The conference room buzzed with quiet chatter as the Goblins & Guillotines staff settled in. Nettie adjusted the projector for the presentation slides, Logan sipped from a massive mug labeled Insert Coffee to Continue, Jess skimmed her notes from the event, and Bryn doodled on the corner of Nettie's notes, ribbons still clinging to her sleeves from the tournament.

Owen strode in, his usual combination of relaxed confidence and businesslike focus. He set his tablet on the table and clapped his hands once. “Alright, team, let’s kick this off. First of all—fantastic work this weekend. The turnout blew expectations out of the water, and that’s all thanks to you.”

A few quiet cheers and polite claps followed.

"Boo, too corporate!" Nettie leaned back in her chair. “But the merch line was insane. We sold out of Morwena figures before noon on the second day.”

“Yeah, and they’re already popping up on resale sites for three times the price,” Bryn added with a smirk. “Do we call that a success or a tragedy?”

Owen chuckled, pushing his glasses up. “Success. Tragedy’s for the buyer who forks over that markup.”

Nettie said immediately, “I had one guy tell me he drove four hours just to buy it.”

He tapped his tablet, bringing up a projection of the event stats. “Attendance was up 25% compared to last year, our first year. We had more audience interaction on the livestreams, too. Logan, any hiccups with social media?”

Logan set his thermos down. “A couple of trolls in the chat, but the mods handled it fast. Otherwise, nothing but praise for the event.”

“Good. And tech issues?” Owen’s gaze shifted to Jess, one of the newer staff members who had joined the team as a logistics specialist.

“Table 7 lost audio for about ten minutes, but we fixed it quick,” Jess reported. “And the livestream for the merch booth glitched a few times, but we’ll troubleshoot that before the next con.”

Owen nodded. “Got it. Thanks, Jess. And Nettie, any feedback on the merch itself?”

“The Morwena figure reveal got the loudest cheers, obviously,” Nettie said. “But I heard a lot of requests for Nyxara-themed items. Maybe something with the Umbralin?”

Owen jotted something down on his tablet. “Noted. And Bryn, how about the lore updates? Any standout moments?”

“The mimic door,” Bryn said immediately. “Aardvark’s kid will never live that down.”

Logan snorted. “That whine is already a meme.”

“Perfect. Let’s make sure to capitalize on that,” Owen said, glancing at the slide on the screen.

“The dad was merciless,” Bryn added, shaking her head.

“And so was the chat,” Logan said with a snort. “We might need to remind stream mods to prep for stuff like that.”

“Biggest player reactions aside from Morwena?” Owen pushed up his glasses after writing a few notes.

“LeapingLizard’s Umbralin geomancer build,” Jess offered. “People in the chat were calling it both genius and reckless.”

“Sounds about right,” Owen muttered with a grin then his expression softening slightly. “Speaking of, how’s LeapingLizard doing? Did anyone hear from him after... well, everything?”

Everyone looked at each other in a quick moment of silence. "We figured you were going to reach out, Boss," Nettie chimed in.

Bryn added as she scooted Nettie's papers in front of her, anticipating more time to draw mustaches on event photos, "He looked rough. I wouldn't be surprised if he skipped the next event though."

Owen’s gaze flicked to the stats on the screen. LeapingLizard’s name hovered near the top of the leaderboard, his geomancer stats still leagues ahead of others. “Shame if he does. The guy’s got skill. What he pulled off with that geomancer build during the first encounter—textbook chaos brilliance.”

Nettie snorted. “Textbook? That’s more like throwing the textbook out the window and setting it and the window on fire.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Owen shot back with a grin.

“Barely,” Bryn chimed in. “But I’ll give him this—he knows how to keep people on their toes. Even the guide masters.”

“Not just the guide masters,” Owen muttered under his breath, though no one seemed to catch it.

He clicked to the next slide. “Alright, next steps. Our next big release is all about Nyxara and the Umbralin. Bryn, I want the lore updates ready in four weeks. Nettie, work with Jess on the second merch drop. Logan, keep an eye on social media trends—if something goes viral, I want us on top of it. ”

“And don’t forget,” Owen added, glancing around the room, “we’ve got a con in six weeks. Let’s make sure we have some sneak peeks ready to build the hype.”

“You got it, Boss,” Logan said, saluting with mock seriousness.

“We did good this weekend, folks. Let’s keep that momentum going. Alright, that’s it. Meeting adjourned,” Owen announced, a faint smile curving his lips.

"Corporate slides and all," Nettie teased, tapping Bryn’s addition of a stick figure duel in the margins of her notes. "Guess you really are Boss E now."

“Someone has to keep you on task,” Owen shot back, earning a chorus of chuckles as the team filed out.

As the room emptied, Owen lingered, leaning against the table. The leaderboard glowed on the screen, LeapingLizard’s name prominently displayed among the top ranks. He adjusted his glasses, the room’s earlier energy fading into quiet. He stared at the stats, his mind wandering back to the geomancer’s chaotic brilliance. He could still picture late-night streams, Cayden’s voice walking viewers through unorthodox tactics with a quiet confidence. There was a kind of artistry to it—a messy, unpredictable brilliance that defied conventional gameplay.

“You’re not done with this game, are you?” he murmured, the words more hope than certainty. A faint smile tugged at his lips, but his brow furrowed slightly. He jotted a note on his tablet before switching off the projector. Whatever the answers, Owen couldn’t shake the feeling that Cayden—LeapingLizard—wasn’t finished shaping Goblins & Guillotines. Not yet.