In the year 2032, a famous gaming company launched the first game capsule that pleasantly rocked the entire gaming world. Ever since virtual reality games became one of the most popular sports, gaming companies had been developing a life-like world inside a game. Han-Jin Gaming Corporation was the first to achieve a successful realistic virtual reality platform. There had never been a game that felt and looked real once you were inside the capsule, thus, this revolutionized the world of MMORPG. However, this game was only made available in mostly 1st-tier countries.
Seoul, the capital of South Korea reaped the fruit of this success. Several wealthy gamers migrated to this country just to be able to play the game. Almost all big gaming corporations were reaching out to Han-Jin Gaming Corporation to get a license-to-play the game in their respective countries. But the developer of the new sought-after game was meticulous with issuing licenses, thus almost all the applications got rejected.
"That Han-Jin Gaming Corporation really is difficult to deal with. They rejected our application to use the capsule in the Philippines, Mr. Lao." David apologized to the chairman of the Philippine Gaming Commission.
Mr. Lao nodded. "Looks like we need another way for them to approve our proposal." He pondered for a bit before he continued. "Did they say our offer is too little?"
"Nothing of that kind, Mr. Lao. They didn't even look at our offer."
"Tsk."
"According to our intel, China didn't get it as well. Only Japan was approved this year."
"How picky. But at least we are not too left behind."
***
"Maria, pay up your rent! Do you want me to call the police just for you to pay?" A booming voice made Maria jump from her seat.
(Oh no, that is the landlord! Should I pretend not to be here?) Maria quickly removed her head console and turned off her computer linked to it. She tiptoed to switched off the lights after. She was thinking of hiding her presence in her house.
"Do not pretend, Maria! I know you are inside! I asked your neighbors and they said you have not stepped out of the house for three days. You silly girl, come out!" The landlord shouted getting more irritated as she noticed the lights went off inside the house.
In just a few moments, the door opened, and Maria pretended to just wake up, stretched her arms, and yawned. "Mrs. Doti, why so loud in the morning? A promise is a promise. Here is my payment." Maria handed a brown money bag to the elderly woman.
"That is more like it. Why do you wait for me to come after you? Have you no shame at all? You prefer me shouting?" She lightly hit the girl on her head and looked inside the bag and counted the money. "Wait...this is just for one month. You said you will pay two months' worth!"
"Mrs. Doti, don't get angry." Maria puts her arm around Mrs. Doti's shoulder and sweet-talked the elderly woman. "I will get paid this Friday. Promise, I will give the rest to you." She hid her displeasure as she grumbled. (These darn neighbors, I will take revenge on all of you.)
"Make sure you give it this Friday, otherwise, I will hand you a letter of eviction." Mrs. Doti snapped.
"Mrs. Doti, you can't threaten me with that. We both know the law." She winked at Mrs. Doti. "And please, tone your voice down. I am already too popular in this town," she murmured to the landlord.
"Hmmph!"
Maria watched as the landlord strode away. "Hmmph! Despicable neighbors mind your own business!" she yelled waving her hands then went inside her house fuming. "Look what you've all done! You interrupted my game!" she whined. "I almost killed the mob boss but now I have to start again!" She felt she lost an important momentum in her game.
Maria switched her PC on again and resumed playing. She fully emerged herself with a goal in mind, to kill the mob boss. But she failed. She tried again and again and failed miserably.
"What the heck! I am too pissed!"
Nevertheless, Maria continued playing all night until all her supplies were exhausted in the game. She gave up trying at 3 a.m., then fell asleep out of exhaustion and frustration. Her attempt to kill the mob boss lasted for two days and her efforts were futile. The mob boss was still unconquered.
***
[Ring]
Maria groped for her mobile phone while still half asleep. She was tired after finishing her work last night.
"Hello...Who~" She looked at her phone to see who was calling her. (Oh, it is the boss, Mr. Tan!) she thought. "Hello, Maria speaking..."
"What's up, Maria? Looks like you're forgetting something. May I remind you; your deadline was yesterday, and I have not received anything from you yet." His voice was undertone, but it was full of hidden danger. "Well, do you want me to pull out? Have I been too easy on you?"
Maria immediately got out of bed. "What are you talking about, boss? I sent it last night." Maria was confused. She did send her work last night. Right after finishing her work, she sent it right away. Why was the boss calling about not receiving it? It was odd.
"Do you think I will call if I receive it?" Mr. Tan said forebodingly.
Maria scrambled to her workstation and checked her drawing tablet. She saw a red exclamation point icon and clicked it.
Blocked.
(What the heck? Why is it blocked?!) Maria frenzied. She found the culprit of her boss's tantrum. "Ah, b-boss, my web access got blocked."
"What?! Did you skip paying your bills again? You crazy girl!"
"I only saw the red icon just now. Last night, it wasn't there, I swear!"
"Hmmph! Send it to me before lunch...that is if you still want me to give you jobs in the future."
(Why of all times...) she groaned and scratched her head. "I will definitely send it before lunch!" she said apologetically. It was her fault. Her web access got blocked not because she forgot to pay the bill, but because she couldn't pay it. She copied her work on digital storage. After bathing, she headed outside to use public web access.
***
So much has changed in the city. Everything now was almost digital. Even the power access was digital. Maria checked her balance in her bank using her mobile. Her money was not enough to cover three months' worth of unpaid bills. She needed to pay at least two months' worth to resume her service. "Aaargh! Why is it hard to earn my keep? Why am I so poor?"
She entered a web access hub and sent her work to Tan Animation. She has been working as a commissioned artist for the company for five years. (Tsk, I wonder when will they take me as an in-house artist? I know I am good at my work. Otherwise, they will not give commissioned jobs to me.)
In-house artists have more perks in the manga industry than commissioned artists. Aside from being paid regularly, they were covered with medical benefits and 10% of the overall sales will be rewarded to the artist for their work if they reached a million downloads. It's called the Royalty fee.
(If I can have that royalty fee, I don't even have to work for one year. As long as my work was being bought or downloaded by readers, I would be paid.) That was Maria's train of thought.
But commissioned jobs only had an outright fee, and that was if they hit one million downloads. Only 2% of the total sales you would get and that's it. However, money is still money.
Maria didn't know that her work ethic was the reason why she remained as a commissioned artist. Although her work was outstanding, she couldn't be seen as a dependable workforce. She only worked when she needed money. The rest of her precious time was spent playing games. Her boss in Tan Animation knew about it and he called it a 'waste of time.'
Mostly, Maria's theme was about gaming. That was natural since she is a gamer. Her imagination was limited to this category. There was not even a hint of romance in her previous works. Mr. Tan thought that it was a desolation of talent. However, Maria was really a talented artist because two of her works went on top charts consecutively. Maria lived in seclusion each time after getting her bonus. She spent them buying premium items in games. She could be considered a mediocre gamer. That was why she depended on premium items. Her money was wasted just like that.