of my illness?

Feeling uneasy, Natalie asked nervously, "Tony... what’s wrong with me?"

"Whats wrong with you?" Tony snorted coldly. "You’ve got a mental illness!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? I fainted! How can you joke about something so serious?" Natalie protested, looking wronged.

"Serious, my ass!" Tony rolled his eyes, ignoring her pitiful look. "I swear, you don’t even know when you’re hungry. I’ve seen people faint from heatstroke, or exhaustion, but starving yourself unconscious? You’re the first!"

"...Hungry?" Natalie froze, then realization dawned. Right... after finishing the livestream, she really hadn’t eaten anything.

"The doctor said you suddenly overexerted yourself and barely ate today. That’s why your blood sugar dropped, and you collapsed." Tony spread his hands helplessly.

"Ah..." Natalie’s face flushed with embarrassment. She muttered, still aggrieved, "It’s all your fault! That Sekiro you made is way too addictive, I couldn’t stop playing!"

Tony instinctively raised his hand as if to smack her upside the head. How the hell was that his fault?

Natalie shrank her neck and hurriedly changed the subject. "Oh, by the way, what was in the IV?"

"What else? Glucose," Tony sighed. "You fainted from hunger. What do you think they’d give you?"

"Oh... by the way, I bought you bread and milk." He pulled them out.

"I want it!" At the mention of food, Natalie’s stomach growled. She grabbed the bread clumsily, but with the IV in her arm, she struggled. Tony quickly unwrapped the milk, stuck in the straw, and held it to her lips.

Nibbling on bread and sipping milk fed to her by Tony, Natalie felt oddly happy.

"You really made me suffer, fainting like that," Tony muttered. "After you ended your stream, you locked yourself in your room for hours. When I finally went in to check, you were lying unconscious on the floor beside the chair! No matter how I shouted, you wouldn’t wake up. Scared me half to death."

"...For real?" Natalie imagined the scene, her cheeks heating with embarrassment. At the same time, warmth stirred in her chest.

"It gets worse," Tony went on. "I carried you to the car and rushed to the hospital. Your face was pale, you were drenched in cold sweat, I thought you were going to die! I didn’t even bother registering, just ran straight to the emergency room yelling, ’Doctor! Someone’s dying!’"

The vivid retelling made Natalie want to bury her face. She was mortified, yet the way he described it was so ridiculous she almost laughed.

"And then," Tony continued dramatically, "the doctor rolled your eyelids, checked your blood pressure, and finally snapped at me, ’It’s fine! Get her some glucose, this woman’s just starving!’"

"Pfft-!!!" Natalie couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

"You still dare laugh?" Tony glared. "Do you know how everyone around us reacted? They were all snickering like crazy, staring at me as if I was an idiot. You’re already a grown woman, and you fainted from hunger! Do you know how embarrassing that was? And I was worried sick!"

The more he scolded, the harder Natalie laughed. But when she noticed his glare getting more dangerous, she quickly bit her lip, forcing herself to look serious.

After calming down, she whispered, "Sorry, Tony... It won’t happen again."

"Next time? If there’s a next time, I’ll just leave you there." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Then you’d lose your cute and beautiful big sister," Natalie teased softly, though she knew very well he cared about her.

"Lose you? So what. A stupid sister like you isn’t worth keeping," Tony retorted. "Anyway, finish the IV drip. Once it’s done, we’re heading home."

"...Okay." Natalie nodded meekly.

1644 Words.