182: Chapter 182 Reactions from All Parties
The plot of "Malignant Isolation Demon Realm: Shinjuku" has come to an end.
But the cyber storm unleashed by Chaldea Studio has only just begun to make waves in the real world!
On the second day of the version update, as the bulk of players finished the main story, the major sections on the C-site homepage were completely overrun.
Looking around, whether it was the gaming section, the animation section, or the lifestyle section, everything was thoroughly flooded by the same cover and the figure of the same woman!
"Stunning! Jeanne d'Arc Alter's Exclusive Evening Gown, the Last Dance Crossing Life and Death!"
"The Village Girl's Tsundere Exit! I could play with these legs for ten thousand years!"
"Old Thief Gu is giving out welfare! Unlock Jeanne d'Arc Alter's new skin for free after clearing Shinjuku!"
Countless video edits, fan-made comics, and even fan art created spontaneously by players sprang up like bamboo shoots after a rain.
The sight of that Dragon Witch, wearing a purple-black high-slit evening gown and a lace choker, dancing with her Master in the morning breeze with a slightly awkward yet deeply affectionate expression, made tens of millions of anime fans across the network go crazy on the spot!
"Too beautiful! This evening gown is practically tailored to my fetishes!"
"Who said only Saber is the true queen? At this moment, I unilaterally declare that Jeanne d'Arc Alter is my only wife!"
"Old Thief Gu has truly found his conscience this time! A skin of this quality would cost at least ten thousand to pull in those reskinned browser games, yet he's giving it away for free as a completion reward!"
It wasn't just a carnival on the major forums; inside the VR version of "FGO", this Spirit Origin Dress named "Evil Dragon Witch (Shinjuku 1999)" displayed next-generation exquisite modeling.
Many players who cleared the stage couldn't wait to equip it on their own Jeanne d'Arc Alter wife the moment they received the dress, then hurriedly chose a free quest to enter.
The physical collision of the high-slit skirt swaying in the wind, the delicate texture on the lace choker, and even the idle animation featured an additional elegant skirt-lifting variation.
Countless players frantically used the [Tactical Time Stop] function on the battlefield, not to deploy Servants or think about tactics.
But to zoom the perspective to the closest point, fully appreciating their wife's beautiful face and long legs in first-person view from every angle!
Besides Jeanne d'Arc Alter's stunning new skin, another topic that exploded across the network and even spread outside the gaming circle seemed a bit bizarre.
That is—the old man's version of ML!
On major gaming forums and social media, Professor Moriarty's final insane scheme had been analyzed frame by frame by countless lore enthusiasts.
"To pull down a meteorite and crush you, I had to trigger the causality bug of 'the magic bullet only shoots the one I love'."
"To trigger this bug, I, a pure villain, had to wipe my memories and let myself love and cherish you without reservation!"
"Brothers, what is the ultimate romance of a top-tier villain? (Tactical lean back)"
All sorts of hilarious memes began to spread wildly across the network, such as a screenshot of Professor Moriarty holding his cane, with the caption: "My love for you weighs ten billion tons (referring to the asteroid)."
This unique, twisted-to-the-extreme "hardcore ML" of a villain did not make players feel repulsed; instead, it caused Professor Moriarty's popularity to skyrocket, even surpassing many attractive female Servants.
"Incredible! This is true intellectual combat!"
"Even if the memories were fake, the feeling of wanting to protect the Master was real! I'll swallow this old man's ML with tears in my eyes!"
If the anime fans and lore enthusiasts were still reveling in the characters and bonds, then another massive group on Blue Star—hardcore mystery novel fans—was facing an unprecedented earthquake!
In the literary world of Blue Star, mystery novels had actually been in a bottleneck period where they were relatively niche and formulaic.
However, the ending of the Shinjuku chapter sold a wave of nostalgia to the entire mystery circle in a way that no one could have imagined.
The front page of the famous mystery literature forum [Suspense Eye] had already been occupied by a ten-thousand-word review article.
The title of the article was highly provocative: "A Tribute to the Golden Age! When the Crystallization of Human Wisdom Becomes a Sword to Slay Evil!"
Its content was also quite infectious:
"As a mystery fan of over a decade, when I saw that scene at the end of the game, I really cried like a child."
"On this stage with rules set by the villain himself, Sherlock Holmes fell, but countless famous detectives stood up!"
"Using the purest concepts of deduction to shatter the most unsolvable barriers of crime!"
"This is not just a game; this is the ultimate love letter written to human mystery literature!"
Once this article was published, it triggered a tsunami in the literary circle of Blue Star!
Countless hardcore mystery fans and literature students who had previously scoffed at VR games rushed to order VR headsets overnight after watching the video recordings!
"For these few minutes of Phantasm gathering, I'm definitely playing this game!"
"So shocking! It turns out the ninth art can really carry such profound cultural heritage!"
"Old Thief Gu's divine writing! This is what you call true cultural dimensional reduction strike!"
For a time, the daily active user data for "FGO" saw another terrifying vertical surge.
...
Meanwhile.
Chaldea Studio, inside the boss's office on the top floor.
"Beep beep beep—!"
Gu Yi leaned back comfortably in his gaming chair, listening to the system's notification sound in his mind, which sounded as pleasant as a money printer.
"Since the reputation of Shinjuku has been firmly established and the player base has expanded to an unprecedented level."
"Then, it is time to open the next parallel universe interface of the akashic engine."
Previously, he had already incorporated "Fate/stay night" into the Chaldea hall as the [Fuyuki City Holy Grail War] mode, successfully filling the void in players' understanding of the "Holy Grail War" concept.
But to lead into the ultimate nuclear bomb that would haunt countless people and harvest the tears of players worldwide, he had to first let these Blue Star players get to know that deep and dangerous "Sea of Electronics."
"System, purchase the underlying architecture data packet for 'Fate/EXTRA'."
Gu Yi typed rapidly on his keyboard.
"This time, I will let you experience what a real 'cyber Holy Grail War' is!"
...
The next evening.
Countless players who had just finished work or school and couldn't wait to put on their VR headsets to return to Chaldea suddenly discovered something unusual in the hall.
Chu He had just logged on and was preparing to go to the cafeteria to buy a burger to feed Saber.
Suddenly, his sharp eyes caught something different at the end of the hall, where there used to be a metal wall.
"Eh? Look over there, everyone!"
Chu He exclaimed in the live broadcast room and walked quickly in that direction.
They saw that on the west side of the hall, following the archaic gate of the [FSN Observatory], there was now, out of nowhere, a ring-shaped metal archway full of futuristic technology!
Inside the archway, there was no specific scene, but a layer of blue data streams rippled like water.
Amidst the rapidly flowing 0s and 1s of code, there was a faint, deep cyber texture that seemed capable of devouring all consciousness.
"Holy crap? What new gate is this?!"
"Old Thief Gu just wrapped up Shinjuku yesterday, and today he's secretly building houses behind our backs again?!"
"Is this kind of productivity something a carbon-based lifeform can possess? Even the donkeys on a production team wouldn't be worked this hard!"
Just as all the gathered players were discussing it, and some were even trying to force their way into the gate, a row of warning slogans composed of blue holographic particles slowly emerged above the gate:
[New World Interface Connecting...]
[Coordinates Established: Moon Cell]
[The Holy Grail War of the Moon Sea is about to open—]