2: Chapter 2: A Stunning Trailer

Youxing Network is the largest virtual reality game distribution platform on Planet Blue.

Every day, hundreds of reskinned games under the banners of "Epic Masterpiece" or "Max Level in One Hit" are listed here, only to be quickly buried by the massive wave of players.

Late at night, the new game discussion section of the well-known game forum "Youxing Community" remained active.

A veteran player named "King of P2W" was boredly refreshing the page.

As a tycoon who had spent millions in "Immortal Venerable VR," he had recently found things rather dull.

Aside from spending money to smash gear and watching his character automatically hack away at monsters every day, there was simply no fun to be had in the game.

"Is there nothing new that can actually catch the eye?"

He casually clicked on the "Latest Releases" tab, and an indie game interface without even a publisher logo popped up.

Game Title: Fate/Grand Order

Studio: Chaldea

"What kind of alternative name is this? It doesn't even have a Chinese name?"

He curled his lip and was about to swipe away when he was drawn to the solitary video file in the center of the interface.

It was the CG trailer that Gu Yi had captured.

With a "just taking a look" attitude, "King of P2W" put on his VR gear and clicked play.

Boom—!

Almost in an instant, the world shifted.

The first thing that met his eyes was an azure planet rapidly turning to charcoal amidst a countdown.

Amidst the piercing sound of alarms, a young girl with short pink hair, holding a massive cross shield, stood alone in the burning ruins, looking up at a despairing sky.

Immediately after, the scene switched rapidly like shattering glass—

"Roar—!"

Accompanied by a deafening dragon's roar, upon the scorched earth of France, a Dragon Witch holding a pitch-black battle flag, her eyes slit like gold, laughed wildly amidst an endless sea of fire.

The scene shifted to a sacred domain of endless yellow sand.

The high and mighty Lion King sat upon her throne, the holy spear in her hand erupting into a brilliant pillar of light that pierced the heavens and earth, as countless Knights of the Round Table clad in silver armor launched a death-defying charge.

Then came magnificent ancient Mesopotamia.

An ancient king clad in golden armor stood proudly atop a tower, laughing arrogantly as the void behind him split into thousands of golden ripples, and countless divine armaments poured down like a rainstorm!

Amidst these grand battle scenes, stunning close-up shots flashed continuously:

There was a cold and elegant queen in a purple tight-fitting combat suit, her figure so hot it made one's blood boil, dancing with a crimson spear in mid-air;

There was a pure young girl holding a battle flag like a descending saint, her eyes closed in prayer before ten thousand horses and soldiers;

The epic, tragic, and rhythmically explosive symphony "Emiya" reached its climax at this moment!

"I am the bone of my sword."

Amidst a low, raspy chant, an Innate Bounded Field of swirling wind and sand unfolded, and a man with red clothes and white hair surged forward against the current within the Unlimited Blade Works!

Finally, all the images converged onto a single point.

An exquisite blonde Knight King, clad in silver and blue armor, held an invisible holy sword high.

The violent wind tore through the concealment, revealing a dazzling golden blade that transformed into a scorching torrent that cleaved through the darkness:

"Ex——calibur!!!"

Boom!

The screen faded to pure white, and then several large words slowly emerged: Fate/Grand Order.

When the three-minute VR experience ended and his consciousness returned to his reality in the rented room, "King of P2W" jerked off his helmet, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"This... these are graphics an indie game can produce?! This is like moving a Hollywood sci-fi movie into VR!"

He was trembling with excitement and immediately switched back to the game details page, ready to see which top-tier studio had released this action masterpiece under a pseudonym.

However, when his eyes swept over the game introduction, he froze instantly.

[Core Gameplay: 3D Immersive Hardcore Strategic Tower Defense]

[PS: This game extremely tests IQ and strategy. Players who are clumsy or rely on mindless spending, enter with caution.]

"Tower Defense???"

"With these god-tier graphics, you're telling me you made a tower defense game?!"

"King of P2W" felt like he had seen a plate of exquisite, top-tier Wagyu beef, only for the chef to tell him it was meant for pig feed.

Moreover, that line "mindless spending players enter with caution" accurately stepped on his landmine.

He immediately typed out a comment below in a fit of rage:

"What a waste of talent! I give the graphics a perfect score, but I give this dog-shit gameplay design a zero!"

