There would eventually come a time when the player base would saturate, and John knew that he couldn't keep giving away money forever. The surprise lucky bag event was just a small feature he added in about three minutes, after which it was seamlessly integrated into Happy Farm.
Seeing this, players flooded John's WebNet account with comments, praising his efficiency. Many assumed he had planned the giveaway long in advance, and their enthusiastic compliments even made John blush a little. Am I really that amazing? he thought.
Truthfully, no one else in the world could implement it so quickly, even if it was just a minor feature.
Meanwhile, Lily took John's advice and recruited more than a dozen skilled trainers from those who hadn't challenged her Gym before. This freed up time for her own training in the wild. Her Dratini had already evolved into a Dragonair. At this stage, battling weaker opponents at the Gym was no longer helpful for leveling up, so she preferred venturing outside to encounter stronger wild dragon-type Pokémon.
Time passed smoothly, with nothing major occurring.
One month after the release of Pokémon, the test period finally came to an end. With much anticipation from players in other cities, Pokémon was officially launched across the entire Dragon Kingdom!
At the same time, the knockout round of the first League Competition in Seaside City began.
During that month, Pokémon gained immense popularity as expected, and the downloads of Happy Farm had soared into the nine-figure range. John was surprised by this, considering that Pokémon had only reached an eight-figure player count. Upon reflection, he realized that Pokémon had only been available for testing in Seaside City, meaning players could only obtain starter Pokémon and related items like Poké Balls and energy cubes there. This limited the number of players.
On the other hand, Happy Farm—John's private project—had no such restrictions. Thanks to Pokémon's popularity, many people who couldn't obtain Pokémon yet turned to Happy Farm, which explained the higher download numbers.
Within Happy Farm, the Pokémon-related berries were the most widely cultivated items, making them more valuable than other crops. Various fruit merchants had sprung up in "Second World," and John's own company was one of the largest producers. Even those who didn't use the berries for raising Pokémon found value in selling them, turning Happy Farm into a money-making game for everyone.
Still, only a small portion of players had fully grasped the true depth of Happy Farm's gameplay. Rather than focusing solely on fruit farming, they began decorating their virtual farms with exotic plants, relishing the experience of being a farmer.
With Pokémon now available throughout the Dragon Kingdom, John anticipated a surge in the number of players.
"Is this what they call e-sports?" John mused as he lounged in his massage chair, glancing at the list of knockout matches with a slight smile.
He hadn't expected Pokémon competitions to evolve into e-sports, but the current events were still somewhat basic. Once more events were added, the competitive scene would become far more exciting.
Even as the competition kicked off, John couldn't shake the feeling that the weight of responsibility was getting heavier.
The knockout round spanned an entire month. Since this League Competition was organized only by Seaside City and was the first of its kind, the rules weren't fully established. There were no entry barriers—any eligible trainer could join, making it a small-scale promotional event to pave the way for future national competitions.
With Pokémon now available nationwide, Seaside City remained packed with players, many of whom had come specifically to witness the League Competition. As the birthplace of Pokémon, Seaside City's development was naturally far ahead of other locations.
The purpose of the knockout round was to select the top 32 contestants from the pool of competitors, who would then move on to the group stage. These 32 trainers would battle for the championship.
The rewards were enticing. Contestants who made it to the top 32 would receive monetary prizes, while the final four would be awarded rare Pokémon. If John weren't so preoccupied with his own projects, he might have been tempted to compete himself.
"Well, time to get back to work," John muttered as he closed the competition feed, stretched, and rubbed his warm forehead.
Over the past month, John had kept busy. As a virtual game designer, he took his role seriously. After a few days of rest, he had already begun working on his next game.
Entering the virtual space, John glanced at his system panel, where his exchange points had now surpassed 30 million, reaching eight figures.
The launches of Pokémon and Happy Farm had been nothing short of perfect.
"Man, creating this virtual world is tough," John sighed as he gazed at the endless, unfinished virtual space in front of him.
This time, he wasn't just building a small, contained world like Happy Farm, but rather an entire open world akin to "Second World."
Although John had exchanged his points for top-level virtual game design abilities, the process was still slow. The construction of this massive virtual world wasn't even halfway done yet.
"System, isn't there a higher-level ability I can buy? Don't worry about saving me money—I'm rolling in it now!" John half-joked.
"Ding~ Please remain grounded, host. The construction of a virtual world is not something that can be completed overnight."
"But I'm already in my late teens," John muttered.
"Host, please continue to work hard."
John chuckled helplessly. "Now I understand the struggles of other virtual game designers."
With a resigned sigh, John returned to the painstaking task of building his virtual world.
A/N: Donate some power stones if you want extra chapters! Enjoy ✌️.
"Ugh, my brain hurts."
Near noon, John exited the virtual space, but even in the real world, he kept rubbing his forehead. He subconsciously ran his fingers along his hairline. Thankfully, his hair was still intact, but his forehead felt a little warm.
