Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Tokyo Game Show (2)
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The Tokyo Game Show is one of the world's three major gaming events.
Let me say it again: the Tokyo Game Show is one of the world's three great gaming expos and Japan's largest gaming event.
That meant the number of booth staff and attendees far exceeded any other gaming event.
We had just finished setting up the booth and were doing a final check when it happened.
A voice called out from behind me. When I turned around, there was Seol, looking a bit uneasy.
"Um, Director..."
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Oh, no, it's not anything like that... It's just, I feel like all these eyes are focusing on our booth for some reason..."
"That's only natural."
"Huh...?"
"Take a good look."
I took Seol, whose face was full of questions, out of the booth.
There, we saw a sea of booths from Korean companies.
In this whole section, only Enson Korea had a larger booth than ours.
"You get why all the attention's on us just by glancing around, right?"
"Oh..."
"Plus, what's our genre? Mobile games. Look around. What genres are all these other game companies showcasing?"
At my words, Seol began scanning the surrounding booths.
FPS, strategy sims, RPGs, puzzles, rhythm games, action games, and more...
Everywhere she looked, it was nothing but PC and console games.
"Nothing but PC and console games..."
"Right?"
I paused for a moment, then leaned in close to whisper to Seol alone.
"Our company isn't too bad, but there are a lot of devs who think PC and console games are superior to mobile—real elitist types."
"Ah..."
"So now you see why the stares are piling up? And why they're not exactly friendly."
"Y-Yeah... Now that you mention it..."
I chuckled at Seol's response and added,
"Don't let it get to you too much. Those looks will all change in a few years anyway."
I patted the nodding Seol on the back and sent her back to the booth.
'Man, this year really is a drought.'
From my quick scan before heading back, I hadn't spotted any of the famous games from before my regression.
There was one other Korean company with a mobile game booth like ours, but it wasn't anything noteworthy.
At least, none of them matched the hit masterpieces I remembered.
Just then, lost in thought,
Beep—!
The opening announcement blared through the venue—it was showtime.
With that signal, visitors started pouring in through the doors.
The sound of footsteps and excited chatter vibrated the hall.
Snapping back to reality amid the overwhelming atmosphere, I hurried to the booth and called out,
"Everyone to your stations!"
They all moved to their assigned spots.
Yerin and Seol waited at the entrance for crowd-drawing duties.
Chaeyoung Senior stood by in the listening zone to assist with soundtrack demos.
Myunghoon Brother handled tech support for game trials in the experience zone.
Yumi managed official merch reservations in the goods zone.
And I roamed the booth, overseeing everything.
But of course,
The visitors' first steps weren't toward us.
Regrettably, the stars of this game show were the Japanese companies.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Jaehyeon, attending the Tokyo Game Show for the first time this year, was currently feeling utterly confused.
'Wait, the mobile game booths are supposed to be here... so why isn't it there?'
He'd come straight to the mobile game section as marked on the venue map, but there was no trace of the Girls Memorial booth.
If this were a domestic event, he'd have just grabbed a staff member to ask. But this was Japan.
After twice failing to communicate via gestures, he gave up cleanly and started searching on his own.
About ten minutes of wandering later?
Passing through a connecting hallway into another building, familiar company logos started appearing.
'That's why I couldn't find it...'
Feeling relieved, Jaehyeon scanned the area packed with Korean companies when,
Far off in the distance, a familiar figure caught his eye.
'Karin...?'
It was the top unofficial popularity poll character from Girls Memorial—and Jaehyeon's absolute favorite.
With a hunch, Jaehyeon approached the cosplayer and spoke up.
"Excuse me..."
"Yes?"
The moment the cosplayer turned around, Jaehyeon couldn't look away.
It was because she looked exactly like his top beloved character, whom he'd only ever seen on screen.
Her appearance was stunning on its own, but the sync rate felt like she'd jumped straight out of the game. He was speechless.
"Um... sir?"
"S-Sorry. Do you happen to know where the Girls Memorial booth is?"
"Here to try the game?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right."
"This way, please."
Following the booth babe—not Karin, he reminded himself—Jaehyeon finally reached the Girls Memorial booth.
"Follow me inside."
As he trailed her into the booth, Jaehyeon spotted the life-sized standees and lost all self-control.
I have to take a picture.
The booth babe—Karin—nodded readily at his request.
"Normally no, but you're our first visitor. Go ahead and snap away."
Jaehyeon thanked her as she headed deeper inside and snapped photos of the standees.
'This'll blow up the community for sure.'
The illustration quality was top-notch, but life-sized standees like these were rare.
He considered buying one as merch, but no price tag meant they were display-only.
After getting his fill of standee shots, he stepped inside—and another world unfolded.
The experience zone packed with smartphones, the adjacent listening zone.
The rest of the space was cutely decorated with official goods, plushies, the info desk, and more.
But true to her word about him being the first visitor, no one else was around.
"Welcome! This is Girls Memorial, the story of girls' youth!"
"Ah, uh... thanks."
Jaehyeon shrank under the booth babes' vibrant, outgoing energy.
Then he remembered the Karin cosplayer and glanced around, but she was nowhere in sight.
"Want to play right now?"
A bit disappointed, but he'd come to play the game. He'd see her later.
Thinking that, Jaehyeon donned the headset a staffer handed him.
Soon, the bouncy rhythm unique to youth started pulsing through.
It was Girls Memorial's main OST.
The phone screen lit up with the game's logo and a refreshing blue cityscape.
'I'm finally playing Girls Memorial...!'
Thrilled at the chance to experience the prologue properly—skipped in closed beta—Jaehyeon's eyes sparkled with excitement.
He tuned out everything around him and focused on the screen.
It opened with scenery from Academy City "Arc" after the OST faded.
But not the PV version etched in his memory.
The opposite, in fact.
The peaceful city was gone, replaced by half-destroyed buildings, smoke rising everywhere, streets ablaze.
Beyond the ruined cityscape, a young girl's clear voice accompanied rising text.
[...It was our mistake.]
A girl calmly admitting her fault.
Jaehyeon usually skipped story, but not this time.
There was a 30-minute limit, but skipping the prologue felt like it'd leave regrets.
After her calm confession of their failure-ridden past, the girl advised him to make the right choices to protect the girls' youth—then vanished.
The dark screen brightened, launching the prologue story.
Jaehyeon savored every line.
About ten minutes in, finishing the final prologue dialogue, he felt deep satisfaction.
OST was great, art was stunning, story gripping and fun.
But best was how the prologue neatly wove in the game's core setting in an easy-to-grasp way.
Basking in prologue bliss, Jaehyeon checked the time before other content—and jolted.
He'd thought maybe 10 minutes; it was over 20.
With only 10 left, he frantically devoured the rest.
'Ugh, this is maddening...!'
Honestly, he wanted to yell for an extra hour.
If money could buy more time, he'd pay in a heartbeat.
Gameplay wasn't PC-level, but Girls Memorial was addictive.
Combat, gacha pulls, bond stories, etc.
In just 30 minutes, Jaehyeon was hooked.
But time waits for no one.
The session ended. Regretfully eyeing the powered-off phone, he stood.
"Did you enjoy it?"
Startled by an unfamiliar male voice behind him, Jaehyeon whipped around.
A mild-mannered-looking man was gazing at him.
"Uh, y-yeah..."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ji Hojin, General Director of Girls Memorial."