The search for a decent computer store had quickly turned into a wild goose chase.
Jack and Richard went from one specialized computer shop to another, only to be met with disappointment after disappointment.
More outdated parts. More dust-covered inventory.
At one shop, an old man behind the counter proudly presented a Pentium 4 processor as if it were a rare gem.
Jack gave him a blank stare. "Sir… this came out when I was in grade school."
The old man chuckled. "They don't make 'em like they used to."
Richard sighed, nudging Jack. "Let's go before he tries to sell us a CRT monitor."
They exited the store and stood on the bustling sidewalk, watching college students, tricycle drivers, and office workers go about their day.
"This is starting to feel hopeless," Richard muttered, crossing his arms.
Jack rubbed his temples. "We need insider knowledge."
And so, they started asking around.
Most people they approached pointed them back to the same outdated stores they had already visited.
But then, a young man in a university uniform—probably a college student from Xavier University—overheard their questions and decided to help.
"You guys looking for high-end PC parts?" the student asked.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, but so far, all we've found are relics from 2010."
The student chuckled. "Yeah, most stores around here cater to office workers and internet cafés. But if you really want the good stuff, you need to cross the bridge toward City Hall. Turn left at Pelaez Sports Center—there's a whole row of computer shops there."
Jack's eyebrows rose with interest. "Any store, in particular, you recommend?"
The student nodded. "Laptap Enterprises. It's just past Gaisano City Mall. They have the best selection."
Jack and Richard exchanged glances.
Finally, a lead.
Jack grinned, offering the student a handshake. "Thanks, man. You just saved us from a day of suffering."
The student laughed. "No problem. Good luck."
As they headed back to their Land Cruiser, Jack looked at Richard. "Well, we have to check out every store near the sports center first. No harm in scouting before we go straight to Laptap Enterprises."
Richard nodded. "Makes sense. We shouldn't put all our hopes in just one place."
Jack started the engine, merging into traffic. "Alright then. Let's get this over with."
After navigating the bustling streets of Cagayan de Oro, Jack and Richard finally reached Pelaez Sports Center.
The area was lively, filled with students, athletes, and workers going about their day. Nearby, a row of computer shops and electronics stores lined the street, each advertising their best deals on old, new, and refurbished parts.
Jack pulled the Land Cruiser into a parking space, and the two of them stepped out into the humid city air.
"Alright, let's do this," Jack said, cracking his knuckles.
Richard, still munching on what remained of the bibingka, nodded. "Let's hope we don't run into another guy selling Pentium 4s."
They visited store after store, asking for the latest high-end components.
Some shops had decent selections but lacked certain parts. Others tried to upsell outdated stock, hoping to trick them into buying lesser components.
One particular salesman, an older gentleman, tried to convince Richard that a GTX 560 Ti was "the fastest graphics card on the market."
Richard chuckled. "Sir, this card came out last year. Do you have anything newer?"
The man shrugged. "Not much demand for the latest ones, kid. Most of our customers just want something that can run DOTA."
Jack sighed, shaking his head. "Damn, we're really ahead of our time here."
Eventually, they made their way to Laptap Enterprises, the store the university student had recommended.
It was bigger than most of the other stores they had visited, with rows of high-end hardware displayed behind glass cases.
A sales representative, a young man in his mid-20s, greeted them. "Looking for something specific, sir?"
Jack handed over their list. "We need the best of the best. If you have newer components, even better."
The salesman whistled, eyes widening as he scanned their list. "Wow, you guys aren't messing around."
Richard smirked. "We're building rigs for game development."
The salesman nodded. "That explains it. Alright, let me check our inventory."
A few minutes later, he returned shaking his head.
"We have most of what you need, but not everything. Some of the latest parts aren't in stock yet."
Jack sighed. "Of course. Just our luck."
Richard rubbed his temples. "We need to complete our builds today. Where else can we check?"
The salesman thought for a moment, then gestured down the street. "There are a couple more specialty shops past Gaisano City Mall. They might have what you're missing."
With that, they thanked the salesman and continued their search.
After visiting multiple stores, they finally managed to piece together everything they needed:
2x Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition CPUs – ₱44,000 each
2x ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Motherboards – ₱23,000 each
8x 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1866MHz RAM sticks (32GB per PC) – ₱26,000 each set
4x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 GPUs – ₱45,000 each
2x 512GB SSDs – ₱27,000 each
2x PC Cases – ₱13,000 each
4x 30-inch Monitors – ₱43,000 each
2x Mechanical Keyboards + 2x Logitech Gaming Mice, 2x Gaming Headphones – ₱15,000 total
High-quality cables, cooling systems, and additional software – ₱15,000 total
Windows 7 Professional (x2) – ₱8,000 total
Total Cost: ₱573,000
Richard let out a low whistle as they loaded the final boxes into the Land Cruiser.
"Bro, we just spent over half a million pesos on these builds."
Jack smirked, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Worth it. If we're making a next-gen game, we need next-gen hardware."
Richard chuckled. "Well, next-gen for 2012, at least."
With their Land Cruiser packed full of PC components, monitors, and their earlier shopping haul, Jack decided it was time for a break.
He pulled into a restaurant near a university, its outdoor seating area crowded with students in blue and white uniforms.
