"Welcome back, players!" Lucien smiled warmly as he addressed the crowd. "So, as the trailer showed, in Sekiro, players will take on the role of 'Wolf.' You will journey to the land of Ashina deep in the mountains, wield a variety of deadly and powerful weapons, and engage in a series of fierce confrontations against a multitude of foes."
"Throughout this journey, you can choose to use stealth to assassinate your enemies and resolve problems quickly, or you can face them head-on in brutal combat, experiencing an unprecedented thrill of the kill! Of course, when you encounter a boss, you won't be able to rely on stealth to get by."
Hearing this, the audience was stunned.
"Are they really making us cross blades with enemies?!"
"Holy crap, the sadist is truly insane!"
"Then this combat system is going to be incredibly complex!"
"Yeah, this is practically indistinguishable from a real-life melee weapons fight!"
"The sadist actually dared to dream this up, and he actually dared to pull it off!!!"
"Clashing swords with someone? Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. I've never been in a sword fight!"
"Haha, I'm getting even more hyped! Tsk tsk, this is straight out of a martial arts novel!!!"
Hearing Lucien's words, the players were instantly split into two camps. The first camp felt that the game's difficulty would probably be brutally high. Forcing them to clash blades and engage in hand-to-hand melee combat, especially with the graphics and physics simulated so realistically was an immense amount of pressure. They were genuinely intimidated.
After all, just watching the footage of the battlefield had already scared them half to death.
The second faction of players, however, were rubbing their hands together in eager anticipation. Most of this group consisted of bold, thrill-seeking male gamers.
After all, who didn't have childhood dreams of being a swordsman?
They could all still clearly remember the days when they were kids, running around and whacking each other with sticks as if they were legendary swordsmen.
Besides, the scenes described in novels, master swordsmen slaying an enemy every ten paces, leaving no trace behind, or claiming the head of an enemy general from amidst an army of thousands were undeniably badass.
Now, all those fantasies about ancient martial arts worlds could actually become a reality in this game.
The reveal of this game completely hit their sweet spot.
While the players were lost in their varying thoughts, Lucien's voice rang out again. "Alright then, I'm sure you guys haven't had enough yet. I'll do a live gameplay demonstration for you right now. Hmm, let's pick a boss fight."
With that, Lucien clapped his hands. The massive stage in the center of the venue immediately began to transform. The middle section slowly rose, shifting into an ancient, red wooden arch bridge.
At the opposite end of the red arch bridge, a towering figure slowly materialized. This figure had to be at least ten feet tall! She wore a heavy yellow monk's robe, and her right hand gripped a massive glaive that was nearly thirteen feet long. A terrifying oni mask covered her face, making her look absolutely awe-inspiring!
At the same time, a bright red health bar appeared above the towering figure's head, floating right next to her name: Corrupted Monk!
As for Lucien, he stood on the other side of the arch bridge. His virtual avatar had completely changed. He was no longer the handsome, blond Cloud Strife; instead, he was a dark-skinned, weather-beaten man with a scarred cheek. Lucien's character wore a dark, round-collared robe draped in a yellow cloak. A katana hung at his waist, and his expression was cold and resolute.
Seeing the standoff between the two, the players were floored.
"What the hell? Is this Corrupted Monk the boss? She's way too imposing! She looks a billion times more vicious than the main character."
"Yeah, she's at least ten feet tall, and she's lugging around a thirteen-foot polearm! Then look at the Anon character, he's barely six feet tall, and his katana is only about three feet long. How the hell is he supposed to win?!"
"Why are you panicking? We aren't the ones fighting. Let's just sit back, grab some popcorn, and see how the Anon handles this Corrupted Monk!"
"True! If the creator himself can't beat her, it'll be a massive humiliation, and in front of hundreds of millions of players, no less!"
While the audience chattered away, the very next moment, Lucien drew the katana from his waist and charged straight at the Corrupted Monk!
Likewise, the Corrupted Monk twirled her massive polearm and charged toward Lucien!
The two clashed instantly in the dead center of the bridge!
The audience's hearts leapt into their throats.
"Hyaaah!!!"
The Corrupted Monk let out a bizarre, guttural war cry. Leaping high into the air, she swung her polearm with immense force, cleaving down viciously toward Lucien!
'Holy shit!'
Witnessing this, every player in the venue skipped a heartbeat. 'Isn't he going to get sliced cleanly in half?!'
However, Lucien simply swung his katana up to meet the attack!
Clang!
The sharp sound of steel striking steel rang out, throwing visible sparks into the air between them. Lucien forcefully blocked the devastating blow, but the overwhelming momentum from the Corrupted Monk's sheer strength forced him to stumble two steps backward!
