Chapter 220. New Game Launch Event
The next day, Gensokyo Park opened for the first time.
As Gensokyo Company's first step from virtual to physical, the moment the news was released, it drew widespread attention across society.
There were quite a few voices calling Gensokyo reckless, but even more people were optimistic.
After all, with the Houmu Amusement Park blazing the trail, Gensokyo had a clear playbook for building its own dedicated theme park.
From the 8:30 a.m. opening, invited reporters, celebrities, and a hundred thousand ticket-holding visitors poured into the park almost at the same time.
Drawing on Disny's experience from the previous life, every IP had its own zone. In each zone, besides carefully prepared shows, the rides were packed with IP elements, aiming to give every fan a joyful experience.
A theme park exists to make visitors happy, and months ago Theresa had already started recruiting staff, training them right up to today's official debut.
A team of nearly ten thousand surrounds you and does its utmost to make you smile—who wouldn't be a little dazzled the moment they walked in; from the second you step inside, your mood gets cranked to the max, okay.
After visitors have eaten their fill and played to their hearts' content, it's only natural that on the way out they swing by the gift shop to pick up a few things to take home, right.
From morning till night, all the way until the sun leaned west, Theresa kept a close eye on the situation on-site to prevent accidents.
Fortunately, aside from a few small hiccups, the day passed smoothly, letting Theresa finally breathe a long sigh of relief.
As for night sessions, they'd only open after a period of operation, but tonight was a special case.
Gensokyo's new game launch event was about to begin.
...
The unknown zone that had been sealed off for a day finally opened its gates at dusk. Most facilities remained closed; only the road to the theater lit up, as if pointing the way.
Reporters hurried to the theater early, took their designated seats, set up their cameras, pulled out voice recorders and pen-and-paper, all geared up to get to work.
After going wild in the park all day, Sirin also returned early to St. Freya, lazily restreaming for her fans.
"Hey, there's an official livestream, but I'm still not going there. It's more comfy over here in Pufferfish's channel~"
"What do we even need the official stream for? Just requisition Pufferfish's channel already—one family anyway!"
"Seconded!"
"Seconded! n"
"..."
"Hey, you heartless lot, this channel is something I've worked super hard to run!!"
On any other day, she'd definitely argue with the fans at this point, but playing all day in the park had left her exhausted, and she didn't even have the energy to bicker.
"Anyway, Pufferfish, you pretty much only play Gensokyo's games now, so there's no difference~"
A paid Super Chat popped up. Sirin glanced at it and waved: "Public is public, private is private. This is a matter of appearances, okay, and besides..."
Besides, that guy Xander hasn't said anything yet. If he wants it, it's not like she wouldn't give it. What's hers is his too...
But he hasn't said a thing. If she rushes to hand it over now, that'd be way too unreserved!
"Pufferfish, Pufferfish, can you tell us about Gensokyo Park? Is it fun?"
Seeing the game launch still hadn't started, the viewers began chatting.
Those lucky enough to draw tickets were the minority. Even though there was plenty of news today, nothing beats a favorite streamer speaking from personal experience.
Seeing this, Sirin's eyes lit up, and she said without hesitation, "Fun. It's really fun. Even though I'm part of Gensokyo, I'm not just talking nonsense here!"
Recalling her daytime experience, Sirin sighed, "From the moment I entered the park, I felt like I'd become a princess. All the staff there revolve around you, trying every way to make you happy, and their service attitude is super good. Didn't you see how tired I am today? It's because I went too crazy playing in there."
At that, Sirin instantly became talkative. "Listen, in the Pokémon Zone..."
After saying a whole lot and parching her throat, she took a sip of water and subconsciously added, "It's a pity that guy Xander had to be busy with the new game launch today and couldn't come with us."
As soon as she finished, she realized she'd blurted out what was in her heart and hurried to change the subject.
But the viewers' ears were sharp. The instant they heard that, their sleepiness vanished, and the scrolling comments surged wildly.
"Hey, Pufferfish. Hey, unrequited love."
The glaring Super Chat that popped up made Sirin instantly anxious.
"Who are you calling Pufferfish, huh. Who are you calling unrequited love. He and I—that's friendship, okay, friendship, do you understand? Don't see a man and woman together and think that way, will you!! I so do not like him!!"
"She's mad, she's mad. Laughter.jpg"
"What a classic tsundere line. Pufferfish, you manage to come up with new material every time."
The comments kept rolling, and a new Super Chat popped up again.
