Chapter 9: Christmas House Visit

Out of every relative Mike had, he mostly preferred his relatives from his mother's side to his paternal one. The Barrios were scattered around Manila, though the ones he always visited on occasions like this were the Barrio family that was living in Quezon City. So it wasn't a surprise when he visited them first on Christmas.

After two rides, he reached a narrow neighborhood in QC. He didn't forget to bring something with him as he got to their gates. There was already a man in front of the opened gates waving at him with a smile on their wrinkled face.

"Tito Dan. Merry Christmas!" He immediately greeted the old man with a smile.

"Mike. Merry Christmas." The guy said good-naturedly. "And you look like you're doing fine on your own." He said, looking at the box of donuts he was carrying in his right hand.

"Well, didn't I tell you? I'm earning a lot with my game!"

"Ah, you did." Dan nodded.

Unlike the Castros, who couldn't understand his interest no matter how much he explained it to them, Dan's family had some casual knowledge about his dream profession. They played retro games since the 80s, and even when his uncle and aunt were in their fifties, they could still somewhat catch up to the times through their daughters and sons.

After a brief talk, his uncle led him inside their humble home. The front yard had a straight concrete roof and balcony where a ferocious-looking dog was chained to the side, growling at him with all teeth bared. His uncle immediately shooed it away with a stern expression as he led him to the entrance door. Entering the house, he couldn't help but sigh at just how large their house was. His own home had two rooms, one for his parents and one for him, and then a kitchen and a living room next. All of which were so small that he had to reorganize occasionally just to make everything fit in his house. His uncle's house was larger. It even had a second floor just for them.

'Should I renovate our house?' That thought passed through his mind.

It was quite common for people in this country to renovate their home whenever they had enough money to do so. Even if the houses in their neighborhood were already so full that they were sticking together, they would still keep extending and renovating their homes if they could. It was a sign of wealth to them and also success in their life to be able to do that. Regardless of whether they were in a province or the city, this kind of mentality wouldn't leave them. Even Mike, someone who couldn't fit in with his fellow peers, also felt that making a floor extension to his house should be possible.

'No. My house is fine as it is. If I want extra space for something, then I'll just rent a building or something.'

As that thought came to his mind, he was reminded of his problem with the servers for CGA. Making a physical server storage would require him to have enough space and strong internet for it. His house couldn't contain that. He would need a new space for that if he ever decided on making his own physical server instead of renting somewhere on the internet.

"Oh my, it's you, Mike. It's been so long!"

He turned his attention back to reality as he heard the familiar, gentle, and excited voice of her aunt. A smile formed on his lips unconsciously as he accepted the hug that the old woman gave him, the first thing she did after seeing him.

"Tita Zoe. Merry Christmas!"

"Oho, you seem to be doing fine on your own." She said after the hug, then looked at the box. "And you shouldn't have bothered. We should be the ones hosting you."

"It's fine; I am doing good myself. It's also rare we get to see each other, so I think bringing something is just natural."

"Ohoho, getting up in life, huh?" Her aunt chuckled in amusement.

After talking for a bit, his aunt took the box so they could feast on it on the table. They were just in the process of reheating the meal that remained from their Christmas celebration yesterday. So while waiting, he settled on one of the sofas they had after taking off his shoes and looked around.

'Looks like they are doing fine.' He felt a bit happy at that.

Their TV hanging on top of the painted wall looked brand new. The speakers had colorful lights on them, and the noise they made gave an immersive experience as they watched some telenovela on a local channel. The white floor tiles looked new. Even the sofa he was sitting on was a new thing in his eyes. Just beyond this room were the dining room and kitchen, both of which were visible even from the living room. He recalled they used an old gas stove last year. Now it looked different, and instead of the two brass burner stove, it now had four. There were other changes, but those were the most visible things to him right now.

"Come on, Mike. Try this mango graham cake I made. See if you like it."

It didn't take long before his aunt called him. Mike stood up and joined them with a smile on his face.

