Game Over

STAGE TWENTY >> Discord

This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are all products of the author's imagination used in fictitious manner. Any resemblance to an actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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—お 兄 にい さん • (onii-san) (honorific) elder brother.

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Today's show was on a huge scale with booths from all the major game publishers and indie developers, and fans flocked to the whole area looking forward to the announcement of new games and upcoming partnerships with some of the biggest companies.

Rumors about "Incarnate" and Dark Cloud Alliance partnering with Gryphon quickly spread all over social media which helps boost the number of audiences in the said show. This was the first time that Yuki brought his friends with him, and he didn't expect much reaction from them. So, he was surprised when Masami, Aoi, and even Hikaru couldn't contain their exhilaration as they found the whole convention filled with gaming memorabilia and posters of notable virtual reality games.

"Look, it's Incarnate!" Hikaru pointed at the huge poster with only the sigh of Gryphon, leaving everyone even more excited.

This sudden interest caught Kenta's attention and Yuki quickly looked at the guy. Although he knows Kenta was the fourth member of Akihiro's team, he doesn't know which one of his team members was his avatar. The Wanderer was the only one he unveiled and he stopped asking questions in an attempt to hide the fact that he was playing the game too.

Kenta, "So, you really know about Incarnate, huh?" he was referring to that time when he watched Hikaru's video discussing the game.

Hikaru hurriedly rearranged his expression, "Everyone's been talking about it. I figured, why not make a video about it? I mean, I'm getting requests from fans..."

"Yes, of course! There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just surprised that you did a full video about it."

The influencer laughed awkwardly but his friends could tell that he was slightly panicking inside.

As they went ahead further into the convention hall, Yuki saw Takehiko and his team near the Dark Cloud Alliance booth. The older man in turn also saw him from his peripheral vision and waved his hand to greet them.

"You don't seem bothered at all," Yuki just said, frowning slightly.

Takehiko was bewildered, "Wow, someone's in a bad mood. Friends?"

"Yes," Yuki proceeded to introduce Masami, Aoi, and Hikaru who did their best not to react when he revealed that this Takehiko was the brother of Akihiro.

"So, you guys play the game too?"

The three looked at each other and then looked at Yuki. "Oh, no...we're here to support—"

Yuki raised a hand to interrupt Hikaru, "Guys, he knows. Don't worry about it." He did this while Kenta was away since he was assigned to man one of the booths on the other side of the hall.

Takehiko chuckled as he saw the faces of Yuki's friends. "How was it? Any violent reaction?"

"You're Gryphon?" Aoi pointed out and Takehiko put a finger to his mouth shushing him.

"We're Gryphon," he reply and gestured for his team. "These are the faces behind the world, the AI characters, monsters, and NPCs."

As Yuki's friends went on to talk to the team members of Gryphon, the older male walked him to the other area to have a talk. Apparently, the Dark Cloud Alliance has a huge space within the convention with several booths dedicated to all the games they currently hosting.