Chapter 433.2: You Can Even Make A VR Game... In The Game!

Wasn't there a successful example in Shelter 101? They not only reduced consciousness to a virtual world but even propagated offspring in the eternal virtual realm!

It was clearly doable!

Ample Time felt his request was not excessive. He just wanted to keep a backup of Dori’s data, yet the operator reminded him through an NPC’s mouth.

Even if you use the backup data to make a new NPC, it won’t be the same NPC.

Then what am I?

A fully realistic virtual reality game that can even simulate these superfluous details... Ample Time felt a headache coming on.

He suddenly regretted not choosing the intelligence path.

"I just want to preserve a chance for revival for someone important. Please, even just once..." The voice carried a hint of pleading.

The statement was not directed at the NPC before him, but rather at that unseen presence, always watching over them. One he knew as his good brother Light.

Professor Aiken watched the young man before him for a while, his gaze slowly drifting towards the window, the dazzling neon lights irresistibly drawing one into their brilliance, where all thoughts could find satisfaction in the visible prosperity.

Here, it seemed everything existed, yet was also devoid of everything.

It was like the holographic images of that long past era. They may have replicated it to the best of their abilities, but they weren’t in the Prosperous Era any longer.

Touching his nose, he sighed softly, unusually foregoing the modern slang of the younger generation.

"Many have said this to me, but few realize that it’s precisely because life happens only once that it’s so precious."

"If that person truly matters to you, then treat her well with the time you have left. Don’t let her leave your side, don’t let her get hurt, don’t start regretting when it’s too late... And don’t be like me, trying to find comfort in memories."

"That’s the right thing to do."

...

Expectations fell through.

Tonight, Ideal City had one more heartbroken person.

But Ample Time's disappointment was an exception. The vast majority of the city's residents were still very happy, especially as the nightlife began.

On the edge of Ideal City, in an office building. In a cramped and light-sealed studio, simply furnished with a few inexpensive sofas, tables, chairs, and basic office supplies.

Bathed in the light of a cheap incandescent lamp, an annoying Mole and the newly established... ‘Skeleton Studio’ employees were dancing in excitement.

"Momma mia... this game is just too damn fun!" Removing his virtual reality glasses, excitement and thrill written all over Escaping Mole’s face.

Recently, folks on the forums joked about making a game in Ideal City, but he was the only one who took action and actually created one.

The studio directly adopted the logo of the Skeleton Corps, and the game's name was ‘Battle Royale’, similar to

PUBG

but adapted for the virtual reality platform.

Although it wasn't as immersive as Wasteland Online, it was close enough! If it didn’t become popular... He would make Ample Time eat his hat!

Being someone who had seen the world, the technical director and CEO he hired, Xue Hongliang, wasn't so dramatically affected. After removing the glasses, he just sighed, "The only pity is that you only have one life, and once you die, that's it."

Just in the last round, he had barely landed when his own designed AI took him out.

Escaping Mole chuckled, "That's where you’re wrong, the essence of this game is right there! Although dying means your gear is lost, think about it, isn't the person you took down feeling just as frustrated?"

The employees sitting in the room looked at each other, exchanged glances, and seemed to find some sense in his words. Escaping Mole paused for a while, then continued methodically, "Especially when you've made it all the way to the final circle, hiding in the bushes waiting for the last battle, thinking about how a small mistake after half an hour of effort could turn it all to dust! Your adrenaline surges, your palms sweat! And if you win, all that adrenaline transforms into dopamine of happiness!"

"Hold on, there's a problem," the programmer in charge interrupted.

Although annoyed by the interruption, Escaping Mole graciously gave him the floor. "Speak."

The programmer spoke seriously, "The virtual reality system blocks sensory stimuli that might cause weakness, so adrenaline surges and sweaty hands are impossible..."

Escaping Mole rolled his eyes. "It's just a metaphor! There’s still a sense of tension, right?"

The programmer scratched his head. "Well, there is that..."

Escaping Mole looked around at the dozen or so employees present, continuing to raise their morale. "Anyway, that's the selling point of our game!"

"There is only one life, and one opportunity! Whether our studio can secure a spot in Ideal City all depends on this launch!"

After a week-long development, the beta version of Battle Royale was completed and had just been uploaded to the Endpoint Cloud game platform, available for users to download and try for free. After two hours of trial play, a fee of 20 CR would be charged for a full purchase.

Future updates would include selling crates to draw limited edition skins and other features. Escaping Mole didn’t just copy the game itself but even the methods for monetizing it.

Thanks to the readily available development tools on Endpoint Cloud and purchasable virtual models, with unavailable ones outsourced, the difficulty of development wasn’t very high.

As for the company’s rental costs, 1200 CR per month wasn’t too expensive. Labor was a bit pricier. Technically skilled staff couldn’t be hired at the minimum hourly wage of 1CR. He needed to pay 8,000 to 10,000 CR per month.

The major expenses weren’t rent or labor but the purchase of development tool licenses, technical services, and virtual models. He also needed to rent computing power from Endpoint Cloud.

The total cost came up to a whopping 1 million CR!

That money could buy a Hellhound unmanned vehicle and a missile!

Where did all this money come from? Of course... He traded silver coins for them!

A few days ago, under the efforts of the administrator and Ambassador Shu Yu, the New Alliance and the Enterprise reached two crucial agreements, one of which was a currency swap agreement.

According to the agreement, the two parties exchanged a total of 300 million CR worth of currency at a fixed exchange rate of 3:1. That was... 1 CR to 3 silver coins.

Due to the lack of a fixed and stable market, it was difficult to directly convert purchasing power. After all, the price of the same item could vary drastically between the River Valley Province and the Among Cloud Province.

The exchange rate actually included a subsidy, the content of which was the technical added value provided by the Enterprise to the New Alliance.

Moreover, currency exchange alone was obviously not enough. In addition, both parties also agreed on how to use the money. That involved the second trade agreement.

In principle, only residents of Ideal City could register companies and trade shares, so residents of the New Alliance couldn’t work or run businesses there.

But there were flexible solutions within this framework.

The newly signed trade agreement was one such method.

As the Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner, companies registered in the New Alliance and endorsed by it could also enter the Enterprise’s whitelist.

Once on the whitelist, they could establish branches in Ideal City and invest in non-core industries outside of electricity, transportation, and energy.

Because the New Alliance’s credit served as an endorsement, entering the whitelist required approval, although the process was not complicated.

Companies that had made great contributions to the New Alliance or were collectively owned by the shelters could be quickly approved, receiving currency exchange quotas and tickets to invest in Ideal City.

Examples included Goblin Technology, Liszt Factory, and others like the Bull and Horse Brick Factory, Steel Plant 81, and Bucky Aluminum Factory.

Anyway... To get his hands on 1 million CR, he needed 3 million silver coins. Escaping Mole certainly didn’t have that kind of money.

Besides, that was just the initial investment; the actual funds needed would undoubtedly be much more.

However, being a T1 bigwig on the server, he quickly thought of a solution. According to the rules of the Alpha test, he pulled together all his assets and with his buddies, raised 1.5 million silver coins, registering a company called the Skeleton Group.

Then, with a handsome business plan and sacrificing 80% of the shares as a price, he successfully raised 12 million silver coins in start-up capital!

4 million CR.

That should last for a while.