International Game Exhibition: Gamestar (4)
Even in virtual reality games, professionals exist.
Not full-time gold farmers, mind you…
Actual professional gamers — people who make a living playing games.
Destiny was one of them.
Kingdom & Honor. A competitive fighting VR game set in the medieval era. What use would a twenty-first-century person have for a talent with a blade? But the birth of virtual reality gaming had opened a path for talents that no longer fit the age — and in a VR environment that, corrections aside, fundamentally reflected real-world physical ability, Destiny's gift had blossomed in full.
But Kingdom & Honor had its flaws.
Of course, no game is without flaws — but this one had a truly fatal problem.
Balance.
Certain weapons performed so well that they were outright banned from official matches. And among the various multiplayer battlefields, the map called Riven Sky boasted a grotesque structure in which one side held a win rate of over seventy percent.
Destiny knew full well that balance could never be perfect no matter what you did. But in Kingdom & Honor's case, it was a little much.
Which was why he sometimes found himself wondering, Have these developer bastards even played their own game before patching it?
Of course, that kind of thought was fairly widespread. Murray — who had lost Harada and Ikeda — had been cursed the same way, and still gone ahead and shipped Health Applause and Backhand Double-Click, proudly earning the title of game-illiterate.
And so Destiny had doubted the skill of the game director leading this hastily assembled event raid: Shin Se-rin.
It was only natural. Not only did she have a midriff so voluptuous it looked like it would hinder her movement — her slender frame seemed thoroughly removed from anything athletic. She looked less like someone who could swing a sword and more like someone who might trip and fall just walking down the street, and it would still be entirely plausible.
And yet, right now—
"Whoa…"
Watching Shin Se-rin take the lead against the gatekeeper monster guarding the boss room entrance, Destiny could only let out a breath of awe.
Far from flinching at the monster's attacks, she read the arc of the gatekeeper's greatsword with perfect precision, angling her shield to deflect the strike's impact point cleanly. And she didn't stop at defense — she flowed into offense as smoothly as water, driving her blade cleanly into the enemy's weak point.
A critical hit, almost certainly.
If that kind of combination happened once? It could be coincidence.
But against a relentless barrage of attacks — without a single mistake, without taking a single hit — Shin Se-rin was, quite literally, dominating the battlefield.
After she defeated the gatekeeper and the boss room door creaked open with theatrical flair…
"Um, Director?"
Destiny couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.
"Have you ever done any kind of athletic training… or something like that?"
It was a sudden question, but Shin Se-rin answered with a gentle smile.
"I'm not really fond of physical activity… Why do you ask, Destiny?"
Right. Of course not. Even her soft, plump-looking thighs showed no hint of defined muscle.
In that case…
"…Never mind. You're incredible."
"Well… I'm a developer. A developer ought to know the game they built, don't you think? Heh."
In a single sentence she had delivered pure condemnation upon countless game-illiterate developers — but to Destiny's ears, it didn't sound bad at all.
He was simply, genuinely astonished.
If what she said was true… that was a talent chilling enough to raise goosebumps. Good enough to go pro right now without anyone batting an eye.
If he and Shin Se-rin faced each other in Kingdom & Honor right now — given the combat sense he had just witnessed…
"Alright, the boss fight starts soon. Everyone read the briefing materials that were handed out beforehand, right? It shouldn't be too hard, so don't be too tense. Just relax and enjoy yourselves."
Serin's clear, ringing voice cut through Destiny's thoughts.
And the moment they entered the boss room, a peculiar status window appeared in the corner of his vision.
"Oh, a DPS meter."
"There's a meter…? Okay, suddenly the pressure is real. Huge pressure."
"Well, it only shows the top six, heh. Viewers — want to make a bet? Whether our names make the board or not."
Excited chatter bubbled up all around them.
"Shall we begin, then?"
The raid leader declared the start.
What had been revealed at today's showcase was the first named boss of the Shadow Order's Forward Base.
As the first boss players would encounter in the inaugural twenty-four-man raid, Se-rin had been especially careful with the difficulty tuning. This wasn't an ordinary PC online game — it was a virtual reality title where you had to see and move with your own body.
Patterns needed to be as intuitive as possible. Telegraphs for incoming attacks had to be visually readable even at close range.
And then there were the mechanics.
Mechanics were, of course, an indispensable element of any raid. But if they went too far? The dreaded label of "cyber guerrilla warfare" would stick all over again — so she had accounted for that as thoroughly as she could. At the same time, the sense of accomplishment from a real challenge still had to be guaranteed, so for the full release she planned to correct the difficulty through tiered modes.
