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Chapter 509 Preview
"So boring."
"I have to evaluate this garbage again."
In a room filled with gaming pods, Mantou rested his chin on his hand, lazily scrolling through the latest game rankings.
The recently released "Specter" had tormented him to the point of scalp-numbing frustration. Model clipping and frame drops were minor issues—frequent black screen crashes requiring constant restarts were the real nightmare. In a certain sense, it truly was a "horror game."
"I could have endured the darkness, if I had never seen the light."
This was Mantou's genuine thought deep inside.
After experiencing the lifelike immersion of "Erezaghe", it had become nearly impossible for Mantou to force himself through other games.
Thinking about it, Mantou grabbed his messy, bird's nest-like hair, feeling utterly distressed.
"Damn it! When will Erezaghe reopen? That damn dev team won't even give a proper announcement!"
It had been over three months since the servers shut down. During that time, Mantou had edited all his game footage into videos and uploaded them across major streaming platforms.
His video covering the Empire Duel Tournament went viral again, this time with unprecedented popularity!
Especially with elements like "Roman Empire" and "Mechanist Cult" featured in the footage—not only did domestic players go crazy over it, but even foreign players took great interest.
Mantou's commentary video [Mechanist Cult vs. Roman Era] had garnered over a hundred million views on one particular platform.
After witnessing the guild war, players around the world followed the trail, watching Mantou's other "Erezaghe Log" videos.
These videos left them even more astonished—like Columbus discovering a new continent—bringing them into a brand-new fantasy world.
The freedom is this high?
The intelligence of NPCs is indistinguishable from real people?
The realism has reached this level? You can even conduct research and invent things in-game?
As a result, "Erezaghe" created a global sensation, with tens of millions of players eagerly awaiting its reopening.
"Haaaah—"
Mantou yawned and clicked on a random game to review.
But suddenly, his phone beeped repeatedly, flooding with notifications.
"@I'm gonna eat Mantou!!"
"Mantou, you old thief!"
"Go check it out! The devs just released a promo video!"
"Hurry up! Hurry up!"
"Holy shit! This time it's not just Anzeta Wasteland—they've unlocked the entire Feanso continent!"
Mantou was instantly overwhelmed with joy, abandoning the unknown game without hesitation and rushing straight to the official homepage.
"It's coming!"
[Erezaghe: Version 2.0 – Clash of Kings, launching soon!]
[In this update, we will open all regions of the Feanso continent: Kassander Kingdom, Thrace Kingdom, Seleucia Kingdom, Silvermoon Bay Free Trade Confederation, Serenia Elven Kingdom, High Mountain Dwarven Kingdom.]
[Additionally, we will unlock 314 respawn points, including the original Anzeta Wasteland revival point, such as:]
[City of Sunrise – August, City of Sunset – West, Dwarven Capital – Black Mountain Fortress, Ancient Elven Capital – Serran, Sunlit City – Teotihuacan, Western Sea Gate – Victoria Port.]
Seeing this, Mantou couldn't help but widen his eyes, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor.
"Holy shit?"
"They actually opened so many new regions? This update is absolutely massive!"
In the closed beta and [Northern Turmoil] expansion, players had only explored the Anzeta Wasteland, following the Empire's expansion, and already felt the content was incredibly rich.
—You have to understand, this wasteland alone covered five to six million square kilometers! In reality, that's larger than most countries.
And now, with so many new regions opened, the total area far surpassed the Anzeta Wasteland—this was truly an "open-world exploration" game.
Mantou rubbed his hands excitedly, muttering to himself.
"Just the early teaser is already this insane—what's the trailer going to be like?"
"Let's go!"
With trembling fingers, he clicked the [Watch Video] button.
As soon as the video started, the familiar black screen appeared. Countless comments flooded the screen, not just in Chinese but in languages from all over the world.
"It's here!"
"Wow, the trailer is finally out!"
"Beta players reporting in!"
"This took so long!"
"Damn devs playing dead every day."
"I can't wait! Let me in! I need to play Erezaghe!"
An ethereal female voice echoed, as if narrating a tragic epic, and the screen suddenly brightened.
The image revealed a grand and magnificent white-walled city, towering hundreds of meters high. The city was prosperous and beautiful, with people smiling in happiness.
A divine army composed of Titans and Angels gathered imposingly beside the tower.
At the tower's peak, on a grand solar disk, a majestic figure appeared—wearing a crown, with wings on his back, clad in golden armor.
His presence was awe-inspiring, resting his longsword upon the ground.
Surrounding him, a hundred arcanists in red-and-gold robes chanted spells in low voices, causing the solar disk's glow to intensify.
Suddenly, the sun high in the sky radiated an overwhelming brilliance, illuminating the disk like a divine domain.
A golden, authoritative figure descended from the heavens, roaring in fury, gazing upon the people at the tower with eyes filled with boundless light.
The background music shifted to something grand and sacred, resembling a hymn of prayer.
"Hahahaha!"
"The Holy Fadran shall march with me toward eternity!"
The music suddenly surged with intensity, followed by an enormous explosion engulfing everything. An infinite burst of light and heat surged through the sky.
The once-radiant sun dimmed in an instant, casting the entire sky into a blood-red darkness.
"Boom—"
The hundreds-of-meters-tall tower collapsed with a thunderous crash, its fragments and blazing embers raining down upon the city. The people inside fled in terror, caught in the midst of the apocalyptic destruction.
The ground was scorched, buildings were reduced to rubble, smoke and ash consumed the city.
Amidst the cries of women and children, the wails of men, the familiar narration resumed.
"Aragorn I, in his foolish attempt to replace the Sun God, brought about his own demise—and destroyed the empire he built with his own hands.
With the fall of the Eternal Sun God Tower, the Holy Fadran Empire, which had ruled the Feanso continent for a hundred years, met its end."
"Holy shit? This is insane!"
"The opening is already this intense?"
"I can't wait!"
"One moment we were fighting the Northern Coalition, and now we're up against gods?"
"This must be the Holy City of Teotihuacan—I heard about it from Thracian merchants doing business in the Empire."
A sorrowful and melancholic melody began to play, filling the air with an inexplicable sadness.
The scene abruptly shifted—still the same Holy City, but now in utter ruins, its former glory completely lost.
The once-prosperous land was now scarred, corpses piled into mountains, rivers of blood flowing across the battlefield.
The voiceover continued: "Upon the ruins of Holy Fadran, the three great kingdoms—Thrace, Kassander, and Seleucia—launched the War of Three Emperors, vying for the empire's legacy through ruthless means, leading to countless tragedies on this land.
The once-glorious Holy City was reduced to ashes. Former comrades turned on each other in a desperate struggle. This was an era of sorrow, an age drenched in blood and death."