Chapter 24: Minecraft
"It seems that stealing chickens is not so easy," John frowned and whispered to himself.
(Some kind of Chinese metaphor is used here)
"Huh? Boss, do you want to steal chickens? I have them on my farm. Add me as a friend, and I'll let you steal them," Bella Smith looked at John in surprise.
John was speechless. "…I don't want your chickens."
Compared to the "Second World," the virtual world of Happy Farm is child's play. The virtual worlds John needed to build in the future would be on the scale of "Second World"—and even more complex.
It was clear that making these worlds wouldn't be as simple as John had imagined. There was at least a tenfold gap in complexity.
John had already spent over half a month building just a portion of the system. If he handed over the rest to other people, it would take them a year or two to finish.
Consider the fact that "Second World" was prepared by the Dragon Kingdom over the course of seven years before it was completed. Even though the technology back then wasn't as advanced, they still had hundreds of programmers working on it.
John didn't have the luxury of relying on a huge development team. His materials were destined to be used only by him. This was a private venture—he couldn't afford to outsource his secrets.
"Dog System, was this part of your expectations?" John muttered.
"Ding~ Host, please do not randomly slander me," the system retorted.
"As expected…" John sighed.
His enthusiasm was suddenly dampened—a tenfold gap was a daunting challenge. He couldn't just gather dozens of teams to help him build the games he envisioned.
Even if he could manage the coordination, there was no guarantee that his work wouldn't leak before the official release. It would be devastating to finish the game, only to have a pirated version emerge before the genuine one.
"Looks like I'll have to let others handle the simpler games. I'll need to do the more complex ones myself."
John wasn't as disappointed as he thought he would be. Deep down, he had already accepted that he would create his classic virtual worlds on his own.
There was no shortcut here, but that didn't mean he couldn't enlist help for some smaller, point-earning games.
He raised his head and noticed the all-female production team sitting in a circle, watching him intently.
"Boss, have you decided?" Sarah Evans asked.
"Yeah, add me as a friend first. I'll send you the details, so you can start practicing," John replied.
Taking out his phone, he summoned the system in his mind to copy the necessary information.
A moment later, John's eyes twitched as he noticed that he'd been added to a group chat called the "Edge Horizon Girlfriends Group."
"Your group name… whatever, let's just get to work," he said, rolling his eyes.
John uploaded the game information to the group, then leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk as he waited.
"My World?" Sarah exclaimed as she opened the file. "What a bold name!"
Other developers named their games "Second World" or "Third World," but here was John with "My World"?
Olivia Su, a professional game writer and event planner, nodded in agreement. The name alone would attract attention.
For casual players, the game's title could be the deciding factor in whether they try it or not.
A few minutes passed, and the women's expressions gradually shifted. They glanced at John occasionally as they discussed the file amongst themselves.
The rules of "Minecraft" were simple, almost non-existent. After about ten minutes, the women put their phones down, excitement clear on their faces.
"If you have any questions, just ask," John said.
"Boss, did you come up with all this yourself?" Sarah Evans asked, clearly impressed.
"Of course. Have you seen anything like it elsewhere?" John said confidently. "Is there a problem?"
"No problem, none at all!" the team exclaimed.
"Boss, you're a genius!" Jessica Tang said, beaming.
"Creating a game where you can build a civilization from scratch? 'Stone Age' is going to be jealous!" Emily Wang added.
"And giving players the freedom to build their own world? That's bound to appeal to so many people," Olivia Su remarked.
"Exactly! Society today has so little space for people to freely express themselves. Even with the Second World, there's still a tight limit on what players can do," Sarah added.
As professionals in the gaming industry, they quickly identified the unique selling point of "Minecraft."
"My World" was different from other games—it had no set rules. Its core appeal was total freedom: the ability to create whatever you wanted without limits.
It wasn't a game designed to make a lot of money. John knew that. But the points and influence he could gain from it would still be valuable.
"What's this about 'Stone Age'?" John asked, noticing how they all seemed to find it amusing.
"Boss, don't you know?" Sarah replied, surprised.
"Know what?"
"Stone Age is a game made by our previous boss, Leo Thomas," Olivia explained.
"Your previous boss? Well, this just got interesting," John said with a wry smile.
John hadn't realized the connection. He'd stumbled upon Leo Thomas's game production team and had now recruited them for his own venture. And, as fate would have it, he was now about to release a game that would directly compete with Thomas's work.
The situation was almost comical.
A/N: Same as always, donate some power stones for extra chapters. Enjoy ✌️.