When Yukitake Junna came out after her bath, she was truly radiant and captivating.
Her skin, moisturized by the hot water, appeared even smoother and more delicate, like a piece of crystalline jade.
Her hair, damp with water droplets, hung in strands on her shoulders, emitting a faint, clean fragrance.
She wore a loose bathrobe, gently drying her hair, revealing her long, slender legs.
Her figure was gracefully curved, with fluid lines that made it impossible not to take a second look.
Her eyes were bright and spirited, her eyebrows long and elegant, and her lips rosy and full, exuding a charming allure.
"Come quickly, I'm all ready," Furukawa Hirozawa urged.
"O-okay," Yukitake Junna's faint voice came from the room.
However, when she emerged from the room, having changed her clothes, and was about to say something to Furukawa, she saw him sitting upright on the tatami in the living room.
He held the "demon hunter: devil's egg" game disc he had just bought today, shaking it above his head.
"I saved it so we could play together," Furukawa Hirozawa said with a smile, "Otherwise, you'd miss the opening CG."
"Huh?" Yukitake Junna was a little confused. "You said you were ready, did you mean the game?"
"What else?" Furukawa Hirozawa said happily. "This is a major The Witcher game that Pokeni Company has released after more than two years.
When the previous The Witcher was released, you wouldn't believe how popular that game was."
That year, The Witcher conquered the market with its unique charm, and it also conquered Furukawa Hirozawa.
He experienced the unprecedented fun of real-Time combat game from The Witcher.
"Oh." A mist clouded Yukitake Junna's eyes.
But a moment later, she smiled again, completely relieved.
"Haoze-kun, you really love playing game."
"Yeah."
"Then I like it too," Junna said.
"Then wait for me, I'll go back to my room and change."
Yukitake Junna ran off with a smile.
Leaving Furukawa Hirozawa sitting there, utterly bewildered.
Huh?
Didn't you already change? Why are you going back to change again?
Completely incomprehensible.
This is probably what girls are like.
…
After Yukitake Junna put on her pajamas, she also sat down properly beside Furukawa Hirozawa, watching him with interest.
"Start quickly, I'm already impatient."
She was prepared to truly play game all night here.
After all, Furukawa Hirozawa was a born game fanatic.
However, seeing Haoze-kun's serious expression while playing game made Yukitake Junna feel exceptionally at ease and happy.
It was as if she had returned to her childhood Time.
Furukawa Hirozawa quickly removed the outer packaging, and to make the whole process more ceremonial, he invited Yukitake Junna to join him.
"Huh?" Junna paused, not quite understanding what he meant.
"Let's open it together, this game will definitely not disappoint you."
Furukawa Hirozawa dared to say this based entirely on his trust in Pokeni Company.
And his trust in Gen Urobuchi.
Aside from not knowing much about the new Producer, Miyazaki Hidetaka, everything else was simply impeccable.
Pokeni's reputation preceded it; game quality was guaranteed.
What Pokeni produces is always a masterpiece.
When Pokeni releases something new, it's always platinum-worthy.
…
Yukitake Junna smiled happily, partly because she found this silly person adorably foolish for wanting a sense of ritual just for playing a game.
On the other hand, she also felt that she held such importance in Haoze-kun's heart.
No matter how much he liked the game, he would endure and wait for her to join him.
And he even invited her to unseal it together.
This intention alone deeply moved Yukitake Junna.
The two of them opening the "demon hunter: devil's egg" packaging was like opening a beautiful gift, a heartfelt gesture, an anticipation…
This act of ritual even gave Yukitake Junna the illusion of her father entrusting her hand to Furukawa-kun at a wedding ceremony.
When she came back to her senses, Furukawa Hirozawa had already skillfully taken the disc out of the box and put it into the PS game console.
…
"demon hunter: devil's egg"! Launching!
The screen went black, and the familiar Pokeni Company logo still appeared on the screen.
Below it was the iconic slogan:
[game is life]
[Here, embark on an unprecedented journey of life]
However, what was slightly different from previous game was—this Time, the prompt text was presented in a bizarre style.
In the blackness, red characters flowed like blood, and on the two large Chinese characters for "life" (Life), the human shape was abnormally twisted, like a stooped yet sharp human figure drawn with blood-colored fonts.
It seemed as if this person would jump out of the screen and open its bloody mouth at any second.
After the text appeared, it slowly dissipated, a truly artistic sensation.
Just seeing this opening, before even entering the game, Furukawa Hirozawa was already excited.
Pokeni Company truly put their heart into it.
Last Time, to align with "princess mononoke," they adopted an ink-wash art style, giving it an ancient and elegant feel.
And this Time, to align with "demon hunter: devil's egg," they employed a fantasy dark, fear- and bizarre-filled expressive technique that made one tremble.
As expected of Pokeni Company!
Yukitake Junna blinked, suddenly a little scared.
"Is this a horror game?"
