Might as Well

The beginning of the stream was simply an advertisement. From VR helmets, to comfortable, super ergonomic beds for playing with said VR helmets and everything in between. All manner and kinds of tools and equipment were shown to the eagerly waiting and watching viewers.

Sam just watched happily, munching on his snack as he had bought shares (not much, but enough to provide him with a steady source of income) in several companies that he knew would survive in the future and were currently advertising their products.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes of ads and the people in the chats ready to rebel, a warning screen came up, reminiscent of the notification screens in the game showing a final countdown from ten.

At last, the adverts went away and Sam and millions of other viewers were greeted by a beautiful woman sitting in a comfortable and very chic chair, wearing fashionable clothes. Sam ignored the woman, as she was the same person that did the announcement in his inherited memories, and she was just a showpiece to grab even more attention. Granted, she did work for Future Unknown, but ultimately she couldn’t say anything that people above her in the company didn’t approve of.

Instead, he closed his eyes and focused on the words she was speaking.

“Welcome, one and all, to this announcement by Future Unknown about the beloved game Magic Unbound!”

There was a brief silence as the login jingle of the game played, then the woman continued.

“We are holding this announcement, to discuss the current status of the game, and showcase the future direction of it,” here her voice took a mischievous tilt. “And maybe to drop a few hints about secrets that haven’t been uncovered.”

Sam nodded. Still the same.

“First, let’s discuss the current situation of the game. According to the most up-to-date statistics, our current number of players is…”

Sam listened attentively as the beautiful woman rattled off statistic after statistic, while several graphs and pictures showed up on the screen.

He couldn’t remember the actual numbers that the other Sam heard in the future that would never be, but he was sure it was around the same. The popularity, of course, was widely increased compared to what Sam saw in his inherited memories.

That he attributed to his meddling. Scowling a little, he continued to listen…

“…and finally, the last statistic tonight. Some would even call it the most adorable one.” The woman on the screen smiled and this time it was more genuine than any time during her presentation. “Around 14.5 percent of the players acquired all manner of cute pets and companions so far. Future Unknown has also decided to start a photography competition. You can participate by taking a photo of your pet or companion – minions count – and then submit it on our website. You can find the link at the bottom of the screen, or after the stream ends, under the uploaded video!” finished the blond woman with a perky swish of her hair. “And now, a few words from our sponsors!”

Sam opened his eyes and stared at the woman, who was being replaced by a few adverts, presumably so that she could take a break.

‘That’s new… though not a game changer. Wonder what caused it…’ he mused as he went to get a refill for his drink as well a new packet of snacks. Watching streams almost made him snack-ish.

He returned to the living room just as the last advert was finishing up.

“… you can find it in any of our stores! If you have any more questions, visit our website!”

He ignored the commercial about some kind of dietary supplement that was supposed to be able to help with VR sickness and plopped down on his sofa.

The next second, the studio with the beautiful blonde returned. She gave the viewers a well-practiced smile, then began talking.

“Welcome back, dear viewers! As I’m sure all of you have been waiting for, here are the notes about the future of the game, Magic Unbound!” There was a second of silence, then the view changed to a closeup (though Sam noticed that it had enough space to showcase the expertly arranged clothing of the woman – apparently the director knew their audience) and the woman continued to talk. “We have two different big news items for our players. Before that, however, we would like to address the numerous calls for patching certain things in the game. We are glad to announce that there is no need to download any patch for our game. Magic Unbound is monitored twenty-four-seven and the built-in system immediately corrects anything that would upset the balance of the game or could be used by people to achieve an unfair advantage.” Here the woman’s smile turned a little mean. “Notice that we said unfair. There is a difference between unfair and fair advantage. So, please, for the sake of our customer service department, please stop sending us messages about people cheating because they have a shinier sword.” She finished the small speech with a look aimed downward that was impossible not to be recognized by people.

Sam chuckled a little. The company Future Unknown would become one of those trendsetter companies in the future with their behavior. They didn’t really care for sugar-coating things. And now he was seeing the first steps.

A lot of other companies tried to copy this modus operandi, but as they didn’t have gamers as the main audience it fell rather flat, making Future Unknown much more interesting that they could get away with something like this.

Apparently, companies, even in the future and alternate reality, didn’t understand how the internet and gamers work…

While Sam mused, the woman continued.

“Now that’s out of the way, let’s start with the main announcement.” There was another brief silence, and the lighting in the studio became more serious. “After consulting with experts and all manner of relevant parties, Future Unknown is happy to announce that as of next Monday, the game, Magic Unbound, will only be able to be played starting from six in the afternoon until six in the morning. Altogether, twelve full hours, which with the time dilation also adjusted, would mean that one full gaming session would be two in-game days.” Instantly, the chat and the internet exploded. Sam just continued to munch on his snack, enjoying the circus as he was already expecting it. “Now, you may be wondering what would happen to people who live in different time zones but want to play together?” She asked, still smiling at the camera. “We will be adding a small addition to our site where you will be able to manually set your gaming hours. The only constraints will be that it must be at a maximum of twelve hours and minors can’t alter it without their guardian’s permission to make sure the game doesn’t affect their education.” Here her smile turned a little sinister. “People who want to try to exploit this option will be warned. Once.” She didn’t say anything more, and the view changed once again.

“In other news, Future Unknown will be also opening an RMT service. The service will be accessible from your in-game menu or on our website.” She smiled, and another picture appeared next to her head on the screen, showcasing the site. “As you can see here, the service will include…”

Sam tuned out the rest of the explanation, closed his eyes once again, and thought about the news. The arrangement for playtime wasn’t anything new. Hell, he had been waiting for it. It would mean that his life would become easier, and he could finally plan around the game much more confidently.

