novelraw Chapter 148: Gaming On Stream
Chapter 148: Gaming On Stream
<🎧 Song Recommendation: See You Again by Tyler, The Creator, Kali Uchis>
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When Von had first bought the mansion and discovered that there was a hidden room behind the master study, his very first idea had been to turn it into his personal gaming space.
He had hired private contractors to entirely transform the space. He spent a staggering seventy thousand dollars outfitting it, turning the empty room into his ultimate escape.
And now, the secret was out.
Max stood completely frozen in the doorway, his hand still resting on the edge of the bookshelf. He was staring wide-eyed into the dark space.
Von walked up beside him and let out a long sigh, dropping his shoulders. "This was supposed to be a private place, but since you’ve discovered it already, come on in."
Max swallowed hard. "Bro... no way."
As soon as Max’s body crossed the threshold, the motion sensors kicked in.
A series of ice-blue and deep purple LED lights instantly came to life along the baseboards and traced the edges of the ceiling, illuminating the hidden room.
Max’s jaw dropped.
It was a state-of-the-art, futuristic gaming cave. The walls were lined with premium, dark acoustic paneling. Max slowly walked forward, panning his phone camera around the room as he took in the sheer ridiculousness of the setup.
In the center of the room sat a massive, custom-built carbon-fiber desk. Resting on top of it was a dual-monitor setup, two massive, curved, ultra-wide screens stacked perfectly together.
Beside them sat a transparent glass PC case that looked more like a spaceship engine than a computer. It was fully liquid-cooled, with glowing blue tubes running through top-tier graphics cards.
Max kept walking, spinning the camera. On the opposite side of the room, facing a plush, L-shaped leather couch, was a custom dual-display setup.
Two massive OLED flat-screen TVs were mounted side-by-side to the wall, both fitted with removable privacy protectors.
Tucked neatly into the sleek entertainment center beneath them was a brand new PS4 console and a row of wireless controllers resting on charging docks.
In the corner of the room, there was a popcorn maker beside a mini-fridge with a glass door, fully stocked with rows of energy drinks, sodas, and bottled water.
Max lowered the selfie stick, looking genuinely offended.
"Bro! I am the professional streamer here. My setup is literally a laptop and a ring light balanced on a stack of books. Meanwhile, you have this actual spaceship hidden inside your wall, and you don’t even stream or play games!"
The chat, which was already peaking at over 130,000 viewers, completely lost its mind. The illusion of the untouchable, serious music prodigy had just been shattered.
[I8GreenFolliage: AINT NO WAY 💀💀]
[WifeOfVonV: Wait, my husband plays video games? 🥺]
Von walked into the room, shaking his head with an amused smile. He reached out and took the phone and the selfie stick from Max’s hands.
He turned the camera around so he was in the frame, with the glowing neon Batcave right behind him.
"Alright, alright. You got me," Von laughed, running a hand through his hair. "I’m a gamer. Are you guys happy now?"
Max crossed his arms, looking ridiculous in his frilly maid apron. He gave Von a highly skeptical look.
"Duh, we knew how much you played games back in the Star Mansion," Max said, referring to Project: Star. "But that doesn’t make you a hardcore gamer. Look at this place! Do you really even play with this stuff?"
Von took a long look around the room. He looked at the glowing PC, the perfect leather couch, and the stocked fridge. He ruffled his hair as he tried to find the right words to say.
"I haven’t... yet," Von admitted. "I’ve been so occupied that I genuinely forgot about this room. Lol."
The chat paused for a split second before a wave of comments flooded the screen.
[BrokeBoy22: DID HE JUST SAY HE FORGOT?!]
[godofHate: I wish I was so rich I could just forget I had a $$$ gaming room 😭😭]
[quenstionZ: Suffering from success literally]
[Lamineyamal_12: He just built it for the aesthetic omgg]
[BIGNICK: Donate the PC to Max bro, he needs it more than you do 💀]
Von laughed out loud at the reactions, reading the comments off the screen.
"Alright, calm down guys. The lockdown just started, so I’ll have plenty of time to use it now."
Von turned to look at Max, an idea forming in his head. "Since we’re already down here, we could play some console games. I haven’t turned the PS4 on yet, but if you guys are interested in watching me cook my boss live on stream, we can hook it up."
