Chapter 25: Beat by Beat
The soft crackle of ramen water boiling on the stove filled Cal's apartment, mixing with the low hum of his powered-down equipment. For once, the room was quiet. After last night's Among Us stream, the buzz of adrenaline had left a lingering echo in his veins, but fatigue slowly pulled at him like an invisible tide.
He slurped his noodles without fanfare, his mind drifting between what he'd already streamed and what lay ahead. A faint chime from his phone—a custom alert linked to the system—buzzed against the table.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[Trending Metrics Update: "Among Us" Replay Surpasses 2.3 Million Views Worldwide]
[Viewer Engagement: 138% Increase | New Markets Detected: Brazil, France, Philippines]
[New Stream Prompt Suggested: "Audio x Reflex – Showcase the Rise of Rhythm"]
[Recommended Title: Friday Night Funkin']
[Mission Unlocked: "Beatmatch Revolution"]
[Objective: Show Gameplay with Commentary – Achieve Minimum 100,000 Live Views]
[Reward: +5,000 Points | "BeatCore" Visual Overlay Skin]
Cal paused mid-bite.
Rhythm games.
He hadn't thought about those in a while. DDR, Osu!, Taiko no Tatsujin—they had their followings, but nothing had ever quite blended music, storytelling, and meme culture like Friday Night Funkin' had back in 2021.
And now he had the chance to rewrite its legacy. In 2010, there was no equivalent—no stylized pixelated boy rapping against demons and ex-boyfriends to win over a gothic girlfriend. No viral mods. No fan-driven remixes.
This was fresh, raw, uncharted territory.
He quickly rinsed the bowl, dried his hands, and powered up his PC.
STREAM SETUP – LIVE COUNTDOWN: 5 MINUTES UNTIL GO TIME
Title: "Rhythm Reborn – First Look at Friday Night Funkin' (4K Gameplay + Music)"
Tags: #FNF #FutureRhythm #PixelMusic #IndieGame #BeatsAndBattle
Cal readied the tracklist—Week 1 through Week 3. He wanted enough variation to hook viewers but not overwhelm them. He enabled the special system overlay: a neon-pulsing interface that responded in real-time to BPM and keypress accuracy, giving the illusion of futuristic interactivity.
The moment he hit "Go Live," the system pulsed.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Viewer Entry Spike Detected – International Hot Zones Activated
Now Translating Stream: Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Tagalog, French
The game screen glowed with pixelated vibrance. The simple character designs—the Boyfriend in his cap, microphone in hand; the Girlfriend bopping her head atop a speaker—appeared in time to an energetic beat.
"What… is this??"
"A music game?"
"Wait this is actually fire."
"WHO is the guy with the mic?!"
The first song began—"Bopeebo." Simple. Bouncy. A perfect warm-up.
As Cal hit arrow after arrow, perfect timing racked up the score multiplier. The music synced with each input, forming a complete symphony of player feedback.
"THE UI IS REACTING TO THE MUSIC!"
"IS THIS HOW GAMES WILL LOOK IN THE FUTURE??"
"My little brother is dancing in the room, lmao."
By the time he reached the second song, Fresh, people were no longer questioning the art style.
They were vibing.
A handful of chat messages in Japanese declared it "catchy and dangerous." One Brazilian viewer posted the entire verse phonetically in chat. In France, a group of high schoolers on a game development forum began trying to reverse-engineer the rhythm engine live.
Week 2 – Spookeez + South
The tone shifted. Spooky kids in Halloween costumes appeared with sinister beats and jerky movements.
"Is this horror music?"
"No—wait—it SLAPS."
"This soundtrack is unreal. How is this indie?"
Cal's hands danced across the keyboard with calculated precision. The stream displayed combo counters, hit accuracy percentages, and pulsing visualizer trails. It wasn't just a game—it was a concert.
"This is like playing an EDM music video."
"I want this OST on cassette tape."
"I need to learn this. Can you teach us??"
Week 3 – Pico
That's when things exploded.
Pico's tracks were harder, faster, and full of chaotic synths and breakbeats. Cal ramped up the difficulty and showed off—the system quietly assisted with a 10% input buffer, helping him keep the rhythm without fully playing for him.
He didn't speak much—he let the beat speak.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Live Viewer Count: 101,002
Mission "Beatmatch Revolution" Cleared
+5,000 Points Earned | "BeatCore" Skin Added
New Bonus Mission: "Funkin' Fever" Unlocked
– Objective: Reach 500K Replay Views in 48h
– Reward: "Dev Route" – Unlock Custom Level Editor Stream Tool
The stream closed with a flourish—Cal dropped a bonus remix track only available in future fan mods. It wasn't canon, but the system had pulled it from archived timeline data. A fan remix of Ugh with heavy electric guitar.
"HOLY—this isn't in the game?!?"
"The devs should add this version!"
"How can we play this mod?"
He kept it mysterious. Just smiled and whispered: "Maybe one day."
A Few Hours Later: Around the World
Twitter (2010 equivalent clones):
#FridayNightFunkin – Trending in US, Japan, Mexico, Brazil
"Pixel rhythm returns?"
"This music game is the perfect stress relief."
"I'm shipping BF and GF, don't @ me."
"I wanna rap battle someone irl now."
French GameDev Forum – Topic:
"Why didn't WE make this? The gameplay loop is so tight, the input feedback is like butter, and the music doesn't feel 'gamey'—it feels produced. Like an actual artist made this."
Japanese Music Magazine Weblog:
"While visual kei and j-pop dominate our charts, a new hybrid genre appears—video game music with mass appeal? The streamer's preview of a game titled Friday Night Funkin' is making waves with producers and composers."
Ado (rising indie singer) private comment on NicoNico:
"If I ever do a song like this, I want to do it in a rhythm game too…"
Back in Cal's Room
The system glowed silently on his desk.
[SYSTEM COMMENT: "Your fusion of sound and screen has sparked new thoughtforms. Artists are beginning to see games as canvases."]
[Viewer Influence Tier: Upgraded – "Global Cult Hit"]
[New Feature Unlocked: Stream Polling – Let Viewers Influence Next Stream Type]
[Recommendation: Showcase Music Modding or Indie Beat Builders Next Week]
Cal leaned back and watched the live chat still buzzing even though the stream had ended.
People were rewatching clips.
Some were creating mashups.
A handful of viewers had extracted the songs into MP3s already and uploaded fan-made music videos.
He was no longer just a streamer.
He was a trendsetter.
A harbinger of things to come.
He opened his notebook, jotting down what he wanted to do next: a showcase of Celeste, Undertale, or perhaps even Geometry Dash. Rhythm-adjacent games with emotional storytelling and tight mechanics.
But that was for later.
Tonight, he shut off the lights.
And outside his window, in the vast network of glowing screens across the world—fans tapped away, ears still ringing with pixelated beats.
End of Chapter 25