CHAPTER 23 - TOP 50

The plot of Silent Hill mirrors real life, some media will twist the truth and deliberately mislead people into condemning innocent people, while the real culprit hides behind the scenes..

It's similar to reality.

This game is absolutely brilliant!

Once you understand the hidden storyline, finishing the game becomes incredibly easy. No more high intensity moments, you just need to destroy the radio. Even the most timid player can beat the game easily.

As for who killed the protagonist's wife and daughter, that mystery probably won't be revealed until the official release.

But... can I really wait that long?

The perfect ending video of Silent Hill has gone viral again and earned unanimous praise from players around the world:

"I have no words—this game is a masterpiece!"

"This is the very definition of art! It teaches us to think independently, not to be swayed by others!"

"After seeing the perfect ending of Silent Hill, I hope [New World]'s next game can surpass it!"

"I apologize for my earlier bad review... is it too late to change it?!"

---BREAK---

Whether influenced by the hype or not, a large number of players who had previously left negative reviews flocked to Steam and changed their ratings to positive.

The rating of 'Silent Hill PT' skyrocketed from 75% to 92% in no time.

At home, Natalie was watching the video of the perfect ending on her phone, captivated by the city shown at the end of the game.

She immediately rushed to find Tony, who was still at his computer.

"Tony, I misunderstood you! I didn't know you were this talented!"

"Your plot design is amazing, it touched my heart!"

"Come here, let big sis give you a hug!"

She stretched out her arms and pulled him into a hug.

"Get off me, you weirdo." Tony pushed her away without mercy, then asked, "So, has anyone cleared the perfect ending yet?"

"Yup, someone did! Pure White was the first!" Natalie answered cheerfully, unfazed by his attitude. "That guy's amazing, he cleared both routes first!"

"Makes sense," Tony nodded. "The clue I left on your Twitter was pretty obvious."

"Looks like I'll have to honor my promise to the top 50..."

"Let me check what's going on."

He opened the Steam backend.

"Not bad... Nearly 200,000 players have cleared Silent Hill." Tony glanced at the numbers and smiled.

"That many?!" Natalie was surprised at first, then realized.

"Oh, right, that's nothing now that the secret's out. Everyone knows how to clear it!"

All you had to do was break a radio. No horror jumps, no intense scenes, it was practically a walk in the park.

The game went from 18+ to all-ages in an instant.

Tony started sorting the top 50 players who 100% the entire game first.

He made a note of their Steam accounts, planning to message each one personally.

"Hey, Tony... Can I try your new game first?" she asked sheepishly.

"Try it? Are you in the top 50?" Tony asked knowingly.

"No..."

"Then dream on!"

"But I'm your sister!" Natalie argued.

"Wouldn't matter even if you were my wife!"

"???"

Natalie fell silent, lips trembling as if she were about to cry.

"Alright, alright, I'm joking. You're my sister, of course I'll let you try it first."

"I'll install the game on your computer tonight."

Natalie's mood flipped in an instant. Her pout turned into a big smile.

"Yeah! That's my little bro! Mwah!"

She kissed his cheek excitedly.

"Gross! You got saliva on me!" Tony wiped his face in disgust.

"By the way, your new game isn't horror, right?" she asked, suddenly worried.

"Didn't I say during the livestream that it's not?" Tony replied.

It's not like he can keep making horror games, players wouldn't survive the stress.

"Phew, thank god..." Natalie breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly remembered.

"Anyway, do your best, Tony! I'm waiting for your next game!" she said as she returned to her room.

She was going to clear Silent Hill and then reveal the game during her next stream, to hype the launch of the new game.

The stream would definitely explode in popularity!

After Natalie left, Tony started messaging the top 50 players on Steam.

First up, the one who cleared it first, PureWhite.

He messaged him using the official [New World] studio account.

'Are you there?'

'I'm here! I've been waiting on Steam!!!'

PureWhite replied instantly, much faster than Tony expected.

"Seems like he's a true fan of New World." Tony thought, then typed.

'Congratulations. You're the first player to complete Silent Hill perfectly. You've earned early access to our next game: 'Subnautica'.'

"'Subnautica'?"

Just from the name, PureWhite could guess it was an ocean themed game.

'I'm honored, thank you so much!'

'I'll send the game files via a cloud link. Please don't share it, okay?'

'Of course!' PureWhite agreed immediately. 'I'll just play it myself, won't leak a thing. But, uh... can I stream it?'

'Go ahead.' Tony replied.

In fact, he hoped he would stream it, it would help spread the word.

'Awesome! Got it!' PureWhite responded.

Tony sent him the link, it was the demo version of Subnautica.

"Let's go! New game from [New World], here I come!"

PureWhite rubbed his hands excitedly and started downloading.

He immediately logged into his Twitter and posted.

"Guys, just got contacted by New World Studio, I'm downloading the demo of the new game!"

"The title is 'Subnautica'!"

PureWhite originally had fewer than 10,000 followers.

But in the past two days, his Silent Hill videos had gone viral, earning him a massive fanbase.

Now his follower count had broken one million.

As soon as he posted that, his comments blew up.

"Nice! The dev kept his promise!"

"Subnautica? Is it set in the ocean!?"

"Damn, with Silent Hill's graphics, imagine an underwater world..."

"Just thinking about it gives me chills!"

"PureWhite, you better stream that game for us!"

"Yeah! We're counting on you!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the gamers were full of envy. But if you weren't in the top 50, what could you do?

All they could hope for was to enjoy watching the streams.

Shortly after PureWhite's post, Natalie also posted.

"Streaming New World's new game tonight! Don't miss it!"

People were stunned.

"What?! Natalie got the new game too?!"

"No way she made the top 50 with her guts!"

"Natalie, come clean, did you pull some strings?!"

"Don't ask how. Just know it was inside trading" Natalie cheekily replied.

"Haha! So Natalie paid a 'price'?"

"Wait, is she the dev's girlfriend?!"

"Either way, can't wait!"

With both PureWhite and Natalie hyping the game, the buzz was through the roof.

The more people streamed Subnautica, the more excited everyone became.

Terms like New World's new game and 'Subnautica' quickly shot up the trending list.

Meanwhile, streamers like Saya and NeasJ were in a slump. They could already feel the drop in viewership coming.

When Silent Hill launched, it was a horror game, not everyone dared play it, so the competition wasn't bad.

But 'Subnautica'? Nope. No fear factor. Everyone would flock to Natalie and PureWhite's streams.

Back on Tony's side, it took him about an hour to fulfill his promise, he personally messaged all top 50 players and gave them early access to 'Subnautica', reminding them not to share it.

Of course, he wasn't too worried.

He had built a safeguard into the game, a hidden applet that would automatically activate and delete all files if someone tried to copy or move them.

Tony wasn't naive, he knew it was not morally okay to include that without permission or informing them, but he would rather protect himself and the game, even if it meant doing this.

1308 Words.