Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: G-STAR (2)
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Is there any point in detailing our journey to Busan and the process of setting up the booth?
It was just that sort of thing.
Time passed, and Studio Rewind had arrived at G-STAR.
On the morning of the first day, I woke up at the hotel, got ready early, and headed to BEXCO.
My team members are generally late risers, so everyone was half-asleep.
But I couldn't afford to cut them any slack.
“Ugh… I’m so sleepy.”
“Just bear with it for three days. We’ll go get something delicious to eat when it’s over.”
If I remember correctly, the total attendance this year was 240,000.
The key was how much of that pie we could claim for ourselves.
We couldn't let our guard down for a moment, and there could be no hitches in our preparation, not even the slightest.
I looked up at our booth.
An illustration of Alice and a butterfly standing on a dark beach.
Below it, the title [Hellic 2: Hell Of Alice] was printed in white letters.
There were eight computers inside the booth.
It was a huge relief that they were all running properly.
I was in the middle of a final check.
“…Do I really have to do this?”
Han Seo-rim appeared, her costume and makeup complete.
She was blushing, wearing a waist-length blonde wig and a pure white dress.
Her glare was fierce enough to kill.
“Relax your face. Alice is supposed to be an innocent girl.”
“What’s wrong with my expression?”
“It’s pretty fierce. You look like a warrior princess.”
“I’m feeling the urge to fulfill my duties as a warrior. What do you think, senior?”
“I’d rather you didn’t.”
I gently lowered Han Seo-rim’s fist, which had risen to my solar plexus.
“Still, you have to do it. Our survival is riding on this project.”
“If our survival is on the line, shouldn’t you have hired a professional? I mean, why am I the one doing this…?”
Suddenly, Han Seo-rim’s face crumpled.
I understood how she felt and was sorry, but I had no room to accommodate her.
“Seo-rim.”
“…What is it?”
“We spent a lot of money getting here. Transportation, lodging, food, not to mention the G-STAR participation fee—it all adds up to the tens of millions of won. Hiring a booth model on top of that would be too much. We need to save money.”
And when it comes to booth models, it’s better not to hire anyone than to hire someone mediocre.
And usually, you have to pay a hefty fee to hire someone decent.
But hiring a booth model was an expense we could cut.
So, shouldn't we?
“The bank account is draining. Fast.”
Transportation for five people was hundreds of thousands of won, food was hundreds of thousands, lodging was several million, the participation fee was several million, and the equipment costs were considerable too.
And even that was less than the usual cost.
That’s because the event organizers had unusually cut the participation fee, which is normally in the millions of won, by half this year.
Honestly, if it weren’t for that, participating in G-STAR would have been a pipe dream.
After I explained the situation, Han Seo-rim made one last desperate attempt.
“…Didn’t you say we received support? And we still spent tens of millions?”
“We did. We got a good spot, didn’t we? Normally, a new indie company like ours wouldn’t be able to get a location like this. That alone was a huge favor.”
I felt bad for Han Seo-rim, but that was the reality.
G-STAR is the largest game exhibition in the country.
This year, its scale had expanded to include international games, drawing even more attention.
The organizers weren’t in a position to be making exceptions for our circumstances.
“Just focus on standing there and looking good. We’ll handle the rest. The blonde suits you.”
Han Seo-rim’s face turned bright red as she ground her teeth.
The dramatic duo stepped in.
“Seo-rim! Your makeup is smudging here!”
“Ah, don’t bite your lip! Your lipstick will come off!”
*Aren’t they the ones enjoying this the most?*
I pushed the thought aside and turned my head.
“…A-yun?”
“H-Huh…?”
What’s wrong with her now?
Her face was as white as a sheet.
“Are you okay? You look really pale.”
“Th-th-th-that’s because…!”
“Want to tell me what’s wrong?”
Jo A-yun hung her head and shrank into herself.
“It’s… it’s so big… and if, if a lot of people come…”
“Aha.”
Her social anxiety was acting up.
It seemed she needed more experience points before she could evolve into Pink Jo A-yun.
“Hmm…”
What should I do about this?
We were already short-staffed, so it was hard to let her sit out.
If I had known beforehand, I could have prepared for it, but it was too late to find someone else now.
‘There are only two hours until the start.’
A solution, a solution…
“…Ah.”
That should work.
“A-yun.”
“Y-Yes…?”
“Do you want to cosplay too? If the problem is people looking at you, you can just cover your face, right?”
I recalled that social anxiety often stems from the pressure of others perceiving you.
If she covered her face, their perception would be diverted, which might bring her some relief.
