CHAPTER 77: NEW WORLDS EVENT PT.1

If hundreds of thousands of people were chanting "NetPack!" in unison, Tanner would probably laugh himself awake in the middle of the night from sheer joy.

After all, while NetPack was one of the top companies internationally, no player had ever shown such genuine, heartfelt support for it. Most of the time, people cursed them rather than praised them.

At this moment, it wasn’t just Tanner who was stunned. The other major tech executives watching were just as shaken. Their own platforms and games could support tens, even hundreds of millions of people online at the same time. But to see over a hundred thousand people gathered in a single location, moving and reacting together as if it were the real world? That was something no one had ever dared to imagine.

And what truly shocked them was New World’s sheer influence, enough to inspire a crowd this massive to chant in unison.

Ordinary players didn’t think so deeply. The moment they realized there were over a hundred thousand people here, they were just overwhelmed by excitement and awe.

"That guy is insane, he actually got this many players together!"

"Yeah! This scene is unbelievable!"

"Hey buddy, where are you from? I’m from Mexico!"

"Haha, I’m from Germany!"

"To meet here, among so many people, we must be fated. Let’s add each other later!"

"Sure thing!"

Conversations like this erupted everywhere. Players from the same country quickly bonded, while those from different countries exchanged simple greetings.

The total number of players attending the conference had reached around 74 million. Tony had distributed them across more than two hundred plus separate channels, each one being a massive virtual venue.

Of course, to prevent chaos, he had locked everyone to their seat areas, no wandering allowed.

The crowd was buzzing, conversations and laughter echoing through the air. Then darkness.

All at once, the light vanished from every venue, plunging the world into pitch black.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Several colossal spotlights roared to life, but instead of pointing at the stage, they angled upward, focusing all their beams on the open sky.

What... what was this for?

The chatter died instantly. Every single player tilted their head back, gazing upward.

Then, in every ear, a heavy, pounding rhythm began to play.

BATTLE, WITHOUT, HONOR, OR, HUMANITY!

The drums were deep, powerful, every beat made hearts race.

"Damn, what’s this music? It’s epic!"

"It feels like a final boss is about to show up!"

"Yeah, the hype is real!"

"Tsk, I didn’t know the dev was a music master too!"

The track didn’t exist in this world, there was no Kill Bill, and no one had ever heard this song before. The players were instantly hooked, adrenaline pumping.

And then... they saw it.

Something enormous was taking shape in the sky, slowly growing larger.

It came closer. Clearer.

Finally, everyone saw it for what it was.

A colossal dragon, spiraling down from the sky.

No... not just a dragon.

The Ancient Leviathan, the legendary creature from Subnautica!

"Look! It’s the Ancient Leviathan!"

"Whoa, it’s coming from the sky!"

"God, that’s amazing!"

"Amazing? That thing is terrifying!"

The dragon’s deafening roar shook the heavens.

ROAR!!!

In an instant, its vast, twisting body blotted out the entire sky above the stadium, like a living, coiling wall suspended in midair.

From the stands, no one could see the creature’s full body, only its gargantuan head and part of its torso.

Slowly, that mountain sized head descended, filling the arena’s space. Players in the front rows could have reached out and touched its icy, rough scales.

"Holy... it feels so real!"

"I can’t believe I’m this close to it!"

"Not impressed? I’m scared half to death! Why’s my seat right next to its face?!"

"Wait... look! There’s someone standing on its head!"

All eyes snapped upward.

A young man stood tall atop the Ancient Leviathan’s head, blond hair flowing, azure eyes shining, chiseled features like they’d been carved by a master sculptor.

Who else could it be but the Owner of New World?

The Leviathan bowed its head in deference, placing him directly at the center of the stadium.

The audience erupted.

"Holy crap, the dev is riding the Leviathan?!"

"Last time it was the Sea Dragon Leviathan. This time it’s the Ancient one!"

"Man’s got style, full points for dramatics!"

