"So that's what this is about! I knew it. I was wondering why you'd suddenly become so insanely attentive this past week, feeding me grapes and warming my bed." Lucien retorted. He thought about it for a moment. Sekiro officially released tomorrow. Letting his sister stream it today to build some hype while simultaneously boosting her streaming career wasn't a bad idea at all.
"Alright fine, wish granted," Lucien nodded in agreement.
"Wow, YES! Thank you, Luci" Jenny Sinclair instantly squealed with excitement. She grabbed Lucien's face, planted a massive kiss on his cheek, and immediately turned to run off.
"I'm going to post on Twitter right now, HAHAHAHA! My stream viewership tonight is definitely going to hit a brand new peak!!!"
"Hey, get back here and keep massaging my shoulders!" Lucien yelled out helplessly. "You got what you wanted and now you're just dipping?!"
"Oh, okay, okay, fine!" Hearing this, Jenny obediently scurried back over and resumed massaging his shoulders and pounding his legs.
Lucien was genuinely shocked. Jenny had truly never been this obedient before.
It seemed she was really going all out just for the chance to stream a new game.
"Alright, alright, that's enough. You're a top streamer making tens of millions a year; having you massage my shoulders is way too demeaning," Lucien said after enjoying it for a while.
"No, no, not at all! Being able to massage your shoulders and pound your legs is my absolute honor!" Jenny quickly replied with a bright smile.
For some reason, one words suddenly popped into Lucien's head: Simp.
'Ahem, wait no, I can't describe my own sister like that.'
"Seriously, you don't have to massage me anymore. I'll install the game for you right now," Lucien said.
"Oh, oh, oh! Okay, deal!" Jenny practically vibrated with excitement.
A few moments later, Jenny posted a tweet, [The highly anticipated moment has arrived! Tonight at 8:00 PM, I will be streaming Sekiro live! Anyone who wants to see the game early, don't miss out!]
The gamers were both thrilled and astonished.
[I was just wondering if Jenny would stream Sekiro early this time, and here it is!]
[Good lord, Jenny gets the most exclusive VIP treatment! Out of all the streamers on every platform, you're the only one who gets to play Sekiro early!]
[Jenny has it so freaking good. Every single game New World releases, she gets to play it before everyone else!]
[I am getting more and more curious about the exact relationship between Jenny and New World.]
The audience's response was explosive. Less than ten minutes after the tweet was posted, it surged to the top of the Twitter trending list. It had to be said, the Twitter trending list was practically like a public restroom to Lucien at this point, he could walk in whenever he pleased.
All those celebrity scandals and gossip had to step aside.
Reading the passionate comments from the people under her tweet, Jenny nodded in extreme satisfaction. However, she noticed one glaring trend: more and more people were discussing the "indescribable" relationship she supposedly had with Lucien. Yet, because Lucien was so dead-set on keeping a low profile, she couldn't exactly come out and clarify things.
'Whatever, let these netizens guess all they want. It doesn't hurt me anyway'
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly received a phone call from Twitch executives. The platform informed her of some massive news: Kick, their rival platform wanted to acquire the exclusive global broadcasting rights for her stream, pushing her broadcast worldwide with real-time, translated subtitles tailored to the specific country of every viewer tuning in.
Hearing this news, Jenny was immensely surprised and ecstatic.
Right now, Jenny was already the undisputed top female streamer on Twitch. no, she was practically the top streamer in the entire American broadcasting industry. She had renegotiated her contract, her net worth had skyrocketed, and she was fielding all sorts of lucrative brand deals and endorsements. There were even film studios inviting her to audition for TV roles.
For a time, Jenny almost felt like a minor celebrity. But she truly hadn't expected the platform to invest so heavily in an international push. Having lived in the U.S. her entire life, her audience had always been strictly domestic. To be selected for Kick's cutting-edge, real-time translation technology to reach every corner of the globe was an unprecedented milestone!
'It looks like Kick heard the news that I'll be premiering Sekiro!' Jenny guessed. She wasn't stupid; she knew they were rolling out this massive global feature entirely for the game.
But whatever the reason, gaining a massive overseas audience was an incredible opportunity.
Jenny immediately began negotiating the terms and premium rates for these global broadcasting rights with the platform. Everything went smoothly, and they happily finalized the deal. Afterward, Jenny asked Lucien to post an announcement on his Twitter account regarding her Sekiro premiere.
At this point, international players were still largely unfamiliar with Jenny as a streamer.
But it didn't matter. The moment they heard someone was premiering Sekiro, the international gamers were instantly wide awake!!!
Who cared who the streamer was? Anyone who could show them the unreleased Sekiro was a top-tier streamer in their book.
In a flash, as the announcement circulated worldwide, the follower count on Jenny's Twitch channel began to soar exponentially with an influx of international users.
That evening, right at 8:00 PM.
Jenny sat down in front of her computer, right on time.
As per her usual routine, she first checked the backend viewer count. Her concurrent viewership had already reached a terrifying five million, and it was still rapidly climbing.
"Holy crap, just as I thought, this premiere is even more absurd than the Subnautica one!" Jenny couldn't help but gasp. "Over five million... and that's not some inflated 'engagement score,' that's the actual concurrent viewer count, and it's still skyrocketing. Even some A-list celebrities wouldn't be able to pull numbers like this for a live stream."
Of course, Jenny had a very clear understanding of why. This was primarily due to the massive, snowballing popularity of Silent Hill and Subnautica, which had caused New World's fanbase to explode.
Another major factor was that this time, Jenny truly had absolute exclusivity over the new game's premiere. Even during the Subnautica launch, she hadn't quite achieved this level of total monopoly.
