You discovered the secret recipe of Coca-Cola, but the people weren't as happy as you thought they would be

As I held the yellowed piece of paper, in my trembling hands, I couldn't believe I was finally about to unlock one of the greatest mysteries of our time. The secret recipe of Coca-Cola.<br><br>It had been months of persuading the proprietor, but he finally gave me access to the vault. I took the old piece of paper off the wall, and opened the door of the vault. I took out a quill, and carefully transcribed the recipe onto a new piece of paper. I was doing it!<br><br>After years of trying to get into the vault, I had finally managed to do it! I felt like I was on top of the world, I had achieved what many had failed to do. I was going to be rich. Very rich.<br><br>I went to a local restaurant, and told them they could use my new recipe for their Coca-Cola. They were very surprised, but thanked me, and told me they would get straight to it. A few minutes later, the coke came, and I was excited to try the new drink.<br><br>It tasted bitter, and like lemon juice mixed with sparkling water, but I knew that the actual taste of the coke would come out once it came into contact with oxygen. So I left the can open for a few hours, until the unique taste of the coke came out.<br><br>After a few hours, I finally got to try the drink, and boy, it was terrible. I couldn't believe that people drank this stuff. It wasn't as nice as colA, or Pepsi. I went back to the proprietor, and told him how bad the drink actually was. Surprisingly, he didn't believe me, and asked me to come back with friends, to prove it.<br><br>I brought ten of my friends the next day, and we went to his restaurant, and drank the coke. Some of my friends said it was a bit bitter, while the others said it tasted too sweet. We left, and the proprietor thanked us for drinking, saying that he needed averaged feedback.<br><br>When we were out of sight of the proprietor, my friends started complaining that the drink tasted horrible, and how much worse coca cola was than other colas. I was the only one who had high hopes for my new drink, but they were all saying how bad it was. I went back the next day, to tell the proprietor the truth, as I didn't want any more people to be drinking the drink.<br><br>When I told him that the feedback I gave him was the averaged feedback, he started crying. I started questioning him about it, and why he was crying. He told me that he knew the drink was terrible, but he told himself that a certain percentage of people would like the drink. The percentage he had in mind was 65%. But when I and my friends came and told him it was terrible, he realized the terrible truth. Almost no one liked the drink. As the tears continued falling from his eyes, I soon realized the true extent of the damage I had caused. I had spent all of my money and effort making something that no one wanted to drink. I had wasted my life.<br><br>The last thing I saw were the tears in the eyes of the proprietor, as he begged me to not reveal the recipe. I didn't. I kept it a secret, locked in my basement, never to see light again. The world was never meant to see the true taste of coca cola. It was much better that way. The thought of how different the world would have been if people had gotten the chance to taste my drink haunted me every night, as I fell asleep, holding the yellowed piece of paper.<br><br>Two years later, the proprietor died, at the age of 52, from heartbreak and sadness. I visited him in his last days of life, as an old man, crying at my horrible mistake. Before he died, he handed me the yellowed piece of paper, and begged me to burn it, so no one else would make the same mistake I did. The last thing I saw were his tears as he died.<br><br>I burned the yellowed piece of paper, as the proprietor wished. The world was a much better place that way. Much, much better.