GOODWILL AND PRESENTATION

"Good night, Uncle, Aunty," both Arjun and Karna said as they waved towards the old couple who were seeing them off. After cycling on their bicycles, they reached the road where they both had to take a different route. "I had a talk with the investors, and after a long discussion, they are ready to give us one week," Arjun said as he stopped his bicycle to have a talk with Karna.

"Hah, I knew that you could do it," Karna said with a smile. "It's just that money talks, and when they heard about the extra interest, they immediately just accepted it with the same old notes: 'This will be the last time we are investing in your project.' Man, they do want us to succeed, but they are tough people, not showing their love so openly," Arjun said as a small chuckle escaped from his mouth.

Karna also smiled as he knew their strict and hard-to-please personality. They were the ones who were willing to support his already loss-making company. Due to their help, he and his company had given some successful projects. They never left his and his company's side, even when they were making a loss on their investment, they still helped him.

"It's all thanks to my father that he had earned such goodwill from those people; otherwise, it would be very hard for us to even run that company for a year," Karna said with a smile as he remembered his father talking, "Karna, remember one thing: it's okay to not earn huge sums of money, but always prioritize earning goodwill from people. One day those earned money will go, but the goodwill earned will never leave your side."

At that time, he thought that his father had an old, satisfactory mindset to say something like that. Like, who doesn't want to earn more and who wants to earn someone's goodwill in this selfish world? But today, when he saw the real world, he cursed his foolishness because that same old satisfactory mindset had saved him and his company.

Arjun nodded, and then he looked at his phone to see a message from his wife. "Okay, buddy, let's meet after the week."

They both then went on their ways after saying their goodbyes. As such, the days went. Karna threw himself into making the project. He had made all the important parts such as chip storage and the computer. Though he had taken three days to make that mini supercomputer, but after getting some of the devices from Amazon and some from local shops, he completed that too.

Now came the important part, and that is the character. "What should I follow, the original or borrowed... let's see. Impressing them is not the main task here, as they will be more than impressed, but to make all these things more exciting, I would have to make something that will give them the nostalgic feeling... hmmm... those old people love the Deckomon, though they don't show it, they do... yes, it's decided then, I will make that... heheheh, he will love it."

He then opened his newly created laptop and then said, "Start the process."

As soon as he said that, a webcam scanned his eyelids, and then a robotic voice came, "Scan complete... welcome, Master." He nodded and smiled. This new voice command feature was far better than the market products like Qiri and Glexa. "Open up the creation tab... mode borrowed one, select Deckomon... species..."

[One Week Later]

Five people were seated inside a small room. There were six seats, and currently five were full. There was a glass table in front of those people, and on that table, various files and drinks were kept.

Suddenly, one old-looking man who had a brown complexion with white hair and a white mustache, wearing a normal shirt and pants, opened up a file and said, "Do you guys have any idea what this brat will present us this time?"

Another old man who had a little white complexion with black hair and a mustache said, "Don't know, Shekhar, this is the first time that he had said something like this."

Then an old lady who had dark-colored skin and white long hair said, "Yes, Shivam, he had never said something like that. Anyway, I want to tell you all old bags, don't take an interest if you want, I will pay you, and also are we really going to take back the investment?"

"We know, Rekha, who is even going to take the interest, and about the investment, that was just a joke. I just want to scare him so that he will give everything to the next project. I am here to just give him some long lecture on the mistakes he had made on the previous project," an old man who had the same dark-colored skin complexion with black hair and a simple clean-shaven face said.

"Sigh, but Vishwa, we all know that all the previous selected projects had so many mistakes. Hell, even the base of the project to invest in the PC industry is wrong. But why did you guys invest and let him do that even after knowing that he will fail?" another old lady with a white complexion having blonde hair said. She was the only one looking out of place as she was a foreigner.

"Dear Lucy, he needs some tough lessons. You know there is no greater teacher than life itself, and he needs to learn the market. With all of these mistakes, we are here to help them, not to guide them. They had to choose the path, whether the chosen path is right or wrong, it's not our concern," said Vishwas, which got the nods of all.

