Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Release (1)
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A familiar screen, a familiar face, and an unfamiliar platform and interface.
That was the impression of users logging into Twitch for the first time.
Whether he knew what was on their minds or not, James Han was busy clicking away, adjusting the interface.
“Hold on, I’m still not used to this yet.”
Whistling with an air of utter leisure—that was the James Han everyone knew.
However, the viewers were in no mood to wait for him.
『Luka: Just play the game already!』
Someone typed in the chat.
It wasn’t just one person’s opinion.
The several thousand people who had rushed in the moment the stream went live all felt the same way.
After all, wasn’t *Hellic 2* the hottest topic in the gaming industry right now, even more so than the latest AAA titles?
They were dying to know what ending Alid Russo had praised so highly.
And that wasn't all.
『Dadbom: Did you hear anything about the release date from the developers?』
Those who had been watching his streams for a while knew.
They knew that James Han's first-ever stream had been a reveal of a *Hellic 1* Easter egg, and that he was personally acquainted with *Hellic*'s director.
In fact, it was Yeon-ho who had suggested he start streaming in the first place.
As such, the chat was filled with viewers expecting some meaningful information.
Besides his fans, there were fans of *Hellic*, people from the gaming industry, and even gamers who had flocked from Korean communities, already pushing the viewer count close to five thousand.
Amidst all this intense interest, James, unfazed in the center of the chaos, leisurely finished his setup and spoke.
“First off, sorry for the delay. As you can see, there was the issue of switching platforms… and besides that, I got the closed beta version.”
James shrugged.
“I started playing, and a week just flew by.”
The chat froze for a moment.
In short, that meant one thing.
『Luka: …You’re late because you were playing the game?』
James snapped his fingers.
“Bingo!”
For the viewers, it was an infuriating situation.
I mean, for someone whose job was to stream games, being late because he was playing by himself—did that even make sense?
The chat scrolled rapidly, filled with voices of discontent.
Then, James said.
“Hey, I’m telling you, I didn’t even realize a week had passed! I was barely eating one meal a day playing this thing!”
His protests, feigning injustice, showed not a hint of remorse.
However, despite the annoyance of his audacity, the anticipation for the game only grew.
What kind of game could make someone forget the passage of time for a whole week?
The question soon turned into impatience.
『hellic2wait: Please, just start already!!!』
The chat was on fire.
James narrowed his eyes with a sullen look.
“What’s with all the fuss? Should I just leave? Hey, and you, type in English. It’s hard to read Korean.”
The chat went dead silent.
Most of the viewers knew that James was the type of guy who would actually leave.
The reason his stream hadn't failed despite this was simple.
『DoDorian: If only there was just one other person who could play games like this guy...』
No one could replace his performance.
His gameplay was just that unique.
Only after confirming the quieted chat did James nod and switch his screen.
“Alright, let’s all get along.”
*Click—*
What appeared with the sound was a gray sea under a crimson sky, and a title floating in the center.
[Hellic 2: Hell Of Alice]
It was the game's intro screen.
“As promised, I’m here to do a live playthrough. I’ve figured out the general routes and completed a clear strategy. Today’s content is a New Game speedrun.”
The most perfect form of training is the kind where the subject doesn't even realize they're being trained.
That was James's philosophy, and it was working again today.
『Luka: This is it!!!
Dadbom: You’re playing to the end, right? Huh? You’re showing us the ending today, right?
DoDorian: No! You should be explaining everything slowly from the beginning, not doing a speedrun!!!』
Cheers and screams erupted simultaneously, and James wore a deeply satisfied smile.
‘Perfect!’
A pervert who took pleasure in controlling others' emotions—that was the true nature of the man named James Han.
A week of preparation for this day; it was so thorough that there was no room for error.
There was no hesitation in his movements.
“Here we go!”
[START]
The game began.
A timer at the top of the screen started ticking.
The viewers who had been fuming, now focused on the game as it started.
They couldn't afford to miss a single moment.
And so, the first cinematic began, showing a girl collapsed on a beach.
[SKIP]
Suddenly, the screen jumped to the in-game view.
『Luka: …?』
Before anyone’s question could be resolved.
*Tap tap tap!*
Alice, the character on screen, started running straight ahead without even checking the items she had farmed.
Then came the first monster encounter.
*Pow! Pow! Pa-pow!*
With dazzling movements, Alice shot her slingshot and killed the black skeletons.
Again, she moved on without checking the farmed items.
『Zessica: …Hey, wait a minute.』
There was no stopping him.
Alice began to run, outpacing the butterfly.
The map had already transitioned to Chapter 1.
Just as another cinematic was about to play.
[SKIP]
The screen jumped to the in-game view.
The viewers slowly began to sense a feeling of dread.
『Dadbom: Don’t tell me…』
Their fears were correct.
James picked his nose and said.
Meanwhile, one of his hands was still masterfully manipulating the keyboard.
“I said it’s a speedrun, didn’t I?”
*Pow! Pa-pa-pow!*
Alice was on a rampage with her slingshot.
It was a level of control the viewers couldn't comprehend, and even if they did later, they could never replicate.
But it wasn't just the controls they couldn't understand.
The story of the game that had received such high praise, the identities of the girl and the butterfly, and the story of the Warden that was to come—they were in a situation where they couldn't even dream of seeing any of it.
This was something no one who had looked forward to today had wanted.
But there was no one who could stop it.
The controller was in James’s hands.
*Pa-pow!*
All they could do was watch the Chapter 1 map, which was much longer than in the demo version, and James clearing it in a bizarre way.
All they could do was watch as the god who had been so notoriously terrifying in the demo version was toyed with in Alice's hands before falling.
And that made the viewers feel even more miserable.