____________________

As they ate the prepared spaghetti, newly cooked rice, fried chicken, and a side of dessert, they all settled into their seats, just catching up on their lives. Based on his uncle, their sons and daughters have gotten a life of their own. Only their youngest, his niece, had been living with them while the two basically lived in retirement to enjoy their lives. They weren't senior citizens yet, as they were still in their late fifties, but they had a substantial amount of savings, and their children had been dropping by and helping them with their day-to-day lives, so they were satisfied with it.

"Oh, so Kuya Robert and Kuya Manuel got a job from call centers?"

"Yes. Robert's working on Technohub, while Manuel's at Fairview. You know that new call center company there?"

Mike nodded. He could understand. Due to the rapid spread of modern conveniences, telecommunication companies were on the rise. The emergence of call center companies became the newest popular thing for jobseekers in this day. So long as they knew how to speak English and had great communication skills, they could gain a cushy desk job that paid them five figures every month. That was twice what usual factory production workers and service crews earned. In the Philippines, that was a huge thing, as even with the inflation going on, they could still save up a few thousand pesos monthly, and they could afford something they've always wanted to purchase in their lives, like a new phone, a vehicle, or something else.

'So that's why they can splurge some money for these...' He thought to himself, glancing at the new stuff around the house before returning his focus back to his aunt.

Mike recalled his time when he also tried to apply to call center companies. Though sadly, even if he knew how to speak English, his communication skills were quite poor. He tried for months until he gave up. There was no reason to pursue something that was impossible for him.

As they continued talking, it didn't take long before their topic came to what he was actually doing.

"I'm making a game. You know those things on mobile phones? I made something like that."

"Really? What's the title of the game?" His uncle asked, looking at his phone.

"Just search Idle Power. You'll see it immediately."

As his uncle was looking for it, his aunt suddenly perked up. "Oh right. Making those games means you know how to program, right?" He was confused why she was asking that as he nodded to her. Her aunt clapped her hands. "Good! You still remember Elmer? He said he's having a hard time with his project. You might be able to help him."

"Elmer?"

He recalled that guy. Elmer Torres, one of the guys his age he got acquainted with when he visited this place with his family since he was a child. They immediately hit it off after the two learned they played computer games and had spent their time in a computer cafe behind their parents backs doing whatever. Elmer was one of those few friends he had whom he occasionally talked to, and the guy already knew he was making games, as they sometimes talked.

He still recalled the last time when Elmer tried asking if he was up to playing Mobile Mythics, the most popular MOBA game in the Philippines, as he hadn't been playing for a long time now. He spared an hour of his time for it as a way to relax himself and doesn't take the game seriously lately, as he immediately noticed that his power doesn't recognize playing a game as giving him potential profits. Playing mobile games wouldn't increase any of his skills, so he hasn't been playing anything at all other than when some of his friends like Elmer called him.

He remembered that Elmer was working as a freelancer. He was only in his home, using what he learned from college and applying it to the programs he made. Essentially, he took online corporate projects that he could handle with his skills. There were many things like that around the internet. Most companies used a lot of personalized software, and some of them didn't have in-house technicians for it or felt the issue was so minor that they would hire third parties through the internet for a commission.

These companies don't pay as much, but it earned more than doing heavy labor at local sites. Last he recalled, Elmer had been flexing his collection of game consoles on his Facenote. Mike actually felt jealous at that time, as he couldn't even afford a new phone for himself. All of it was because Elmer could save up enough money to buy what he wanted.

"I'll see what I can do."

Before he got his powers, he couldn't help Elmer with his projects because he lacked the technical knowledge for it. Unlike him, Elmer had gotten his bachelor's degree on his course. He had a lot of knowledge about it. Mike actually felt that he couldn't help even with his current skill set because he was unaware just how much knowledge a college graduate like Elmer had compared to a dropout like him. For him, having a degree signified their expertise in their profession.

'But now I have my power. Maybe I can help him with my improvements?'

He doesn't know if his skill could translate well to corporate programming projects, but he was willing to try if it was for his friend.

"Mike... how do you play this? Do I just need to look at this stickman?"