"After seeing so many scandals about Old Thief Masato, not once has Pufferfish been on camera. You really are a pure and spotless good Pufferfish, huh. Bravo~"
"You!!!!"
That line hurt even more than calling her unrequited love just now—it stabbed right into the weak spot, making her little face flush red. After that came things like "There's nothing going on between me and Xander," "Don't talk nonsense," and "Matters of friendship—how can that count as love?"
For a while, the whole stream was full of a joyful atmosphere.
And amid this boisterous mood, the game's PV began.
The theater lights suddenly dimmed a bit, and on the background screen, Gensokyo's emblem appeared.
The logo quickly faded, and the picture brightened. A child was crouched in front of a TV, watching the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. He raised both little hands, eyes sparkling, and adorably shouted, "I'm going to become a Duel Master!!"
The scene flickered, and a young man lying in bed opened his eyes.
"Had that dream again, huh."
He murmured under his breath, looking at the glasses by the bed and a brand-new Duel Disk, falling into thought.
"A Duel Master... huh..."
With the childhood dream echoing in his ears, he clutched his glasses tightly and rolled out of bed.
He went to the bathroom to wash the tiredness off his face. Just as he was toweling off, the phone in his pocket vibrated.
Bzz bzz.
He pulled it out and unlocked it. Eye-catching words appeared on the screen.
"Your next duel opponent has been successfully matched. Please head to Duel Arena No. 1 in the city center before 13:00 this afternoon. If you are late, it will be considered a forfeit and an automatic loss."
It's finally here.
Looking at himself in the mirror, his gaze gradually turned resolute.
Then came a flashback: the youth went through match after match, with victories and defeats, with laughter and tears, until...
Tap.
His footsteps landed lightly as he walked up onto a dueling platform. In his ears surged the crowd's tsunami-like cheers.
He seemed long accustomed to such cheers, with only the figure facing him in his eyes.
"The Grand Finals of the Duel Master Championship—now officially begins!!"
The commentator's voice drove the live cheers even higher, but in the eyes of the two duelists, there was only each other.
At the instant the system countdown ended, the two shouted simultaneously.
"Duel!!"
A graceful white dragon with blue eyes soared through the sky. Lightning flashed, illuminating a ferocious giant looming in the dark night.
Higher above, the scarlet sky dragon coiled high, and the golden Winged Dragon unfurled its wings, the light it emitted breaking through the world's darkness.
And at that moment, the image froze, and the title "Yu-Gi-Oh!" appeared in the center of the screen.
"Whoa—whoa—whoa, I'm fired up!!! The Winged Dragon looks so cool!!!"
"Holy— it really is Yu-Gi-Oh!!!! I've been waiting since the anime started airing. Gensokyo finally made it!!!"
"Hope they can make it like in the anime."
"Believe in Gensokyo's tech!"
Because Anti-Entropy had previously pushed the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime for no obvious reason—and connecting it to Pokémon from back then—it wasn't hard for people to guess the content of this new game. Still, when it was truly confirmed, players who loved it were naturally overjoyed.
The theater lights also came up right on cue. The reporters were all focused on the PV and didn't notice that Xander Masato was already standing at center stage.
"Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Yu-Gi-Oh! launch event. I'm the lead designer of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Masato. Once again, welcome to all of you."
He gave a slight bow to the audience, and the reporters and spectators cooperated with warm applause.
Looking at the high-spirited Xander Masato on stage, many familiar-face reporters felt a wave of emotion.
That designer who used to make pixel mini-games—who would've thought that in just a few short years he'd have achieved so much. You could say they'd witnessed Xander Masato's growth all along—they watched him grow up (not really)!
After a few simple pleasantries, Xander Masato went straight into it.
Reporters who knew exactly what kind of person he was immediately pulled out their little notebooks and started scribbling furiously. They weren't writing words—they were writing their bonuses, and not a single stroke could be sloppy!
"Yu-Gi-Oh! is the second game co-developed for AR glasses by Gensokyo and Anti-Entropy after Pokémon. In the device, we will fully recreate what appears in the anime..."
He rattled off a bunch of technical parameters—concise and to the point—no fancy gimmicks. Once he finished, he simply stepped aside and directly started the live gameplay demo.
"That's it, that's the flavor!!"
"Not dragging things out one bit. He just said everything everyone cares about in one go. Good stuff!!"
"Summary? He is the summary!"
In the prerecorded gameplay demo, seeing models even more detailed than in the anime, watching the back-and-forth battles of wits and the physical clashes between monsters, players got excited on the spot. Even players who weren't that interested in Yu-Gi-Oh! perked up at this point.