"Of course! It’s his game, he can do whatever he wants!"

"And you give yourself this god-tier character model while turning all of us into faceless silhouettes? That’s just cruel!"

All the players eyes went wide. Some wailed, some gasped, some simply let out incoherent noises of disbelief. This... this was beyond anything they’d imagined!

Ride a Leviathan? That was every gamer’s dream since Subnautica! Yet they had never even touched one in-game, while the dev had already done it twice!

Worse still, the Leviathans he rode just kept getting bigger! First the Sea Dragon Leviathan, now the Ancient Leviathan, a creature several kilometers long!

Damn it, standing on its head looked way too cool.

"Tony, you show off every single time and never bring me along!" In one corner of the virtual venue, Natalie muttered under her breath, still stunned by the sight.

Meanwhile, Tony’s avatar stood atop the Ancient Leviathan, dressed in a sharp suit, microphone in hand.

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to New World’s first ever launch event!" His voice boomed across the entire venue, brimming with energy.

"Woooooo!!!"

Deafening cheers erupted. Players waved, clapped, and roared in excitement. Of course, it was easy to act wild in a VR world. In real life, the sight of thousands of people sitting in their rooms at 3 a.m., wearing VR headsets and making strange noises, would’ve been... questionable at best.

"Alright then, let’s officially begin!"

As his words fell, Tony leapt gracefully from the Ancient Leviathan’s head, soaring tens of meters, and landed perfectly in the center of the stage.

"First, let’s give a warm thanks to today’s special guest, our cameo star, the Ancient Leviathan! Without it, I’d have had no way to get here!" He started clapping for himself. The audience laughed and joined in.

...Well, almost everyone. The big shot ’spies’ from rival companies simply sat with arms crossed, faces dark, unmoving.

Meanwhile, the Ancient Leviathan let out a low, rumbling growl. Its massive head dipped as if to greet the players.Unfortunately, its ’smile’ looked more like a threat, and the players sitting closest to it nearly jumped out of their seats.

Then, with a powerful beat of its colossal body, the Leviathan coiled upward into the clouds and vanished.Sunlight returned, and the suffocating sense of being beneath a giant faded away.

Now, every eye in the stadium locked onto Tony.

He straightened his suit and grinned. "Before I announce our next game, I need to address something. I’m sure many of you are unhappy with me right now."

He pointed at himself. "You’re thinking, ’Why do you get such a handsome avatar while we’re just faceless, dark little blobs with chicken feet for hands?’"

The crowd instantly erupted.

"That’s right!"

"We’re pitch black from head to toe! This is discrimination!"

"Give us a face!"

Seeing their indignation, Tony smirked. "Do you know why? Because this is my world... and I can do whatever I want!"

"Arrogant! Too arrogant!"

"I swear, if I could get out of my seat I’d run up and punch him!"

"Wait, so that’s why he told us not to move earlier! He knew we’d try to beat him up!"

Tony waved his hand, laughing. "Alright, alright, I was joking. You’ll get faces. Not only that, you’ll get everything you’ve ever wanted. Allow me to introduce the first major feature of the New World platform, Custom Characters!"

In front of every player, a massive virtual mirror appeared.Beside it was a dense list of customization options, height, weight, hairstyle, eye shape, nose, skin tone, clothing... even the tiniest details.

"You can customize every part of your body," Tony announced. "Face, skin, physique, every last detail. You’re the designer of yourself."

Players froze for only a moment before exploding into excitement.

"My god, we can design our own looks?!"

"This level of detail... even skin texture is adjustable! This guy is actually letting us go wild with this?!"

"Haha, I’m making my avatar more handsome than him just to spite him!"

"Wait, does this mean I can become young John Cena or DiCaprio?!"

"I take back everything I said, you’re a saint!"

"Long live VR plastic surgery!"

Within seconds, the players dove into the customization panel, hands flying. And soon, the sea of identical faceless blobs began transforming, finally, everyone had a unique face of their own.

1454 Words.