His uncle's brows crunched up in confusion. Mike chuckled, having recalled that Dan and Zoe only played casual puzzle games on mobile, before explaining the concept of his game to his uncle. It didn't take long before Dan was absorbed with it.

"Mhm... I see. Looks great for killing some time." That was his verdict after playing for a while.

It's a lackluster response, though Mike accepted the compliment with a smile even when he internally sighed in disappointment. In the eyes of a casual player like them, they couldn't fathom the great effort he made to make the entire game possible. It was the best compliment he could get from him.

Regardless, he explained some of the mechanics of the game without going into detail about why they worked. He didn't tell about the BGM he composed himself or even the entire framework running in the background for this game. They wouldn't be interested in that, so he just explained the mechanics.

While doing that, he heard a sound of beeping outside the house.

"Oh, and speak of the devil."

He perked up before looking towards the door. Beyond the meshes of the screen door, he saw a familiar face beyond it. That youthful voice that still sounded like a freshman in school was still the same as they talked to his aunt before he leaned his head to look inside the room, and their eyes met.

"Uy, Mike! Merry Christmas!"

"Elmer!"

That's right. It's his friend, Elmer.

A guy with a neat appearance. Currently he was wearing a black jacket commonly known as a biker's jacket. His hairstyle was that one commonly known as a mushroom cut, with his hair waxed up. He had a round face and a tall build that was a few inches higher than him. His appearance could easily be featured on television, and he could possibly become a celebrity if he just had an interest in it.

And this guy only liked games and programming.

The two immediately settled into the sofa. The first thing they did was immediately try to catch up in their own way.

"You haven't been playing MM lately. Did you know there is a new hero? He's pretty strong!" Elmer was also an avid player of Mobile Mythics. He usually played with him whenever he had free time when he still didn't have his powers.

"I wanted to focus more on my game. I'm in a critical moment right now."

"Oh, right. You did say you are making a game." Elmer smiled. "You're finally back in business, bro!" He looked excited.

Mike could only smile wryly. When he decided to drop out, Elmer was one of the people who vehemently protested his decision. His friend even wanted to cover the cost of his tuition, but at that time he was only a student too. Elmer was a year younger than him, and Mike was a first-year college student when he decided to drop out, so a high schooler like Elmer couldn't do anything about it even if he begged his parents.

There wasn't anything they could do anyway. He lived in QC, and Mike resided in San Jose. That was quite a distance that they couldn't just comfortably come and go frequently. They also have their own lives. Before Elmer could earn for himself, Mike was already hard at work as a construction worker. There was no time to help him at all.

Regardless, Elmer was waiting for his friend to return to his aspirations. He dreamed of making the best games, and Elmer always wanted to play the games he concocted within his mind.

"So, what's your game about? Is it already released?"

"Yeah. Just search Idle Power on Woogle Play. Tito Dan's already playing it."

"An idle game huh..." Just the name alone hinted to Elmer about what kind of game it was.

Mike was excited to know how his friend would react to his game. Unlike his uncle, who only played casual games in his spare time, Elmer was an actual gamer and also an expert programmer.

It didn't take long before he could hear Elmer's opinions as he played the game.

"Oh, looks cool. The game looks smooth." He said first.

"Wow, I didn't know you could do animation." That was his second comment after seeing the icons for each option moving everytime he tapped them.

"..." Then his eyes narrowed as he got to the combat part.

It was only an hour later when he started playing that he stopped, and then he stared at Mike with his eyes wide with shock and a hint of excitement.

"Mike, how did you make this?"

His question made Mike happy.

____________________

A few moments later...

"I knew you had it in you!" Elmer muttered with an unbelieving sigh.

Mike explained to him how the combat system works, and while most of the stuff he said flew over Elmer's head as it was quite different from what he usually did, Elmer still understood the difficulty of implementing all of those features in the game.

"Wow, this might have taken you so long. Have you been secretly learning by yourself throughout the years?"

