NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 6: Getting Worldwide
His time in the internet café was up before he knew it. The PC automatically logged him out, and the monitor went black.
Inigo exhaled sharply, pushing himself away from the desk.
I need to get to work.
There was a lot to think about, but first—he had a shift to finish.
Two Hours Later—Harold's Coffee & Pastries.
The café wasn't as busy as earlier in the day. The evening rush had passed, leaving behind a handful of students typing away on their laptops and a few regulars sipping their usual orders.
Inigo entered through the back, tying his apron around his waist as he made his way toward the counter.
He was about to greet his boss—but then he froze.
Harold wasn't paying attention to the café.
He was staring at his phone.
A very familiar game was running on the screen.
Inigo instantly recognized it.
Flappy Bird.
The pixelated bird flapped awkwardly, barely dodging the green pipes.
Harold flinched as the bird crashed into a pipe with a dull thud.
Game Over. Score: 4.
"…Son of a—" Harold muttered, gripping his phone.
Without hesitation, he tapped 'Try Again'.
Inigo almost burst out laughing.
My own boss is addicted to my game.
He watched silently as Harold played three more rounds, each ending in failure.
3… 5… 2…
Harold gritted his teeth. "This damn game is rigged."
This time, Inigo couldn't stop himself. He cleared his throat loudly.
Harold snapped his head up, startled. "Huh?"
Inigo grinned. "Having fun there, boss?"
Harold froze.
For a moment, he looked like a kid caught stealing candy.
He quickly locked his phone screen and cleared his throat.
"This? Nah. Just… testing it out," he muttered, shoving his phone into his pocket. "It's just a stupid game. Nothing special."
Inigo raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What's your high score?"
Harold's face darkened. "…Six."
Inigo chuckled. "Wow. That's, uh, impressive."
Harold scowled. "Shut up. I'll beat it later."
But the way he gripped his phone tightly, Inigo already knew the truth.
He's not stopping anytime soon.
And if Harold—a guy who barely touched his phone except for calls—was this hooked…
How many other people were falling into the Flappy Bird trap?
***
Somewhere, in a High-Rise Studio in Los Angeles…
Inside a state-of-the-art streaming setup, a man leaned back in his chair, cracking his knuckles. A bright ring light illuminated his face, while behind him, LED panels pulsed with a soft blue glow. A massive curved monitor displayed an endless stream of chat messages—comments flooding in so fast they were practically unreadable.
This was Zane Drax, one of the biggest gaming streamers on YouTube Live, boasting 9.2 million subscribers.
Known for his rage-fueled reactions, over-the-top personality, and unforgiving game critiques, Zane had built an empire by playing everything—from AAA masterpieces to obscure indie games.
And tonight? He was bored.
"Alright, chat," Zane said, stretching his arms. "I need something new. I've been wrecking kids in FPS games all week, and I'm getting burnt out. What's out there? Gimme some fresh mobile games."
Chat exploded.
[SuperBattleRoyale3: TRY THIS NEW RPG! IT'S FIRE!]
[JuiceBoy99: GET INTO GUILD WARS, BRO.]
[PixelJunkie12: CHECK THE APP STORE, DUDE. JUST SCROLL & FIND SOMETHING RANDOM.]
[MrSalt: PLAY FLAPPY BIRD! I DARE YOU.]
[GameSniper: FLAPPY BIRD! FLAPPY BIRD! FLAPPY BIRD!]
Zane squinted. "Wait. What the hell is Flappy Bird?"
He glanced over at the trending section of the Google Play Store.
And there it was.
A tiny, pixelated bird, bouncing up and down on the screen.
Flappy Bird – New Release!
The description stood out immediately.
"Think you have what it takes? One tap—just one. That's all you need to keep your bird in the air. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. You'll fail. Again and again. Your high score? Pathetic. But you'll keep coming back. Because deep down, you know you can do better.
Prove it. Download now and show us how far you can go. Or quit like the rest."
Zane smirked. "Okay, okay. Now this I like. This game's talking smack. I respect it."
He clicked install.
Within seconds, it was on his phone.
[Chat: OH MY GOD HE'S DOING IT!]
[BestBlaster: RIP ZANE'S SANITY LOL]
[ShadowRage: WATCH HIM BREAK HIS PHONE HAHA]
Zane grinned. "Chat, you guys are acting like this game's gonna break me."
He tapped the screen.
The Flappy Bird start screen appeared.
A tiny yellow bird bounced up and down, waiting for input.
He tapped once.
The bird flapped.
It soared slightly, then plummeted downward.
Zane tapped again, keeping it afloat.
His smirk widened. "Oh, this is easy."
The first set of green pipes approached.
He navigated the gap effortlessly.
[Chat: HE THINKS IT'S EASY LMFAO]
[DoomSlayerX: Wait for it…]
[JuiceBoy99: UH OH]
Another pipe.
Then another.
Zane's confidence soared.
"Bro, this ain't hard. Y'all hyped this up for—"
THUD.
