From Idler to Tech Tycoon: Earth

Chapter 15: Sorry Gaijn
Chapter 15 - 15: Sorry Gaijn”Oh? What’s that about me being included?”

Jack appeared at the doorway, rubbing his eyes, still half-asleep. His messy hair and sluggish movements screamed ”I just woke up.”

”Speak of the devil,” Estello said with a smirk. ”We were just talking about you.”

Jack yawned, stretching. ”Bro, you woke up early. Way too early. Last time I checked, it was 2 AM, and you were still working.”

Richard grinned. ”I’m almost 10% done before I can fully test the whole thing.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. ”Oh yeah, right. The game engine.” He ran a hand through his hair. ”Anyway, I’m gonna need your help shopping for our PC builds. And once our game reaches beta testing, we’ll need even more resources.”

He sighed. ”Though I doubt we’ll hit that phase anytime soon, since it’s just the two of us for now.”

Richard leaned back. ”Why don’t we start with terrain design first? We could use a hexagonal grid—maybe 5x5 km in size. And once I finish the Vector Core engine, we can automate the whole asset generation process.”

Estello, who had been silently listening, massaged his temples.

”My head hurts just hearing you two talk,” he muttered.

Jack and Richard chuckled.

Estello took a sip of his coffee and continued, ”I’ve already transferred the funds, Jackie. I don’t know if three million is enough, but make it work. And, transfer Richie his one million, so he can save his own money and not squander it.”

He turned his gaze to Richard, his tone firm.

”Richie, listen to me. Time deposit at least 80% of your money. Trust me on this.”

Richard nodded. ”I understand, Grandpa.”

He stood up, stretching. ”Bro, I’m gonna take a bath first.”

Jack sighed, running a hand down his face. ”Yeah, and we also need to go clothes shopping.” He groaned. ”This is gonna be another tiring day.”

Jack and Richard dressed up and headed downstairs to the first floor.

As they walked down the grand staircase, Jack spoke, ”I’m gonna need all the details on your Vector Core engine because it didn’t look like you were just testing some code last night. We need to adjust our timeline and roadmap accordingly.”

Richard nodded. ”Yeah, I’ll brief you once we’re back.”

At the bottom of the stairs, Estello sat in his usual chair, watching them with a knowing smile. Without a word, he reached into his pocket and tossed a key to Jack.

”Here, take the Land Cruiser.”

Jack caught the key effortlessly. ”Thanks, Grandpa.”

Richard followed him outside, and the estate was already buzzing with activity. Gardeners were tending the hedges, and the workers—some still brushing their teeth with towels wrapped around their waists—paused to watch them walk by.

They headed left around the mansion, where a large garage door led to the basement parking area. Jack pressed a button on the key fob, and the garage door whirred open, revealing a vast indoor space lined with rows of cars. Some were covered in dust-proof sheets, while others sat gleaming under the overhead lights.

At the far edge of the garage, a pristine white Toyota Land Cruiser waited.

Beyond the cars, Richard noticed a spacious work area with a glass-walled office at the far end.

He gestured toward it. ”Is that where we’ll be working?”

Jack grinned, opening the driver’s side door. ”Yeah. Big, right?”

Richard hopped into the passenger seat as Jack started the engine, the powerful roar of the Land Cruiser filling the garage.

Jack expertly maneuvered the vehicle out, driving down a paved road toward the main gate.

Workers outside the estate watched them curiously, some still clutching steaming cups of coffee. Others, mid-morning routine, had toothbrushes in their mouths, their eyes following the Land Cruiser as it passed.

Richard glanced at them and asked, ”I thought you said Grandpa only does fishing?”

Jack let out a short scoff. ”When did I say that? He does fish, yeah, but that doesn’t mean he can’t look into other businesses.”

Richard frowned. ”Like what?”

Jack smirked. ”Like rice farming. Grandpa owns huge rice fields—I don’t know where exactly, but every week, these 8-wheeler trucks come here loaded with rice sacks for regional distribution.”

Richard raised an eyebrow. ”That’s... a lot.”

Jack nodded. ”And that’s not all. He also buys copra, then resells it to palm oil factories. Basically, he’s got his hands in everything.”

Richard whistled. ”Damn. I had no idea.”

Jack grinned. ”You remember Uncle Ronnie?”

”Yeah?”

”He handles some of the 8-wheelers going across Lanao, delivering rice and buying copra. Then he resells them to oil factories. I don’t know all the details, but Grandpa’s got a lot of executives handling different businesses for him.”

Richard leaned back in his seat, processing it all.

”Damn... Grandpa’s a mogul.”

As Jack drove down the highway, the Land Cruiser’s engine hummed smoothly, the morning sun casting long shadows over the quiet roads.

Richard leaned back in his seat and asked, ”So, where are we buying our PC parts? You know, we could’ve just brought our rigs from Laguna.”

Jack let out a mocking scoff. ”And suffer carrying all that stuff? No, thank you.” He shook his head. ”Besides, we might go back soon anyway, so why bring it back and forth? Too much hassle.”

Richard shrugged. ”Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Jack smirked. ”Also... I like shopping.”

Richard gave him a look. ”You? Shopping?”

Jack chuckled. ”Yeah. We’re heading to Cagayan City. It’s quite a long drive, but we’ll have a much wider selection of PC parts there. Plus, we can inspect everything in person rather than just ordering online—too risky with expensive parts.”

Richard nodded. ”Yeah, I get that. Hands-on inspection is better.”

Jack tapped the steering wheel. ”And while we’re at it, we’re gonna shop for clothes too.”

Richard raised an eyebrow. ”Why?”

Jack sighed. ”Because I barely brought any. And you? You literally don’t have a single decent outfit for going out.”

Richard groaned. ”Ugh... Shopping for clothes?”

Jack grinned. ”Yep. Deal with it.”

Jack kept his eyes on the road, the Land Cruiser cruising steadily through the open highway. ”If we have enough money left after buying our PC parts, we should get at least one pre-built server rack for sharding tests.”

Richard nodded. ”Yeah, that’s a good idea. We can train on server management while we’re still in the development phase.”

Jack grinned. ”Exactly. Unlike VPS servers you can just rent, server sharding is fully custom—we need to build it from scratch.”

Richard rubbed his chin. ”True. If we develop the sharding system properly, then by the time the game launches, we won’t have server bottlenecks.”

Jack nodded. ”Right. Once we’re done setting everything up—especially your Vector Core engine—you’ll brief me on all the details. After that, we can focus on full development.”

Richard smirked. ”And what about once we’re done with the base game?”

Jack’s expression turned serious. ”We push the persistent world update. If the game’s performance holds up, we’ll start adding graphical upgrades, bit by bit.”

Richard thought for a moment. ”We should also introduce microtransactions slowly, not all at once. Too many at launch might scare players away.”

Jack snapped his fingers. ”Exactly. And to keep the game from feeling empty, each player will control a squad with AI. That way, when they die, they respawn on a squadmate instead of just at a checkpoint. It keeps the gameplay immersive—no one’s just wandering around a ghost town.”

Richard grinned. ”Sounds like a solid plan.”

Jack nodded. ”Damn right it is.”

”That way, we can let players customize each squadmate—buying specialists like a heavy machine gunner, an anti-tank soldier, or even a mortar squad.” His eyes lit up with excitement. ”We can tie it into microtransactions. Players who want to enhance their squad’s tactical flexibility can spend money to unlock different infantry roles.”

Richard grinned. ”So, a player could build their own dream squad based on their playstyle? That’s sick.”

Jack nodded. ”Exactly. And since our game progresses from 1936 to 1945, we can make premium squads from later years available for purchase. Whales can buy advanced units, tanks, or planes ahead of time.” He chuckled. ”Sorry, Gaijin.”

Richard laughed. ”That actually sounds amazing. It’s a fair monetization system—you’re not selling power, just options. A well-equipped squad still needs a good player to win.”

Jack smirked. ”Right? The game stays skill-based, but if people want variety, they can pay for it. Keeps things balanced while still making a ton of money.”

Richard leaned back in his seat, deep in thought. ”Damn, we might actually be onto something huge here.”

Jack revved the engine slightly, a confident grin on his face. ”No ’might’ about it, bro. We’re building the next big thing.”

Jack kept his eyes on the road, his fingers tapping against the steering wheel. ”For now, we’ll just focus on the core features. If we try to implement too much too soon, the game might become a performance nightmare.”

Richard nodded. ”Yeah, optimizing mechanics is already a huge challenge. We can’t just randomly generate terrains either. We’ll need realistic battlefields.”

Jack smirked. ”Exactly. Omaha Beach, Carentan, Saint-Marie, the Battle of the Bulge... but we start small. We can’t go crazy with it just yet.”

Richard let out a deep sigh. ”Man, we’ve barely even scratched the surface. There’s still so much to do...”

Jack laughed. ”Tell me about it. And don’t even get me started on multiplayer implementation—networking, hit registration, latency compensation... it’s gonna be a nightmare.”

Richard groaned. ”Ugh. Stress overload.”

Jack grinned. ”Yeah, yeah. We’ll figure it out later. For now, one step at a time.”