As they were talking about other kinds of stuff, the gate then opened, and Arjun walked into the room. He first greeted everyone and then sat on the chair reserved for him.

Seeing him, Shekhar asked, "Brat, what are you both devils planning this time? If this time your project fails to get success, then I swear to take back all the given investment," he said this, and others nodded with a serious expression on their faces.

"At least try to act like you mean the words that you were saying," Arjun thought in his mind as he then smiled and said, "Don't worry, this time you are all going to love it."

"So, what's the project, and in which industry are you going to play?" Lucy asked Arjun, to which he clicked his tongue as he too didn't know what Karna had planned because when asked, he got a reply of "just wait, I will give you a surprise."

Just as he was thinking of what to reply, the door suddenly opened, and four people came carrying a glass platform with them. They then placed the glass platform in front of the old bags and Arjun and left. Everyone then saw the platform, which looked like a steel box with a silvery glass placed on top of it.

"What is that thing?" Shivam asked, and then an answer came from Karna, who entered the room with a laptop in his hands and one rectangular box. "A creational platform, and I gave it the name of Maya."

Seeing everyone's attention on him, Karna stood beside the platform and placed the laptop on the table in front of all the people. "Maya, why would you name that platform Maya?" Vishwas asked, to which Karna said, "Arjun, what does Maya mean?"

Arjun, not knowing why his friend was asking such questions, still decided to answer, "According to Hindu scriptures, Maya means illusions; the illusion of the highest level is called Maya."

"Correct, and the reason why I named it this will be clear in your mind after the presentation. So, guys, this is my new creation... our company's future project... Project Maya!" Karna declared while spreading both of his hands as far as he could.

Everyone became confused. Then Shekhar said, "Brat, what are you speaking? Are you working on a new game? If yes, then show us the game, not this square-shaped glass."

"Old man, this is the project that I had been working on, and about the game that we will develop afterward. But before I show you this, I want to ask you something, old man," Karna said while having a smile on his face.

"Ask whatever you want to ask," Shekhar said as he was getting extremely impatient to smack the head of this fool. He felt like he was wasting his own time on this weird project. Even after that failure, Karna had learned nothing.

"Tell me, do you like Charizard from Deckomon?" Karna's unexpected question surprised everyone. They had been expecting some serious questions, not silly ones like that.

"Of course, I like him, he's my best starter Deckomon from all the Deckomon series," the old man Shekhar said with a smile. Others also smiled as they knew how much this old guy loved to play games and their characters. Sometimes, he became way too immersed in those worlds that he even forgot his own identity.

Karna also nodded, expecting the same answer. He had thought, "Hehe, as expected, so tell me, old man, have you ever imagined touching the real Charizard? Like how its skin texture would feel in real life? How the skill of a flamethrower would look like in real life?"

The question confused Shekhar as he and others didn't understand where he was going with this question, but Shekhar chose to give his answer, "Of course, I had imagined; who would not?"

"Yes, yes, who would not want to see the real creatures of Deckomon in real life? So tell me, old man and others, what if I say that I had found a way to turn those dreams of yours into reality? What if I told you that you can not only touch the Charizard in this real world but also you can communicate with it like other normal intelligent beings?"

This time, the question struck them hard as they didn't know what crazy stuff he was talking about—touching and feeling the real Charizard in real life. Had he finally gone crazy? As the old man was in his panic mode, Arjun looked at the platform and laptop and then thought of their whole conversation from end to start for some minutes before looking at Karna and said, "Brother, are you making some hologram product?"

Before the old bags could say something, Karna interrupted, "No, brother, it is in a way a hologram, but it is not a simple hologram. Now, let me show you what I had created, and the things that will not only destroy all the gaming industry of this world but also will make our studio the best and richest in this world."

Author's Note: Guys, please review and donate your power stones. It will help me in the competition and also it will motivate me to write.

One stone is nothing for you, but it means the world to me.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

VOIDSLAY

BROOKECANDY

SAMUEL_MACKEY_4201

Thank you so much for your support!