The bird crashed into a pipe.
Game Over.
Score: 3.
Zane froze.
The chat lost their minds.
[LMFAOOOOOOO]
[SKILL ISSUE]
[ACTUAL TRASH]
[EVEN MY GRANDMA GOT A HIGHER SCORE]
[GET REKT NOOB]
Zane blinked, staring at the screen in disbelief.
"…That's stupid."
He tapped Try Again.
The bird flapped.
THUD.
Game Over. Score: 2.
His eyebrow twitched.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
THUD.
Game Over. Score: 3.
"…Okay, now I see what's happening."
He leaned forward, gripping his phone tighter.
"Alright, chat. No more distractions. I'm beating this."
The game restarted.
The chat erupted in laughter, spam, and bets on how fast he'd fail again.
For the next thirty minutes, the world watched one of the most explosive gamer meltdowns ever caught on camera.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
THUD.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
Zane slammed his desk so hard that his webcam shook violently.
His hands flew to his hair, gripping it like he was about to rip it out.
"THREE?! THREE?!" he bellowed. "I CAN'T EVEN GET PAST THREE?! WHAT IS THIS GAME?!"
[Chat: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]
[LMFAOOOOO]
[RAGE QUIT INCOMING]
[SOMEONE CLIP THIS]
The chat was an absolute disaster, words flooding in so fast they were unreadable.
Zane took a deep breath, face red, nostrils flaring like a bull.
"No. No, I refuse to accept this."
He rolled his shoulders, cracked his knuckles, and stared at the screen with pure, unfiltered determination.
"Chat, listen up," he said, pointing a finger at the camera. "I am NOT stopping this stream until I hit double digits. If it takes all night, so be it!"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Pipe #1—Passed.
Pipe #2—Clean.
Pipe #3—Getting the hang of it.
His confidence soared.
"Okay, okay, I got this now. Just gotta stay focused—"
Pipe #4—THUD.
"NOOOOOOOO!"
Zane jumped up so fast his chair toppled over.
He grabbed his head, spun in a circle, and then collapsed back onto his desk, arms sprawled out.
Score: 5.
His breathing was erratic. His face was buried in his arms.
The chat was losing it.
[Chat: 💀💀💀💀💀]
[THIS IS PEAK ENTERTAINMENT]
["NOOOOOOOO" BEST SCREAM EVER]
[BREAK THE DESK, ZANE]
"WHO MADE THIS GAME?" he finally screamed, grabbing the sides of his head. "I SWEAR TO GOD, I WANNA TALK TO THEM. WHY DID THEY MAKE THIS MONSTROSITY?"
His viewership skyrocketed.
At the start of the stream, he had 120,000 live viewers.
Now? 350,000.
People were flocking in just to see him suffer.
But Zane wasn't done.
"Alright, no more messing around," he muttered. "I'M BEATING THIS GAME."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
THUD.
"AAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"
He slammed both fists on his desk, and his webcam momentarily disconnected.
Score: 2.
The chat exploded.
[Chat: LOOOOOOL]
[HE BROKE HIS CAMERA]
[NEW GAMING RAGE LEGEND UNLOCKED]
At that moment, someone clipped it and uploaded it straight to YouTube.
"Zane Drax RAGES at Flappy Bird – Funniest Gamer Meltdown Ever!"
The video spread like wildfire.
100,000 views overnight.
500,000 in two days.
6 MILLION by the end of the week.
In the comment section, one question was repeating over and over:
"What the hell is Flappy Bird?"
People who had never heard of the game were suddenly curious.
And curiosity? Meant more downloads.
Meanwhile in the Philippines.
Inigo just purchased a Globe Tattoo USB Stick and inserted it into the USB port of the Laptop.
He plugged the USB stick into his laptop. The ancient machine whirred in protest, struggling to load as he opened his browser.
His hands hovered over the keyboard.
Google AdMob Dashboard – Sign In.
Click.
The page loaded slowly, the progress bar agonizingly crawling forward.
He held his breath.
The screen refreshed.
And then—
Ad Revenue Today: $9,478.62
For a moment, Inigo forgot how to breathe.
₱430,000 pesos.
In one day.
His entire year's tuition was suddenly pocket change.
He blinked. Refreshed the page.
The number jumped to $9,482.31.
It was still increasing.
His mind struggled to process it.
Total Installs: 3,354,712
Active Users: 2,576,940
His jaw dropped.
THREE. MILLION. DOWNLOADS.
This… this was unreal.
He clicked on the traffic sources, trying to figure out where all these users were coming from.
USA – 44%
UK – 12%
Canada – 9%
Germany – 8%
Brazil - 8%
Philippines - 7 %
Indonesia…
Thailand…
…
It has gone global now. He checked how much money he had accumulated since he published the game.
Total Ad Revenue (Since Launch): $148,271.03
Equivalent in Pesos: ₱6,800,000.
Inigo's eyes widened in shock.