[GodOfReader: I'll post the other 2 chapter in the morning (7 hours), I'm only getting 3-7 mbps right now and faloo is restricting my access to their website because of this.]
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Never mind the ordinary players even Elon Musk and the executives at Nintendo were eagerly diving into the character creation with thrilled curiosity. They wanted to see exactly how New World's custom character feature stacked up against their own.
But after messing around for barely a few seconds, they fell entirely silent.
The gap in quality wasn't just big; it was astronomical. How to describe it? like comparing lightning to a static shock from a carpet.
Truth be told, the Custom Character feature had been around for a long time. Nintendo, Ubisoft, Facebook, and the rest all allowed users to customize their avatars in VR.
The problem was that the avatars generated by those platforms were incredibly janky and rough. They looked glaringly fake and couldn't even begin to hold a candle to New World. Furthermore, those avatars had zero environmental feedback, they were nothing more than empty, visual holograms.
But New World was a completely different beast. The NetEase CEO decided to test it out by designing himself as a pot-bellied, overweight guy. Instantly, his virtual body actually felt drastically heavier. Even minor movements felt restricted. He could physically grab his newly formed beer belly, and there was zero disconnect, it felt exactly as if that fat had grown right out of his own flesh.
Everything about it just felt incredibly, terrifyingly real.
Even he couldn't help but marvel. 'Impressive.' New World's VR environmental interaction tech was likely centuries ahead of every other developer on the market.
But right alongside that awe came a heavy sigh of sheer frustration. 'Damn it, New World is wasting this!' How could they take such an unbelievably overpowered feature, treat it like a simple platform add-on, and just give it away to players for free?!
'What the hell is New World thinking?!' He was so furious he slapped his thigh. 'Son of a bitch, monetize it! Why aren't you charging for this?!'
If his company had their hands on game-breaking tech like this, they'd be printing enough money to blow up the stratosphere.
As the saying goes: watching someone else make money hurts worse than losing your own. But watching New World casually burn cash in a sector he dominated? That felt infinitely worse than watching them profit.
It was like they were both running restaurants. His was a little diner charging premium prices, and out of nowhere pops up a freaking five-star hotel. Never mind the luxurious decor and better food, the most infuriating part was that the hotel was actually paying people to eat there.
Could you really blame him for losing his mind?
Similar thoughts were echoing through the minds of every major corporate boss present. New World was genuinely absurd; it felt like their tech was unequivocally top-tier in every conceivable category!
'Sigh... I really want to swallow this studio whole'
A few minutes later, all the players in the venue finally had their own faces. Since it was their first time playing virtual plastic surgeon, they were a bit clumsy. A lot of the resulting faces were downright wonky and misshapen, but it was still lightyears better than being faceless black silhouettes.
"Okay, okay. Let's hit pause on the extreme makeovers for now. Once the showcase is over, you can tweak your faces however you like," Lucien announced from the center of the stage. He clapped his hands.
Instantly, the mirrors in front of the players vanished, and the customization interface went offline.
Lucien knew all too well how addictive character creation could be. Some gamers would gladly sit there tweaking sliders all day. He couldn't afford to waste time; he had a press conference to run. Though the players were reluctant to let go, their anticipation for the new game easily trumped their desire to play dress-up. Very quickly, all eyes shifted back to Lucien.
Meeting their gaze, Lucien smoothly continued, "Here at New World Studios, we thrive on change. That's why we are constantly striving to create games across completely different genres."
"So far, New World has released two titles: the psychological horror game Silent Hill, and the sci-fi survival game Subnautica. Therefore, our studio's third game will dive into an entirely new genre: Action."
"Action?"
Hearing this, the executives from various gaming companies felt their hearts skip a beat.
An action game sounded unbelievably mundane. The action genre had practically existed since the very dawn of video games.
But the catch was that those were all on PC, PS4, or other traditional platforms. Players only needed to mash a controller or a keyboard to make their characters throw punches or swing swords at monsters.
But VR was a completely different story!
In VR, the player had to physically do everything themselves. There were no controllers or keyboards to hide behind!!!
Which meant that when he said "Action," he literally meant action. You had to throw the punches and fight the battles yourself!!!
Because of this, VR action games were notoriously difficult to develop. Those stupid fucks at Tencent had once dumped a massive budget and several years of R&D into creating a AAA VR action game: Boxing Ring.
The premise was simple: players took on the role of a boxer, constantly challenging other fighters and climbing the ranks.
After its release, Tencent burned through extensive financial and material resources promoting it. However, the graphics were gritty and unpolished, and the punches felt weightless and floaty. Aside from monotonously swinging their fists, players had virtually nothing else to do. Play it long enough, and it even triggered intense motion sickness. Unsurprisingly, the game bombed spectacularly in sales.
Following Tencent bloody cautionary tale, no other developer dared to touch the VR action genre. The hurdle of actually making it good was simply too high.
And now, New World was actually brave enough to step into this graveyard of failed VR action titles and attempt to forge a new one?!
As for the regular players, they had an entirely different perspective. They recalled the incredibly realistic atmospheres and simulations of Silent Hill and Subnautica.