He stood up, walked downstairs, and sat at the table—though it was more like a conference table than a dining table.
"Brother, you seem more irritable lately," Lily teased, her eyes narrowed with a playful smile.
"What's your point? Do you enjoy seeing me annoyed?" John frowned, his frustration evident.
"Hee hee, it's kind of fun!"
"…I should've never sent you that red envelope."
"Too late! It was my well-earned reward."
"Is there something wrong with the game design?" Grace asked, her concern cutting through the banter.
"Well, it's not exactly a problem. It just feels like things are moving too slowly," John replied.
Clink. The sound of a cup hitting the table drew their attention. Michael calmly picked up his cup without saying a word.
"Slow?" Grace raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure it's slow?"
Though she wasn't a game designer herself, she had learned a lot about John's work. Michael had explained much of John's game development process to her, including his impressive production speed.
"Why don't you bring in more people to help?" she suggested.
"Huh? No need—wait." John's brain suddenly clicked. That's right! Why not get more people to help him?
If this world's designers could create something as complex as "Second World," their tech was clearly up to the task. What they lacked was the information he had! If he provided them with the necessary details, they could help build the virtual world for him.
He could have others handle the tedious parts while he directed the broader project! Why hadn't he thought of this sooner?
"System! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"
"Ding~ I assumed the host could figure it out," the system chimed in.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Something wrong?" Grace asked, noticing John's distant look.
"No, nothing at all! Actually, you're right, Mom! I should get more people involved." John gritted his teeth at the system but smiled warmly at his mother.
"Told you so. You can't do everything alone," she replied with a smile. "Want me to help recruit a team for you?"
"Yeah… that'd be great. Thanks, Mom."
John wasn't connected enough to find the right people himself, so it was a relief to leave this task to his mom.
After lunch, John returned to his room, eager to continue working on the virtual world. He was already halfway through building it, so he wouldn't hand that part over. But once the team was ready, he'd have plenty of work for them.
A few days later, Grace introduced John to a professional virtual game development team. In this world, most virtual games were created by teams, and John's solo work was rare. High-level game designers typically formed their own teams once they had a few accomplishments under their belt.
These teams generally worked on a model where the designer provided the creative direction, and the team handled the modeling, programming, and other tasks.
However, the team Grace had found was… unexpected.
"Hello, I'm Sarah Evans, the leader of the Edge Horizon team," said a young woman with long black hair as she extended her hand toward John.
"Uh… hello." John awkwardly shook her hand, his mind spinning as he looked at the group of people behind her—all of whom were women.
What is this, a battalion of female soldiers? John thought, blinking in confusion. He shot Grace a look, hoping for some sort of explanation. But she just smiled serenely at Sarah Evans, seemingly oblivious to John's silent pleas.
I've been outmaneuvered, he thought, trying not to feel too overwhelmed.
"And your name… it's so bold! Can I even handle it?" John muttered to himself before asking, "Is there someone here named Lord Grim?"
"Lord Grim? Boss, are you looking for a different team?" Sarah furrowed her brow, shaking her head. "We don't have anyone by that name here. Never even heard of them in this industry."
"No, no, forget I asked," John quickly replied. "Wait—don't call me boss just yet…"
"But we've already signed the contract with your company, boss," a girl with large, expressive eyes interjected from behind Sarah.
"I… okay." John sighed, realizing this was another case of his mother's clever strategy. A done deal, no turning back now.
Grace clapped her hands. "Well, now that it's settled, the accommodation for the team is next door. You can settle in and later, John can go over the work details with you."
"Alright, boss. We'll get set up," Sarah said, and with that, the group of women waved and headed out.
After they left, John turned to his mom, eyes filled with playful annoyance. "Mom, what's going on?"
"What? You wanted help, so I got you help."
"I meant a group of, you know, tools—people to work. This is…"
"Oh please," Grace chuckled. "Isn't it better to have a team that's easy on the eyes while they're working? You seemed to enjoy watching them just now."
John blushed. "That's not the point. What about their work capabilities?"
"Don't worry. I've already checked them out. They're ranked in the top ten virtual game production teams in the country. Do you really think I hired them just because they're pretty?" Grace smirked.
"Top ten?" John's eyes widened.
"Yes. They used to work under Leo Thomas, a top-tier game designer. There were some disagreements, so I took the opportunity to bring them over."
Leo Thomas? John's mind raced. That name sounded familiar. Wasn't he the guy who designed that "new version of the ship" game I saw when I first arrived in this world?
"So… the company arranged their accommodation next door?" John asked, still processing everything.
"Of course. It's more convenient for work."
Can't argue with that, he thought.
"Now go meet with them and start laying out the tasks," Grace instructed, pushing him toward the door.
"Alright, alright," John muttered, heading off to figure out how to work with his new team.
A/N: Donate some stones guys!, These are the three chapters for today, also I will upload more chapters tomorrow. So stay tuned and Enjoy ✌️.
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