"Well, you can say it like that." He said mysteriously. Then his eyes lit up as he was reminded of something. "By the way, Tita Zoe said you're having some problems with your current project?"

"Yeah... it's for software optimization on Lala. I thought it would be easy, but I didn't expect to be stumped at their messy system." Elmer frowned as he said that.

"Software optimization? Can't they do that on their own?"

"You know how it is with this country. They don't house any technicians because it's expensive. If they can save up money, then they will do it even if it is troublesome." Elmer said with a mocking tone.

He was right. Most companies in the Philippines would rather take the longest route than the easiest one just to save up money. It wasn't even unique in this country, as most third-world countries also did this, though it was quite known in the nation that any Filipino wasn't surprised by it. Housing technicians of any kind meant spending money on their stay. It's not the technician but also their equipment, which the company would provide. All of this costs money, so most companies in this country do commissions because it was cheaper, and the ones taking the commission would have to bear the cost for their own equipment, as they were just third parties.

If they had their own technicians, they could get better quality for their digital products and software, but business owners don't want to spend for that. If they could pocket any money, then they would do so. Even if their products ended up being subpar in quality, it doesn't matter as long as they were still working and earning them money.

Mike could only shake his head at that.

"Can I see? I might be able to help."

"Sure." Elmer stood up before looking at Zoe. "Ninang, I'll borrow Mike for a bit."

After that, the two left his aunt's house, and they walked to the next house after leaving the gates. The first thing Mike saw when he entered was how wide the room looked and the amount of Christmas decorations around the curtains and the walls. There's even a Christmas tree on the side with a few gift boxes below it, all of which were hollow, which indicated they were just there as part of the decoration. The last year he came here, Mike recalled it wasn't this wide. It looked like Elmer and his parents had moved some of their stuff away.

After greeting Elmer's mother, who was currently staying at home, they go to the second floor, where his friend's room was located. Entering the room, his heart beat for a bit, impressed at the neat arrangement of Elmer's things. There was a table compartment besides the wall where his two monitored computers were settled, and on another corner of the room, just besides a closed white curtain, was a glass rack containing figurines of popular game characters. Transparent containers filled with game titles and consoles were on another shelf from another corner, and around the corners of the floors and ceilings were LED strip lights, which were currently inactive.

When Elmer entered, he grinned before moving to the switch beside the door. As the doors closed, the light bulb above closed, while the LED light strips flashed with comfortable dim neon lights. Mike gasped in amazement at the mesmerizing display.

"Cool, right?"

Mike shook his head before rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, I know."

After that, the two took a stool, and Elmer booted up his computer. After a while, he showed him the project he was currently working on. It wasn't really a full programming project but was simply a commission for fixing bugs and optimizing the system for a local online market. It still felt like a project because, as Mike glanced over the backend data, he couldn't help but curse inwardly.

"What kind of stupidity is this?"

"It's called cheap quality." Elmer responded with a chuckle.

Mike quickly detected much trash data in the code. As someone who worked tirelessly to optimize his game, he could immediately understand when something was wrong with the code. The only way he could explain what their backend looked like was that it was a hot pile of garbage mess. There were quite a lot of useless additions that it might as well be overhauled just to save the technician a headache. It doesn't just affect backend performance but even frontend ones. That's how bad it looked.

"The pay?"

"5k."

Mike shook his head at that. These people were paying five grand to fix the problem they made themselves. It felt like a scam, but this was just a commission. He wasn't even a retainer, but someone who took on the project for the flat pay posted on the internet.

"I have been trying to make some improvements, but everything I tried didn't work. It keeps giving me error messages. I don't think my skills are enough to handle this." Elmer said helplessly.

He had already promised to finish it and submit the improved software in early January, though now he wasn't sure if he could even meet that deadline. If he couldn't do it, he would have to pay a penalty fee for it. That was kind of normal here, as even companies would try to profit even at the failure of the freelancers taking their commissions.

"Hmm... I think if you delete this entire part, nothing will change in the software." Mike suggested.