Richard raised an eyebrow. "You sure about this place?"
Jack pointed at the crowd. "Trust me, if a place is packed with college students, the food is good and cheap."
They stepped inside, the smell of sizzling meat, garlic rice, and fried fish filling the air.
A waitress, balancing multiple plates on her arms, approached them with a smile. "Table for two, sirs?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, somewhere near a fan."
They sat down, flipping through the laminated menu.
Richard glanced at the students around them, overhearing bits of conversation. Some were talking about exams, others were discussing the latest mobile phone models, and a group in the corner was arguing over which DOTA hero was the best.
Jack grinned. "Ahh, college life. No responsibilities except passing classes and arguing about video games."
Richard smirked. "And here we are, basically starting a whole company."
A waiter approached. "Ready to order, sirs?"
Jack didn't hesitate. "Two orders of sizzling pork steak, extra rice, and two large iced teas."
Richard added, "And some lumpia shanghai on the side."
As they waited for their food, Jack stretched his arms behind his head.
"Alright, bro. After we eat, it's straight home. We have a lot of assembling to do."
Richard nodded, leaning back. "Yeah… but let's take this moment to enjoy the calm before the storm."
As the waiter placed their sizzling plates on the table, the aroma of grilled pork and garlic sauce filled the air.
Jack picked up his fork and grinned. "Cheers to a productive day."
Richard smirked, clinking his fork against Jack's. "And to an even more sleepless nights."
And with that, they dug in, fueling up for the long night of PC building ahead.
After finishing their hearty lunch, Jack and Richard took a moment to relax before heading back to the car. The restaurant was still alive with the chatter of students and workers, their conversations merging into a comforting city hum.
The smell of grilled meat and fried garlic rice still lingered in the air, mixing with the occasional whiff of exhaust fumes from passing tricycles outside.
Jack leaned back in his chair and stretched, rolling his shoulders. "Alright, bro. Time to head home and start building."
Richard patted his stomach, sighing in contentment. "Yeah… I can already tell it's gonna be a long night."
Jack chuckled as he threw some bills onto the table for the waiter. "You make it sound like we're about to go to war."
Richard smirked. "Might as well be. We're about to piece together two high-end war machines."
Jack laughed as they stepped out of the restaurant and into the warm, early afternoon sun.
The return journey was quieter this time. The mid-day rush in Cagayan de Oro had settled, though there were still plenty of tricycles, jeepneys, and motorcycles weaving through traffic.
Both of them had iced coffee in their hands as Jack drove, the faint hum of the Land Cruiser's engine blending with the sound of radio music playing at low volume.
Richard stared out the window, watching as the urban landscape slowly gave way to rice fields and small provincial houses. He always liked this part of the drive—the sudden change from the noisy city chaos to the peaceful, open roads.
For a while, neither of them spoke. It was one of those comfortable silences, where both were just lost in their own thoughts.
Finally, Richard broke the silence. "So… what about our servers? You mentioned we'd get a pre-built one."
Jack, keeping his eyes on the road, nodded. "Yeah, but not now. We'll buy it later. Right now, the priority is developing the base game first."
Richard took a sip of his coffee. "Fair point. But we're gonna need them sooner or later."
Jack smirked. "Of course. We'll start with a 42U server rack and 16 2U servers to run our game's shard logic. That setup alone should cost around… 2.25 million pesos."
Richard almost choked on his coffee. "What!?"
Jack glanced at him, amused. "What?"
Richard shook his head in disbelief, staring at Jack like he had just declared war on his bank account. "Did you just casually say two million pesos? Each!?"
Jack grinned, clearly enjoying Richard's reaction. "Yep."
Richard ran a hand through his hair, still trying to process the number. "Dude… I knew servers were expensive, but damn."
Jack chuckled. "Well, we need to test and develop our shard logic properly. 16 shards will let us run real-world simulations for our game's persistent world."
Richard let out a deep sigh. "Man, this is some next-level money talk."
Jack took another sip of his coffee before casually dropping another bomb. "Oh, and by the way, we already spent nearly 800k today—including our clothes in the back."
Richard let out an exhausted chuckle. "Damn, I don't even feel rich anymore."
Jack smirked. "Relax, bro. I already wired your 1 million peso allowance, so we still have 1.2 million left for other budgets."
Richard raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so if we need more, we can just ask Gramps?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, but there's a catch. We have to use up the 1.2 million first before we can ask for more."
Richard frowned. "Huh. Guess we gotta be smart about it."
Jack nodded. "Exactly. We'll probably use part of it to renovate our basement workspace. We can't just dump all our high-end gear on raw concrete, plug in some extension cords, and call it a day. If we want Gramps to keep supporting us, we need to look like a real game studio."
Richard nodded in agreement. "Makes sense. We'll need proper insulation, network cables, server cooling, and a clean setup."
Jack grinned. "Exactly. And besides, if we ever need more space, we still have plenty of room at the backyard mansion. We could expand there if needed."
Richard leaned back in his seat, shaking his head with a smirk. "Man… we're actually doing this, huh?"
Jack glanced at him, flashing a confident grin. "Hell yeah, we are."
With that, they drove on, the city shrinking behind them as they made their way home—where the real work was about to begin.