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[Confused]: ???
[PardonMe]: Did anyone else hear what he just said?
[ReadingComp]: Is there something wrong with my reading comprehension? I understand every individual word, but when you put them together they make absolutely no sense.
[NoNo]: NO! Not this! Not the thing where a free game turns into a pay-to-win nightmare! NOT THIS!
[Defense]: Can you people be less selfish for once? Max needs to eat too, okay? It's already incredibly generous that he let us play such a high-quality game completely free for this long.
[Whale]: Exactly! We big spenders have been wanting to throw money at this game, but there's literally nowhere to spend it!
As soon as Max made the announcement, the chat immediately became polarized, with a significant portion of players vehemently opposing any form of monetization.
It wasn't that they simply wanted to freeload forever—it was that so many games had set terrible precedents over the years.
Games that started out amazing, but the second they added microtransactions, they transformed into predatory garbage.
Everyone had gathered in this livestream because they genuinely loved Holy Grail War, so naturally they didn't want to see it go down that same destructive path that had killed so many good games before it.
So while frantically typing chat messages trying to persuade Max to reconsider, countless donation notifications simultaneously swept across the livestream.
They were hoping this immediate show of financial support would convince Max that he didn't need to implement aggressive monetization—that they'd willingly support him through reasonable means.
Seeing this reaction, Max didn't continue to push their panic buttons. After clearing his throat lightly, he continued:
"Don't worry—I completely understand all your concerns and fears.
I'll give you my word right here, right now: I will absolutely never release any items in the game that can only be obtained through real money purchases. Ever.
The monetization system is essentially designed to serve players who don't want to grind for resources or don't have the time to farm.
So please, let me explain the actual update content before you panic.
First, we're adding a Spiritron Dress system to the in-game shop.
This system allows your Servants to wear modern clothing—basically cosmetic skins and alternate outfits.
The purchase requirements are exactly the same as buying Holy Relics or upgrading your own character: one Holy Grail per Servant outfit.
I guarantee—and I mean guarantee—that the only currencies in this game will be Holy Grails and holy grail fragments. A third premium currency will absolutely not appear. Full stop.
At the same time, we're opening up the Ranked Mode system for multiplayer and significantly increasing point acquisition rates.
For a limited time of one month, the top ten players in the points leaderboard will become internal beta testers and get early access to upcoming new content for Holy Grail War.
In ranked mode, each player can only carry one Holy Relic before entering a match—to keep things balanced and skill-based.
Finally, there's the brand new story mode: Fate/Apocrypha.
In this story mode, the Holy Grail War format completely changes. It's no longer a free-for-all battle between seven individuals. Instead, it's a 7v7 team battle format.
Of course, the actual 7v7 multiplayer PvP content is still in active development, and we ask for your continued patience and support.
As for the remaining optimizations and quality-of-life improvements, I'll personally log in right now and demonstrate them one by one in real-time for everyone watching.
Oh, and one more thing—the new version is available for download right now. I've already pushed the update live to the website."
Players don't actually hate monetization systems as a concept. What they truly hate are those unscrupulous game developers who deliberately design pay-to-win systems that force players to spend money just to remain competitive.
And that fundamental feeling of inequality.
That's the real issue. Although a game's primary revenue comes from whales and big spenders, the actual community health and activity comes from the free-to-play majority. Everyone's human, and nobody wants to be treated like a second-class citizen just because they can't or won't spend money.
So although Max had opened up a monetization channel, he'd deliberately kept a viable path forward for free players.
Because Holy Grails could be earned through ranked mode completion and story mode progression—not locked behind a paywall.
And the pricing for cosmetic skins was affordable enough that even F2P players could reasonably save up for their favorites.
As a result, players wouldn't have legitimate objections.
In fact, at some point down the line, some free players would probably transition into paying customers voluntarily, just to get that one skin they really wanted for their favorite Servant.
[Skins]: Holy shit, are we getting SKIN SALES?!
[Approve]: This cosmetic model is perfect! If it's really like this, I have absolutely zero objections! I want to buy cute outfits for my wife Artoria!
[Question]: But wait, can't you already change clothes directly in the base game?
[Different]: The premium skins have gotta be different somehow! Like, can you make your Servant wear a swimsuit? Max, I'm not asking for much—please just release swimsuits ASAP!
