"In any case, Sir, even the Dreamscape's main realm has undergone absolutely massive changes recently. Once you actually log in yourself, you'll understand what I mean."
As Boshita learned more and more intriguing details from the enthusiastic driver, his curiosity was thoroughly piqued despite his initial skepticism. Perhaps it was worth looking into after all.
The luxurious, magical carriage slowly entered an enormous private estate through ornate gates. Calling it merely a "villa" would be a serious understatement. The sprawling property's sheer size was nearly comparable to a modest castle, with multiple buildings, manicured gardens, and dedicated servant quarters.
After several years of separation, Boshita's parents were naturally overjoyed at his return. The Duchess, his mother, had lived such a comfortable and pampered life that her figure had grown noticeably plumper over the years, though she carried herself with grace.
The moment she laid eyes on her son, her entire face lit up with pure delight. "My precious baby! Mommy missed you so terribly much!" She immediately grabbed him enthusiastically, looking him up and down critically, anxiously checking whether her treasured son had lost any weight during his time away.
Then came an endless, overwhelming stream of concerned questions, asking about absolutely everything from his studies to his health to whether he'd been eating properly.
The Duke, whose own figure had also grown considerably fuller and rounder from years of living a comfortable and uneventful life, maintained a deliberately stern and dignified expression that didn't quite match the obvious affection in his eyes.
"He's already grown up now. Why are you fussing over him so excessively?" he said with forced gruffness.
The Duchess immediately shot her husband a sharp, withering glare that could freeze water. "I'm caring about my own son. Is that somehow not allowed?!" Her tone made it abundantly clear this wasn't actually a question.
Boshita chatted pleasantly with his doting parents for quite a while, catching up on years of family news and local gossip, before finally managing to excuse himself and return to his personal chambers. The familiar room looked exactly the same as he remembered from his childhood, only meticulously cleaned and maintained by the diligent household servants during his absence.
With nothing particularly pressing to occupy his time and the driver's enthusiastic descriptions still echoing in his mind, he recalled what the servants had mentioned and decided to satisfy his curiosity by entering the Dreamscape for the first time in years.
Ever since Alto's revolutionary presentation and public demonstrations, countless designers have been deeply inspired and energized by the new possibilities. Recently, more and more innovative new works have emerged across the Dreamscape, and fundamental gameplay styles have undergone dramatic transformations that would have seemed impossible just months ago.
Leveling systems, skill trees, inventory management, detailed stat panels, and character progression, all of these gaming concepts had been enthusiastically introduced by ambitious creators. Though most implementations were admittedly still rather basic and crude compared to Alto's polished work, merely copying superficial mechanics without understanding the deeper design philosophy, even so, the Dream Game scene was now genuinely flourishing with unprecedented variety and creativity.
At this particular moment, the forum had been completely overwhelmed and "spammed to death" by enthusiastic netizens. Information, memes, and discussions flew everywhere chaotically.
[Today's work status: physically sitting at my desk all day, my soul slowly leaving my body]
[Got hella flamed by my boss again today, so in a very justified crashout, I…]
[What happened? Did you finally quit?]
[I got mad for exactly one second before apologizing… (I'm such a pussy)]
[…coward]
The forum was filled with posts sharing mundane daily life struggles, absurd meme posts, playful arguments, and all manner of entertaining nonsense that had nothing to do with actual dream games.
Naturally, the largest and most active section remained dedicated exclusively to Dream Games, with endless strategy discussions, achievement comparisons, and heated debates.
Boshita was so thoroughly shocked by what he saw that he didn't even know what to say. Looking at the ridiculous yet somehow engaging conversations between forum users, he felt exactly like the unsophisticated country bumpkin visiting a grand imperial palace for the very first time, as he did three years ago when he first arrived in the capital.
What kind of bizarre new cultural phenomenon was this? The Dreamscape really did seem fundamentally different from what he remembered. It actually looked genuinely interesting and vibrant now, full of personality and community.
He began browsing the forum with steadily growing interest, clicking through various popular threads. Then suddenly, a prominently featured post caught his attention immediately.
[Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City] - Coming Soon
Now randomly recruiting 100 lucky players for exclusive closed early access
It wasn't that Alto was deliberately teasing eager players with limited access out of cruelty. The practical reality was that there were simply too many significant modifications and entirely new experimental elements added to this project, along with his own ambitious original ideas. The sheer scale of Liberty City far exceeded anything in his previous games by an order of magnitude.
He desperately needed real player data and feedback to further refine the complex framework and identify problems before the full release.
The post's popularity was through the roof, with literally countless excited comments flooding in below the announcement within minutes of posting.
[No idea what type of game this even is, but anything by Master Alto is guaranteed top quality. I want in desperately!]
[Already signed up immediately! Hurry and announce the results! I genuinely can't wait any longer!]
[I'd willingly trade ten years of my life for a guaranteed slot!]
[I hereby sacrifice my brother's chance of getting a girlfriend to the universe in order to guarantee I get randomly picked…]
Below the enthusiastic post was a simple registration button for interested participants. Seeing just how incredibly popular this announcement was, Boshita grew genuinely curious about what exactly Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City actually was and why everyone seemed so excited.
Without any real hesitation, acting on pure impulse, he clicked the registration button to throw his name into the selection pool.
One day later, the random selection results were officially released. Alto published another forum post ceremoniously announcing the complete list of lucky participants who'd been chosen.
