The morning passed by like that, with Wallace sleeping through the morning. By the time he woke up, his injuries, except for the one on his chest, had mostly recovered, while the one on his chest was still recovering little by little. He and Lucia went out for clothes shopping. They bought clothes and also food. He remembered that Joss, along with Emilia and his family, would be coming that evening for his housewarming party.
He and the two ladies cooked, and after eating, the two left for an apartment he had bought earlier that day to make living easier for him and them, and also for training. He didn't want anyone to know about the two ladies because the more people who knew, the more it would become dangerous.
In the evening, a car drove into his gate. Joss got down from the car, along with Emilia and a guy with blonde hair. Wallace waited for them at the entrance. He smiled when he saw them as he walked towards Joss.
"Welcome," he said, shaking his hand.
"This is my son, Squire," he introduced the guy, who was in his early twenties, to Wallace.
"I'm Wallace Ace," he said, shaking the latter's hand.
"Nice to meet you," the latter said. Emilia smiled and also shook his hand. Joss looked at him with a strange face.
"Emilia and Squire, enter the house first," he said.
"The last time I checked, your surname was Velasco," Joss whispered.
"I changed it due to some reasons," he told the latter.
"Oh," the latter hummed.
"Nice place you've got here, Mr. Wallace," Squire smiled as he looked around the house.
"Thank you, Mr. Squire," he answered.
"Since you are a friend of my father, we can also be friends, no need for all the formalities. You call me Squire, and I will call you Wallace. I also want to be a director under my father, so I'm working under him. We are all in the same line of job, and you are in it earlier than me. We can help each other. You are someone with talent," he said.
"Hmm," Wallace nodded his head as he smiled. Joss smiled, noticing the interaction between the two of them.
"Let's go to the dining," he said, as they all went to the dining and settled down. Wallace entered the kitchen to serve them, and Emilia also entered with him.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"Nothing, just to help you," she answered.
"You are all guests here, so I'm supposed to be the one serving you," he answered.
"No problem, just let me assist you," she said.
"Okay," he said, as he served and passed it to her.
"Your second day in New York, how has it been?" she asked.
"Well, it's nice," he answered.
"You haven't been anywhere," she asked.
"I don't need anything, so I don't need to go out," he answered.
"Ahh," she shook her head.
"You have to know around where you will be," she said.
"There are a lot of times to know that in the future," he answered.
They served the table, and everyone sat and ate. After eating, Wallace and Emilia packed the plates, and they cleaned everything before joining the two in the living room. He saw that, in addition to them, there were some gifts there.
"This is a gift for you," Joss said.
"Thanks," Wallace did not stand on ceremony as he accepted the gifts.
He brought out a bottle of red wine and opened it as they all sat in the living room.
"By the way, how's it going with the software company?" Joss asked.
"I'm planning to visit them tomorrow," Wallace answered. They all talked about miscellaneous things before the three left that evening.
The following morning, Wallace's car stopped at the outskirts of the city. The outskirts of the city was where all those who could not afford the high price of building stayed, as the rents here were cheaper. His car stopped in front of what looked like a rundown building. He looked up at the sign that said "Vicarious Vision." This was the company Joss was talking about.
He said the ones who started it were very talented, but they didn't have sponsors, so even though they developed games, they couldn't get past the design stage. A game has five stages: the predevelopment stage, which is the stage where the idea of the game will be created, and research will be made on the target audience, and the necessary things, ranging from equipment to manpower, will be prepared.
The second stage is the development phase. This is where the design of the game will be created, and everything needed, including the art and programming, will be done, and then it will be tested. The third stage is the porting and optimization stage. It's where the platform to launch the game will be decided, the game code will be made to adapt to the platforms, and other conditions, such as requirement for different designs, screen sizes, and the likes. Then there comes the publishing and distribution phase, where the store will be prepared for the game, and the game will be submitted for approval on each app store. Marketing experts will also be involved, and the game will be launched. There comes the post-launch phase, where they will get feedback and work on it.
To start developing a game, at least fifty thousand dollars is needed, and that's just for 2D mobile games. But no one plays 2D games these days. People play 3D mobile games, and at least five hundred thousand dollars is needed for it. PC games require close to three million dollars to begin. The first game he developed, Ascension, is an AAA game. A high-budget, high-quality video game that has already taken everything into consideration. It can be played on phones, PCs, or in virtual aspects.
He is just in the second phase of development. He has already designed the game, but everything he used - the art creation, the programming, from which he employed his language, and all the materials he used - he spent close to thirty million dollars. He has already passed the most difficult stage, so the others won't take much money from him again. He can't finish everything on his own. Even just designing the game on his own took his sweat and blood, apart from money. He needs people to work with, but working with big companies is a hassle, and he doesn't want to start a company. There's no time now.
What he can only do is look for companies with potential and invest in them. They will complete the game, but he first has to see if they have the potential. It will depend on the work they have on the ground. This brought him to Vicarious Visions. He heard they already developed games, but the big companies want to take ownership of the games, while businessmen are giving them unacceptable conditions. So, there's nothing they can do at the moment, and they've already run out of funds. It's said that the company won't be able to last a month because the game they developed had made them run thoroughly out of funds. The other companies are using the chance to pressure them.
He walked into the building, which only had two floors: the ground floor and the top floor. He entered; there was practically nothing downstairs except a table and a chair and a row of benches. A lady was sitting on the chair, dispirited. She saw him and smiled.
"Welcome, and what brings you here?" she asked.
"I'm here with the intention to cooperate with and invest in the company," he answered.
"Hmm," she looked at him, but her expression did not change much, as she thought that he was just one of the investors who would give them unreasonable conditions or even back out completely. But she still gave him her professional smile, and she was skeptical because he looked young.
"Please wait," she said, as she took her phone and called someone. Very soon, two men and a lady made their way downstairs. Their expression turned strange when they saw him because of his young age.
"Welcome, please, will you follow us upstairs?" one of them said, as he pointed up respectfully.
They made their way upstairs into the main office. The office was just a room with three tables and chairs and a projector, along with a computer system. Wallace sat, while those three sat in front of him.
"I'm Wallace Ace," he introduced himself.
"I'm Sheldon Curt, the programmer of this company," the first guy said.
"I'm Williams Curt, the art creator and designer of this company," the second guy said.
"I'm Elizabeth, the one who deals with the game optimization and the public relations of the company," the lady said.
Wallace nodded; those three had basically made up sixty percent of the working force of the company. The remaining forty percent could be made up using money, extra effort, and extra time.
"I don't have any title yet, but do you know the movie Ascension and the ageless immortal character?" he asked.
"Hmm," they nodded. Ascension is the top movie in the industry now. It only has two seasons presently, but everyone is waiting for the third season. Either in box sales or reviews, it has broken countless records. The ageless immortal is the main character of the movie. They know it.
"I'm the writer and developer of the movie," he said.