"Huh? What are you saying, bro? That's a large chunk of the code. It might break the entire software if I do that..." Even when Elmer said that, he was already making a backup for the software and then deleting the section he pointed out before running a test on it.

Elmer's face froze when he saw a drastic increase in the performance of the software before glancing at Mike, who was looking at the code with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmm... just deleting an entire code won't do it. If he replaces it with something like that..." He heard Mike muttering, looking deep in thought.

"Mike."

"Huh?" He was taken out of his thoughts when Elmer called out to him.

"Come on. Sit here. Let me see what else you want to change, and we can go there." He stood up from his seat after saying that.

Mike looked a bit confused. He was just throwing in his own two cents based on his knowledge. He doesn't expect Elmer not to know it, as he still thinks he should also know about this as someone who has a bachelor's degree.

Truthfully, Elmer could solve this if he just had more time looking through the software codes. The only problem was that he had no idea what needed changing due to the humongous amount of garbage data littering the entire software. Mike was unaware that it was a common problem for programmers, mostly those who worked as debuggers. They had to filter through many strings of codes before they could even detect what was wrong with it, and most of the time they would overlook something obvious because it looked similar to each other.

They didn't have the power Mike had. Mike improved so much with system optimizations that his talent for detecting garbage data and errors reached superhuman levels. In just a single glance, he would know if even a single letter was out of place in the entire code. That's how much he had improved his skills, all thanks to the ridiculous system he put on Idle Power.

His knowledge base was also better. His programming skills might only be used on game development, but most of the programming he did could be applied to most software in the world. His innovation for his limited knowledge made him capable of improvising solutions on the spot, even if he had no idea about the subject itself, so long as he could use his previous knowledge and apply it to the current problem.

This entire messy system looked tame compared to the bulky framework of his game. It was only software for an online market platform. If he applied all of his skills together, he could make it better in a single day.

Elmer quickly understood that, so he wanted to learn more from Mike. He was his friend, and the guy had already offered his aid. If he doesn't want to, then Elmer wouldn't force him.

"Okay."

After his brief confusion, Mike didn't ask anymore and started focusing on the software. He spent a few hours telling Elmer why he was replacing most codes, why he was adding new ones, and explaining what each code could do. Without him noticing, Elmer had already opened a notepad in his phone and was writing the key components of what he was teaching.

When they were done, Elmer profusely thanked him, much to Mike's confusion.

____________________

After staying at Elmer's house and then eating dinner at his aunt's, Elmer drove him to the station with his motorcycle. After that, they bid farewell to each other before he goes on a bus back to his neighborhood.

The next day, he suddenly noticed something. It was the usual feeling when his talent was improved through his power. He tried to internalize it for a moment before he realized that new knowledge for teaching someone was added to his talents. Recalling the time he taught his friend about the errors in that messy software, he immediately noticed many ways he could have explained it better so Elmer would comprehend it easily.

"... So teaching someone also triggers my power?"

As those words left his lips, an idea suddenly formed in his mind.

"Wait, if that's the case, what if I just train my own voice actors for the game!?"

He had no money to afford professional voice actors. He doesn't want to hire amateur voice actors because he doesn't want to compromise the quality of his game. There were no available voice actors or actresses in this country that would cater to his own interest, as most studios only have experience in Tagalog dubbing. No one in this country had ever dubbed an anime-themed gacha game, and most studios he knew lacked the tone he was looking for in his game.

He could ask the community, but no one could really voice act within their server, so he was stumped about how he could proceed.

This new revelation opened up a new possibility for him.

"If I can't hire a voice actress, then I'll just train some myself!"

Now, he had to think about how he would go about it.

"My house... is not an appropriate place to train voice actors. I need a special room for it." He frowned before sighing in resignation. "Well, it seems like my only choice is to rent a room or something."

He remembered passing by many closed establishments with posters stating they were available for commercial leasing or rent near his neighborhood. If he just called the owners for them, he could afford it for half a year. More if he was willing to go for a leasing contract.

"You know what, I don't have any problems with my money currently. I think I can afford a lease. Now I just have to research what I need to get the best quality for the voices on the game. Poor-quality equipment isn't the same as high-quality equipment!"