Failing to connect, the Corrupted Monk immediately pressed her advantage, sweeping her polearm in a massive horizontal arc. Unyielding, Lucien gripped his katana with both hands and unleashed a fierce descending slash. To everyone's shock, he managed to deflect the monk's polearm away! Riding the momentum, he closed the distance and landed a solid slash right across the Corrupted Monk!
The blade drew blood, but the Corrupted Monk's health bar barely chipped. The boss herself remained completely unfazed. She didn't flinch or stagger in the slightest. Raising her weapon once more, she chopped straight down. Lucien hurriedly executed a swift backstep, narrowly evading the blade!!!
Putting a slight distance between them, Lucien rotated his wrist before charging back at the Corrupted Monk once more!
Clang, clang, clang!
The crisp sound of striking steel echoed out continuously.
The massive figure and the normal-sized figure went back and forth, relentlessly trading blows with their cold steel. Sparks continuously exploded in the air between them from the fierce metallic collisions!
The Corrupted Monk swung her polearm, sometimes executing wide horizontal sweeps, other times launching vicious upward strikes. Lucien, in turn, either deflected the blade, leaped to evade, or seized the briefest openings to counterattack with a slash of his own. The two were locked in a frantic, utterly explosive deathmatch.
The audience in the venue watched in absolute, stunned silence.
"Holy fuck, this looks so incredibly hardcore! They're actually trading real, physical blows, strike for strike!!"
"Wow, just watching this is making my blood boil with adrenaline!"
"This game is way too nice! It actually gives you the authentic feeling of being a master swordsman!"
"Ahhh, I have to buy it, I must buy it! I am absolutely going to be a kung fu master!!!!"
Never mind the ordinary players, even the gaming industry executives were dumbfounded. The director of Valve watched Lucien's performance in the arena with his eyes completely wide open, his face a mask of utter disbelief.
"How is this possible? How are they doing this? A video game can actually be played like this?"
Was this truly a video game, and not some kind of live, professional martial arts exhibition?!
The movements were so incredibly fluid and seamless, it was as if this guy, Lucien, had genuinely transformed into a master swordsman!!!
Even without getting his hands on it himself, simply watching the two of them clash made the director feel like he could watch it all day. It felt like viewing a pure, cinematic film, watching the two combatants read and dismantle each other's moves. It was a feast for the eyes.
Right at that moment in the arena, the Corrupted Monk suddenly unleashed another bizarre shriek. She violently thrust her heavy polearm straight forward, aiming to skewer Lucien!
At the exact same time, a massive, blood-red japanese character materialized above her head. "Peril"
In the very next fraction of a second, Lucien reacted with blinding speed. He lifted his right leg and astonishingly stomped the thrusting polearm down, pinning it heavily to the ground!
With just that one move, the Corrupted Monk's posture completely shattered. With her weapon pinned, she stumbled forward, losing her balance. Lucien instantly capitalized on it. Stepping onto the shaft of the monk's weapon with his other foot, he launched himself high into the air, vaulting right over the Corrupted Monk!
While airborne, Lucien executed a backflip, landing perfectly behind the boss. Without a moment's hesitation, he violently drove his katana right into the center of her back!
Squelch!
The katana brutally impaled the Corrupted Monk from behind, the razor-sharp tip bursting out right through her chest in a devastating, heart-piercing strike!
Immediately after, Lucien viciously ripped the blade free. With a light flick of his wrist, a thick trail of blood splattered cleanly across the wooden arch bridge!
"Ugh... ah..."
The Corrupted Monk let out a sorrowful wail. Thud. Her massive body collapsed to the ground, and her remaining half-filled health bar was instantly deleted.
And right in front of Lucien, two massive, blood-red words appeared.
[SHINOBI EXECUTION!]
The enemy had been slain!
"Holy shit, that was badass!"
"Anon is so fucking cool!"
"Tsk tsk, that was off the charts! Especially that last strike, absolute cinema!"
"That final counter... I seriously have to give it a perfect ten out of ten!!!"
"Something's not right. How did the sadist pull off such a high-difficulty move? An average person couldn't possibly do that. He looked way too much like a legitimate martial arts master!"
Witnessing this scene, the players gasped in absolute awe. They were genuinely blown away.
Lucien's movements had been way too slick and stylish.
He was practically identical to the legendary swordmaster of their dreams.
Following Lucien's execution of the Corrupted Monk, the boss's corpse and the red arch bridge vanished into thin air.
The stage reverted to its original state. Lucien spun on his heel and transformed back into his suit-wearing Cloud Strife avatar.
"Alright then, the gameplay demonstration has concluded. What are your thoughts?" Lucien asked with a smile.
"Why are you even asking? Release the damn game already!"
"I can't fucking wait anymore! Hurry up, I need to go back to ancient times! I want to be a swordsman!"
[Advanced 30 chapters on patreon .com/EdgyReader]