54 Chapter 54 - Grand Opening

The day is December 1, 2027.

The Event: The SEA Games Expo, the biggest gaming and sports conference in Asia.

This is the day, and the main event where we, Teslan Dama De Noche, Josiah Vance Gearuette, his beloved wife, Remi Azelle Gearuette (She appointed herself as the Model Girl of our game. She insisted. XD), my parents, and a team of game developers, engineers, social media streamers (to cover all angles of advertising), and cosplayers, finally revealed to the world our revolutionary game,

"The Server of Iris."

"Where players earn real money just by playing and having lots of fun!"

To say our game launch was a success is an understatement. On that day, with national T.V. and live-stream coverage via internet, we became a viral sensation. The media was on a firestorm! We're on the news for days! We're all so ecstatic! We're hugging and cheering and back-patting each other, saying "We did it! We did it!"

It was the best day and the most unforgettable moment of my life.

But of course, everything that comes up, will eventually come down. Remember "The Curve" I've spoken about? When the media coverage was over, our sales plummeted.

Surprisingly, even if we explained in great detail how the game and its monetary reward system works (we didn't disclosed our secret formula of course), a majority of gamers and a big percentage of the population still didn't believe us.

They think we're scammers and the game is all just a big scam.

Repetitive and informative advertising was absolutely necessary to prove our integrity and change the image of our company.

We spent millions for those ads.

There's another critical factor that we painfully missed. Not all gamers want to go outside their homes and do physical activities like walking, running, swinging their arms, and jumping.

Not all gamers like the Urban Fantasy/Mystery Genre Game too.

And so, in our very first year of operation, we incurred huge depths and heavy losses.

If this continued, we'll be bankrupt in no time. So Josiah and I created a lot of gimmicks to keep our gaming company afloat. We partnered with big sports events like marathons and triathlons, giving them a free trial of our energy generating game accessories.

We collaborated with famous Urban Fantasy and Mystery/Suspense/Thriller authors. Josiah and his crack team of brilliant game developers developed a smart software where you can scan a manuscript or a novel and the program will turn it into a first-person, AVR Mystery Game. It works like this: our first game is the "base", the "mold", or the "foundation". The smart program removes my story (but leaves the pre-programmed virtual characters untouched). Applies or "fills" it with a new one (the story from the famous authors), and uses our existing data bank as source code to create the new details and new characters alive.

Because of this, we created new game titles. :)

There's a lot of bugs, of course. But we fixed it and refined it with daily updates.

"Just a little bit more," Josiah assured me, "And we can go into full Fantasy Genre!"

At the end of our second year, we paid up half our debts and reached break-even.

But we don't do all that hard work just to break-even.

At the start of our third year, we intensified our advertising. When there's an opportunity for free media exposure like interviews and documentaries, we grabbed it. We partnered with popular game streamers and always kept an active social media presence, engaging with our gamers and new customers.

We also released our first, High Fantasy Game Title in collaboration with the all-time classic novel, "The Lady of the Bracelets".

We proclaimed that we, the Server of Iris, is "The Healthiest and The Cleanest Alternative Source of Energy in the World."

At the end of our third year, we finally earned some profit.

It's not much. We didn't became "Instant Millionaires" (there's no such thing), but that earnings is still better than to stay in the negative.

On the start of our fourth year, that's when things started looking up. The "image" or "perception" of gamers are starting to change. Before, they're called "NEETS" (Not Employed or Educated Teenagers), Weebs (Japanese Role Playing Game and Anime Addicts), unhealthy, addicted, "shut-ins", and "good for nothing young adults". But now, they're being called as "Part Timers", "Electric Teens", or "Generator Youth".

No matter what people say, it's an improvement.

And I'm proud of that. :)

We started to diversify and repackaged a batch of our game accessories as "Lifewear" and "Fitnessgear". We removed the whole game and sold the energy producing accessories just by itself and it worked! It sold like pancakes!

Because of our silly tunnel vision, we only realized by now that everyone is not necessarily a gamer. Fortunately, upon the discovery of this most obvious fact, we've opened up new markets for ourselves.

Our sales started to increase exponentially. :)

On the fifth year of the Server of Iris, Cryptocurrency Companies approached us and proposed a Partnership deal with us.

At first, I was doubtful. I'm not a believer of cryptocurrency and I can't understand how it all works and where it gets its value.

So, as a precautionary move, I obeyed the wise old saying "Do not invest on something you do not know" and "Do not buy something you cannot hold in your hands and put in your pockets". I didn't accept their Partnership deal but agreed to become their power provider.

Our company, The Server of Iris, finally hit gold.

After so many ups and downs, failures and rejections, at 35 years old, I, no, WE, with hard work and integrity, finally reached success.

All of this things, everything we achieved, can never be done alone.

"Truly, truly, blessed is the man with true friends,

Who never leaves him in his time of trouble,

Who helps him in his hour of great need." - Old Proverb

The End

(Author's Note)

In a world full of tragedies and sad endings, I want my characters to be happy. I cannot prolong the story any further, and I don't want my protagonist to endure anymore hardships. That's the reason why I decided to finish this story with a happy ending.

This is not my first story. I've written a number of stories before and my father and sister told me that I'm a tragedian, because most of my stories have sad endings, leaving my characters as damaged survivors.

I wanted to change that. I truly do. So, in the longest story I've ever written, I've given it a happy ending. I must admit, it's not the best ending. But still, and most importantly, it's a happy conclusion nonetheless.

To my most loyal reader, Paper Planes, arigato gosaimashita.

Thank you very much for your undying support.

Thank you for accompanying me in this long journey. :)

To Porolies, thank you very much. :)

To Jocelyn, Marfel, and my 11 silent but supportive followers, thank you very much for being with me, all the way to the end. :)

Thank you, dearest readers, for giving your time and reading my story.

I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope I made you laugh.

Till the next story. :)