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At 6 PM, amidst the majestic, exhilarating theme music of Infinite Realms, the Carnival Opening Ceremony officially began.
This most influential event in the gaming world attracted live coverage from countless media outlets globally. The venue was packed to capacity. Millions of players guarded various streaming platforms, following the event closely.
The ceremony kicked off with a beautiful song and dance performance. The massive screens displayed unforgettable characters and scenes from Infinite Realms' development history—memories belonging to countless players. Every scene evoked passionate recollections, different emotions.
This excited attendees who'd come to watch the ceremony, immediately engaging their feelings and allowing thoughts to progress layer by layer with familiar melodies and imagery.
However, unlike previous years, many old game scenes were cut, replaced with new content—particularly highly popular releases from the past year, including Fast & Furious, Death Race, and the Avengers.
Seeing the game content he'd created presented at the opening ceremony, Alex was genuinely excited. A sense of accomplishment and pride welled within him. This was perhaps the greatest joy for a creator.
After the opening performance, the host announced the official Carnival commencement, then the screens played a video of Ernst Klein, Infinite Realms' founder, giving a speech.
"Ernst Klein didn't even come to the venue!"
"I heard he's sick—pretty serious apparently, couldn't make it!"
"Hope he recovers soon!"
"Yeah, I'm sure he'll get better!" People nearby were discussing. Alex knew that in previous carnivals, Ernst Klein always attended in person. This time, he was clearly quite ill and unable to travel. Moreover, in the video, he looked somewhat haggard and gaunt, his already thin hair nearly gone. He indeed looked worrying.
However, Ernst Klein's speech was still engaging—humorous, concise yet packed with information, especially regarding Infinite Realms' future outlook.
Very important information was revealed: Infinite Realms would undergo a major version update within the next year, and the level cap would increase. This meant higher-level official content and equipment would appear—a larger market awaiting developers.
But this also meant many level 70 equipment and items would instantly depreciate, especially legendary gear. Popularity of level 70 official content would significantly decline, particularly paid dungeons whose sales would certainly suffer.
Within the next year, developers would temporarily abandon competing for the level 70 market and focus on developing higher-tier content.
After Ernst Klein's video speech, Infinite Realms' CEO announced specific strategic information and future developments, plus the schedule for the next two days—competitions, performance showcases, fan art contests, and more.
Following that, official performances began—live shows by various rock bands and artists, song and dance performances derived from popular games. Coupled with exquisite stage design, it presented an unparalleled audio-visual spectacle.
After performances, the annual awards ceremony officially began. As expected, Stormwind Studios—represented by Alex—won several awards: Most Popular Content of the Year, Best Creative Innovation Award, Rising Star Award, and the Annual Superstar Award. The Popular Character Award directly swept all three tiers—gold, silver, and bronze.
In just over ten minutes, Alex went on and off stage countless times, legs genuinely getting tired from receiving awards. Online viewers who didn't know better might have thought the stream was buffering.
Alex was destined to shine tonight. With such massive exposure—repeatedly appearing on stage alone under the gaze of over 100,000 live attendees and millions of online viewers—it was impossible not to be noticed, impossible not to be remembered. His name and Stormwind Studios were repeatedly mentioned by hosts, more relentlessly than those constantly replayed commercials.
After the awards ceremony, the grand event was nearing its conclusion. The final segment featured promotional trailers for the top ten new releases scheduled for the coming year, each lasting about 3-6 minutes.
The lights in the venue dimmed again. Accompanied by the roaring sound of an engine, a car drove into a farmyard. A woman's voiceover said, "It's been a long time since I've been back..."
The scene shifted. A man and a woman walked into a warehouse on the farm.
These two were none other than Dominic Toretto and Letty Ortiz, protagonists from Fast & Furious.
Seeing this scene, there was immediate uproar in the venue. Almost everyone recognized these characters.
"Why is it a Fast & Furious trailer? Shouldn't this be showcasing NEW content?"
"Yeah, is Stormwind's new project for next year just... more Fast & Furious? What the hell?"
"They must have played the wrong video. Why Fast & Furious? What about the Gundam we were promised??" The audience erupted in discussions, various disappointed and questioning voices rising and falling, making the entire venue restless.
Clearly, this result was unexpected and disappointing. Everyone knew each developer could only have ONE new project's promotional trailer showcased at the ceremony.
In other words, Stormwind only had one opportunity to present their work, but they were promoting Fast & Furious—content that had been live for over a year. How could Infinite Realms corporate even agree to this? What was happening?
Everyone was puzzled. All the developers looked at Alex with curiosity.
However, two people in the audience were slightly excited: Marcus Chen and his colleague. "It really IS Fast & Furious!"
Marcus felt his previous article was going to be validated, though he still couldn't figure out what Stormwind was doing. "What's under that black tarp? And why would they promote Fast & Furious with such a valuable opportunity?"
"Inside is the car my grandmother left me—a yellow Beetle. It's a real antique!" Letty said with a smile. She led Dom to a vehicle covered with a dusty tarp. "Grandma loved this car so much. She drove it her whole life. I remember when I was little, Grandma would always say it was a car with a soul. She even named it... Bumblebee."
As Letty spoke, she and Dom pulled off the dusty cover.
But the moment the tarp was removed, a brand new yellow sports car appeared in everyone's sight—the Camaro they'd seen in the exhibition hall.
Letty in the video was stunned. So was Dom.
All tens of thousands of people in the venue were stunned.
Players watching the livestream were stunned.
This wasn't a vintage Beetle.
This was something else entirely.
The yellow Camaro gleamed under warehouse lights, looking impossibly pristine for a "grandmother's antique."
And on its steering wheel: that strange geometric emblem Marcus had photographed earlier.
The crowd held its collective breath, waiting to understand what they were seeing.
Alex smiled quietly in the front row.
The reveal was just beginning.