"Yeah, yeah! Heard this work is something Master Kane polished for two years."
"Doesn't that mean it's clashing directly with Stardew Valley?!"
"Which one do you guys think will be higher quality?"
"Do you even need to ask? Definitely Master Kane's work. Master Kane's been a renowned designer for over a century. He's had tons of famous works before."
"I'm not so sure. I think Stardew Valley's design might actually be better!"
"After all, Plants vs Zombies is genuinely a classic at this point. You could say it pioneered an entire genre."
"Maybe it was just luck? Who can guarantee every work from a rookie designer will be stunning?"
"It may have been just a one in a million luck?"
"The older generation designers' quality is more guaranteed."
Opinions varied wildly.
The two works hadn't even officially launched yet, but were already sparking huge discussions.
Alto hadn't expected a master's work to suddenly pop up and clash directly with his release.
But he wasn't worried. This was perfect, actually.
Maybe another wave of free traffic.
No longer concerned with that, he had other things to handle now.
Having earned so much money, he naturally needed to figure out how to spend it.
He arrived at a real estate agency, planning to check out Lunaria's property prices.
Though not for residential purposes, he was still living in that shabby little house on a run-down street in the Lower District after all.
New living quarters weren't an urgent matter, plus his sister Aisha hadn't returned yet.
This house held both their memories.
For housing, waiting until she returned to surprise her wouldn't be too late.
His purpose for checking properties was to find a suitable commercial space.
He planned to transform it into an experience center.
While also seeing about recruiting some elves to assist him.
Between designing and developing new games, testing for bugs...
Reality involved coordinating with merchant companies, signing various contracts and documents, attending meetings...
He already felt overwhelmed by all this bureaucracy.
So getting some helping hands was urgent.
Moreover, the experience center's purpose was for the promotion of future new works.
He could create a simple pre-release hype, recruit beta testers to help test and run things and find flaws.
When first making Plants vs Zombies, it wasn't so obvious.
Just a simple sandbox placement, not requiring handling too many details.
Now developing Stardew Valley, the fully realistic world's massive model quantities already gave him headaches.
This was also why he'd spent nearly two months barely polishing it into shape.
Moreover, Stardew Valley didn't even count as a large-scale game.
As dream worlds expanded later, he'd definitely need to create even more massive world systems.
He couldn't do all that on his own.
That all went through his head as he approached a young elven woman at the reception.
"Hello, sir, these are commercial properties currently being transferred or sold."
She produced a document detailing all available shop listings.
"I need to find a shop near Echo Street."
"Also, preferably larger. You got any suitable recommendations?"
He didn't plan to find something too far from his own home.
Near Echo Street was just right. Though in the Lower District, foot traffic was extremely high.
That area was a bustling marketplace, not far from where he lived.
"Of course, sir. Let me check for you."
The elf receptionist checked the information, finally helping select several locations.
Echo Street, Fountain Plaza.
This shop was located at a street corner endpoint, with a modest-sized fountain plaza directly ahead.
Alto accompanied the receptionist here.
"Mr. Alto, this is it."
"This shop covers 500 square meters in total, two floors in total. The previous owner went out of business due to poor management, so it's being transferred now."
Alto first observed the surrounding environment.
Spacious streets, various shops lining the sides.
Unknown plants climbed its walls, blooming flowers covering them.
The entire street felt very warm and gorgeous.
At Fountain Plaza, quite a few elves relaxed and played regularly.
Nearby, some elves with instruments softly performed songs and ballads
Elves truly were a race that loved music and flowers!
At the plaza's far end, a temple of Ellistaree stood tall. Pure stone architecture carved with various mysterious patterns, extremely ornate in styling.
He followed the female elf receptionist inside the shop, a very spacious building..
Alto looked up and down, very satisfied.
"Mr. Alto, what do you think?"
The female receptionist was very professional, coming and going while introducing a whole bunch of details, occasionally observing his expressions.
"I'll take this one!" Alto decided.
The female elf immediately smiled professionally.
The current price is 26 million Baileys, equivalent to 26,000 gold coins.
Alto clicked his tongue at the price. Really expensive.
Seems this world's property prices weren't any better than his previous life's.
But he wasn't short on cash now, so he cheerfully signed the contract.
"This is my contact information, Mr. Alto. If you have any issues later, feel free to ask me!"
The female elf threw Alto a flirtatious glance, giving him a meaningful expression.
This sale had earned her quite a commission.
She hadn't expected this young man to be so wealthy.
She couldn't help thinking he was probably some rich family heir out starting a business!
Alto thought about it, he'd probably be buying more properties in the future. Perhaps she'd be useful later.
So he gladly accepted.
Holding the contract in his hands, Alto felt a sense of unreality.
Not long ago, he'd been a wage slave working himself to death. Now he'd actually bought his own property in another world.
Life is really strange sometimes, but also weirdly fun.
Though he only bought the property. There was still much to do next.
The interior layout definitely needed redesigning and renovation.
He planned to open up the entire first floor as an experience center and sales area.
He'd also need to buy various equipment, projection stones, and magic formation discs.
All sorts of equipment needed custom ordering.
As for the second floor, it'd become a studio. Later production required massive amounts of materials and design work.
He might later need to recruit a lot of designers to assist him.
The second floor would serve as a simple office space, plus adding a few employee rest bedrooms and a small kitchen.
Having decided on the general direction, he immediately got to work.
So over the next few days, Alto was crazy busy.
Contacting merchants everywhere, renovating the shop, purchasing equipment, and even Stardew Valley's optimization work got paused.
Fortunately, the main content was mostly done, so it wouldn't affect the subsequent release.