Chapter 168: Ruins, and the Completion of the Company Building

Aside from the technology, there was naturally a lot of discussion about the score system.

<This great one got S Class on Stage 17!>

<Why are you bragging with just S Class?>

<Isn’t that the stage with the Fanatic Apostle? Even clearing that is hard. How did you get S?>

Since the scores were displayed in letters, they were clear and memorable, making them perfect discussion material. And because they stimulated players’ competitive spirit, many players searched for and wrote strategies to get higher scores even on stages they had already cleared.

It looked somewhat childish, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in a single-player game like Gun and Magic, there was not much else to talk about.

Compared to games with online functions or versus modes, it was unavoidable that it attracted less discussion.

Of course, that did not mean its popularity dropped sharply. Later on, it eventually achieved cumulative sales of 700,000 copies.

Compared to Spirit Stone, which had sold nearly three million copies, that might seem low. But Spirit Stone was truly special. Moreover, considering that this game could not run on older computers even with a downgraded version, resulting in very low overseas sales, it was still an impressive sales figure.

“We estimate that Hammer Computer sales have not reached 1.2 million units.”

This was a report from Martin, the head of Meta Soft’s Management Team. In the early days, once they made a game, they left sales and everything after that entirely to Barbal Soft. But things changed after Martin’s Management Team was established.

They carried out many follow-up measures to increase sales, and they also conducted analysis from various angles.

“Oh. So more than half of them bought Gun and Magic.”

“Yes. The game is fun, but they seem to have responded strongly to the evaluation that it pushes the computer’s performance, especially its graphics performance, to the limit.”

Those who bought Hammer Computers were relatively sensitive to graphics, and since they had already bought expensive computers, they could not help being interested if they heard there was software that fully drew out that performance.

Ras had not calculated that side of things in particular and had intended to compete purely through fun, so he felt slightly conflicted. But it was not a bad feeling. After all, the game sold well, and he could simply think of it as showing off Meta Soft’s technical ability.

Like that, Gun and Magic became a decent hit while leaving behind the significance of being a game that squeezed every last drop of performance from the Hammer Computer.

Considering that our Meta Computer release isn’t far off, I can think of this as the peak of 8-bit games.

Ras browsed Spirit Space and enjoyed the reactions of gamers surprised by the new experience. But that did not mean he was completely satisfied with Gun and Magic.

Of course, for an 8-bit game, it showed considerable performance, and Ras had also been quite surprised at first. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠But it was not comparable to a proper FPS. That was why Ras looked forward to the day when he could quickly create Doom and Half-Life in this world.

“How old did you say these ruins are?”

It was a dark passage. Dirt and moss covered it, but one could clearly tell it had been made from smoothly processed stone. The temporary electric lights installed there secured visibility, but it was still dim, and the passage ahead stretched endlessly, making it hard to see where it ended and giving off a distant feeling.

She wore a safety helmet, but the purple hair flowing beneath it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and her eyes of the same purple color looked even more mysterious under the dim lighting.

She was Bert, Ras’s magic teacher.

“Yes. We estimate they’re roughly 450 years old.”

A Dwarf who looked about fifty and showed clear signs of exhaustion answered her. His name was Delong, and he was a professor of archaeology at Karakl University.

“That’s truly hard to believe.”

After hearing his answer, Bert sighed and said that. Four hundred fifty years. She had already heard it several times, but because it contradicted historical common sense, it was not easy to accept.

Moreover, the ruins they had found until now were only traces, and there was still the possibility that they had been brought in from outside, so she could understand them to some extent. But no matter how she looked at this underground tunnel, it could only mean that some civilization had existed on this land.

“Wasn’t this continent supposed to have had no intelligent races before Sarkan?”

“Yes. That’s what we knew.”

Although Delong was completely drained from the long excavation work, he seemed pleased by Bert’s reaction and answered with a faint smile.

Until now, there had been no mention in any historical record of any intelligent beings existing on this land. And even after the Smythe Republic and various other countries took root here, no traces of civilization had been found.

But seventy years ago, an adventurer named Naiper discovered a stone monument in the Toon Mountains in the central part of the continent, and questions about this began to arise.

At first, even Naiper did not think the stone monument was a genuine relic. Since such a plausible object had suddenly been discovered in a land where no traces had existed at all, he had no choice but to think it was something brought in from elsewhere or someone’s prank.

But scholars who had questioned why the Kanig Continent had simply been left alone for so many years when it was not even difficult to access from the Old Continents saw it differently.

After all, archaeologists had to break stories once known as common sense if they wanted to make their names known.

In any case, after that, many archaeologists searched all over the Kanig Continent in pursuit of a phantom ancient civilization. But as one could tell from the fact that seventy years had already passed, most of those efforts ended in failure.

However, ten years ago, Delong, one of those archaeologists, happened to obtain a brick engraved with reliefs at a local market in this area, and from that he found a clue.

The exploration that began afterward went through many ups and downs. The school’s support was cut off, so he received help from a wealthy patron, and for a time, all support disappeared, forcing him to stop the exploration. At one point, he even spent his own money.

There had been many times when he wanted to give up. But one year ago, he finally found a decisive clue, and with the help of the latest equipment and magic, they discovered these ruins.

In truth, Bert had not taken the story of these ruins or the claim that traces of ancient magic had been found here very seriously.

