Chapter 158. "Apex" PV Released! (5/22)
"Disruptive."
"Unprecedented."
"Breaking traditional game modes."
As the 24-hour PV countdown ticked down, the game's attribute tags were unsealed one after another.
After acting aloof for half a month and refusing to answer anything players asked, Gensokyo Company suddenly acted like a cool-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside girlfriend who'd been cornered—itching to post a hundred updates every hour.
In the last six hours, the moment the words "FPS game" went out, the Schicksal Blog servers were almost hammered into a crash within minutes.
This is an FPS game.
In terms of hype and playability, some might object to calling FPS the very top genre, but ninety-nine percent would agree it easily ranks in the top three.
[Gensokyo is finally making a mainstream game, and it's my favorite FPS.
Somebody slap me—
I'm feeling dizzy.]
[With tech learned from Anti-Entropy and Old Thief Xander as lead designer—good grief—I can't even imagine how fun this is going to be.]
["Disruptive"?
Are we getting some brand-new tricks?]
[No idea.
Anyway, I'm already hyped to the max!!!]
[...]
As the discussion grew even hotter, the countdown hit zero.
The PV officially unlocked!
At the same time, Sirin's livestream went live right on schedule.
Ever since Sirin joined Gensokyo Company, this channel had practically turned into the company's dedicated livestream room.
The moment the stream connected, countless scrolling bullet comments filled the screen.
[Pufferfish, where the hell are you?
You're not even in the room!]
[Open up!
Let me in!!]
[Just open the door.
Netizens can do anything.]
"Every time you lot keep rushing me, rushing me.
It's right on the dot, isn't it?
I'm not late."
Grumbling at the camera, Sirin didn't open the PV.
Instead, she sat there and waited.
She wasn't in a rush.
The audience started to get antsy.
[Play the PV already!
What are you dawdling for?!
The channel next door started half an hour ago!]
[Your boss's new game PV and you won't even watch it?
Do you still want your job?]
[Hurry up!
If you don't play it, I'm unfollowing!]
Some people can't stand waiting and prefer to watch early alone.
Some prefer the feeling of watching and reacting together.
"Fine.
Unfollow me then.
Just don't regret it later."
She waved a hand dismissively, sneering on the surface while secretly delighted inside.
With that treatment, a few folks stormed off to the channel next door in a huff, but even more people got curious.
[This feels wrong.
Like nine out of ten wrongs.
Pufferfish is definitely hiding something.]
[Heh.
Now that you said that, I'm definitely not leaving!]
[Pufferfish, hurry up.
My little brother's dying wish is to see the PV.
Please fulfill it.]
While the bullet comments kept rolling, the door to Sirin's room opened from the outside.
Fresh out of the shower and in a casual shirt and slacks, Xander Masato walked in, pulled over a chair, and sat beside Sirin.
"Sorry.
I'm not late, am I?"
Letting out a breath, Xander relaxed into the backrest.
"Late by one minute.
Look.
The viewers are flaming you."
Pointing at the screen, Sirin snickered.
"Flaming me?"
He looked where she pointed and frowned at the comments.
But the wind shifted almost instantly.
[Bro—no, bro—
We were flaming Pufferfish, not you.]
[Cutting ties, meow.
Righteous cut, meow.
We're not even friends with Pufferfish!]
[She's slandering us!
She's slandering us!
She's trying to drive a wedge between us players and you, Old Thief Xander!
Don't be fooled!!]
"You know how they are.
One face in public, another behind your back.
They were just chewing you out."
Sirin sneered as she started making things up.
Bullet comments swarmed in, each in their own heartfelt hometown dialect.
Seeing Sirin about to start a shouting match with chat, Xander quickly chuckled and cut in, "Alright, didn't you say you were dragging me in to watch the PV today?
No time like the present.
Let's start."
"Tch.
Fine."
She'd just gotten the upper hand sparring with those bastards and hadn't had her fill yet.
As for the viewers, under Xander's persuasion they shelved their output for now, swallowed it to keep the peace, and waited a few days to counterattack.
Sirin smoothly opened the Gensokyo official site.
The background had already turned crimson, both sides plastered with Apex Legends sigils.
Front and center sat the now-unlocked PV.
She clicked full screen and hit play, and the screen went black.
Amid all the expectant gazes, a rousing background track kicked in.
Eden's unique insignia and Gensokyo Company's Yin-Yang Orb slowly floated up on the black screen.
It was really Eden!
The viewers were already getting excited.
Although Eden specializes in classical music, that doesn't mean she's lacking elsewhere.
Even in pure pop, she could wipe the floor with 99.9% of singers worldwide.
Explosive drums.
Frenzied electric guitar.
From the opening notes, it felt like a flame igniting in your chest.
Soon, a lively bar scene filled the screen.
Spotlights in the ceiling scattered dazzling multicolored flecks.
A group of eccentrically dressed people were playing on the dance floor.
A burly, fully armored man lifted a woman who wore a strange triangular device on her back with his shield, and the crowd cheered.
A curly-haired man split into several glowing phantoms.
By the bar counter, a few distinct characters leaned, drinking and laughing as they chatted.
Just as the viewers were unsure what the scene meant, a piercing alarm cut under the music.
All the revelers instantly dropped the horseplay, swinging their arms and rolling their necks as they grouped into squads of three.
"Squads assemble.
Prepare to drop!"
A metallic electronic voice filled the room, and Legends' stat cards flickered onto the screen.
The camera flipped.
A sci-fi craft, trailing azure plasma particles, rose from the ground into the sky.
A male narrator began, slow and steady:
"Freed from IMC control, the Outlands fell into chaos."
"An ancient, blood-soaked spectacle was revived."
"Some Legends fight for money."
"Some to find answers."
"..."
As the lore rolled out line by line, hexagonal drop pods began to fall beneath the ship, the vast map sprawled below.
Soon, after a few lines of banter, the Legends—moving like they'd done it a thousand times—jumped barehanded from the drop pods.
The instant they hit the air, blinding crimson contrails flared from their backs, pushing them toward the massive map and leaving a striking red trail across the sky.
The next moment, chaotic, exhilarating combat erupted, and the hard-driving BGM surged back to match the mood.
Every FPS lover watching held their breath.
Sixty-player matches.
The Ring mechanic.
Dropping empty-handed to scavenge weapons and attachments.
Carving out your own blood-spattered path to victory through everyone trying to stop you.
And each Legend's different abilities.
Acceleration.
Gas.
Illusions.
Void traversal...
It was like a chill surging from the soles to the crown—a full-body shiver of thrill.
Eliminate all other squads in the arena and seize the win.
Just imagining it sent the adrenaline spiking.
And in those short snippets of gameplay, you could see the polished models, the satisfying handling, and the Legends' silky-smooth movement.
At the end, a helmeted Legend wove through a storm of bullets on a jetpack.
Between dives and pull-ups, she braked midair.
The missile bay on her back snapped open in an instant, and more than a dozen ignited micro-missiles roared out to blanket the enemies ahead.
As the exhaust dwindled, the Legend touched down.
A cool female voice rang out: "The ground's all yours."
She pressed down her helmet, a confident smile tugging at her lips.
"But I belong in the sky!"
As soon as the words fell, she kicked aside a prone, struggling enemy, turned with the motion, and jumped.
The jetpack throttled to maximum.
The blinding exhaust swallowed the struggling enemies whole.
The camera rose with her and then—ding—cut to black.
As the line ended, the game's title surfaced amid flickering glitch.
Apex Legends.
The bullet comments boiled over at that moment.
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