A Deferred Asset

Special Chapter|Darxon Zedrich Zecatecas

"Bumababa yung sales when it comes to LaVille." Nag-uusap kami ni Limuel tungkol mga larong nagawa namin.

"Patuloy tayong nagrerelease ng update, pero nalulugi tayo dahil walang tumatangkilik dito." Dagdag niya.

"Pero hindi natin pwedeng alisin nalang sa market ang LaVille. Siguro we just stop releasing updates instead of deleting the entire game, kasi may iba namang naglalaro pa rin nito." I said.

"Oh well, that would work." Limuel agreed. "How about the lawsuits that people filed against Chasing Zen? Marami-rami na rin iyon ah."

"These parents are crazy. Gumagawa lang naman tayo ng laro at nagpopromote, pero andami nilang dada na kesyo daw dahil sa atin na-aadik na ang kanilang mga anak. Kasalanan ba nating hindi nila susuwayin at didisiplinahin ang kanilang mga anak?" Bulalas ko.

Naiinis na ako sa araw-araw kong naririnig. People are ranting about the bad influence brought by Chasing Zen, when in fact, it wasn't entirely our fault. We're just doing it for business and Chasing Zen helps the economy of the country. It's their responsibility to discipline and teach their children.

We already adjusted some features where it'll be advisable for minors and edited the terms and conditions of the game, pero andami pa ring reklamo.

I rode the plane with a lot of my head. Today's going to be the annual conference of the company along with its sub-companies. Ang dami kong iniisip at naguguluhan na ako kung anong unang gagawin, hanggang sa paglingon ko, nakita ko ang isang babae na naglalaro sa kanyang phone habang hinihintay na magtake-off.

"Do you like the game?" A question suddenly went off my mind through my mouth.

Gulat na napatingin sa akin ang babae pero kalauna'y napawi ang gulat niya at sumagot sa tanong ko.

"Actually it's my stress reliever, and as you have said you had a lot of things to do and I'm sure it's kinda stressful so why not play the game."

Matapos ang maraming issue na kalakip ang LaVille, ewan ko pero pinagaan niya ang loob ko. Ang daming problema ngayon sa kompanya at isa na roon ang pagkakawalang bisa ng LaVille dahil maraming laro ngayon ang kapareho no'n kaya nahahati ang mga atensyon ng mga ito.

But her words inspired me to keep going as she appreciated my work. Paano ko papabayaan ngayon ang LaVille kung alam kong may taong tulad niya na tinuturing na happy pill ang laro. With that, I absentmindedly admire her for endorsing the game to me. I wonder if she doesn't know that I'm the developer, but maybe she don't because she would probably not waste time on telling some details about it, when I'm the one who created it.

Following days run by and the conference came to an end. And as usual, I really wanted to see employees interacting with each other so I let them have lunch as a part of the closing ceremony. I walked aeound the area as I also wanted to get close with the employees.

Ayaw ko kasing makitang naiintimidate ang mga tao sa akin dahil sa posisyon ng buhay ko, gayong pare-pareho lang naman kaming kumakayod. I prefer getting close to them, but some remained awkward being with me.

Nakita ko ang isang table na pawang nagsasayahan sila kaya lumapit ako para makisaya rin, kaso nagulat ako nang makaharap ko ang babaeng nakatabi ko sa eroplano.

So is she an employee of the company?

"Sa DZ Banks ho, sa Makati." Tugon niya nang tanungin ko siya.

Halata ang gulat sa kanyang mukha pero mas nakikita ko ang hiya dahil sa pag-amin niyang makakalimutin siya. Pero ayos lang naman iyon sa akin dahil mas gusto kong hindi ako kilala dahil nakakairita na rin minsan na wala akong privacy dahil sa pagiging sikat ko raw, eh hindi naman ako celebrity or even a model.