“Cos…?”
“Yeah.”
Jo A-yun’s eyes spun.
Was she in a state where she couldn’t think straight?
After glancing around nervously, Jo A-yun finally nodded her head up and down.
“Y-Yes, please cover my face…!”
“Alright. Hye-ji. Yu-mi.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes?”
I had the perfect cosplay in mind.
“Go to a nearby mart and buy some aluminum foil and glue. A lot of it. And go to a PC bang and print something out for me.”
“Print what?”
“The images of the gods we used as references.”
The Mosaic God.
That would be Jo A-yun’s cosplay.
***
Step 1: Wrap the entire body in cooking foil.
Step 2: Poke holes for breathing and seeing.
Step 3: Glue the torn images of the god over the foil.
The Mosaic God was complete.
“Hehe…”
Jo A-yun laughed brightly.
Seeing her so much more at ease, I felt relieved.
Meanwhile, Han Seo-rim asked.
“…Senior, is this really okay?”
“Isn’t it fine as long as she’s happy?”
“But…”
Han Seo-rim’s lips faltered before pressing firmly together.
It seemed she had nothing more to say.
I checked the time. Less than ten minutes until the start.
Outside, a massive crowd had already formed.
The clamor was audible even from inside, a clear sign of the numbers.
“It’s quite a contrast, though.”
Han Seo-rim said suddenly, looking at the booth next to us.
It was the booth for *Space Craft 2*.
I looked over as well.
“Yeah, they’re the main event this year.”
The gap between the hall where the main event was held and our small booth felt starkly real.
But instead of feeling deprived or overwhelmed, a different sentiment surfaced.
Because I had seen this sight before.
“They have 100 computers just for demos. Considering the other events they’ll have, it’s going to be loud.”
In my past life, this was the year I first visited G-STAR.
My purpose was to attend the demo for *Space Craft 2*.
The memories from that time are faint, but the emotions remain unfaded within me.
Because that was the very booth that gave a dream to a nobody student like me.
Now, as a participant rather than a visitor, I felt even smaller in front of that massive dinosaur.
“Global conglomerates are on another level. What was it? The news was going crazy, saying they hit it big again this time?”
“Hm?”
“You know, the *Space Craft* sequel. There was a lot of talk about how Blizzid would dominate for the next ten years.”
So that’s what she was talking about.
“…Who knows.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean you shouldn’t carelessly predict the future.”
Unfortunately, there would be no new decade led by Blizzid.
Did *Space Craft 2* fail to be a hit?
Did Blizzid ruin every game they released after that?
Both were wrong.
*Space Craft 2* would be a success.
Blizzid would later create a masterpiece in the hyper-FPS genre.
And yet, there was one reason they failed to lead the era.
‘They couldn’t overcome the fame of their predecessor.’
The games they made afterward deserved high scores by universal standards.
In particular, *Space Craft 2* was a decent game that inherited and completed the narrative of the original, a minor masterpiece in its own right.
Nevertheless, Blizzid was a sinking ship.
Because they failed to surpass their own past, when they stood at the unrivaled peak.
It is the unavoidable fate of all sequels and the burden of all giant corporations.
Their rival is not an external competitor, but their own past.
They must surpass their great predecessor and become even greater.
If they fail, they are branded with the stigma of ‘stagnation’ or ‘regression.’
That was what happened to Blizzid.
Of course, there were various internal and external issues that brought down the future Blizzid, but if I had to pick just one reason why their fame faded, my answer would be, ‘They failed to surpass their predecessor.’
The result speaks for itself.
‘You can’t stop.’
You must constantly research, contemplate, and evolve.
The future must be even greater than the present.
The market always has its eyes only on the winner.
I was lost in thought when it happened.
*Beeeeep—!*
Before I knew it, it was time.
The visitors came pouring through the doors.
The thud of footsteps mixed with voices vibrated through the space.
My reverie was broken.
“…Everyone, to your positions.”
At my word, everyone moved to their designated spots.
Han Seo-rim and Jo A-yun went to the front of the booth to attract visitors.
The dramatic duo stood at their assigned places inside the booth.
I stood in the center, overseeing everything.
And, as expected.
“Ah! There it is! *Space Craft 2*!”
The visitors’ first steps were all directed toward the main attraction.
***
Regardless of the future, the champion of this era was indeed Blizzid.
The swarming crowd proved it.
The *Space Craft 2* booth.
There, the game’s trailer was playing on a giant screen.
[Vwooom—]
In a highly advanced mechanical city, the camera focused on the back of a man standing in a workshop.