"Hmm…" Furukawa Hirozawa crossed his arms, looked up at the sky, and thought for two seconds.
"As for horror game, it probably doesn't count, but if you say it's not scary, it doesn't seem right either."
"How should I put it, this is probably The Witcher's own style.
You'll know once you see it."
…
The screen lit up again, like dawn, with sunlight piercing through dark clouds.
The entire sky, due to the overcast weather, appeared unusually oppressive.
The background was a vast expanse of ruins, stylistically resembling medieval Europe, with bones and corpses piled on the ground, along with various tattered armor, weapons…
On a mound to one side, a half-kneeling dead person held up a blood-red banner.
Strange patterns, like stars and diamonds, were drawn on it.
In the central part of the game was a black warrior.
He was black because he was covered in heavy armor.
Though made of steel, it rarely gave off a shiny impression.
Instead, the spots of dust and blood on it had sealed the armor into black.
Or rather, a dark color.
Inside the helmet, it was completely pitch black; you couldn't see if there was a human face within.
The image was dynamic, the banner fluttering in the wind, and though dilapidated, a ghost-like wind sound emanated from its brokenness.
And light shone from left to right, and as it passed the helmet, the human face within flashed by.
To be precise, it didn't look like a human face; only half of a human face remained, the other part horribly twisted, even revealing eerie greenish fangs…
Seeing this, Yukitake Junna couldn't help but hug Furukawa Hirozawa from behind.
"Is this really not a horror game?"
Honestly, Furukawa Hirozawa himself was a little scared; he had a similar feeling when he played The Witcher back then.
The game's atmosphere was so well-crafted that it made people involuntarily immerse themselves.
However, this also demonstrated the power of Pokeni and the prowess of The Witcher team.
After completing The Witcher, Furukawa Hirozawa didn't feel it was a horror game, but rather a somewhat dark and twisted grand epic of humanity.
Although he felt a slight tremor inside, with a girl by his side, how could Furukawa Hirozawa show it?
I am the one who must protect Junna.
However…
He looked somewhat displeased at Junna, who was gripping his right hand.
If a girl holds you like this while playing game, it's really annoying.
game operations require timely reactions, especially when playing a game like The Witcher.
"It's fine, you'll see in a bit, this is not that kind of scary game at all," Furukawa Hirozawa said, feigning composure.
Yukitake Junna nodded, feeling slightly relieved.
This was the game's initial interface, with a large menu bar on the right.
But even just this interface, Furukawa Hirozawa felt, already showcased its unique charm and completely overwhelmed its competitors in the market.
The very clear 3D models and extremely realistic expressiveness greatly elevated the game's quality.
Seeing this, it's actually hard to connect it with the previous The Witcher released on the MD platform two and a half years ago, because in terms of quality, these are simply two different game.
It felt like it only kept the name, but the entire image of the person had completely changed.
The first generation of The Witcher, a 2D production, was beautifully drawn, but it absolutely could not have this kind of texture.
This is the power of Time.
Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but exclaim.
In just over two short years, technological means have undergone earth-shattering changes. If it continues to develop at this speed…
He dared not imagine what astonishing game Pokeni Company could create in the future.
Perhaps in two and a half years, when you look back at Demons Egg today, you might still think it has trashy graphics.
But, at least for now, at this very moment, the expressive power of Demons Egg is undoubtedly No. 1.
Press the button, select [New game].
The game officially began.
…
First to appear was an opening CG:
The sky was oppressive and dim.
Blood-red afterglow.
Battlefield.
Countless wails and cries, or perhaps the desolate sound of the wind, intertwined, creating an indescribably eerie atmosphere.
A heavy and oppressive narration began:
"A person's life will have two deaths."
"The first is the destruction of the physical body."
A person, bent at the waist, holding a knight's sword, slashed at another warrior, also armored.
After several clashes of blades, one side was cut in half by the long sword, falling diagonally to the ground.
And the victor, with his back to the setting sun, revealed a strange red glow in his eyes.
…
At the same Time, the music also began to play.
It made one's heart tighten, as if being gently held by a hand, about to be seized and then squeezed with force in the next second.
The sense of cruelty, war, and intertwined destinies expressed in the game… was instantly brought out by the music.
So amazing!
Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but exclaim upon hearing this.
This style of soundtrack, one could tell immediately, belonged to Ms. Yoko Shimomura.
Within Pokeni Company, there is a hidden music master, and she is also a girl; this is Yoko Shimomura.
In terms of skill, Yoko Shimomura possesses the ability to easily handle any subject matter in her compositions, and her fundamental skills are exceptionally strong.
Last year at the Tokyo Game Show, The Witcher track [red moonlight] performed by Joe Hisaishi was from the hand of Yoko Shimomura.
Since this was a sequel to The Witcher, it was naturally entrusted to Ms. Yoko to take the lead.
Most of the music in "The Witcher: Devil's Egg" was composed by Yoko Shimomura.
Of course, the band was also very powerful, especially Pokeni Company's sound effects department, which brought out the eerie yet extremely distorted feeling in the music to its fullest extent.
As soon as the music started, it was so good it made one's scalp tingle.
And at the same Time, Furukawa Hirozawa could already deeply feel the strangeness emanating from The Witcher.
…
He had originally thought that if the Producer changed, the style of The Witcher might undergo some changes.
After all, from the previous work, the battle between vampires and humans was oppressive and eerie, and the overall tone of the screen was red and black, further emphasizing this dullness and suspense.
In the game led by Shinji Mikami, this sense of suspense was also consistently maintained, being both tragically beautiful and bloody.
He had originally thought that the new Producer might not be able to continue this style, or would adopt a brighter and more normalized approach to making the game.
But—
Unexpectedly, this Producer, Miyazaki Hidetaka, seemed to have taken a big step forward on the foundation of his predecessors.
Could it be that it actually has nothing to do with the Producer?
Is it all Gen Urobuchi's fault?!
Thinking about it, that's right. The script was written by Gen Urobuchi, so no matter which Producer it was, as long as they wanted to make the game based on this script, they would have to cooperate.
No wonder…
Urobuchi Gen is the source of everything.
Furukawa Hirozawa thought to himself.
…
The wind swirled on the ground, then carried withered yellow leaves flying upwards.
Buzz!
Just then, the leaves seemed to freeze, remaining in the sky, while a tall shadow appeared from within the forest.
That thing was completely not the shape a human should have.
However, it still made people inevitably associate it with humans.
This fellow was much taller than a building, its overall shape like a giant spider, dragging a round, enormous body behind it. When it crawled across the ground, it made a deafening sound.
Just like a tank.
But, when Furukawa Hirozawa saw this scene, he couldn't connect it to a tank at all; he could only say that this fellow looked truly bizarre.
Above the spider's body, a long neck extended, and at the top of the neck was the upper body of a woman.
As if she was born to be inside the spider.
The woman had a beautiful face, with two large antennae on her forehead, and her body displayed the curves that countless girls envy. From a distance, she looked like a thorn growing on a large spider.
However, the upper part of the girl had two pairs of arms, waving in the air.
Countless threads wrapped around her hands from the air.
The spider woman's face was always expressionless, filled with indifference and disregard for life.
At the same Time, countless terrified voices came from below.
"It's a demon!"
"It's a demon!!!"
"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!"
Heart-wrenching screams, the terrified expressions on the faces of the soldiers who first saw this monster, and various fleeing humans…
Formed a scene of hell.
The giant spider launched a fierce attack on the city wall, easily breaking through it.
The huge falling stones on the wall were smashed to pieces, scattering everywhere.
The people below wailed.
Countless people died tragically.
People scattered and fled, but the spider woman unleashed a merciless slaughter.
She was like a cold, emotionless machine, or perhaps like the demon people spoke of, steadily advancing through killing and destruction.
And at the same Time, in the distance, a mother held her frail child, standing in place, helplessly watching the terrifying monster in the distance.
"Run! Erwin!"
The mother pushed her child back, then positioned herself in front of him.
Swish…
A spray of blood…
Only a shadow remained on the ground, mercilessly torn apart.
"Ah~"
Yukitake Junna covered her mouth in terror, completely unable to watch what was happening on the screen.
Furukawa Hirozawa, on the other hand, was concentrating on savoring everything.
He was guessing who the protagonist would be.
The little boy had completely lost all courage to run, lying flat on his back on the ground, his eyes wide with terror.
Reflected in his pupils was the giant monster.
"Is he going to die?"
Yukitake Junna beside him gasped, shrinking behind Furukawa Hirozawa, unable to bear watching what would happen next.
And just as the little boy was about to be killed by the spider woman.
A figure flew through the sky, like a soaring bird, quickly sweeping past the little boy's body, lightly swaying on the ground.
Through the blurred vision, although the shadow was completely unclear, in the boy's eyes, it seemed to emit an endless light.
Boom!!!
White, instantly engulfed everything.
The entire screen turned completely white.
"And the second death is when everyone forgets you, then that person will completely disappear from the world, leaving no trace of their existence."
…
A pair of eyes suddenly opened.
A well-built man woke up from his sleep with a start.
He sat on the rocky ground, his chest heaving, clearly having had a nightmare.
"Mom…"
He covered his face with his hand, muttering.
"If no one remembers, that person completely disappears."
…
"Wow, game can actually be made to this extent now?" Yukitake Junna exclaimed.
This animated CG sequence was entirely produced by Pokeni Company using brand new 3D rendering technology, and the Time and money spent on this part alone reached an astonishing figure.
Last year at the Tokyo Game Show, "The Witcher: Devil's Egg" was still a semi-finished product.
Now it is completely mature, and it also uses more advanced technology, and overall it is an improvement on the basis of princess mononoke.
"Hmm, this is just the beginning." Furukawa Hirozawa said excitedly, his eyes sparkling.
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