Chapter 3 - The Presentation

Neji and Kazuya kept riding nonstop to the event, which was slated to begin at 10 a.m. that day at the National Park. Kazuya looked down at his watch to check the time and was quite relieved to know that they weren't going to be late—unless something unexpected was going to happen along the way. His watch read 9:15 a.m., and given the speed of their biking, they would be there within five minutes or so. 

And that is what happened, as expected. When the park came into view, they couldn't help getting very excited as they saw large posters with the Crimson Industries logo imprinted on them. They could also see fellow fans of the company dressed in the costumes of their favorite characters from different video game franchises produced by the company. 

It was more than exciting, to say the least. 

In less than a minute, they got to the parking lot and stopped briefly to park and secure their bikes. After they were done, like little boys excited for a first-time trip to Disney Land, they ran off to the entrance of the hall while checking their pockets to see if their tickets were intact. 

They got to the entrance of the large hall where the event would be taking place. Kazuya looked at his watch again and was happy they were more than thirty minutes early for the event. After they got cleared by security at the entrance, they got into the building and could not contain their excitement anymore. 

When they looked around and saw monuments and segments fashioned according to their favorite franchises, they both jumped up almost three feet into the air like little boys, shouting out in ecstasy. 

"Will you both please just shut up?" ...", came a familiar voice from behind, "...people are looking, you know?"

"Erika, you are here?" asked Kazuya, surprised to see her here. 

"In case you have forgotten, this event is slated to reveal the most groundbreaking technologies to ever hit the market, and I am a tech reviewer—so where else should I be?" she asked, folding her hands. 

"Good point, but it's just that it feels awkward seeing you here; I mean, you hate playing video games," said Neji. 

"Don't put it like that. I just have a better way of spending my free time, that's all. "I mean, you both love video games, but that doesn't mean you are NEETs or anything," she said, trying to clarify her position on the subject.

"What on earth are you saying, Erika?" ...", Neji asked, "...do you mean that we don't have any important thing to do with our time?"

"No... Don't get me wrong... "It's — it is just —," Erika tried to explain but got lost for words. 

Kazuya placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't stress it." "Can't you see he's just messing with you?" he asked, causing Erika to look at Neji angrily while he burst out laughing.

Her eye almost shed a tear as she turned to leave them, but Kazuya held her hand and said, "Come on, Erika." "Let it go," he said to her without letting go of her hand, until she conceded, choosing to ignore Neji for the rest of the day. 

They kept walking through the accessible parts of the building, taking note of everything they could see, and taking pictures of every interesting figure they could find. 

Erika couldn't believe how many pictures they had taken in a matter of minutes, and she couldn't believe she was beginning to enjoy herself while doing so. Contrary to what she thought attending this event would be like, she was having fun! 

This went on for a while until the main event was about to start, and people went in droves to the main hall to see what Crimson Industries had in store for all of them. Shortly after, the main hall was opened for all of them to enter, and the fans entered by the thousands. 

Kazuya and the others got into the main hall, holding on to each other in the middle of the rushing crowds until they got to the place with little pressure from others. Thankfully, they found seats to rest on as they waited for the event to start. 

Kazuya looked at his female friend and asked, "Are you alright, Erika?" He hoped the rushing experience was not too overwhelming for her. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Anything?" she asked. 

"No, just checking in to see if you're having a good time, that's all," Kazuya said to her, and she gave him a sweet smile in response without saying a word. 

Neji looked around and noticed there were also several people like Erika who weren't truly interested in the product but were present just for the sake of journalism. He noticed there were a lot more of them this time than at the last TechCon event, which occurred three years ago, and he wondered why. 

It seemed like the hype had gone beyond the fandom, and he hoped it was worth it. 

About ten minutes later, a presenter walked onto the stage, and a loud round of applause followed shortly afterwards. 

The young man gave the welcome speech, followed by an advanced PowerPoint presentation outlining the several achievements Crimson Industries had accomplished in the past three years since the last TechCon event. 

After over ten minutes of humble bragging by the presenter, he introduced the CEO of the company, Daizen Einosuke, whose appearance on the platform triggered a loud round of applause from the audience. 

Erika noticed that some enthusiasts even stood up as they applauded the man. It was obvious from the crowd's reaction that almost everyone liked him. She looked to her other side and was not surprised to see that Neji and Kazuya were also on their feet, celebrating the man on the stage. 

Feeling like the odd one out, she also stood up, clapping casually until the man on stage told them to take their seats, which they all did almost obediently. 

Erika brought out her small tablet and put it in record mode while she held a stylus pen, wanting to write down some key points of the events as she saw them. 

Daizen introduced himself briefly before giving an introductory speech to the crux of the presentation for the day:

"..and now, ladies and gentlemen. "Allow me to introduce to you the latest addition to our V.R. family."

As he said this, the large screen behind him showed some visually stunning tech demos, followed by a long lineup of exclusive content. Then, at the end of the video presentation, they got a look at the final hardware. It was a sleek and compact box, plus controllers and headgear, all with a glossy black finish. The design of the console was stunning and visually tantalizing to look at.

"The new Crimson VR," announced the presenter. 

Almost everyone shouted out loud in excitement because of what they saw, and some stood in a clapping ovation. This was it, the thing they had all come for. It was here, right before them—or so they thought. The entire room flashed with lights snapping from smartphones and cameras in all directions toward the stage, and even Erika had to join in, as she needed the pictures for her work.

Then Daizen signaled for everyone to calm down before giving his next big announcement...

"Among the launch titles but not included in the tech demo is the one built solely to extract the most power and realism from the machine." It wasn't showcased in the tech demo because it is the biggest among all of them and wasn't designed to be like the rest of them, regardless of how good they all are. With all due respect to the developers who made all those games a reality for our machine, what we are about to show you is something completely different... 

It is our pride and joy. The project that has taken us over ten years to bring to you in its final form is ready to change the way we think about virtual reality and realism. It is a game with a brand new engine, set to make everyone question what is real and what isn't. "It is set to break the boundaries of photorealistic CGI, merging both nature and art into one platform."

Then Daizen walked to the very center of the stage, with all the stage lights focused on him. 

"This is the foundation for our biggest and most ambitious launch title in our very short history... 

...Scarlett Online."

As he said this, all the stage lights dimmed as the large screen showcased the trailer for the upcoming game. When the first character showed up on the screen, some people's jaws dropped. The character model looked like it was an actual human and not CGI, yet its sudden, coordinated movements gave it away as computer generated, despite how real it looked. 

The visuals were nothing short of breathtaking, and the room remained silent, save for several gasps and speechless reactions from the audience as they saw the different stunning portions of the trailer. The presentation concluded with the stylized title displayed on the screen before the stage lights went back on, and the audience roared out in excitement as they applauded with enthusiasm. 

Then the stage lights went back on, revealing only one person on stage. It was the first presenter who opened the event with his introductory speech. 

He was there to give the final statement. 

"Before you go, I am pleased to announce that the game will be released at retail in a month, along with the new Crimson VR system, in a bundle pack for the same discounted price as the older consoles of the last generation."

This statement triggered another round of loud applause from the crowd, including Neji and Kazuya. They were both excited to get their hands on the bundle that was advertised and to try out the new game and system, which looked too good to be true.