The girl stepped forward, generously greeting Alto first.
"Um, I'm just a bit curious. You don't mind if I try it out too, right?"
Even with her thick skin, her cheeks flushed slightly.
Here she was, a designer at the competition venue, actually going to experience someone else's work.
It was like being a street vendor, seeing the food stall across from you absolutely packed, then brazenly walking over to scope out the competition and discover their secret.
"Just a quick try, okay?"
Her adorable big eyes looked at Alto.
"Haha!"
"It would be my honor. Please, go ahead!"
Alto didn't refuse. Though she had no voting rights as a game designer, having someone else enjoy his game made him extremely happy nonetheless.
"Thanks!"
Helena rubbed her little hands together and began activating the Moonstone.
And so...
Yet another person fell.
Time slowly approached evening.
As the bell rang, the second round officially drew to a close.
People reluctantly left the experience area.
"Plants vs Zombies is so fun!"
Simple, unadorned praise, but it precisely hit the core. Everyone nodded repeatedly.
"Exactly! I've never experienced this type of work before!"
"Plus, the mechanics are really polished, and those plants are especially cute!"
"Who knew we'd discover something this fun at this competition!"
"There's still tons of content left to unlock. I'm really looking forward to playing the full version, wonder when it'll go on sale."
"Hope it's not too expensive. I've almost burned through this month's salary!"
Alto looked at his enthusiastic fans, answering their various questions one by one.
Looking down, a red-haired girl was still playing intensely!
"Oh no, my lawnmower!"
Helena fumbled frantically.
Her progress wasn't low; she'd also reached the Night stages.
This level had already introduced Screen Door Zombies and Newspaper Zombies.
Caught off guard, her topmost defense line was breached.
She hastily tried to salvage it, but a massive wave of zombies appeared right in front of her.
"I'm done for!"
Clearly, the defense line formed by her hastily replanted plants was too weak. Before long, a Buckethead Zombie broke through.
"The zombies ate your brains!!"
"Ahem."
Alto leaned his arms on the booth counter, watching the girl with interest.
"Oh my! I completely lost track of time!"
Helena hastily exited the dream world.
Seeing Alto's face so close, looking at those gem-like eyes, her face instantly flushed red.
"What are you doing?!"
The girl was somewhat flustered!
"Miss Helena, so how was it? My work's pretty amazing, right?"
Helena looked at this completely immodest man and pouted.
"Hmph! It's only a tiny bit fun!"
She raised her hand, using two fingers to show a minuscule distance.
"There's still one more round. I won't admit defeat!"
With that, she fled the scene.
The second round officially ended.
The venue's large screen began tallying each contestant's vote count.
First Place
[Plants vs Zombies] - Alto - 809 votes
Second Place
[Legend of the Saints] - Damian - 805 votes
Fifth Place
[Rose Knight] - Helena - 413 votes
Seventh Place
...
Tenth Place
...
The top ten highest scorers would enter the final round, where judges' scores would be combined to determine the ultimate champion.
The plaza erupted in cheers and jubilation.
"I knew it! First place had to be Plants vs Zombies!"
"What even is this Legend of the Saints? Why's the score so high?!"
Some who'd tried it were puzzled. Though the work's quality was decent, compared to Plants vs Zombies, it wasn't even close.
"Has to be some kind of rigging, right?!"
"I think first place is the rigged one!"
"What garbage Plants vs Zombies, how dare it compare to a masterpiece like Legend of the Saints!"
"Have you even played it? Stop spouting nonsense!"
"I thought Rose Knight was pretty good too. Why's it only fifth?"
Some people who hadn't experienced Plants vs Zombies, seeing many others mindlessly hyping how fun it was immediately felt annoyance bubble up from deep inside.
In their hearts, Legend of the Saints had quality and visuals.
Damian was an established designer from recent years with a solid fan base.
This so-called Plants vs Zombies, a civilian designer's work, how could it even compare?
Probably just used cheap gimmicks and flashy tricks to fool so many people.
"I played Legend of the Saints. Sorry, but in my eyes, it's complete garbage!"
"People like you have zero taste!"
The venue buzzed with debate, some arguments getting heated!
Damian's expression darkened as he looked at the rankings.
He slammed his hand on the booth counter.
"Damn it!"
"Put in so much effort, only to get second place!"
"That bastard!"
Though he had confidence in his work, today he'd spent money hiring numerous shills to ensure success. Yet even with all that, he'd still missed first place.
'There's still one more round. We'll see about this!'
He glared viciously in Alto's direction.
"Achoo!"
Alto rubbed his nose. Who's cursing me out?
Though the process had some twists and turns, heaven rewards the diligent, today's operation was a complete success.
Now he just had to wait for tomorrow's evaluation and scoring segment.
But he still had confidence in taking the win.
As long as he could secure first place in the competition finals...
He'd receive a prize of 100,000 Baileys, plus a week-long featured placement in the Dream Corridor.
That latter reward was the most important.
After all, no matter how good a work is, without visibility, it's worthless.
So promotion was absolutely crucial.
In this world, the advertising industry wasn't developed and in a relatively primitive stage.
Though magical communication devices and projection devices existed, their application range was extremely limited.
It was impossible to have omnidirectional advertising attracting traffic like Rockstar Games in his previous life.
If he wanted his previous life's games to flourish in this world, relying solely on word-of-mouth would take forever.
Plus, his current dream space level was too low, and his dream energy, dream points, were pitifully scarce.
Wanting to pay for Dream Corridor placement himself to advertise was pure fantasy.
He couldn't afford it even if he sold himself.
Only big shots could afford those kinds of costs.
So this free placement quota was absolutely critical.
As long as he could fire this opening shot, rapidly accumulating recognition and a fan base...
And gain massive amounts of dream energy to level up...
The sky would be the limit afterward.
All sorts of AAA titles, timeless classics, vast gameplay varieties, various heart-shaking epics.
He'd definitely give this world a taste of Rockstar's shock.
Eventually, he could even spread these works worldwide.
Whether elves or humans, beastmen, dwarves, all would be potential customer bases.