Chapter 24: Chapter 23: The Day Without Customers

Translator: Exodus Tales  Editor: Exodus Tales

Translated by Coldtaco

 Edited by Aelryinth

 Chen Mo sat at the bar on the first floor in order to be able to see any potential players passing by.

 He also moved his laptop to the bar table. While waiting for customers, he would play Plants vs Zombies and see if there was anything that needed to be changed.

 Chen Mo had spent over three months on this, from August all the way into December. It was now entering winter.

 As it turned colder, the pedestrians outside had put on long pants and jackets. Today, however, it was quite nice, as there wasn’t much wind, so the weather was fine for going outside.

 —

 After playtesting for an hour and not finding anything, Chen Mo stood up and walked around the second floor.

 It was quite frustrating, as nobody had come yet.

 Chen Mo opened a can of Coke and went back to the bar table.

 It was at this moment that he remembered the free period for Flappybird had finally ended. He could now push it onto the market.

 Chen Mo wanted to release Flappybird and Plants vs Zombies at the same time, using the ad space on Flappybird to promote Plants vs Zombies.

 In truth, Flappybird was most popular in the first few months it was released. As three months had already passed, many of the players that might be interested in it had already played it. As players wouldn’t be always playing it, the hype surrounding it had slowly died down. Flappybird wouldn’t be able to make much money anymore if it were released now.

 It was hard to say how much money Chen Mo missed out on as the competition officials were in possession of all the stats during the free period, so Chen Mo didn’t know how many ads had been shown either.

 “Whatever, it was for exposure.”

 Even though it felt like he missed out on billions, Chen Mo was alright with it. There were plenty more opportunities to make money coming, so he wasn’t in a hurry.

 It was at this moment that a young woman stood in front of his store and looked around inside.

 The woman was dressed quite casually in a light jacket and jeans. She looked like she was around twenty-six, slightly older than Chen Mo. She looked quite pretty and had a ponytail, giving away a clean, genderless[1] vibe.

 Chen Mo greeted her, “Hello.”

 The woman stood at the door and looked at the signs outside, then at the decor within the store and asked, “Are you a videogame designer? Is this a video game experience store?

 Chen Mo nodded, “Yes.”

 The woman patted herself on the chest as a sign of relief. “Oh, thank the heavens. I thought this was a new internet cafe, I was worried for so long.”

 Chen Mo was “?”

 The woman walked into the store explaining, “Oh, I’m the owner of the Fates Internet Cafe around the corner, coming over to check out my competitors.”

 -Damn, she isn’t a player, but a competitor!-

 Chen Mo was speechless. As a woman owner of an internet cafe, she wasn’t here to experience games. She was just here to see if it was an experience store or internet cafe, and if he would be taking away her business.

 The woman laughed awkwardly, “Sorry. Since it’s an experience store and not an internet cafe, it’s fine now. From now onwards we are now neighbours, let’s visit one another once in a while.”

 Although internet cafes and experience stores performed similar functions, they weren’t direct competitors. In experience stores, players can only play games developed by the designer, in particular having early access to them.

 Designers usually wouldn’t install other games on their devices, and didn’t allow players to play other games in their store, either.

 Chen Mo nodded, “It’s alright, you can come here anytime. I probably won’t be having too many customers.”

 “Cool.” This woman quickly made herself at home, sitting on the sofa and helped herself to a can of Coke as if it was her home.”

 Chen Mo said, “Uhh… the drinks aren’t free…”

 The woman put the can back where it was, “Sorry, I’m a little too used to this back in my store. Heh heh.”

 After judging the size of the main space, the woman said, “Your experience store is quite spacious, and only so few machines? Seems like a waste.”

 Chen Mo said, “Yup, the experience store is meant for players to experience my games and not for profit, so I chose to make it a bit more spacious.”

 The woman said, “Not bad, I’m quite jealous of you high-end designers. Oh, right. I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Zhuo Yao.”

 Chen Mo said, “Nice to meet you, I’m Chen Mo. I have a game that hasn’t been released yet, you wanna try it out?”

 Zhuo Yao waved her hand and said, “Nah, I still have stuff to do back at the internet cafe. I just came out because I had a few minutes. I’ll play the next time I’m over.”

 Chen Mo nodded, “Sure, anytime.”

 As Zhuo Yao stood up and was ready to leave, she thought of something and asked, “How much do you charge an hour?”

 Chen Mo said, “Five RMB.”

 Zhuo Yao was a bit surprised, “Isn’t that a bit overpriced? I only charge four RMB in the main area of my internet cafe. This is a new experience store, so you have like what, two or three games?”

 Chen Mo said, “Only one for now.”

 Zhuo Yao said as a reminder, “I think you should move down the price, maybe even make it free. It’s an experience store. You don’t have to worry about making money. This price is a bit… unfriendly.”

 Chen Mo smiled, “Alright, I’ll consider it.”

 Zhuo Yao nodded, “Alright, I’ll be going then. I’ll come over some other time. Keep going at it and make a game that’s gonna go viral, that way I’ll be able to benefit from your success.”

 Chen Mo smiled, “Alright!”

 ——

 After sending Zhuo Yao away, Chen Mo’s experience store went back to being silent.

 Chen Mo didn’t feel the rush. Experience stores like these needed to be built over time. Moreover, Chen Mo hadn’t done any promotions, it wasn’t a surprise that there wasn’t anyone.

 In terms of location of the experience store, it wasn’t good or bad. Although it was a bit off the beaten track, there was a small town nearby and a bit further away was a university, so the amount of people going by was a decent amount.

 ——

 After waiting for another half an hour, the second customer showed themselves.

 This guy had greasy hair, tired eyes and seemed like he hadn’t had enough sleep. It was obvious that he was an internet addicted teenager.

 As he walked in front of the store and saw Thunderbolt Gaming Experience Store, he muttered, “Thunderbolt Gaming, never heard of it.”

 He then walked into the store and looked around, asking Chen Mo, “Hey, is this an experience store? Not an internet cafe?”

 Chen Mo nodded, “Yep, not an internet cafe.”

 “Oh.” This internet addicted teenager was noticeably disappointed, as he was obviously looking for an internet cafe. Although he could play games inside the experience store, it was only the games from that particular company, so his choices would be limited.

 Moreover, he had never heard of this company.

 After some hesitation, the teenager muttered, “Whatever, the internet cafe was quite full anyways. May as well try this one out to kill some time.”

 He walked into the store and fished out his ID and mobile phone, “How much do you charge for an hour?”

 Chen Mo replied, “Five bucks!”

 The teenager was stunned, “Huh? Five bucks? Ugh… whatever.” The teenager decided to leave.

 “…” Chen Mo was speechless. This guy didn’t even give it any thought! Five bucks an hour wasn’t much, right? Turning around and leaving immediately, though?

 -Five bucks! What can you even do with five bucks nowadays? Maybe two popsicles?

 -It’s not even enough to top-up in game, that’s like six bucks!…-

 With no other choice, all Chen Mo could do was to continue waiting.

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 T/L Note: [1] Genderless as in not tomboy or ladylike, usually used in a good connotation