She was an eccentric who liked ancient magic, but since she had also worked as a university professor, she had gone through a proper educational track. According to her common sense, no civilization had existed on this land before four hundred years ago.

But money was a realistic problem. That was why she joined after seeing the payment. She had also felt a faint “just in case,” but actually discovering ruins like this left her quite bewildered.

But this is definitely real...

While Delong was focusing elsewhere, Bert carefully reached out and touched the wall. It was wrapped in dirt that seemed like old hardened dust, plain and rough, but extremely solid. The resistance against her touch traveled straight through her arm.

It clearly contradicted common sense. But denying the reality before her eyes because of that common sense would be foolish.

Moreover, an ancient civilization that had remained completely unknown for such a long time. She could not help wondering who they had been and what kind of ancient magic they had possessed. Like that, Bert gradually erased her skepticism and began looking at the ruins with fascinated eyes.

While Bert wandered through ancient ruins like the protagonist of Gun and Magic, Ras was touring the interior of a massive building.

Meta Soft’s company building was finally complete.

“Oh...”

Ras let out a short exclamation as he looked at the cityscape far below through the window. It was not simply because the view was nice, but because he could truly feel the size of this company building he now stood inside.

“It’s really spacious. But isn’t it too spacious?”

Ella looked around the empty space, where no interior work had been done yet and only large cement pillars could be seen here and there.

“Well, for now, maybe.”

Ras was currently operating more than one or two companies. No, even just the game development teams already numbered more than ten. There were only three at the headquarters, but the IP Management Team and Spirit Space also had game development teams.

Then there was Meta Hardware, Arcade Game Land, Quick & Fun Burger, MTC gaming venues, and so on. Even Ras, the founder, had a hard time immediately remembering everything.

Moreover, all these businesses were thriving, and some were growing rapidly, so it did not seem like the space would remain unused for long.

“Still, it’s better than being cramped, right?”

“True. These days, it did feel way too crowded.”

Ella nodded at Ras’s words.

Even now, they could not house everything in one place, so the companies were scattered here and there. But many people visited Meta Soft headquarters, where the chairman’s office was located, for work coordination or approvals. As Ras’s secretary, Ella could not help feeling that busyness even more directly.

So this is my building, huh?

Ras felt newly excited.

Of course, he had already become rich enough to buy dozens of buildings like this, but seeing numbers alone and having such a tangible thing in reality felt completely different.

Moreover, he had wanted a company building for a long time and had waited quite a while for its completion, so the emotion naturally felt different.

One month later, unlike the empty space from before, Ras sat comfortably in a chairman’s office furnished with luxurious furniture and once again looked down at the cityscape he had seen earlier.

The chairman’s office really belongs on the top floor.

At first, he hesitated because using the entire top floor by himself felt somewhat excessive and embarrassing. But it was not as though they could fill the entire building right away anyway, and since it was something he had wanted to try, he cut out a large space of about fifty pyeong on the top floor and decorated it as an office, reception room, rest room, and so on. He was very satisfied.

Somehow, he finally felt like the chairman of a major corporation.

“Should I just live here?”

Compared to the cramped chairman’s office in the rented building he used before, this was on a completely different level of comfort. In fact, it had a shower room, kitchen, and even a bedroom, so there would be no problem living there.

“Come on, you should still sleep at home.”

Ella said this while placing tea and snacks on Ras’s desk.

“Is that so?”

In truth, Ras was not particularly serious either. It was comfortable, but in the end, this was still a workplace. No matter how luxurious it was, he did not want to live at the company.

In any case, after the company building was completed, Ras’s companies all moved into this building. For reference, the building’s name was Meta Building.

Ras carried out a slight organizational restructuring while moving into the company building. Until now, Meta Soft had simply served as the headquarters, but there were now many businesses with too little connection to a software company.

That was why he created a separate company called Meta Co., Ltd. and made it the parent company.

So the Meta Building where Ras currently stayed had the company name “Meta” written in large letters. In other words, it had become Meta Corporation.

Of course, to fulfill the role of parent company, he also hired a large number of management personnel. But he did not fill all positions with outside hires, and for key posts, he promoted existing talent.

The most representative example was appointing Utaro, who had been president of Meta Hardware, as vice chairman. In truth, he had already been almost acting as vice chairman until now, so it was hard to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠call it a major change.

In any case, thanks to Utaro, a capable talent, working diligently, Meta Corporation was able to settle into the Meta Building without major disruption.

Moving into a company building was quite a major event. As such, the employees’ hearts could not help being stirred as well. But humans were creatures of adaptation. Moreover, the environment had not worsened. It had improved instead. Development work continued, and not long after moving into the Meta Building, the first project was completed.

Translator’s Notes:

SSS Class / S Class — Letter-grade scoring systems are common in games, especially Japanese and Korean games, where ranks such as S, SS, and SSS indicate performance higher than standard A-rank.

FPS — Short for “First-Person Shooter,” a game genre where players view the action through the protagonist’s perspective and usually fight with firearms.

Doom — First-person shooter developed by id Software and released in 1993. It became one of the most influential FPS games in video game history.

Half-Life — First-person shooter developed by Valve and released in 1998. It became famous for integrating cinematic storytelling into FPS gameplay.

Pyeong (평) — Korean unit of area. One pyeong is approximately 3.3 square meters; fifty pyeong is about 165 square meters.