His muscular body was covered in scars.
The marks of a life lived hard.
The man’s gaze was fixed on a bizarre flying creature soaring through the city.
The scene intensified, showing the landscape of war.
That was the moment.
[Clank—]
Blue mechanical armor was fitted onto the man’s body.
A rifle, handed over by a mechanical arm, was placed in his hands.
The man stepped forward.
*Thud, thud.* He walked out of the building and looked straight ahead.
In the sky, the monstrous creatures were invading.
Only then did the camera close in on the man’s face.
He was a middle-aged man.
With a cigar in his mouth and a frown on his face, he gave a crooked smile and said,
[Well… it’s about time.]
The moment he said it.
“Waaaaaaaaah—!!!”
A roar that shook the entire BEXCO erupted.
“Whoa! That scared me!”
It was loud enough to startle Han Seo-rim, who was standing in front of the booth.
The sentiment washed over me once more.
This time, it was of a more practical nature.
‘That’s the power of an IP.’
The kind of power my studio needed to have.
The power to drive the public wild with nothing more than existing information and anticipation from the previous game, even before the new one is released.
*Hellic* needed that.
My mind was racing.
Analyzing the trailer, the direction of the moments that elicited reactions from the audience, how to link that to the game itself.
With a textbook example of IP utilization right before my eyes, the thoughts wouldn't stop.
But I couldn’t just stand there soaking it all in.
“Yeon-ho, Yeon-ho! I think that person over there is coming this way!”
Jeon Yu-mi said.
I looked up and sure enough, a visitor was hesitantly approaching, their eyes fixed on Han Seo-rim and Jo A-yun.
***
Seok-hun, owner of the community nickname (formerly) WaitingForZodiac3 and (currently) WaitingForHellic2, found himself in deep contemplation the moment he arrived at the Hellic booth.
‘What is this?’
Right, she must be a booth model.
A pretty girl in a white dress and a blonde wig, that had to be it.
After all, the booth’s sign had an illustration of a girl in the exact same outfit.
She was probably the protagonist of this new game.
Her image, a complete 180 from the previous game’s Warden, was certainly impressive and sparked his curiosity.
He got that part, but…
‘…What in the world is that?’
Seok-hun’s gaze was glued to the creature next to the booth model—a bizarre figure of small stature, wrapped from head to toe in aluminum foil.
His feet were frozen in place by the question.
This was definitely the *Hellic* he had been waiting for.
The illustration was right there in front of him.
It felt as if the creature was emitting some kind of strange force field, stopping him in his tracks.
Just then.
*Flinch—!*
He made eye contact with the aluminum foil creature.
The eyeholes were small, so it was hard to tell, but it definitely seemed to be smiling.
“A-Are you here to play the game…?”
The voice that came out was that of a young girl.
The fact that the creature was a girl was the second shock for Seok-hun.
“Uh… yes…”
The moment he slowly nodded.
“Th-This way, please…!”
As if hypnotized, Seok-hun followed the creature’s guidance into the booth.
The moment he sat down, two energetic-looking women in suits greeted him.
“Welcome! This is Hellic 2!”
“Ah, yes…”
Seok-hun shrank in his seat.
And so, *Hellic 2* welcomed its first customer.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“A-Are you here to play the game…?”
The aluminum foil creature randomly grabbed passersby and asked them the same question.
Everyone who was asked simply nodded with a dazed expression.
Then, just as Seok-hun had, they would walk into the booth as if hypnotized and take a seat.
It was like a scene from a fairy tale, recreating the Pied Piper luring the children.
*Click—!*
The sound of a camera shutter went off.
Without exception, they were all taking pictures of the aluminum foil creature.
Suddenly, Seok-hun looked at the blonde booth model.
She was trembling, her fists clenched tightly.
For some reason, it was scary.
“Would you like to start playing right away?”
A staff member’s voice cut in.
Seok-hun nodded and put on the headset the staff member handed him.
‘R-Right. What do the booth models have to do with me anyway?’
*I’m here to play the game, right?*
As he thought that, the game started right up.
Immediately after.
[Kyaaaaaaah—!]
The familiar intro sound!
The corners of Seok-hun’s mouth lifted.
‘It’s really Hellic 2!’
That sound alone made it feel real.
Realizing that he was about to be one of the very first to play the demo version of *Hellic 2*, just as it was promoted on the community sites, Seok-hun’s eyes sparkled.
Soon, Seok-hun forgot everything around him and began to focus on the screen.
*Click!*
And so, the game began.