Chapter 33: A Major Announcement
“Hello, good evening. Welcome to today’s stream.”
With Hayato’s greeting, the stream began. The Avatars on screen were Hayato and Lilia. Today, the two of them would be hosting the stream.
Beyond the gaze of the two who had just greeted their audience, a monitor set up next to the camera displayed the comment section, where viewer messages scrolled by one after another from top to bottom.
- What’s the major announcement?
- I’ve had a bad feeling about this for a while.
- Did something happen?
- It’s not like, a hiatus or anything, right?
- I was so surprised, I couldn’t sleep last night!
Noticing the many worried comments, Riri hurriedly waved her hand.
“Ah, everyone, I’m sorry for making you worry! It’s good news, so please rest assured!”
At her words, the atmosphere in the comment section changed completely.
- Oh good~ I was panicking.
- If it’s good news, can we get our hopes up?
- Now I’m excited for a different reason!
“I think it’ll be happy news for all of you, so please look forward to it,” Riri said to the viewers with a smile.
- Seriously? What? What is it?
- I wonder what. Can’t imagine.
- New outfits? New character?
Seeing the comment section buzzing with predictions, Riri showed a slightly anxious expression.
“Ah, um. With everyone expecting so much, I’m starting to feel a little anxious.”
“It’s alright.”
Hayato said, lightly patting her shoulder.
“I’m sure they’ll be pleased.”
“Thank you, Hayato. Well then, since there’s no need to drag it out, I’ll make the announcement right away.”
Riri said, as if she had firmed up her resolve.
She operated the keyboard at hand, and a part of the stream screen switched. What appeared was a vibrant graphic, a sophisticated title screen. And then, Hayato’s and Lilia’s Avatars standing gallantly side-by-side.
After the comment section paused for a moment, the flow of messages became incredibly fast. Text scrolled by rapidly.
- Eh? What is this?
- An anime adaptation? A movie?
- It’s a video. No, a game title?
- A game? Seriously?
- Whoa! The quality is too high!
“This is a game that Lilia is producing,” Hayato announced proudly. Following him, Riri explained.
“We’re planning to make this available for all of you to play in the future.”
- I love games! What kind of game is it?
- You made it yourself? That’s too amazing!
- Play it!
- I want to see the gameplay screen!
“Yes. I imagine you’re curious about the content, so we’ll start playing it right away.”
“Let’s play.”
Hayato picked up a gamepad. His Avatar on the stream screen also lifted a gamepad in the same way. Viewers could see them playing directly.
- A gameplay stream!? So it’s not a chat stream today!
- Uooooh! I wanna see!
- Isn’t this their first gameplay stream? Or rather, they play games?
“That’s right. Today, we’re changing things up a bit and bringing you a gameplay stream,” Riri said.
“It’s a special project, a game based on the story of our adventures,” Hayato explained.
As Hayato started the game, an opening movie began to play. Scenes of the other world, the people of the royal capital, attacking enemies, and the presence of the terrifying Demon King.
A part of their adventure was depicted with beautiful graphics. The BGM was also authentic, powerful game music. This sound, too, was actually created in collaboration with a composer, importing various elements from that other world. Therefore, it was familiar music to Hayato and Riri.
- What is this quality!? Isn’t this insane?
- Is it really self-made? Not a new game from some software company?
- God-tier from the opening.
- Those are pro-level graphics!
- I want to play it already!
- When is it releasing?
“Oh, this is amazing.”
Hayato, too, was watching the opening video and listening to the music, feeling impressed all over again.
“I got to play it a little before, but seeing it again, I still think it’s incredible.”
“We’ve made a lot of adjustments since then. Many parts have changed,” Riri said.
“Is that so? But still, it’s truly amazing.”
Hayato was moved. The opening finished, and controls became available. When he operated the controller, Hayato’s character in the game screen began to move.
“The controls are simple, and he moves just as I want him to,” Hayato explained while moving his character.
“The one I used at the beginning was an iron sword supplied by the kingdom, wasn’t it? I remember struggling a lot until I obtained the Holy Sword.”
“That’s right. Obtaining the Holy Sword needed to defeat the Demon King comes much later, doesn’t it? So, attacking with the sword is this button, and jumping is this button.”
While listening to Riri’s explanation, he demonstrated operating the character.
- I see, so it’s an action game.
- The movements are stylish.
- I’m interested in the Holy Sword story.
- The character’s movements are natural, of course, but the NPC movements are amazing.
- You can even go into places like that?
On the screen, Hayato’s character was walking through the beautifully rendered streets of the royal capital. Conversations with NPCs, collecting items, and the first small quest were progressing.
“This part of the story is what we talked about in a previous stream,” Riri explained.
“It’s about events that happened a little while after Hayato was summoned to the other world.”
- Ah, I know this!
- It’s the stuff we heard on stream!
- I see, so it’s a game where you can relive Hayato’s adventures.
“Relive the adventure! That’s exactly it,” Riri nodded happily.
“We wanted everyone to be able to experience Hayato and his companions’ adventures more directly.”
The game progressed, and Hayato reached the first dungeon. There, he would have to fight enemies.
Hayato remembered. Just like in the game’s progression, there was a time when he had delved into dungeons, learned how to fight enemies through actual combat, and honed his skills to defeat them. He remembered that time.