"Wow, this animation is amazing!"
"Even though it's just 2D, it had my heart racing."
"I thought it'd be a joke, but it blew me away."
"Pro tip: you're allowed to breathe while watching this."
"Congrats, I've discovered a gem. Newcomers are always monsters."
"Where's the creator? What happened to those characters? Did they reunite?"
"You're telling me this is a game CG??"
"No way! A game CG? Are you kidding me?"
Saito Hayate's game hadn't gone viral, but the promotional animation had exploded. In one night, it racked up nearly 100,000 views and landed on VideoHub's trending page.
The comment section buzzed with discussions about the animation's production and story, new reactions flooding in every second.
This puzzled Hayate. If the trailer was such a hit, it should've driven traffic to the game. So why had it only sold a few dozen copies? Even if people were offline overnight, the numbers seemed too low.
Was something wrong?
Curious, Hayate scrolled through the comments. After ten minutes, he found the issue.
"Where's the game? I searched the platform, but I can't find it!"
"I'm losing it—where can I download this game?!"
"Same here. I tried every language, and nothing comes up."
"I had it worse. I downloaded some sketchy platform, couldn't open the store, and it kept crashing. Uninstalled it in a rage."
"Maybe you uninstalled the legit one? (lol)"
"Ha Ha, someone owes the platform an apology."
Hayate couldn't help but laugh. He'd overlooked that the game platform's servers were hosted overseas, making access spotty and prone to connection issues. Plus, pirated platforms were common, and many players likely downloaded fakes by mistake.
He quickly pinned a comment explaining how to download the game correctly. Sure enough, sales spiked, surpassing 100 copies and climbing steadily.
"Alright, folks, this animation's solid. Let's give the game a shot today," said Sato Riku, a popular VideoHub gaming streamer, intrigued by Valiant Hearts after stumbling across the trailer.
With no exciting games to stream lately, he downloaded it immediately. As the game loaded, his chat exploded with comments.
"Is this really a game CG?"
"Feels like every frame cost a fortune."
"Most devs make CGs to promote games. This guy made a game to promote the CG. (doggo emoji)"
"It's like buying the CG and getting the game for free. (lol)"
"Hurry up, freeloaders are impatient!"
Urged on by the chat, Riku launched the game. After a brief voiceover, the opening scene mirrored the CG trailer: a husband deported due to war, leaving behind his wife, child, and father-in-law, who was later drafted.
Then the screen paused, handing control to the player.
"Wait, the protagonist is the father-in-law?" Riku blinked, caught off guard. The chat stalled, equally surprised. They'd assumed the husband would be the main character.
It didn't faze them much, though. Riku followed the tutorial, diving into the game's story.
"This is it? Piece of cake," Riku said with a grin, brimming with confidence. "I thought it'd be tough, but it's just a puzzle game. Watch me speedrun this."
As a seasoned streamer, Riku's game sense was sharp. Amid the chat's cheerful banter, he breezed through puzzles, clearing stages in just twenty minutes before hitting a story-driven level.
Here, he played a flag-bearer leading a charge, dodging bombs raining from above. The simple mechanics amused the audience, some questioning if Riku had downloaded the wrong game or if it matched the epic trailer.
Then—Bang!
A gunshot rang out. A bullet pierced Emile, the father-in-law, who collapsed with the flag.
The camera zoomed in. The shooter, among the enemy ranks, was none other than Karl, the deported son-in-law.
"He's… dead?"
"What? The father-in-law got shot by the son-in-law?"
"No way, just like that?"
"Isn't this a puzzle game?"
"Father-in-law!"
The mood shifted. Riku and his viewers sensed something off. The once-lively chat grew restless, question marks flooding the screen.
Thankfully, the story revealed Emile wasn't dead—he'd been captured by the enemy. Through gathered intel, it became clear Karl had recognized Emile and shot to wound, not kill, saving him from a hail of bullets.
"Told you, no way the protagonist dies that early," Riku said, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow, feigning confidence as he resumed playing.
As Emile, now a prisoner, Riku pressed on with a spoon in hand, navigating the battlefield. The absurd image—a man with a spoon in a warzone—drew laughs, but the story's depth soon captivated everyone. Emile's gentle yet brave spirit, a father determined to survive, tugged at their hearts. They longed for his family's reunion.
But as more characters were introduced, the stream's tone darkened. The initial banter faded into silence, then quiet tension. Jokes about the game's simplicity vanished.
Through the characters, they witnessed brutal battles and shattered families. No matter how far they progressed, screams and cannonfire filled the air. Everyone fought with reckless abandon, consumed by madness.
Chaos. Oppression. Despair. The war was a meat grinder, devouring lives. Only letters from loved ones offered fleeting solace.
After three grueling hours, marked by countless deaths, the final battle arrived. Emile, under orders from a ruthless officer, led a squad of wounded soldiers into a storm of artillery.
Watching his comrades fall one by one, and facing the officer's manic commands to charge, Emile lowered his head, haunted by the journey's losses.
At last, behind the officer, he raised his shovel and brought it down with a dull thud—a sound that struck the viewers' hearts like a hammer, ending the battle.
In the end, Emile was sentenced to death for killing the officer. Shackled, he walked slowly to the execution ground, toward the cross from the CG trailer. The voiceover read his final letter to his daughter.
"Dearest Marie,
The war is over for me.
I have no regrets, for I have seen too many horrors.
I hope these years have been kinder to you than to me.
Our time on this earth is brief, but my life has been full of joy.
For that, I am grateful. I've been blessed, especially by you, the miracle of my life.
This is my last letter.
I stand convicted for an officer's death. It was not my intent to kill, but war drives men to madness.
Though I've let Karl down, my sacrifice is not in vain. I fought for my freedom and my honor, and that honor remains untarnished.
If it is God's will that we part in this world, I pray we reunite in heaven. Please keep me in your prayers.
Your ever-loving father."
As the final words fell, a gunshot echoed, and the screen faded to black. The stream went silent.
[Congratulations! Wealth Points reached 10,000.]
[Wealth Points can be used to create new game CGs.]