"The very moment she said it! Ninety percent — the Corrupted High Priest Hibamu's health drops below ninety! In a typical RPG, this would be when the first mechanic kicks in. How about it, Sound Director Seo Han-ryang?"
"Yes, just as the soft prelude that had been flowing suddenly turns passionate—"
"You can stop with the sound talk! The music is great! Really great! The atmosphere is fantastic!"
The audience gathered in the seats watching the showcase footage erupted in laughter as one.
True to form for a sound director, Seo Han-ryang seized every opening to sneak in a "Doesn't the audio slap?" — and caster Byeon Dong-jin elevated it into a running gag. Seo Han-ryang flushed briefly, then continued his explanation.
"As the system message on screen indicates, four players are randomly designated as 'Sacrifices.' Then a player who has received the 'Purification' buff makes contact with a Sacrifice, clearing the debuff one stage at a time… It's a basic cooperative mechanic of that sort."
In theory, it was easy.
But in virtual reality, where visual information was limited?
"Everyone stop DPS! Clear the Sacrifice debuffs first!"
Despite Se-rin's order—
"Sacrifice! Where's the Sacrifice?!"
People who couldn't even find the person and wandered around lost.
"I'm over here! I said I'm over here!"
Someone so panicked at being selected that they ran around screaming at the top of their lungs…
"ILikeZero! Please stop running and just stand still…!"
…thereby actively interfering with the person trying to Purify them.
"Sixth… fifth…"
And people who, with the complacent attitude of "someone else will handle it," just kept slamming the boss with everything they had.
It was a display so close to the average pickup-group experience that anyone with RPG background knowledge wore a bitter smile.
"Mmm! Cooperation really is a difficult thing, isn't it! Hahaha — what happens if you fail?"
"It doesn't go as far as… a full wipe."
Just as Seo Han-ryang was about to elaborate—
Two Sacrifices strengthen the Corrupted High Priest's power!
Along with the alert announcing the mechanic failure—
"Oh! Health at ninety-three percent! The boss just slurped that HP right back up. Any other penalties?"
"It will vary by difficulty when the game fully launches, but for now you can just keep in mind that the boss gets a bit stronger."
"It's already strong! And it gets stronger! Excellent — very intuitive. Then let's take a look at your director, tanking those powerful attacks head-on!"
At Byeon Dong-jin's words, a high-angle camera that seemed to survey the entire field locked onto Shin Se-rin.
And before the audience's eyes, a spectacle unfolded.
Facing an opponent easily several times her size, with a staff the size of her own torso swinging down at her — Shin Se-rin didn't so much as blink as she naturally caught and turned each blow.
"My word! That weight must be no joke — how is she holding up?"
"She seems to be actively using a parrying skill that reduces damage when you receive an attack at the precise timing. …It can't be easy."
"Parrying! In an action RPG, parrying is everything! But why is she so good at it? Is it because she's a goddess — the strongest being in the setting?!"
Just as Byeon Dong-jin was carrying on…
While shouldering the main tanking duties against the boss monster, Se-rin shone brightest in the most precarious place — a crane among chickens, if there ever was one.
As a developer she would know the patterns, of course, and she had clearly practiced for the showcase — but still.
"Ahh! Tankie's down again — Tankie's flying! Got a little too greedy on the DPS, maybe? Director Shin Se-rin cleanly parried that same attack right next to him!"
DPS players dealing from beside the tank went flying. DPS players dealing from behind the boss took rear patterns square-on and went tumbling through the air. With so few people still standing firm, Se-rin's visibility only climbed higher.
Watching it all…
She said she'd take it easy, but she's grinding her teeth out there…
Seo Han-ryang quietly let out a sigh.
.
.
.
"At last! In fifteen minutes — the boss is down!"
People grow through their mistakes. Because they couldn't afford a disaster at a showcase, the mechanics had been tuned to minimize the chance of a full wipe — and after the fumble on the first Sacrifice selection, every raid member had pulled themselves together and performed their roles properly.
And so the demonstration wrapped up without any major issues…
Everything they had set out to show — the image of people cooperating against a colossal foe, the image of each fighter battling with their own distinct style — and on top of that, Shin Se-rin's unintended carry power.
The audience answered the historic first clear with applause and cheers.
Having gotten through the broadcast without any particular incidents, Seo Han-ryang could finally breathe easy. Now it was time for him to step down.
On cue, Byeon Dong-jin rose from the commentary desk and strode to the front of the stage, a broad grin on his face.
"Now it's time to meet the real star of the show! Your director — Director Shin Se-rin! Please welcome her with a round of applause!"
As the ovation poured down…
Se-rin walked out from backstage.