He had already informed his brother how his encounter with Max went.
What he feared the most was the public’s response when they learned he used his elder brother to scare Max away.
After Max revealed the truth, he immediately turned to his brother, who showed an indifferent expression.
Although he appeared nonchalant, Julian knew that his elder brother was angry.
He trembled, not knowing what to say.
As the press conference turned silent, having the head of legal affairs department choosing other reports to question Max, Spencer finally spoke.
"You have three days to clear my name and twist the narrative he spoke."
Julian trembled in fear. He hurriedly nodded, confident that he could meet his brother’s demands.
They continued to watch the press conference.
After the series of questions that only cleared his reputation because of his explanations, the reporters questioned Max’s current activities inside the game.
Max vaguely replied that he was accumulating merits for the Empire, further explaining that gaining enough merits would allow the players to gain access of various equipments and items he auctioned every week for the past months.
Afterwards, the reporters questioned Max’s confidence regarding the possible world-wide events by Apocalypse Online.
Despite the Apocalypse Online’s mysteries, the game itself was vaguely hinting at the possible events that would invite every player across the province to participate.
Once the event would end, it would also release the rankings of every players based on their contributions, just like any other games.
Starting from mobile games, to PC games, to virtual reality games... every single one of them would always initiate a world-wide event for the players to participate and determine their rankings.
The reporters seemed to be confident of his assumption that Apocalypse Online would also trigger a world-wide event, given that it was not simply a hyper-realistic game that would focus on grinding.
At the moment, Apocalypse Online had not yet released an official ranking based on levels like any other games, but the reporter assumed that the game itself would establish such idea later on.
Just as the game was adapting to the world it built, it would also adapt to the players’ desire to compete against each other, creating a battleground to satisfy their desire.
After the reporter questioned Max’s confidence regarding the possible world-wide event, he was a bit surprised.
He stared at the reporter in long silence and speculated that he must also be a dedicated player like any others.
He smiled and simply replied, "I’m confident."
Max’s response had always been simple and direct ever since the first question.
The questions that followed were becoming irrelevant to Max’s private matters.
The reporters asked Max’s advice for other players especially for those beginners, his future activities, and a lot more questions that often changed back and forth between gaming and future activities between him and Aethernova.
Aethernova’s CEO would respond from time to time when Aethernova was involved.
At the end of the press conference, Aethernova announced for a possible breakthrough of their gaming pod.
Not just a hardware upgrade breakthrough to their current NovaPro Immersion Pod.
But an entirely different gaming pod that aimed to produce twice the function of the current NovaPro Immersion Pod.
His announcement immediately overshadowed the surprising announcement of contracting Max as their elite player.
The reporters immediately questioned the CEO of its possible public release and announced that the first gaming pod would be available four months later and to be gifted to Max without hesitation.
It would then take two weeks to publicly release it as per Max’s request.
Aethernova didn’t want to bear the public’s indignation due to the delay release of the new edition of gaming pod.
They shifted the blame to Max since he himself asked for it.
When the reporter asked Max the reason behind his request, not holding back as far as involving his greedy nature, Max simply replied, "As their elite player, will it not be unfair for me to enjoy the latest release of their new gaming pod for a short while? At best, I should be able to use it for two weeks before allowing others to buy the gaming pod.
I think it’s only reasonable this way."
The reporters were dumbfounded.
Although they found his explanation reasonable, they immediately discarded such thoughts at the back of their head.
Selfish!
Pure selfish!
Even if Max explained that the elite player of a company who released groundbreaking gaming pod should be able to enjoy the benefits that his company could provide to him before the other players, 2 weeks was simply a selfish request.
In addition, the company themselves seemed to appear not minding to release the gaming pod publicly, but their player shamelessly request for the delay.
Staring at Max who kept his poker face, Max further explained.
"If you want to use the latest gaming pod to be released for months later without the 2 weeks delay, the solution is simple.
Become an elite player of Aethernova."
He smiled.
He didn’t know if Aethernova would recruit other players, but he had a feeling that they would not.
He didn’t want to bear the responsibility of being their elite player alone, he wanted to force them to recruit others, alleviating his workload.
The CEO of Aethernova was shocked by Max’s statements.
Although he tried to hide his emotions from his face, he smiled and peeked at Max.
Max was also smiling.
The CEO inwardly sighed.
Just as he thought he would have Max to face criticism alone without damaging their reputation, Max immediately countered by putting Aethernova’s decision at risk.
They had already decided not to recruit other players as they could exploit the first player as best as they could for being their elite player.
Now, Max forced them to recruit other players.
If even they ignored other players once they recruited them, they would only receive a backlash instead.
The CEO couldn’t help but grit his teeth and cursed Max silently.
This cunning young man. No wonder you remain in that position long enough.
You’re quick-witted and dangerous.
The CEO tried his best to calm down and finally shifted his mental state to remain optimistic.
This just proves your worth.
I wonder how long can you endure under our grasp.
The Aethernova was determined to make use of Max at all costs...
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