Nothing else to it—the quality was too good.
And seeing them shout their dueling calls back and forth felt so chuunibyou. They loved it~
Like he was doing a speedrun, what would take others half an hour to say, he finished in under ten minutes.
Although the game held many surprises for everyone, somehow...
It felt a little plain?
Just when everyone thought he was done and the reporters were about to start asking questions, the corners of Xander Masato's mouth curved into a smile.
"Next, let me introduce the second product we're about to release. Please welcome my assistant to the stage."
As soon as he finished, Bronya stepped up in a formal gown, walking with elegant steps.
Her neatly done silver curls draped behind her, and the fitted gown set off her voluptuous figure. The two met eyes and exchanged faint smiles without saying a word—everything understood without words.
Seeing such tacit understanding made Sirin a bit sour, and the comments promptly delivered merciless mockery.
"Tsk tsk tsk, the winner is clear now."
"If it were me, I'd pick Bronya too. She plays games well and is also a pretty girl. Who wouldn't like that?"
"What, I don't count? Am I not a pretty girl?!!"
With a dissatisfied grumble, a Super Chat soon popped up: "Sirin, if you stand up and lower your head, what do you see?"
"Stand up and lower my head?"
Blinking, Sirin stood and lowered her head for a look, and blurted, "My toes. Why?"
Soon, another Super Chat: "Understand the gap now?"
"Gap??"
Lower your head? Gap?
She stared blankly for a moment, and when she unintentionally glanced at Bronya's front, she suddenly understood. A rush of heat surged to her head, and she flushed bright red with anger.
"You—you—you, you guys!!!!"
What's wrong with being small-chested, huh. Does a small chest eat your family's rice?!!!
This was yet another sore spot for Sirin. Her two elder sisters—and even her own mother—which one of them wasn't abundantly endowed, bouncing when they ran. Only her—she could still wear children's underwear!!
Is that reasonable?!!
If she didn't know for certain that she and Kiana are twins, she'd suspect dad had a little green on his head.
Setting aside the slightly triggered Sirin, Xander Masato's words had piqued everyone's curiosity.
The game was already covered—what "second product"?
Under everyone's expectant gaze, a square opening appeared in the floor. A small platform rose slowly from below, with a gift box placed on it.
"This product is closely connected to Yu-Gi-Oh!... Forget it, I'm not used to selling suspense. Bronya, open it."
At that, Bronya shot him a helpless look. They'd planned to warm up the atmosphere a little, but he wouldn't play along.
Fine. He's her man, after all. Whatever he says, goes.
She untied the ribbon at the top, and the gift box slowly unfolded before everyone's eyes.
Soon, on the flat tabletop, two items that absolutely no one was unfamiliar with appeared in front of everyone.
"Duel Disks? Is the Old Thief planning to enter the toy industry?"
"Understandable. Gotta say, the toys from those tokusatsu shows really make money."
"Looks like a faithful recreation. If it's not too expensive, I could support it."
Just then, Xander Masato said something people didn't quite understand: "Cameraman, switch the broadcast to AR mode. And for those in attendance, please put on your AR glasses."
As soon as he finished, he picked up a Duel Disk and strapped it to his arm. With a click, the Duel Disk tightened and deployed.
"What's the Old Thief doing—any big-brains explain?"
"Don't ask us big-brains for everything. But this thing of his—could it be that thing?"
"It really does look like that."
"If it really is that, I'm going to sing its praises to the heavens."
"Damn it, which 'that' are you talking about—spell it out!!"
While players were being driven mad by a bunch of riddle-speakers, Xander Masato's actions revealed the answer directly.
He pulled a stack of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards from his pocket, slid them into the Duel Disk's deck slot, and reached out to draw a card.
Looking at the image on it, he paused for a moment, then broke into a smile.
"As expected. Your debut needs to be at a moment like this, when all eyes are on you."
He set it to Showcase Mode, gripped the card in his hand, and snapped it onto the Duel Disk.
"Come forth—Blue-Eyes White Dragon!!!"
At once, the world went pitch-black. Not long after, starlike points of light began to flash. A silver-white giant dragon tore through the darkness and descended upon the world.
Light cascaded down. The white dragon's body shimmered with a phosphorescent glow, so holy to behold. It stretched its wings wide and, facing this world, let out its very first roar.
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ chapters ahead of webnovel
Paid member can read 150+ chapters ahead of webnovel
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts