Chapter 70: Chapter 71: Evaluation (2)

Ayado’s play continued.

His character became more powerful, and yet just as helpless, by attaching bride’s parts.

The [Firearm: Matan] build, a combination of Napoleon’s head, Joan of Arc’s chest, and Simo Häyhä’s arm, turned every step Aya took into a deadly blow.

Apart from these, he farmed several other parts, but these three were Ayado’s favorites.

The reason was the satisfying impact of their strikes.

So, it was the moment when he entered the boss room of Chapter 2.

“Hoo hoo hoo…”

“Hoo hoo hoot…!”

A cinematic unfolded.

Overlapping laughter, stimulating Ayado’s hearing.

That wasn’t all.

The background music that had been playing throughout became even more eerie and tense, altering its melody.

Electronic sounds entered, and Ayado’s hearing became more sensitive than ever.

Step by step, brides started to appear as footsteps echoed.

They gracefully danced across the wide terrain without even needing the skeleton soldiers who had been guarding them.

Then, they joined hands.

Ayado understood where these dance moves had originated.

“A couples’ dance?”

Tango, swing, waltz, and other multi-person dance moves.

Brides spun around based on those moves, drawing closer to each other.

The fluttering robes stole the attention.

Their seductive gestures and movements swayed the heart.

They embraced each other, entwining and falling gracefully to the floor as one.

Ssssh…

The thin fabric almost became a barrier, obscuring the sight of the brides.

At the end, an enormous sword that was at least six meters long was lifted.

“Whoa…”

It was like watching a performance.

Following the sound of Kugugung!, the tomb stirred, and skeletons rose, intertwining.

What was created was the upper half of a colossal woman.

Her appearance was otherworldly.

From a distance, she appeared as a strange silhouette of a woman, but upon closer inspection, her entire body was composed of skeletal elements, emitting a eerie and sinister atmosphere.

Her posture, with her pelvis pushed back and one hand gripping the ground, was seductive, but the sword she held in her hand was a sinister black blade entwined with brides.

Ayado was captivated by its form.

However, he couldn’t continue her contemplation for long.

―Aaaah…!

With the sound, the cinematic ended, and they entered the combat phase.

Bang!

Ayado’s gun spewed fire.

***

Excluding cinematic sequences, the combat lasted for 8 minutes, and the boss pattern was divided into two phases, with Ayado succeeding in defeating the boss on the third try, having realized the truth after two previous attempts.

The battle fatigue wasn’t significant. In fact, it was non-existent. “Fun,” Ayado thought to himself.

It was so thrilling that time seemed to fly by. The well-executed design, from the moment of facing the boss, was the most captivating part. Simultaneously, he realized his own mistakes, and a bitter laugh escaped him.

“I should have assessed it,” he mused. But at some point, he forgot about evaluating and got completely immersed in the game.

Ayado saw the message “Start the next round?” in front of him. His hand was automatically moving towards “Yes.”

Thankfully, he had an excuse ready. “I got four hours.”

There was still time. Also, there was something Ayado hadn’t checked yet. “He mentioned a sub-route.”

His first playthrough had followed the most common path. So, this time, shouldn’t he explore an unconventional route?

Ayado went through a series of self-justifications and then manipulated the controller. “Yes,” he selected.

And so, he continued through the second and third rounds.

He had spent seven hours on the game that day.

“How was it?” Yeonho entered just as he had finished his main playthrough.

Ayado only now realized Yeonho hadn’t been in the room. There were many emotions surfacing, but there was only one answer to that question.

“It was fun. I didn’t know I could still play games at this age.”

“Contrary to the rumours, you’re quite generous with your evaluation.”

“Is that so?”

The game deserved that praise, no exaggeration or understatement. It was the unaltered truth.

“Everything was planned, way beyond is expectaions.” Ayado thought. Analysis gives reasons for enjoyment. It exposes all the calculations that lead to the thought of “it’s fun” while looking at elements in the game, with no exceptions.

In that regard, Hellic 3 was an incredibly calculated game. It move past the melting of the previously mentioned narrative or the intuitiveness of the system with a ‘customization’ aspect for hunting monsters. Instead, fundamentally, the game was constructed to thoroughly deceive the player, right from its choice of genre.

“Is that the reason it’s an action game?”

Yeonho smiled subtly, a silent affirmation.

Ayado, taking off his glasses to clean them, he said, “The narrative is precarious. Misinterpreted, it could be seen as a condemnation of soldiers involved in war.”

There was not one element that wasn’t like this. The perpetually resurrecting warriors, Chapter 1 and 2 where you must confront what you’ve killed. Each element had a narrative that teetered on a quite dangerous line, depending on interpretation.

The industry had an old adage: “It’s a controversial element. Games are for fun, not for appeals.”

From this perspective, Yeoho’s game carried inherent risks. Yet, it simultaneously packaged these risks splendidly.

“After playing it three times and approaching it analytically, I realized that the narrative is not as appealing because of all those in game elements.”

In fact, every element was so overshadowing the narrative that you could not judge them without analysis. This was the complete opposite of Hellic 2.

“You handle the narrative quite well. The setting is thoroughly interpreted in a fantastical way. Monsters only vaguely resemble their real-world counterparts and are presented symbolically, while the suffering of the player characters is buried under their personalities.”

And thus, this game became a “game where you don’t need to know the story to progress.”

The extreme end of this was the choice of genre.

“Players don’t expect a story in action games.”

Hellic 3 is an action-adventure. It emphasizes action over adventure, and above all, it’s a game for fighting. In other words, it faithfully adhered to the saying of a legendary action game developer: “The game’s story is like pornography.”

The effects of this were evident.

“During gameplay, players don’t think about the narrative. They won’t consider what circumstances the enemies in front of them have or what’s going on. They’ll only see them as foes to be killed and rewards to be obtained.”

Ayado himself was no exception. What did he think as he confronted enemies in the game? About the narrative structure? The true identity of the enemies?

No, he didn’t.

He only thought about killing the enemies in front of him and obtaining rewards. He thought about the growth of his character and the battles that validated it.

Even after his mind cooled down, it was the same.

“After finishing the game, players separate themselves from their characters. At that moment, any narrative devices revealed are only interpreted as ‘what happened to the protagonist.'”

Discomfort disappears.

Because it is no longer a message of resentment towards them.

An individual in the midst of a war is reduced to the character of the protagonist.

Emphasizing the character here once again works as an advantage.

Furthermore, those monsters are not actual victims; they are virtual enemies created to remind the protagonist of the guilt.

Fantasy symbolism makes you intuitively realize that and erases any discomfort that may arise.

Overall, nothing in the game accuses the player.

Elements are intricately woven together, mutually complementing each other, turning the story’s flaws into strengths.

The perfect balance is achieved between the playable character and the player, and the protagonist’s character is exceptional.

“You’re very perceptive.”

“…It’s a sensitive topic.”

Yeonho’s response seemed to be a surprised expression at first glance.

Is it surprising that he found out so quickly?

He didn’t feel particularly proud of it.

There were still questions left for Ayado to ask.

“Here’s one more thing I want to ask.”

“What is it?”

“What is the role of the ‘Relics’ dropped by the boss?”

Ayado pointed to the monitor.

There, a tooltip was displayed.

“[Relic: The Blind Man’s Footsteps] obtained.”

Most of the prominent systems were understood by Ayado, but this was the only item that she didn’t understand.

There was no special tooltip for it.

It couldn’t be destroyed, and there wasn’t even a guide on how to use it.

It was just an item dropped by the boss.

In other words, he tried to interpret it as a trophy, but there was even an element that made him feel puzzled.

“Depending on your play style, the relics obtained after defeating the chapter boss will change.”

For example, it was like that.

If you play normally on the main route, you get ‘The Blind Man’s Footsteps.’

If you only take the shortcut, ‘The Elusive Breath’ comes out.

If you go through the sub-route with only elite monsters, ‘The Grievous Grasp’ comes out.

In other words, the relics are a combat evaluation factor that changes according to your play style.

So Ayado thought.

“Is this game with multiple ending?”

It seemed like a device for the ending.

Depending on the type of relic, it shows different endings.

Yeonho didn’t immediately respond.

Ayado carefully observed his expression.

After a while, he finally replied.

“…I’m considering it.”

“What do you mean?”

“How to conclude this story.”

It was both a yes and a no.

It was a multi-ending, but it seemed that he hadn’t thought about how it would be harmonized.

Ayado stood up from his seat.

“… It’s not something urgent right now.”

“Are you leaving? How about a meal…”

“No, it’s not that. I ended up playing the game longer than I thought.”

Yeonho didn’t insist any further and nodded his head.

He had a clean personality that Ayado liked.

Ayado looked at him for a moment and then adjusted his breath.

What came out of his mouth was the final evaluation.

“The booth should be a bit bigger.”

Of course, it couldn’t be called a perfect game.

It was incomplete from the start, and aside from that, there were some visible flaws.

But Hellic 3 did an excellent job of covering those flaws, to the point that it drew admiration.

In other words, there’s a definite selling point.

Yeonho’s eyes widened.

Ayado continued to speak with a smug smile.

“The dubbing is still in Korean only.”

“Yes, we couldn’t find the right people.”

“Let’s add English dubbing. We’ll find people on our side.”

Various thoughts ran through Ayado’s mind.

Especially in Japan, he could think of quite a few A-list voice actors who were available.

Voice actor selection in the Japanese market is particularly important because the fan base formed around the voice actors is as significant as, if not more significant than, other celebrities. They would undoubtedly contribute significantly to the success of this game.

However, it was something to think about later.

Ayado extended his hand for a handshake with Yeonho.

“We have about three months left. I’ll see you next time.”

Yeonho stared at Ayado’s hand for a moment and then shook it.

“Yes, I’ll see you then.”

And with that, Ayado left, leaving behind just one comment.

“Oh, by the way, the BGM and sound effects in Chapter 2 were quite impressive. They were quite stimulating. Looks like the sound team is doing a great job.”

He didn’t see the tension in Yeonho’s back as he left.

The moment he stepped out onto the road as the sun was setting.

Ring!

Without hesitation, he made a phone call to Aldred.

The phone call was received.

“Yes, this is Ayado.”

“How was the game?” He asked, out of the blue, showing his typical personality.

But today, Ayado didn’t feel too bad about it.

Thanks to this person’s curiosity, the day had been quite enjoyable, so it was only natural.

Ayado adjusted his glasses and smiled.

“It was good.”

What should I say…

Ayado looked up at the sky.

Passing by were memories of the game he had played today, the characters he had adventured with in another world.

His smile had deepened a little.

“Yeah, that seems about right.”

“I saw the potential.”

His footsteps were quite light.

***

At the Rewind headquarters Ayado left, while Booth Supervisor Ayoon was tidying up, she found it.

On the monitor still turned on, it was the character Ayado had played.

Ayoon scratched her head.

“Hmm…”

No matter how you looked at it, that’s right.

“…Well, it’s kind of perverted.”

Napoleon’s head (double chin), Joan of Arc’s chest (large), bride’s pelvis, and the hairy barbarian’s arms and legs.

Ayoon couldn’t understand the man who had created that character.

She didn’t want to understand.

She just wanted to press the power button and destroy the unsaved data!

That’s how she left the booth.

“Thanks for your hard work, Ayoon. Let’s go now.”

“Yes!”

Yeonho was waiting.

Ayoon grabbed Yeonho’s collar with a big smile and walked out of the headquarters at a brisk pace.

Today was Rewind’s company dinner.

The menu was beef.

But that wasn’t all.

Ayoon asked Yeonho again.

“Can I really drink alcohol…?”

She heard that she had received special permission for it.

Yeonho’s expression when he said that was somewhat gloomy, but Ayoon didn’t know about it.

She got an immediate reply.

“You can drink slowly as long as I give it to you.”

“Yes!”

“Just sit next to me. Don’t go to other tables to get more drinks.”

“Yes!”

Ayoon was happy.

***

In April, as the cherry blossoms fell, rumours began to circulate on the community.

“(Chat) S2PoppyS2: There’s a rumour that Hellic 3 will be unveiled at E3 this year!”

The news spread quietly and quickly.

/RomanceMTL