If Lucien really had created an action game, the realism would undoubtedly be maxed out. That meant players would inevitably have to go toe-to-toe with all sorts of terrifyingly powerful enemies in close-quarters combat. Just the thought of it brought an immense amount of pressure!
"No way, is New World really going this big?"
"If any other developer said they were dropping a VR action game, I'd probably laugh in their face. But hearing it from New World..."
"Seriously, I get the feeling I'm just going to get brutally beaten down by the enemies!"
As the players whispered amongst themselves, Lucien's voice rang out once more, "Without further ado, let's take a look at the official trailer!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the environment surrounding the players underwent a massive shift.
They were no longer standing in the giant arena; instead, they had been transported to the middle of a forest.
It was a forest of maple trees with a babbling brook winding through the center. It seemed to be autumn, as large swaths of maple leaves cascaded downward, dyeing the surroundings a brilliant, bloody red. 'What beautiful scenery...'
That was every player's first thought. Then, abruptly, the deafening roar of a battlefield erupted in the distance!
Without any conscious input, the players' avatars began sprinting toward the cacophony. They quickly cleared the maple grove, only to be completely stunned by the sight unfolding before them.
Spread out ahead was a massive battlefield. Countless soldiers wearing crude cloth armor clashed in brutal, close-quarters combat, their swords and blades swinging relentlessly as they slaughtered one another.
One man had his arm cleanly severed by a blade. Another had a sword thrust directly through his chest. Yet another had his throat swiftly and brutally slit.
Blood and flesh flew across the battlefield. The thick, heavy stench of iron and gore permeated the air, invading the players' nostrils and twisting their stomachs into nauseous knots!
Simultaneously, a man's solemn voice-over began to play: "As the Interior Ministry expanded its power, the land of Ashina, nestled deep within the mountains, faced their relentless invasion."
"In response, Isshin Ashina, known as the Sword Saint, led his people in a bloody rebellion to reclaim their homeland."
Even as they listened to the narration, the players were shaken to their cores by the scene. 'Is this what a real ancient battlefield looked like? This is way too bloody, way too cruel.'
Suddenly, they spotted a man amidst the chaos. Clad in full armor and a horned helmet, he wielded a long katana, carving his way through the battlefield with effortless grace. The man ruthlessly swung his blade, cutting down every single enemy that dared cross his path!
Terrified by his overwhelming might, the opposing forces lost all will to fight. They abandoned their armor and weapons, scattering in utter defeat.
"Holy shit, this guy is insane!"
"Damn, one hit, one kill! He's slicing through them like butter!"
"That guy has to be the Sword Saint, Isshin Ashina!"
"He's so fucking badass!"
As the players marveled, the deep, somber narration resumed: "Ultimately, under the leadership of Isshin Ashina, the people repelled the Interior Ministry and reclaimed the land of Ashina."
The scene abruptly shifted. The sky darkened, moving the timeline forward to dusk.
They were still on the same battlefield, but the war had already ended. Corpses littered the ground as far as the eye could see. Yet, sitting upright among the piles of the dead was a young boy.
The boy wasn't horrified by the macabre scenery. Instead, he casually pried a katana from a nearby corpse's grip, inspecting the blade with profound interest.
In the distance, a massive, towering man approached. Spotting the boy, he drew the sword at his waist.
The towering man walked up to the boy and pressed the edge of his blade against the boy's cheek. The sharp steel sliced the skin, and a trail of blood dripped down his face. Yet, the boy didn't even flinch. His attention remained entirely fixated on the sword in his own hands, treating it like a beloved toy he couldn't bear to part with.
"A stray dog, with nothing left to lose?" the man muttered, a look of surprise crossing his face before he broke into a grin. "In that case... will you come with me? You starving wolf."
Hearing this, the boy finally looked up to face the man. He reached out and firmly grasped the edge of the man's blade.
The razor-sharp steel cut into his fingers, blood pooling from between his knuckles, but the boy's grip didn't waver.
Seeing this, the man's smile widened. "Very well. From this day forward, you shall be known as Wolf."
The screen faded to black. A moment later, directly in the center of the players' vision, thick, ink-wash brushstrokes slowly materialized to spell out the game's title: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice!
[Sekiro Image:]
The next second, the players' vision blurred, and they found themselves back in the massive arena.
The trailer had lasted only a few short minutes, but the players were still trying to process what they had just witnessed. They burst into heated discussions.
"So the sadist's third game is called Sekiro?"
"Lmaaao, you already got him a new nickname? Sadist eh? I like that."
"Wolf? Wasn't that the name of the kid on the battlefield?"
"Yeah, it looks like that kid is definitely going to be the protagonist!"
"The trailer was way too short! You can barely tell what the game is about!"
"I actually saw plenty, and I've got goosebumps just thinking about it. Is the sadist really going to make us cross swords and duel enemies ourselves?"
"From the looks of it, absolutely! In a first-person VR mode like this, is there any other way to play besides fighting for your life?!"
"My blood is boiling!"
"Hell yeah! After all, the clash of steel is a man's true romance!"
[Advanced 30 chapter on patreon .com/EdgyReader]