Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 9: Completed

While sly Mavis just stood there, covering her mouth as she tried to stifle her laughter, but she couldn't help but burst out in loud laughter. She watched as Lincoln plunged headfirst into the sand, leaving only his legs exposed.

Only then did she run over, grabbing one of his legs and heaving him out like pulling a carrot from the ground.

After the embarrassment, Lincoln realized that the virtual engine needed to be adjusted and couldn't be based on real-world experiences. A balance and compromise must be struck between reality and virtuality.

The ground's gravity in the entire world was changed to only about half of reality, and the gravity in the air would also change according to different heights.

Scarves would never wrap around the body or tangle together.

As long as the player moves, the scarf would flutter gently even without wind, appearing quite elegant.

Even if the scarf inevitably drags on the ground during the later stages of the level, it would always remain spotlessly clean.

For example, unless the player makes an effort or is attacked, they would never be upside down. At most, they could lean forward or backward at a 90-degree angle, so the player wouldn't become a disoriented spinning top while in mid-air.

These details were incredibly tedious but also very important, so he had to experience it, modify it, and test it bit by bit.

After finishing the desert, there were still underground, temple, snow mountain, and the summit of the sacred mountain to work on, and he couldn't afford to be sloppy.

This part of the work took much longer than he expected. He initially thought he could finish in two or three days, but it wasn't until the morning of the fifth day that he finally completed it preliminarily.

Having done all this, he almost fled the virtual world as if escaping from it.

He had been working day and night adjusting this world for the past few days, and now his hair was messy, his stubble had grown, and fatigue was seeping out from his entire body.

He couldn't wait to get out of bed and hastily go to the cramped bathroom while simultaneously shedding his clothes and open the showerhead, trying to wake himself up.

An incident also happened during these days.

One day, he had just adjusted the lighting effects of the quicksand level's horizontal corridor and switched to the underground level.

Just as the mechanical Abyssal Dragon appeared, a sudden loud noise startled him, making him shudder. He thought there was a major problem.

But Mavis reminded him that someone was banging on the door in real life.

Lincoln broke away from the virtual space, approached the peephole, and saw a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old boy, repeatedly banging on the door and swearing loudly.

Without a word, Lincoln called the police.

Eventually, after being educated by the police, the boy explained that he was swayed by online public opinion, thought Lenin would affect the launch of NetDragon's new game, and delay him from playing the new game. Impulsively, he did something wrong, apologized, and asked for forgiveness.

Lincoln demanded the boy's name, phone number, and ID card number, otherwise he would not accept the apology.

The young man was cautious and asked what he was planning to do. Lincoln plainly stated that he was developing a new VR device, but in the future, he didn't want to sell it to him.

The young man clearly wanted to mock Lincoln for overestimating himself but held back when he saw the police nearby.

To avoid being held accountable by Lincoln, the young man reluctantly provided his information, although he didn't think he would ever buy Lincoln's product.

Poor kid, he had no idea what he was in for.

In the future, every Full Dive Device sold on the market would refuse his registration.

He would entirely miss the next era of the gaming industry.

"Helping a web-addicted teenager quit gaming can also be considered an act of great merit," thought the shameless Lincoln.

"Ma Lian, I got your name. You can go now."

Although this young person's name was noted down by Lincoln, he knew the blame lay mainly with NetDragon, so he also secretly added a mark against them.

Since then, Princess Camille started to call him every night, softly reassuring him not to be stressed and telling him that his classmates were supporting him.

Of course, he wasn't stressed and didn't need any consolation.

But after a whole day of busyness, having Camille Victoria, the princess-like girl, patiently console and alleviate his fatigue felt quite good, so he did not refuse her.

Now that the game is initially completed, it needed to be tested by players outside the developers to see how it feels.

Naturally, he thought of Camille Victoria first, as she was the only person he was familiar with in this world.

After taking a shower, he wrapped a dry towel around his head, then grabbed his phone and told Camille Victoria that the game was ready.

Princess Camille was very supportive and immediately agreed to come and check it out in the afternoon.

Lincoln tidied up the room and moved the two assembled devices onto the sofa.

Although his rented room was small, it had all the necessary furniture.

He had already organized and tidied up the devices, which now looked quite impressive. Unlike when he first used them, many wires and connectors were exposed, giving it a wasteland punk vibe.

He asked the property management to replenish the food and filled the refrigerator.

– With such an expensive property management fee, he felt no guilt in asking them for favors.

He indulged himself with a lavish meal of four dishes and one soup, filling his stomach contentedly.

Then, he lazily lounged on the sofa watching TV while Mavis excitedly gossiped with Spiritual Rhinoceros.

They leisurely waited for Camille Victoria to arrive.

Lincoln invited the bodyguard inside once again, but was rejected without a word and entered the room alone.

He didn't feel discouraged as it took Liu Bei three visits to get Zhuge Liang; he hadn't even left his door and had only asked twice.

Once he got to know Princess Camille better, he could ask her where a reliable shooting range was. It wasn't impossible for him to even ask her for guidance.

However, he was worried that the cold-faced bodyguard might not be talkative and not good at teaching.

As soon as Princess Camille entered, she saw the two slightly wider white headbands on the sofa and asked with great interest, "Can I take a look?"

"Of course, feel free."

It was expected that Princess Camille had a keen interest in new technology, as she studied art and held a double degree in Lincoln's department.

However, just looking at the headband doesn't reveal much, as the essential technology isn't in the headband itself.

Unable to figure it out, she asked Lincoln, "Can you play without a helmet, just using this small headband? Where's the display? And I don't see an Omnidirectional Treadmill in your room?"

Although she doesn't usually play games, Princess Camille still knew the key components: curved display, controller, and omnidirectional treadmill. Game consoles were generally wirelessly connected or integrated into computers.

As most of the technology was directly obtained from official sources, there were no strict barriers between manufacturers. Thus, there were no strict barriers between gaming consoles and personal computers. Over the years of development, many game manufacturers had merged.

"You don't need those. Just sit down, put on the headband, and lean against the sofa."

Princess Camille obediently sat down and put on the headband.

"Do you have a favorite activation phrase?"

"What?" Princess Camille didn't understand.

"Something like 'Make Daxia Great Again!'"

Princess Camille couldn't help but laugh and slapped him on the arm, "Who would shout such slogans all the time!"

"Alright, I'll activate it manually then." Lincoln shrugged and pressed the start button on Princess Camille's headband while also activating his own.

He didn't expect anyone here to understand his joke.

It was a pity that before he crossed over, the supreme leader was once again on a big winning streak en route to the White House. He felt regretful that he couldn't witness it!