Increasing popularity and next project

There would eventually come a time when the player base would saturate, and John knew that he couldn't keep giving away money forever. The surprise lucky bag event was just a small feature he added in about three minutes, after which it was seamlessly integrated into Happy Farm.

Seeing this, players flooded John's WebNet account with comments, praising his efficiency. Many assumed he had planned the giveaway long in advance, and their enthusiastic compliments even made John blush a little. Am I really that amazing? he thought.

Truthfully, no one else in the world could implement it so quickly, even if it was just a minor feature.

Meanwhile, Lily took John's advice and recruited more than a dozen skilled trainers from those who hadn't challenged her Gym before. This freed up time for her own training in the wild. Her Dratini had already evolved into a Dragonair. At this stage, battling weaker opponents at the Gym was no longer helpful for leveling up, so she preferred venturing outside to encounter stronger wild dragon-type Pokémon.

Time passed smoothly, with nothing major occurring.

One month after the release of Pokémon, the test period finally came to an end. With much anticipation from players in other cities, Pokémon was officially launched across the entire Dragon Kingdom!

At the same time, the knockout round of the first League Competition in Seaside City began.

During that month, Pokémon gained immense popularity as expected, and the downloads of Happy Farm had soared into the nine-figure range. John was surprised by this, considering that Pokémon had only reached an eight-figure player count. Upon reflection, he realized that Pokémon had only been available for testing in Seaside City, meaning players could only obtain starter Pokémon and related items like Poké Balls and energy cubes there. This limited the number of players.

On the other hand, Happy Farm—John's private project—had no such restrictions. Thanks to Pokémon's popularity, many people who couldn't obtain Pokémon yet turned to Happy Farm, which explained the higher download numbers.

Within Happy Farm, the Pokémon-related berries were the most widely cultivated items, making them more valuable than other crops. Various fruit merchants had sprung up in "Second World," and John's own company was one of the largest producers. Even those who didn't use the berries for raising Pokémon found value in selling them, turning Happy Farm into a money-making game for everyone.

Still, only a small portion of players had fully grasped the true depth of Happy Farm's gameplay. Rather than focusing solely on fruit farming, they began decorating their virtual farms with exotic plants, relishing the experience of being a farmer.

With Pokémon now available throughout the Dragon Kingdom, John anticipated a surge in the number of players.

"Is this what they call e-sports?" John mused as he lounged in his massage chair, glancing at the list of knockout matches with a slight smile.

He hadn't expected Pokémon competitions to evolve into e-sports, but the current events were still somewhat basic. Once more events were added, the competitive scene would become far more exciting.

Even as the competition kicked off, John couldn't shake the feeling that the weight of responsibility was getting heavier.

The knockout round spanned an entire month. Since this League Competition was organized only by Seaside City and was the first of its kind, the rules weren't fully established. There were no entry barriers—any eligible trainer could join, making it a small-scale promotional event to pave the way for future national competitions.

With Pokémon now available nationwide, Seaside City remained packed with players, many of whom had come specifically to witness the League Competition. As the birthplace of Pokémon, Seaside City's development was naturally far ahead of other locations.

The purpose of the knockout round was to select the top 32 contestants from the pool of competitors, who would then move on to the group stage. These 32 trainers would battle for the championship.

The rewards were enticing. Contestants who made it to the top 32 would receive monetary prizes, while the final four would be awarded rare Pokémon. If John weren't so preoccupied with his own projects, he might have been tempted to compete himself.

"Well, time to get back to work," John muttered as he closed the competition feed, stretched, and rubbed his warm forehead.

Over the past month, John had kept busy. As a virtual game designer, he took his role seriously. After a few days of rest, he had already begun working on his next game.

Entering the virtual space, John glanced at his system panel, where his exchange points had now surpassed 30 million, reaching eight figures.

The launches of Pokémon and Happy Farm had been nothing short of perfect.

"Man, creating this virtual world is tough," John sighed as he gazed at the endless, unfinished virtual space in front of him.

This time, he wasn't just building a small, contained world like Happy Farm, but rather an entire open world akin to "Second World."

Although John had exchanged his points for top-level virtual game design abilities, the process was still slow. The construction of this massive virtual world wasn't even halfway done yet.

"System, isn't there a higher-level ability I can buy? Don't worry about saving me money—I'm rolling in it now!" John half-joked.

"Ding~ Please remain grounded, host. The construction of a virtual world is not something that can be completed overnight."

"But I'm already in my late teens," John muttered.

"Host, please continue to work hard."

John chuckled helplessly. "Now I understand the struggles of other virtual game designers."

With a resigned sigh, John returned to the painstaking task of building his virtual world.

A/N: Donate some power stones if you want extra chapters! Enjoy ✌️.