Next, Jenny opened Kick and was instantly given another massive shock. The Kick simulcast had already surpassed three million viewers. The international players were incredibly passionate.
'Tsk tsk, is this what being an international superstar feels like?'
No matter which platform she looked at, she was being treated like absolute royalty. Even back when Jenny used to cast League of Legends tournaments, she had never pulled numbers anywhere close to this.
"Phew, calm down, calm down..." Jenny took a deep breath, forcing herself to settle her racing heart. Then, she officially started the stream.
"Good evening, chat!" Jenny kicked things off with her signature greeting.
[Stop talking no one want to hear your ugly ahh voice, understand?!]
[Hurry, hurry, hurry! Boot up Sekiro!]
[If its possible, please turn off your camera and play Sekiro silently.]
[Wow, why does it feel like Jenny is getting prettier and prettier? Whatever, I don't care how pretty you are, I'm not here for you! Start the game!]
The moment the stream went live, the chat was entirely filled with people urging her to start. In the past, people watched her stream for her personality. Now, they were entirely here for the game!
Jenny had long anticipated this reaction. Fully embracing her role as a glorified human controller, she conceded, "Alright, alright, alright. Let's officially begin our journey into Sekiro."
Without any further nonsense, Jenny quickly stepped into the omnidirectional treadmill setup, put on the VR headset, and launched Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
The screen was initially pitch black. Out of the darkness, a line of text slowly materialized.
[Developed by New World Studios]
The next second, the screen flashed, and the player's vision became clear. Jenny found herself inside a wooden room. A man with a scarred face was kneeling on one knee, staring intently forward.
Simultaneously, a solemn, deep voice began to narrate: "As time flowed on, the wolf salvaged from the battlefield endured rigorous training, gradually maturing into a master shinobi..."
The man's appearance was identical to the character Lucien had played during the live demonstration. Without a doubt, this was the grown-up Wolf.
The next moment, the incredibly imposing figure of his adoptive father appeared beside Wolf. He gently patted Wolf's shoulder. "From this day forth, this shall be your master. You are to hold his life in higher regard than even your own parents. You will stake your very life to protect him. If he is taken from you, you must bring him back at all costs. Do you understand, Wolf?"
As he spoke, the adoptive father pushed open the wooden door in front of them. The figure of a young boy came into Wolf's view.
The screen faded to black once more. The solemn narration resumed: "Twenty years after Sword Saint Isshin's rebellion, the power of Ashina began to wane. Wolf lost everything, both the adoptive father who raised him, and the master he swore to protect..."
As the narration ended, Jenny's vision underwent a massive shift. She found herself at the bottom of a grimy, dark well. It was damp and reeked of rot, surrounded by massive, rough stone walls.
Jenny looked down at her own attire: the dark, round-collared robe, the yellow cloak, the weathered, dark skin...
"Wow, Chat, it looks like the game has started. I've officially become Wolf," Jenny announced. She began to survey her surroundings. "But where the heck am I? It's so dark and gloomy."
[Looks like some kind of wide sewer or drainage bitch.]
[Jenny, look around!]
[Yeah, yeah, yeah!]
As the chat urged her on, Jenny had the same idea. But the moment she took her first step, she instantly realized something was off.
"Wait, this feels weird. I feel incredibly light, like a feather! My footsteps are so bouncy!" Jenny exclaimed in surprise. She tested it out by taking a few more steps, and the sensation only grew stronger.
Then, she forcefully kicked off the ground and jumped. Whoosh! Jenny's entire body practically floated into the air!
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Jenny screamed in shock. "Oh my god, I'm so high up! I jumped so freaking high!"
When she landed, Jenny stumbled. Having not yet adapted to the game's physics, she was nearly scared into falling over by her own ridiculous jumping power.
The viewers, watching through her first-person perspective, clearly saw what happened.
[Just based on that jump, her feet had to be at least six or seven feet off the ground!]
[Truly worthy of the name 'Wolf.' His physical abilities are insane!]
[i didn't expect the game to actually simulate this feeling! Watching this makes me want to play so badly!]
The viewers were overflowing with praise, their interest in the game growing more intense by the second.
Using sensory simulation to actually allow players to physically feel the weightlessness and agility of a legendary martial arts master... this was truly a first.
Of course, in reality, Jenny hadn't actually jumped that high or run that fast. It was purely an incredibly convincing illusion created by the VR machine's advanced simulation combined with the physical feedback from the exoskeleton suit.
"Wow, wow, wow, this feels so fucking good!" Jenny continued to bounce around happily in place, fully immersing herself in the superhuman agility that previously only existed in novels. "No, no, no, I need to take a minute to get used to this!"
The viewers were practically green with envy. 'Damn it, who would have thought Sekiro would drop such a massive surprise on the players right out of the gate!'
Just as Jenny was happily hopping around like a kangaroo, she suddenly heard a voice echoing from above.
"A man, decadent and lost... For the sake of your master, please... awaken."
It was a woman's voice, sounding incredibly gentle and demure. Jenny quickly looked up, but there was no one in sight. She only saw something light and fluttering slowly drifting down from the open hole at the top of the well, eventually landing on a rock in front of her.
Jenny hurried over and picked it up. To her surprise, it was a letter.
Opening it, she saw elegant yet forceful calligraphy.
[To the wolf who serves his master.
Your master is being held captive in the Moon-view Tower. You must find a way to escape the bottom of this well and head there immediately.
Even unarmed, with your skills in stealth, reaching it should be an easy task.]
[Saint Isshin picture:]
[Advanced 30 chapter on patreon .com/EdgyReader]