"It's the VR era, who still plays tower defense games where you place a few monkeys to pop balloons? And you're mocking paying players? Is this producer starving for money?"

The speed of information dissemination in the internet age is terrifying.

In just half an hour, relying on that era-crushing CG trailer, FGO quickly triggered a viral spread within the Youxing Community.

But what followed was overwhelming mockery and disdain.

"On the Ridiculous Pride of a Low-Level Producer—to write such a mocking intro, is this studio run by some angry youth?"

"I admit the special effects for that blonde female knight are cool, but as soon as I see it's tower defense, I lose interest. What kind of skill does tower defense take? Isn't it just building a few defense towers and then going AFK to watch the recording?"

"Hilarious, are there still games these days that dare to refuse tycoons? If spending money doesn't make me stronger, why would I pay? To treat it as charity?"

"Verdict: Worthless except for the CG. A trashy work where you buy the CG and get a game for free. Waiting for it to die as soon as the servers open."

In a parallel world filled with the supremacy of money and numerical crushing, Gu Yi's contrary declaration was no different from throwing a bomb into a latrine.

After being stunned by the CG, the vast majority of passing players turned to extreme contempt upon seeing the gameplay and introduction.

But amidst this sea of curses, there were also a few different voices.

A comment titled "Research Demon" was pushed to the edge of the trending topics:

"Am I the only one who noticed the line 'The epic of humanity has been incinerated, summon Mythological Heroic Spirits' in the intro? That blonde girl with the invisible sword in the trailer reminds me of the King of Britain recorded in ancient texts."

"If this game really turns global mythology into its background... even if it's a pile of shit, for the sake of these beautiful illustrations and this hall-of-fame level music, I'm going to take a bite!"

Some hardcore single-player gamers also silently hit the follow button:

"What's wrong with tower defense? As long as the strategic depth is enough, it's ten thousand times more fun than those brain-dead web games where you deal 999 damage in one hit. I'll keep an eye on this."

...

Meanwhile, on Shark Streaming Platform.

A top-tier tycoon streamer in the gaming section with eight million followers—"PD"—was boredly smoking an e-cigarette, watching the screen full of drama in the comments.

"Brothers, there's a game drought lately. That 'Sword Breaks the Firmament' game, I spent five million to be number one in the whole server, and I don't even feel anything when I kill people anymore. It's boring."

PD sighed.

At this moment, a bright red, eye-catching message flashed across:

"Boss P! Go look at the new game trailer on Youxing Network! A studio called Chaldea is getting in the face of all the big spenders, saying mindless paying players won't understand their tower defense game!"

"Oh?"

PD raised an eyebrow, a hint of interest flashing in his small, mung-bean-like eyes. "There's actually a producer this arrogant? Daring to mock the big spenders?"

Under the gaze of millions of viewers in the stream, he directly searched for and opened the FGO page.

Three minutes later.

After experiencing the VR trailer, PD took a deep breath. Although he tried his best to hide it, the shock in his eyes couldn't be concealed.

"To be fair, brothers, this CG quality... I'd call it number one on Planet Blue. All the funding must have been dumped into the animation, right?"

But when he saw the line "mindless spending players enter with caution" in the intro, PD gave a cold laugh.

"Extremely tests IQ and strategy? Clumsy and paying players enter with caution?"

"Does he have some kind of misunderstanding about the words 'spending money'?"

PD suddenly slammed the table and announced loudly to the camera:

"Brothers! I'm putting it out there today. As soon as this game opens tomorrow, I'll first throw in a hundred thousand yuan just to hear the sound of it!"

"What do you mean by tower defense? As long as I spend enough money, I'll just pull the entire gacha pool dry at the start and assemble a team of all five-star, highest rarity units!"

"I want to see what this crappy game's so-called 'strategy' can do to stop me in the face of absolute monetary stats!"

The stream instantly boiled over, as countless viewers who loved watching chaos flooded the screen:

"Crush him!"

"Let the tycoon teach him a lesson!"

"Waiting for Boss P to steamroll the tower defense starting village with an all-five-star lineup!"

At this moment, Gu Yi, lying on the bed in his rented room, looked at the [Emotion Points] ticking up at a slow pace on the system panel (though mostly from anger and disdain), and a 'nuclear' kind smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

A hundred thousand yuan for an all-five-star lineup to steamroll the starting village?

"Welcome to the world ruled by Cost (Magical Energy), Mr. Tycoon."