With his desire to meet the ideal form of his game, he wouldn't compromise even with the equipment. With his decision made, he did his research about it without delay. Sound equipment, required spaces, and the like. His power had applied a boost to his talent for searching throughout the internet, as it also considered it a part of the development progress with his two games, so it was easy for the present him to find everything he was curious about.

It took some time before he got something that he could possibly afford with his current wealth.

'It is pushing it, but I am still earning some money on Idle Power. I think I can handle the upkeep if I just limit it to a single room.'

A small voice-over studio that can only host one person and a single operator for the equipment. The operator will be him, and the room is for anyone who is interested in voice acting.

The monthly lease would only cost him approximately 10,000 pesos, and that doesn't include the equipment yet. If it were only two rooms, one for operating sound equipment and the other for the voice actor themselves, then the entire cost would be around a hundred thousand.

"It's fine. Nick's donation can cover all of the initial expenditure."

With a plan set, he didn't idle and started making calls. The sooner he could make the studio, the better!

____________________

A short while after Elmer submitted the improved software for Lala Online Market, the very few users of it immediately noticed the smooth operation of the application. There were barely any delays when they clicked the sections for the products, and their search bar quickly responded to their queries. All Lala customers were satisfied with the huge improvements in their experiences, and a few positive reviews were left on their app.

While that was happening, Elmer was thinking about Mike's incredible eye for debugging and his talent that surpassed him now.

'Did he truly get those skills without studying?' He wondered to himself.

Mike ranted a lot, and while a few of the things he said flew over his head, he understood most of it, and it amazed him just how familiar he was with the programming language he was using. He even knew techniques he had never heard of.

'Maybe he can make his dream game now...' He frowned as that thought came to him.

He knew Mike wanted to make incredible games. Some of his games even sounded impossible, like the community-driven gacha game. Most of those dream games have online capabilities.

And he knew that Mike couldn't afford those.

Michael Barrio always set a high standard for himself. If he couldn't do it, then he would just try until he could. Lately, he was recovering from that obsession and was settling down on mediocrity, though Elmer knew that Mike always hated that. He was the kind of person who would always think he was betraying those playing his games if he ever squandered even a single bit of quality on his game. He was always like that, even in his life. Always comparing himself to successful people and wanting to reach a level beyond them before he could consider himself their peer. Otherwise, he felt he wasn't doing enough.

That was Mike. The obsessed freak who lived in his own daydreams.

The loss of his parents had hit him so greatly that all of his drive had vanished. It turned him into a hollow shell of himself, and a few of his friends, like Elmer, tried to ease his depression by contacting him, inviting him on trips, or simply helping him with any hardships in his life whenever they could spare the time. Though now, he saw that flame lit up once more in his eyes. Mike had rekindled his drive once more.

Hosting game servers meant he would only look for the best instead of compromising on something mediocre. If he was forced to compromise, then he would still use the next best quality, even if he had to sacrifice something he thought was unnecessary, like room space, other amenities, and anything else that wouldn't affect the quality of his game.

"Hmm..." Elmer thought about it.

He knew that the best game servers could be hosted by well-known studios for it from foreign countries. There were many providers he could choose from, like LINKZ, BUNNY, Woogle Cloud, Elphelt, Hostingray, etc. He wondered if Mike was considering any of those big-name game server providers or thinking of making his own physical one.

"Well, it's quite easy to procure the hardware. It's just computer parts and having lots of RAM and cooling. As for space, that's not a problem." Elmer shrugged as he took his phone and then grinned. "I have a great friend that can help with that."

Elmer tried giving money to Mike after he helped him with his recent project, but Mike rejected it. He felt a bit bad because the quality of the finished product was so high. Its value should be more than what he got as payment from that company.

So, as a good friend, Elmer decided he should help his friend out. It's natural for a friend to help another one, is what he is thinking as he phones a certain number.

Without being aware of it, Mike's friend was already on his way to solve one of his problems.