The button didn't look special.
Just a rectangle on a dashboard.
White background. Black text.
PUBLISH — PC (GLOBAL)
Luke stared at it for three seconds longer than necessary.
Not because he was nervous.
Because this time, there was no System prompt.
No karma modifier flashing.
No warning.
Just consequence.
He clicked.
00:00 — Global Release
Steam.
Epic.
Direct launcher.
Three storefronts. One build.
The city loaded for the first time without training wheels.
No closed beta safety net.
No NDA silence.
Just millions of strangers stepping into the same streets.
00:07 — The First Numbers
The analytics screen began to breathe.
Active Users: climbing
Server Load: stable
Crash Rate: negligible
A developer behind Luke whispered,
"Is this… normal?"
Luke didn't answer.
He was watching the retention curve.
It didn't dip.
It rose.
00:23 — The First Streamer
A top-tier streamer—someone Luke hadn't paid—went live.
Title:
"This game feels illegal."
Chat exploded.
Clips spread faster than trailers ever could.
01:00 — Revenue Ping
The finance dashboard chimed.
Once.
Then again.
Then continuously.
Cosmetics.
Faction passes.
Safehouse skins.
No pay-to-win.
No backlash.
Just voluntary spending.
The clean kind.
02:15 — Server Test
Luke forced a stress event.
Triggered a citywide faction conflict.
Police AI scaled perfectly.
Latency held.
No rollbacks.
The architecture worked.
Years of restraint paid off in hours.
05:40 — Press
Headlines stacked without coordination:
"The Anti-GTA That Out-GTA'd GTA"
"Why This Urban RPG Is Printing Money Without Exploiting Players"
"Second Nature Games May Have Just Changed Live-Service Ethics"
Luke muted the alerts.
08:00 — The Call
The Boston VC partner called.
Voice shaking.
"Luke… we need to talk valuation."
Luke looked out the window at the city that had once felt like a trap.
"Tomorrow," he said.
"Let it breathe."
System Observation
Public Release: SUCCESS
Revenue Velocity: EXTREME
Market Penetration: GLOBAL
Player Trust Index: HIGH
Notice: This outcome exceeds projected karmic pathways.
World of Remorse Status: STABLE — FLOURISHING
Morning
Luke walked outside.
No suit.
No entourage.
Just a hoodie and coffee.
People were already talking about the game at the bus stop.
Arguing about factions.
Bragging about close calls.
Planning raids.
They didn't know who he was.
That was perfect.
Because Luke hadn't just released a game.
He'd released a world.
And this one was alive.