CHAPTER 25 - SUBNAUTICA LIVE

[A.N. Changing name from Deep Sea Trek to Subnautica, If I miss the name change please point it out in future]

Eight o'clock that night.

Natalie, full from dinner, sat in front of her computer right on time.

Even before her stream went live, the viewercount had already hit 300,000, and it was still climbing!

"The appeal of a new game... This kind of traffic is already on surpassed what League of Legends could make!!"

Natalie couldn't help but marvel at the number. She cleared her throat and opened the livestream.

"Hellooo everyone~!"

"Don't bother with greetings—just start the game!"

"Yeah, yeah! It's been forever since we got some gameplay. Time to grind!"

"Hurry up and show us this new game!"

As soon as she spoke, the viewers in the chat shot back with zero mercy.

"Alright, alright! I'm starting now!" Natalie moved to the VR platform and slipped into the extra sensory suit.

"I got some details about Subnautica from the devs at New World."

"This game is an open-world underwater adventure set in the future. During a deep space voyage, a human spacecraft suddenly crashes. The player takes on the role of an astronaut who escapes in a pod and crash lands on a mysterious ocean covered planet." You have to survive, adapt, and explore. That's the gist of it."

"Future setting? Nice! I love sci-fi games!"

"Wai, did she say planet?"

"Damn, I thought it'd take place on the ocean, but it's actually in another world!"

"This is spooky... but cool!"

Most ocean themed games happened on the surface, or occasionally dipped into the sea. But this one? Totally new world. A fresh experience.

"Alright, let's officially start the game!" Natalie announced, hitting the start button.

The screen went black. Then, in the void, a line of text appeared.

[Produced by New World Studio]

In a flash, her vision cleared.

The next moment, Natalie found herself in a closed, pure white room.

Before she could look around properly, the ground beneath her shook violently. She staggered, barely able to stay upright.

A panicked female voice rang out.

"Warning! Warning! The Aurora spacecraft will make a forced landing in five seconds. Crew members, please sit in the escape pod safety seats. Ejection imminent!"

"What the heck is happening?!"

Natalie looked around frantically and quickly spotted a safety chair fixed to the wall. She dashed over and sat down.

Immediately, the seat belts extended from both sides and strapped her in tightly.

"Whoa, auto fastening seat belts? That's some high tech stuff!"

Just as she was marveling at it.

BOOM!!!

A loud bang echoed in her ears.

Suddenly, she felt herself being launched upward, the room was in freefall, and she was weightless!

"Shit, I think I'm falling!!!" Natalie screamed as she looked through the glass hatch below her.

A vast, deep blue ocean stretched beneath, and it was getting closer. Fast.

She was going to crash right into it!

"AHHH! I'm really falling!!!" she shrieked, her chest tightening in panic.

BOOM!!!

Another deafening explosion, and everything went black again.

Natalie's terrified scream echoed in the dark.

"Crap!!!"

The feeling of weightlessness vanished instantly, though the aftereffects still clung to her body.

"What kind of insane game is this?!"

She clutched her chest and took deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

"I swear I just dropped from 10,000 meters... scarier than any roller coaster!"

"So lucky! We can't even play this game yet!"

"Yeah! Even if we had the money, we couldn't get in!"

"But man, the graphics, this looks better than a movie!"

After a moment, Natalie's vision cleared up again.

Now, she could finally look around.

She was in a sealed, circular room. The walls and ceiling were made of sleek, white metal.

There were transparent hatches above and below, with a central metal ladder.

On one wall was an LCD screen displaying:

[Main Power: NormalPod]

[Integrity: Stable]

[Environment: Ocean of Unknown]

[Planet Atmosphere: Oxygen/Nitrogen Mix]

"This must be the escape pod... Wow, it looks so futuristic. I feel like I've actually time traveled!"

"The pod's swaying a little. Guess I'm floating on the water's surface right now." Natalie muttered her analysis.

"Stop standing there like an NPC, Natalie, go outside already!"

"Yeah, go look around!"

The audience urged her nonstop.

"Alright, alright."

She climbed the ladder and forced open the upper hatch.

Blinding sunlight poured in, making her squint.

As her eyes adjusted, what she saw completely stunned her.

A vast blue ocean, stretching endlessly in all directions.

She was completely alone out here, no land, no help. Just the escape pod beneath her feet.

She could hear the waves and even smell the salty ocean air.

"My god!!!"

Natalie clutched her head and cried out. The endless blue made her dizzy, and she nearly fell over!

She quickly crouched and gripped the pod with both hands.

The audience was just as stunned.

"WHAT?!"

"Are we sure this is a game?!"

"It looks like Natalie got isekai'd into another world!"

"Look at those waves, the sunlight, the water reflections... this is way too real!!"

They were floored.

Compared to the dim, claustrophobic atmosphere of Silent Hill, this game was an entirely different beast, open world, bright, and boundless.

And the realism? It was beyond what movies could even do.

"My god, I feel like crying... Is this really just a game?"

Even Natalie couldn't help whispering in awe. She held the edge of the pod tightly, afraid of falling.

BOOM!

Suddenly, an explosion rang out from behind her.

"Huh?!"

Startled, she turned, and was shocked again.

In the distance, lying across the sea, was a massive spaceship.

No... calling it a spaceship didn't do it justice. It was more like a giant aircraft carrier.

It was so huge, it filled nearly a third of her entire field of view.

Most of the ship had sunk, cutting into the ocean like a colossal steel wall.

But flames still raged across its hull. Explosions erupted now and then, it was clearly wrecked beyond repair.

"I... I must be dreaming..."

Natalie slapped her own cheek, dazed.

The viewers were equally stunned.

"Holy crap, that ship is massive!"

"Just eyeballing it... maybe 700 or 800 meters long?!"

"This must be the crashed spaceship!"

"Damn... future tech is terrifying!"

"Shit... I don't even know what to say anymore..." Natalie's voice trembled.

"I always thought scenes like this only existed in dreams..."

As she stared at the distant wreck of the Aurora, her heart swelled.

She was completely absorbed by this world.

And so were the viewers.

That crashed ship... it was strangely beautiful.

But more than anything, it was real.

So real, they couldn't look away.

1109 Words.