Chapter 17
Chapter 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Tokyo Game Show (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jaehyeon was startled by the sight of Hojin addressing him.
'This guy's the director...?'
It was because he was far younger than the image of a director Jaehyeon had in his head.
But Jaehyeon quickly shook off the thought.
What did it matter if he was young or old?
Right now, he and Hojin were just a gamer and a director.
"It was really satisfying! I'm usually the type who skips all the story, but this time I couldn't. Especially the part I liked most was in the early prologue..."
As if his usual shy personality had been a lie, words poured endlessly from Jaehyeon's mouth.
Unrefined impressions.
But Hojin could sense the sincerity in Jaehyeon's feedback.
"And lastly... could I ask one personal question?"
"Sure, feel free to ask whatever you'd like."
"Is there... any chance of a Korean server? And if you can tell me, when might..."
A hint of embarrassment crossed Hojin's face.
'Did I go too far with that question...?'
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Hojin gave a small smile and bowed his head.
"We're well aware that many people in our country are waiting for our game. I can't give an exact date, but we'll share good news soon."
Jaehyeon's face lit up with joy at Hojin's words.
"Th-thank you! I'll be waiting!"
"Thank you. We appreciate your continued love for Girls Memorial. Take care on your way back."
With that, Jaehyeon finished his conversation with Hojin and turned to leave.
The moment he was about to exit the booth, he ran into Yerin—who was cosplaying as Karin—once again, the one he'd been looking for.
"Oh, are you leaving already?"
"Yeah, the demo's done. Haha."
Yerin smiled at Jaehyeon's response.
"Then take care on your way back."
After bowing her head and heading into the booth, Jaehyeon hurriedly called out to her.
"Um, excuse me...!"
"Yes?"
"Could we... maybe take just one photo together?"
"Of course."
Unlike Jaehyeon's worries, Yerin readily agreed to the photo.
Click—.
Only after clutching his smartphone with the precious photo tightly could Jaehyeon finally leave the venue.
'I knew coming to the game show was the right call.'
*
📰 Post [Nickname: ??] [Title: Spilling the story of hitting Tokyo Game Show and joining the Girls Memorial booth] 【Photo of arriving at Narita International Airport】 【Photo of Makuhari Messe exhibition hall】 Still in Japan, typing this on my phone, so can't write too much—forgive me.
After getting rejected from Closed Beta signup, I was wallowing in despair, but when I heard about Tokyo Game Show, I booked a flight right away and came over.
The venue was insanely huge.
Zones divided by participating countries, took forever to find.
Tip for anyone planning to go: Skip the mobile game zone and head straight to the Korean companies' exhibition hall.
Girls Memorial was at the Enson GT booth in the Korean game exhibition area.
Actually got lost looking for the booth and a booth girl in Karin cosplay helped me out—more on that later.
【Photo of Girls Memorial booth entrance standees】 Right at the entrance, there were life-size standees of Operator and the three main characters.
Quality was insane—thought they were for sale, but sadly non-commercial items.
【Photo of inside the Girls Memorial booth】 Inside the booth was massive too.
Left side is the demo zone—details later.
Next to it is the listening zone.
They had soundtracks and BGM not in Closed Beta.
Info desk and chairs for waiting too.
【Photo of merch zone】 And this was the second highlight after the demo zone.
Enson GT didn't come unprepared.
Acrylic stands, scroll tubes, keychains, T-shirts—pretty much all merch as samples, and reservations available, so check it out.
Booth review ends here. Now to the game demo everyone was waiting for: 100% satisfaction.
30-minute limit, but feels super short once you start.
Closed Beta client only had Chapter 1 story.
Demo had full prologue implemented.
Most of the Closed Beta story teasers will make sense from the prologue.
Plus new content like bond stories, PVP, stage battles, territory wars—plenty of solid stuff.
Oh, and max bond points lets you marry characters.
Anyone hyped for Girls Memorial, go at least once.
No regrets.
P.S.: Met the Girls Memorial director at the booth—super young.
And hinted at good Korean server news soon, so wait and see.
P.S.2:
<Photo with Yerin in Karin cosplay> Photo with the booth girl who guided me earlier.
She's gorgeous, and the Karin cosplay sync rate was perfect.
Was shaking so bad when I first saw her, thought I'd die.
💬 Comments [By Registration] — Anonymous Whoa lol Tokyo Game Show day 1 isn't open to public right? — Anonymous Yeah, days 1-3 are business days, industry only — Anonymous But how'd you get in lol? Journalist? — Anonymous ↳ Reply No no, got an invite from a game company I do freelance for sometimes. Lucky break — Anonymous Jealous... — Anonymous Those entrance standees look tempting lol, no auction? — Anonymous How crowded was it? — Anonymous ↳ Reply Business day, so not too bad. But all industry folks, so good manners. — Anonymous Korean server mention real or bs? — Anonymous ↳ Reply Legit. Not a firm yes, but said good news coming, so keep an eye out. Jaehyeon's Tokyo Game Show review post shot up to popular status at unprecedented speed thanks to recommendations.
It was the power of the Girls Memorial fandom, starving since Closed Beta and waiting for official launch.
*
Business Days, which had been relatively quiet, finally ended, and Day 5—Public Day—began.
Unlike Business Days limited to industry folks, Public Day allowed general public entry.
Because of that, the number of visitors flooding our booth exploded.
Our booth especially drew twice the crowds of other Korean booths, probably due to word of mouth.
To exaggerate a bit, half the people touring the Korean hall were heading to us.
We'd anticipated crowds, but this exceeded expectations—we were utterly exhausted.
"Please line up single file! No cutting—strictly prohibited! Estimated wait: 1.5 hours!"
"Official merch reservations sold out!! All gone!"
"Don't push the person in front when entering demo zone! After demo, leave your phone and exit!"
"Don't yank the headphones in the listening zone! They'll break!"
It was like a marketplace.
Amid the chaos, Yerin was especially swamped.
SFLAG had promoted her cosplay on SNS, so plenty recognized her.
"Um... are you Yerin from Fairy Tale Workshop?"
"Ah, yes. That's me."
"Been a fan forever! Could you sign my doujinshi?"
"Sure. Hand me the pen."
With a fan handing over doujinshi and pen, Yerin slung her signboard over her shoulder and signed.
"Wow, thank you. Any plans to resume activities...?"
"Probably not for a while. Work's keeping me busy..."
"That's a shame. Keep it up!"
The guest, apparently Yerin's personal fan, cheered her on before heading to another booth.
"Good work."
I approached Yerin during a lull in visitors.
"Haa... I'm dying."
"Hang in there—just a bit left. What do you wanna eat after?"
"Meat... no, eel. Eel it is."
Yerin's eyes sparkled with determination to get her due after all the hard work.
"Got it. I'll tell the team. Take a break. Crowd should thin out soon."
With closing time nearing, most visitors were leaving the booth and venue.
Confirming everyone inside had left, I stepped in—team all looked wiped out.
"Ji Hojin... never again... gimme overtime..."
"Talk to HR."
"It's over now... right?"
"Yeah, all done. Good work, Myunghoon bro."
"Senior... lemme rest a bit..."
"Rest up."
"Good work. Don't forget our deal from last time."
"Of course."
"G-good work..."
"Seol, you did great these 5 days too."
As I tidied up in place of the slumped team,
[Ring ring ring—] [Tokyo Game Show has concluded. General participants, please exit promptly—] The closing announcement rang out, followed by applause from all directions.
Cheers from booth participants celebrating the event's successful end.
With that, Tokyo Game Show drew to a triumphant close.