[March]: Swimsuits in March? That's quite the lifestyle you're living.
[Buying]: I'll buy it! I'll buy whatever! Just hurry up and give me Achilles's muscle tank outfit! Or better yet, the full 300-style Spartan warrior set! The second it drops, I'm buying it!
[SugarBaby]: Rich sister, can you financially support me? I'm very good at scrubbing pots and pans.
[Snipe]: WAIT! Max is about to jump into multiplayer! Everyone log in RIGHT NOW! Let's coordinate a mass sniping event!
[Denominator]: Damn it, do we really need more people making the queue harder?
The chat scrolled at breakneck speed, and Max pulled out his VR headset and initiated the connection sequence.
"Link start," he said with a slight smile.
The moment he did, the livestream's viewer count sharply decreased as thousands of people simultaneously closed the stream to launch the game themselves.
That's right—everyone was rushing to snipe Max in-game.
This had become an incredibly popular streaming tradition over the years.
Just like how, several years back, a game called Life and Death 2 had spawned the legendary "Jay Chou Sniping Night" phenomenon, where thousands of players coordinated to hunt down the famous singer in-game.
Although it made the streamer's experience absolutely miserable—basically like being in competitive prison—the entertainment value was excellent, and player engagement hit maximum levels.
At the same time, these players wanted Max to experience the harsh reality of online gaming. To understand what it felt like to get absolutely destroyed by random strangers.
And coordinating this assault weren't just regular players—several big-name streamers had joined the hunt as well.
For example, Maverick. The moment Max announced the update was live, Maverick immediately started downloading it.
Thanks to his absurdly high-speed fiber connection, he managed to enter the VR world at almost the exact same time as Max.
And as the black loading screen faded away...
The brand-new opening cinematic and updated soundtrack made Maverick's entire audience absolutely lose their minds.
Especially the scene that appeared next, which made many longtime viewers who'd watched every single one of Maverick's streams let out genuine gasps of surprise and emotion.
Upon that cursed hill covered in mountains of corpses and seas of spilled blood...
Upon that terrible mound formed by piled-up knight bodies, their armor rusted and broken...
Artoria stood alone, her golden hair flowing freely in the wind like a banner of tragedy.
As the strands swayed in the bitter breeze, her face remained shadowed and indistinct. She stared intently at the dark storm clouds gathering overhead, destined to fall and wash away everything.
Her voice carried immense, crushing loneliness as she whispered:
"Again... I'm back here again."
Camlann Hill. The place of Arthur's end. The site of Britain's fall.
The moment this cinematic scene appeared, many viewers who felt deep sympathy for Artoria's tragic story couldn't help but feel their throats tighten with emotion, their eyes beginning to sting.
But the accompanying music transformed that sadness into something else entirely—an indescribable sense of epicness, destiny, and beautiful tragedy all woven together.
"Welcome to your life~"
The absolutely cinematic visuals, combined with the hauntingly perfect musical choice, gave many viewers an immediate emotional rush within just the first five seconds.
It was the kind of opening that grabbed you by the throat and demanded your attention.
However, if the camera could have somehow focused on Max's face at that precise moment—cut away from the game to show his real-world reaction—everyone might have been genuinely surprised to discover that Max seemed completely unable to maintain his usual composure.
His eyes were wide. His mouth slightly open. His entire expression screamed: "Wait, WHAT?!"
That's right.
If there happened to be another transmigrator in the audience—someone who'd seen the legendary fan-made video "Modern Holy Grail War" on YouTube in their previous life—they would probably show the exact same shocked, disbelieving expression that Max was displaying right now.
Because Max recognized this opening.
He knew this video.
And he definitely hadn't made it himself.
Which meant the system had pulled it from somewhere.
Oh shit, Max thought, his heart racing. Oh shit oh shit oh shit—
[MaverickFan]: Holy crap, this opening cinematic is INSANE!
[Emotional]: I'm not crying, you're crying!
[Music]: What's this song? I need the full track RIGHT NOW!
[Artoria]: My poor king... she deserves better...
[Hype]: This is already better than most AAA game cinematics!
[Question]: Wait, did Max make this himself? The production quality is CRAZY high!
Max's mind raced as the cinematic continued to play, trying to figure out how to explain this without revealing that he had a literal god-tier cheat system.
Yeah, he thought sarcastically to himself. This is going exactly as planned.
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