The RMT was also simple. The value of the company would dip a little, as opportunistic trades would try to exploit the money system and the in-game economy, but the instant patching and the complexity of the game would prevent much damage. Nonetheless, he already set it up that if the share prices dipped below a certain value, he would purchase as much as possible.

Nodding to himself, he opened his eyes and continued to watch the stream to make sure there wasn’t anything new that would make his life harder.

He was about to recline when his phone dinged with an incoming message.

Opening it curiously, he saw it was Lucy’s email, ranting about how much of an opportunity this time constraint was for them. With less playtime available, people would pay much more for the luxury of convenience.

Which their company provided.

Sam’s smile could have scared a shark as he composed a reply to his business partner while the stream continued in the background.

Sam celebrated the announcement by going to a small eatery across his building that served a fantastic breakfast that he had discovered when he first moved in. Sadly, because of the chaotic nature of the game, he couldn’t frequent the place as much as he wanted.

He was a decent cook, as he took several classes before he died, but there was just something about diner-style breakfast food.

Munching on his toast while dipping it in slightly runny scrambled eggs, he stared at the information shown on his device.

The internet and the world at large were angry and proud at the same time at Future Unknown. Everybody and their mothers were showcasing their opinion on every website possible in all manner of styles. There were countless blog posts, articles, opinion pieces and so many videos explaining the details of the announcement or speculating about the future of the game that for a person, it would have taken years to watch all of them.

Sam watched a few of them, but they contained nothing he didn’t know.

All in all, he was pretty happy with his decisions. The luxury housing was projected to make a lot of money, and Lucy’s architect friend decided to sign up, presumably after listening to Lucy extolling the amount of money they would be raking in. And after he quickly changed the tab he was reading, he was also pretty happy about how the share prices had been dipping. He also set several shares in different gaming companies to be sold after they reached a certain amount, as in response to the news about Magic Unbound, several much older companies' values rose.

He smiled a little at the amount of money he would make. Granted, in the grand scheme of things, his little fortune was nothing, but compared to the amount of money he had in his last life, or even the amount of money the other Sam had, it was enough that he had to stop himself from checking his account balance several times a day.

Sam looked around the diner, and he saw several people talking over tablets, phones, laptops, and other devices. Some were working, but unsurprisingly, most of them (and not all of them young) were talking about Magic Unbound.

Even the dinky (though futuristic) television set, attached to the ceiling in the corner of the room was replaying the Future Unknown announcement at a sound level where people almost could hear it.

After finishing his breakfast, he returned to his home to work a little.

He checked the paperwork for the company that would be the real-life equivalent of the AFK company in the game while reading the few emails that came in.

Sam also visited the Shadowland site to see if there was anything new, but aside from a lot of people selling gold, there were temporarily no new requests or information about the game.

His auction for the golem farming location was going swimmingly. Thanks to the introduction of the RMT service, the importance of good farming locations skyrocketed. Thus, the value of the location he was trying to sell did as well.

He replied to a few messages and tried to calm down Lucy, who was jittery now that the official opening of their luxury accommodations was so close.

Sam was also surprised to receive a very odd message from one of his contacts on Shadowland. Apparently, someone put out a hit on his in-game identity, and seeing as he was believed to be some kind of information god, they asked him if he had any info.

Sam leaned back in his chair, with closed eyes, and thought about the situation. ‘Who did I piss off so much? Maybe the people in the mine? They looked kinda angry…’

In the end, he just smirked and sent back a vague message that he will look into it. For the right price, of course.

Then, rose from the computer and went about his day, finally, having time to buy groceries and other sundries at a humane time.

Sam logged into the game as soon as it was possible.

He appeared in his apartment in the company headquarters. After doing a final check of his equipment, recently cleaned and repaired, he left the room toward Lucy’s office.

The secretary was away somewhere, so he simply knocked and, after hearing a muffled noise, opened the door and entered.

Lucy was in the middle of the room, dressed in a high-quality dress that accentuated her figure perfectly while the secretary stood to the side with fond exasperation, holding a brush. She was pacing with a worried expression on her face.

“Lucy!” he called out with a small smile. “Are you ready?”

Lucy, hearing him, froze on the spot, then with glacial slowness turned her head at him.

“Sam… I’m going to die!”

He just snorted while the secretary elegantly covered her mouth with her empty hand.

“It’s just a speech, Lucy…”

“What if it goes baaaad….” she wailed while flailing her arms around.

Sam exchanged a look with the secretary, then stepped forward to begin calming down his flustered business partner.

“…and I hope we can work together to launch this enterprise to unprecedented heights!”

The assembled crowd broke out into restrained cheers and applause as Sam beheld them, standing behind the calm and collected Lucy as she finished her speech.

The crowd consisted of the maids and their managers that would be taking care of the rooms and common areas of their boarding house for lack of better words, the maintenance staff, the administrative staff, and the various craftsmen (and craftswomen) looking uncomfortable in fancy clothing.

Up on the temporary stage stood Lucy, with her secretary, and the head of the maids, a severe old lady that Sam didn’t know from where she had come from, but based on the maids standing in front of him, was very effective.

They even had several guards standing around in understated armor that blended in with the décor and all the other employees’ uniforms. After all, they wanted the staff to be invisible, or at least as close as they could.

Sam couldn’t help but smile.

Their warehouse was already operating and now their very own luxury accommodation, called Heavenly Forest, just to be very extra, was opening its doors. Granted, they did no advertising, but he was sure that the word of mouth would take care of it. Rich people wanted to feel important, no matter where. They would be coming as soon as they were officially open.

He glanced at Lucy as she slowly descended from the stage and began animatedly talking with people. It seemed he made the right decision in approaching her.

Now he just needed to maintain the momentum…