"Boss, are you interested?" Von asked with a smile. He expected Max to back out immediately. He still remembered their little tournament back in the Star Mansion, when he and Max had teamed up against Aura. Max had been so bad in every game they played.
But Max didn’t back down. Instead, he simply placed a finger on his chin, looking thoughtful. A sly grin slowly spread across his face.
"Have you played Citadel?" Max asked.
"Citadel?" Von repeated as he quickly pieced his memories together.
’Citadel... Citadel: Breach?’ Von thought to himself. ’That game was released in 2024 in my timeline. Is this another butterfly effect?’
Because of his transmigration, Von was used to certain events shifting slightly, but a massive video game dropping four years early was a huge change.
"I don’t think I’ve heard of it," Von replied, choosing to play it safe.
Max’s grin widened into a full beam. "Of course you haven’t. You’re not involved in the gaming world that way. You’ve been too busy in the studio."
Von feigned a yawn, walking over to the lounge area. He tossed the phone onto the table, leaning it up against a coaster so it captured both of them perfectly. He took a seat on the plush leather couch. Max eagerly hurried over and sat down right next to him.
"So what’s it about?" Von asked casually, picking up one of the PS4 controllers.
Max leaned forward, his eyes shining with excitement as he addressed both Von and the chat.
"Well, it was released just a month ago," Max explained, using his hands as he spoke. "But it is already the hottest game in the world. It broke every single download record on day one. Fifty million players in the first two weeks. Everyone is playing it. I’m talking major streamers, athletes, and even celebs outside of gaming. Leviathan was literally streaming it yesterday."
"What kind of game is it?" Von asked, pretending to be clueless.
"It’s a tactical siege game," Max explained eagerly, dumbing it down for him. "Basically, you have a castle, which is a Citadel. Inside is your Core. You have to buy mods and guards to protect your base, set up traps, and then you try to break into the enemy’s base to steal their Core."
"It requires huge brainpower too. My forte." Max finished the last part with a grin.
Von nodded slowly. Internally, however, Von didn’t find the news surprising at all.
He knew exactly what the game was. In his past life, Citadel: Breach was considered the absolute best tactical simulation game of its era.
It had defined a generation of esports. And more importantly, Von had played it religiously then. He wasn’t just familiar with it; he had been a top-tier player, achieving the Grandmaster title which was awarded to the top 1000 players in a country.
"So you want us to play a game I’ve never played?" Von asked, turning to look at Max with a daring smirk.
Max hesitated for a brief second, intimidated by the sudden shift in Von’s aura. But his confidence in his own gaming skills pushed him forward.
"Ye—yeah," Max stuttered slightly before puffing out his chest. He narrowed his eyes at Von. "And why are you smiling? You think it’s easy, huh?"
Max grabbed the second controller and looked directly into the phone camera.
"Don’t worry, chat," Max declared confidently. "I’ll teach him a lesson!"
"Wait, hold up," Max suddenly said, grabbing his phone from the coffee table. He looked at the shaky vertical angle.
"A phone camera leaning on a coaster isn’t doing this room justice. Plus, the chat needs to see my gameplay clearly when I destroy you. I’ll be right back."
"Where are you going?" Von asked.
"To get my streaming backpack," Max said, already jogging toward the exit. His frilly maid apron bounced ridiculously as he ran.
"Turn on the PS4 and buy the game from the store. It’s free to play."
Max disappeared down the hall, leaving Von alone in the glowing neon room.
Von chuckled and picked up the controller. He turned on the console and quickly found Citadel: Breach on the front page of the store downloading it under a few minutes.
Since Max was gone, Von used the quiet time to open the game’s internal settings. His hands moved rapidly as he adjusted his look sensitivity, turned off motion blur, and completely remapped the controller buttons to the exact custom layout he would use while playing.
By the time he heard footsteps approaching, the game was perfectly tuned to a Grandmaster level, and he was casually leaning back on the couch.
Max rushed back into the room, panting heavily. He was carrying a gaming laptop, a high-end webcam, and a tangle of cables.
"Alright, give me two minutes," Max huffed, dropping his gear onto the glass coffee table.
He moved like the professional he was, quickly hooking a capture card from the console into his laptop. He mounted the webcam on top of the Dual TV stands, angling it perfectly so it captured both of them sitting on the leather couch.