GAMING LOUNGE AFTERMATH: Because of my new job, I had to visit the city where we had our Gaming Lounge. It’s been over three months since I was last here and more than two months since we went insolvent, enduring the psycho terror from our landlords. They tried to milk us dry until the very end and beyond, threatening us with prison, reputation damage, and more. I decided to walk down the street and check on the shop. To my complete lack of surprise, it’s all cleaned up. Our gear is gone, and a different real estate company is now handling the rental. As I mentioned in previous posts, once we went insolvent, the building’s owner and manager got involved. It turned out our landlords had set up a fake contract with us. They weren’t even allowed to subrent the place. Thanks to their greed, everyone found out they’re full of crap. For us, it worked out fine. We lost money, the company gets dissolved with no insolvency case or reputation damage, which is the best-case scenario for us. For them, though, it didn’t end so well. They had multiple apartments in that building rented through the same management company, including our shop, about four or five in total. They lost everything. That was a third of their real estate portfolio. The bar next door, which was conspiring with our landlord, lost our side of the terrace space too, cutting their revenue by 50%. On top of that, they took a massive hit to their reputation. I can only imagine the tens of thousands they had to shell out in lawyer fees and fines for knowingly and willingly breaking the law. They told us big boy decisions have big boy consequences. Well, they literally do, haha. I’m not usually one to laugh at others’ misery, but these guys really freaking deserve it. Now, we could pour fuel on the fire. Our lawyer and the insolvency department, whose representative was shocked after 16 years in the field because he’d never seen such a wild case, recommended we sue them for fraud, coercion, psychological damage (I was sick, got a referral from my doctor for psychological support, and took sleeping pills for all the sleepless nights), and the existential fears they instilled in us. The threats were insane - reputation damage, losing our jobs, 150k payment, prison and as they told my friend, he wouldn’t see his kids for years because of prison. Nevertheless, seeing the damage they’ve done to themselves feels like Karma stepped in and justice was served. Maybe one day we’ll sue them, more to ensure they don’t mess with others like they did with us. For now, though, I finally feel free. I can walk through that city and street again without feeling nervous or anxious. The bad guys didn’t get away unscathed. So, now that we’re okay again, what’s next? For now, we’re focusing on our main jobs. My friend is up for a promotion soon, and I got an offer from a new company focused on medicine and aerospace technology. I started there three weeks ago, and wow, the pay is almost double with 97% less stress than my previous gig, haha. That’s where we’re at for now, but we won’t stop our entrepreneurial journey and our love around gaming. We’ll probably start something new next year, though we’re itching to do something sooner. This time, we’re smarter and better. The whole experience, though costly financially, physically, and psychologically, was priceless. It leveled us both up. Life feels amazing now, and nothing seems hard after that. Looking forward to our next venture, and of course, I’ll be sharing it again!