He also strategically added an exclusive promotional video to generate maximum hype and give people their first real glimpse of Liberty City.
Not long after the results post went live, a massive number of eager users flooded in to check the list. Those who found their usernames listed laughed loudly with triumphant joy. Those who didn't see their names slumped visibly in crushing disappointment, some even literally jumping up and down in frustration at their terrible luck.
Boshita was genuinely surprised when he discovered his name on the list. He honestly hadn't expected to actually get randomly selected from such a casual registration on a whim. His luck was apparently quite good.
Nice. Very nice indeed.
Soon after reviewing the participant list, he received a private message through the Dreamscape system. It formally informed him that he had been successfully selected for closed early access, along with the specific time and location for the testing session. Participants would need to report in person.
Then he noticed that a promotional video had been attached to the announcement post. His curiosity now burning intensely, he immediately clicked to watch it.
The video opened dramatically. Shrill, urgent sirens suddenly blared through the audio, immediately grabbing attention!
The screen revealed a dazzlingly prosperous city at night, absolutely blazing with light and activity. Towering buildings stretched toward the sky, their surfaces covered in brilliant neon signs advertising everything imaginable. Streets teemed with life.
Boshita was utterly stunned, his eyes widening. What incredible place was this supposed to be? It looked even more technologically advanced and bustling than the Imperial Capital itself, which seemed impossible.
He'd never heard of such a city existing anywhere in the known world! Was this entirely fictional?
The intense footage continued without pause. A highly rhythmic, driving soundtrack kicked in, perfectly matching the action. On the crowded, bustling streets below, a sleek and futuristic magic-powered motorcycle suddenly roared dramatically into view, its design unlike anything he'd ever seen.
The motorcycle accelerated hard, speeding recklessly down a wide multi-lane avenue, weaving between slower vehicles. Behind it in aggressive pursuit, several official-looking vehicles, all painted in identical law enforcement colors, were chasing the motorcycle with determination.
The piercing sirens never stopped wailing. At the roadside, a uniformed werewolf law enforcement officer tried valiantly to physically block the fleeing vehicle's path, but was skillfully evaded by the talented driver with ease.
The motorcycle approached slowly. A mysterious figure wearing a distinctive green vest leaned out partway, wind whipping his clothes. In his outstretched hand was something resembling an alchemical potion bottle, glowing with an eerie soft blue light.
With casual confidence, he pulled the activation ring free and tossed the item backward toward his pursuers without even looking.
"BOOM!" The blue vial exploded on impact with devastating effect, instantly freezing one entire pursuing patrol car completely solid in a massive block of magical ice.
The vehicle's enormous momentum sent it skidding wildly and uncontrollably far down the street before it finally slammed into a roadside decorative flowerbed and exploded in a massive fireball.
Suddenly, without warning, another patrol vehicle emerged at high speed from an intersection directly ahead, cutting off the escape route. There was absolutely no time to dodge or brake.
CRASH! The violent head-on collision shattered glass everywhere in a spectacular spray, and the man inside the motorcycle was left completely disoriented and stunned by the impact.
But he recovered his senses with impressive speed and immediately jumped free of the wrecked vehicle. Another patrol car was already closing in fast from behind, trapping him.
He quickly pulled out a bizarrely shaped firearm unlike any conventional weapon, its barrel nearly as thick as a person's thigh. Clearly, dwarven craftsmanship.
He took careful aim at the approaching vehicle. "BOOM!" The massive recoil from the hand cannon nearly knocked him completely flat on his back.
The patrol vehicle ahead was blown to bits by its sheer force.
Immediately afterward, he ran desperately to the roadside, where a terrified canine demi-human civilian was sitting peacefully in his parked car, casually eating fried food and minding his own business.
The sudden scene scared the poor guy senseless. He frantically tried to start the engine and flee to safety, paws fumbling with the controls.
Too late. The criminal rushed over with frightening speed. With a violent clang, he brutally yanked the door open, then with another swift, practiced motion, physically dragged the screaming, terrified man out onto the pavement.
He jumped into the stolen car, started it immediately, and sped off at dangerous speeds, leaving behind a traumatized canine civilian screaming the worst insults imaginable at the fleeing vehicle.
As the intense action continued and escalated, his visible crime rating climbed steadily to four stars, prominently displayed. The number of law enforcement pursuers kept increasing exponentially in response.
Sirens wailed nonstop from multiple directions as panicked civilians desperately scrambled to get out of the dangerous pursuit's path.
A loud mechanical buzzing suddenly echoed ominously from the sky above. What was that sound?
Looking up, several advanced hovering magnetic motorcycles appeared, racing through the air toward the fleeing criminal with impressive speed. Mounted on them were uniformed officers of multiple races.
Eventually, after a lengthy chase, he drove the stolen vehicle directly into a dead end with no escape route. The entire street was completely sealed off by law enforcement.
A tactical unit composed of multiple different races surrounded him from all sides, weapons drawn. Above, the hovering bikes floated ominously in formation, cutting off aerial escape.
A rabbit-folk officer with distinctive long ears used amplified magic to project her voice across the entire area, issuing a final official warning authoritatively.
"I am Officer Judy of the LCLE. On behalf of Liberty City's Supreme Court, I hereby formally announce your immediate arrest! Drop all weapons immediately and surrender at once, or we will have to take lethal measures!"