(Edmunds PoV)

Its surreal you know archiving your dreams from when you were younger. Even more so is finding out that the job you dreamed of actually does not bring you any real satisfaction. It's like wining a lottery and then finding out that big chunk of it will be taken as taxes by the government.

When I was younger and dumber teen all I wanted was to work for 'Phantom Drive' and work as a programmer because they were number one in the VR industry back then. Now working at Phantom as head programmer as a 27 years old I can safely say I do not enjoy working for the company all that much. Sure it brings in real good money but if I could choose I would prefer working on my hobbies instead.

[Bug check complete. Three new bugs found.]

The ding made by my assistant artificial intelligence knocked me out of my train of thoughts. Nowadays you can't cut it in the coding industry wholly on your own. The assistant AI were just too convenient and efficient they excelled at bug testing and doing repetitive work as long as you could convey what exactly did you want from them as they still have problems with out of the box thinking.

[Auto fix the bugs Y/N?]

I selected no as I pulled myself back closer my office PC's holographic screen. One of the first things you learn when you work with AI was to check the bugs yourself AI do fine work 90% of the time but that 10% of the time when AI messes up it really messes up. Granted half of the time those mistakes arises from AI having a different image on what the finished product should look like. I suppose it comes with the whole thing of a thinking AI they get their own ideas and assumptions as much as any other person.

Checking it over 2 of the bugs were easy fixes the last one was a bit harder. After a couple of soul draining hours of work the problem was solved and the AI did not show new problems. Did I think my new code was flawless? No of course not both I and the AI had blind spots.

Looking at the clock I only had about 20 minutes till work shift ends and not much I could accomplish with the time today. Guess the days pretty much over time to leave.

"Save and Shut Down."

[Affirmative.]

Leaving my office I was making way to the locker room I heard a deep voice. "Going home Edmund? There is still some time in the shift."

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Turning around I saw a short man a bit overweight and had a face that reminded me of a bulldog. "Yes project manager Richard." Lying to him was worse than being honest also he likes hearing that he was in charge.

He snorted at that. "At least you are honest with me. Jenifer passed by me saying toilet break but was in the lobby soon after."

Adjusting my glasses I spoke up. "Honestly there wasn't much I could do with the bit of time left today. Next part of the OS development will need the whole team and most of them long since have burned through their focus for the day."

At that he gave a small nod. One good thing was that Richard was a reasonable man under all that gruff attitude. "I suppose that's reasonable. So have you made new puzzles? I quite enjoyed them last time you brought them here for your birthday celebration last month. I was thinking you could bring some for my little girl when she comes visit next week."

"I have some sir but I have decided to pick up a new hobby, so they will probably be the last ones for a while at least. Got my hands on the code of 'Magic Zodiac Online' wiped all the overworld map. Don't know where to start to designing the new map thought." I had ideas certainly but there simply was so much.

"I'm no games guy that's Charley from floor 4 but I would say do it one piece at a time." He shrugged. "I know its obvious but that's the best I can do." He then gave a wave and then turned to another corridor diverging from the path towards the dressing rooms I was taking.

Yeah, it was basic but it also was right. I would accomplish nothing running around like a chicken without a head. I had to pick a single place and at least make a basic temporary model of the location before moving on. Thinking about it many game designer videos on the internet did say to do the final boss and its location first as it allows one to set the challenge ceiling and an idea of the end game mechanics to avoid redundant mechanic bloat.

Thought that also brings me the idea of dividing the game more than the original Magic Zodiac Online and having a single location as the beating heart of the game instead of scattering most the essential game services around like in the original. Things might change in the future of course but that seemed like a decent enough plan for now. Not much I can do with myself and an AI alone.

Now I'm certain that I want to discard the overarching Chinese zodiac theme from the original game but what should be my replacement theme for the game? Can't exactly make the boss area without even knowing that much... Fuge it lets just swap out the Chinese Zodiac to Greek Zodiac if I'm not mistaken Greek Zodiac is based on constellations. So should the big bad be sky themed? I certainly want to lean in to the Greek stuff if I'm going with that who could serve as a big bad from Greek myth?

Nyx! Champions of zodiac constellations vs goddess of night sky could be neat. No idea how to expand that in an actual story line thought. Should consult Victoria when I get home she was always good with this kind of creative thinking.

I then finally arrived at the locker room now with a better plan of action. Things should be lot more easy now!