『Kissme: The slingshot looks fun…』
They should have been angry, but all they felt was envy.
『micetester: The chapter length has increased quite a bit. It was impossible to farm that many resources at this point in the demo.』
The closed beta was different from the demo version they had already experienced.
It was offering them so much more.
They couldn't even call them sour grapes anymore.
This was a fruit not yet permitted to them, and the fact that it would be one day made them yearn for it even more.
“Going faster.”
And so, in Chapter 2, the moment Alice reached an uncharted, unknown territory, the viewers' despair and thirst deepened beyond measure.
He was truly as fast as he had claimed.
For that reason, he drew the viewers in.
The explanation for Chapter 2 that the butterfly spat out in a speech bubble.
[SKIP]
The script written on an object.
[SKIP]
Even the monster patterns and the boss's gimmicks.
[SKIP]
Everything was skipped except for certain patterns that were unavoidable.
The viewers could only stare blankly as James, now somehow in Chapter 4, played on.
At some point, the atmosphere in the chat changed.
『Luka: Wow, Chapter 4 is no joke, huh?』
None of them were talking about the ending anymore.
They were captivated by the stimulation of the changing weapons from the accumulated build, and the actually implemented map and combat.
It was a magic that only James could conjure.
It was also part of Yeon-ho's intention.
“It was fun. The game itself was just fun.”
*Hellic 2* had gained attention solely for its ending.
Because a giant in the industry had focused only on the ending.
Therefore, Yeon-ho had to make a point.
That there was much more to *Hellic 2* to pay attention to than just the ending.
『Dadbom: They’ve mixed fine art techniques into the art design. It’s unique. That’s really stylish.』
As the visual stimulation continued, the art became prominent.
『Kissme: The sound just pops in every now and then. I wonder if they’ll release the soundtrack separately?』
The sound that jumped out at crucial moments added to the flavor.
『DoDorian: Is this the final build? No, is that a slingshot?』
Presenting an achievable goal through gameplay spurred their desire to take on the challenge.
Such moments continued, and then it was the end.
The Chapter 4 boss fight.
*Rumble—*
The man with the goat's head pulled one of the spears piercing his body and gripped it in his hand.
James grinned.
“This one’s particularly tough. Second only to the final boss.”
He didn't explain further.
He just began to confront the creature with his slingshot.
It was something that could only be described as performance art.
No, not just this moment, but the entire stream today was like that.
How else could one describe this experience of watching him break down gimmicks that others didn't even know existed, all without any explanation, and providing such a mesmerizing experience?
Meanwhile, the viewers were amazed once again.
『Khanzing: The combat direction is insane for a polygon-based game.』
No matter how much depth was added to the art through stylistic techniques, the base was still polygons.
Some dissonance was inevitable, yet during moments of specific patterns and gimmicks in combat, the harmony of the camera angle, sound, art, and the intuitiveness of the patterns was so pronounced that the level of immersion skyrocketed to unbelievable heights.
James pointed out only that part.
“During the pattern animations, it was convenient because I only had to worry about breaking the gimmick. The combat difficulty is pretty well-balanced.”
*Of course, you would say that.*
Just as the viewers were brushing off his words.
Someone finally noticed something.
『Kissme: It's been three hours already? Even with skipping everything and rushing like this?』
The playtime had already surpassed three hours.
What did that mean?
It meant that the volume of *Hellic 2* was much larger than the users had thought.
To that, James replied.
“If you play normally, it’ll probably take over 10 hours? Oh, of course, that’s if you play without dying.”
The chat shot up at an unreadable speed, momentarily paralyzing it.
James smiled and added.
“That's why it took me a week. This game is designed with multiple playthroughs in mind. That's why I'm showing you a New Game.”
The news that the anticipated new title had a large volume was good news.
The viewers began to cheer at the meaningful information.
However, the masterpiece that would satisfy them had not yet appeared.
『micetester: So when’s the Warden?』
This was a shared goal among most of the viewers waiting for *Hellic 2*.
They had already given up on so much and learned quite a bit about *Hellic*'s other strengths.
But they couldn't give up on the Warden, and numerous viewers began to agree with ‘micetester’'s chat message.
The protagonist from the previous game appearing in the sequel—wasn't it natural to want to know in what form he would appear and how he would intervene in the game?
It was even more so since he had presented such a shocking visual in the trailer.
But there was an unfortunate truth.
What they wished for would not happen.
It was the moment the final boss of Chapter 4, the Hell of Mutual Destruction, the man with the goat's head, was defeated.
*Thud—*
The game ended.
『Dadbom: ?
Luka: ???
Kissme: What are you doing?
Khanzing: Is it a bug?
micetester: Hey, the game closed.』
Everyone thought it was a temporary bug.
A common error that could happen in a closed beta version, that's how they thought of it.
But it wasn't.
“It’s not a bug. I turned it off.”
James said.
“They told me to stop here. Anything more would be a spoiler, they said.”
As he said this, James was smiling brightly.
“But I think so too. If you know this ending before playing, the game won't be as fun. It's an ending you can savor for at least a second playthrough.”
He turned on his camcorder screen.
Filling the screen, James, who had started to grow a beard, waved his hand.
“I have to go back to playing. That's all for today. Good work, everyone. Oh, they said the release date will be announced soon. Keep an eye on their social media.”
*Beep—!*
The stream ended.
As sudden as if children lost in a dream had been thrown back into reality.
As was to be expected, only empty cries remained in the chat.
[hellic2wait: YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!]
The viewer with the username ‘hellic2wait’, community nickname ‘WaitingforHellic2’, real name Kang Seok-hoon.
He was so frustrated today that he cried.
The Release (1)