NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17
Jae-hyun was surprised to see Ho-jin approaching him.
‘Is this person the director…?’
The image Jae-hyun had in his mind of the position of director was much older than the person standing before him.
However, Jae-hyun quickly shook off those thoughts.
What difference did it make if the director was young or old?
Right now, he and Ho-jin were merely in a relationship of gamer and director.
“Really, it was very satisfying! Usually, I skip through most of the story, but this time, I just couldn’t. Especially what I liked the most was the early part of the prologue….”
Words poured out of Jae-hyun’s mouth as if he had been lying about his usual shy nature.
Unfiltered and unrefined opinions.
But Ho-jin could sense the sincerity in Jae-hyun’s appreciation.
“One last thing… Can I ask a personal question?”
“Yes, feel free to ask anything.”
“By any chance, is there a possibility of a Korean server? And if it’s okay to ask, when might it be…?”
A hint of discomfort appeared on Ho-jin’s face.
‘Was that question going too far…?’
Jae-hyun thought, but in that moment, Ho-jin smiled faintly and nodded.
“We are well aware that there are many people in our country who are waiting for our game. I can’t give an exact date, but I promise we will share good news with you soon.”
Jae-hyun’s face lit up with happiness at Ho-jin’s words.
“Thank you! I’ll definitely wait for it!”
“It’s me who should thank you. Please continue to support our Girls’ Memorial. Take care going back.”
With that, Jae-hyun completed his farewell and turned around.
Just as he was about to leave the booth’s entrance, he encountered Yerin, dressed in a Karin cosplay, the one he had been looking for.
“Oh, are you leaving already?”
“Yes, I’ve finished my experience. Hehe.”
Yerin smiled at Jae-hyun’s response and said:
“Then please take care on your way back.”
After finishing her words, Yerin nodded before entering the booth. In a hurry, Jae-hyun called out to her:
“Hey, over there…!”
“Yes?”
“Uh… Could we take a photo together?”
Unlike what Jae-hyun had anticipated, Yerin happily agreed to the photo request.
Click.
After the precious photo was saved on his smartphone, Jae-hyun could finally leave the venue.
‘I’m glad I participated in the game show.’
*
That night, a post appeared on the community forum.
[Nickname: Anonymous]
[Title: Sharing my experience from the Tokyo Game Show where I visited the Girls’ Memorial booth]
[Photo: Arrival at Narita International Airport]
[Photo: Picture taken at the Makuhari Messe Exhibition Hall]
Since I’m in Japan still using my smartphone, I can’t write a long post, so please bear with the shortness.
Ever since I was unsuccessful in applying for the closed beta, I fell into despair. When I learned about this year’s Tokyo Game Show, I immediately set my schedule and came over to Japan.
First of all, the exhibition hall was enormous.
The area was divided by country, so it took quite a while to find what I was looking for.
For those who may participate sometime, here’s a tip: Don’t head to the mobile game zone; instead, visit the exhibition hall where Korean companies are gathered.
Girls’ Memorial participated via Enson GT’s booth, located in the Korean games exhibition hall.
Actually, I got lost trying to find the Girls’ Memorial booth and was helped by a boothgirl dressed as Karin, which I’ll describe later.
[Photo: Girls’ Memorial booth entrance poster]
As soon as I arrived at the entrance, I saw life-size cutouts of the operator characters and the three main characters.
The quality was amazing; I thought they were sellable goods, but alas, they were non-commercial items.
[Photo: Inside the Girls’ Memorial booth]
Inside the booth was spectacular.
The area you see on the left is the Experience Zone.
Details about this will come later.
Next to it is the Listening Area where you could listen to previously unreleased soundtracks and BGMs from the closed beta.
Additionally, there was a reception desk and comfortable seating arranged.
[Photo: Goods section]
This was the next highlight after the Experience Zone.
Enson GT did not come unprepared.
They had arranged samples for display of various goods like acrylic figures, framed portraits, keychains, and t-shirts, and I heard it’s possible to reserve some.
The booth tour ends here, and now let’s get to the game experience review that you’ve all been waiting for—100% satisfaction.
The experience session was limited to 30 minutes, but it felt way too short.
In the closed beta client, only Chapter 1 of the story was implemented.
But in this Experience Zone, the prologue was fully realized.
For those who argued about the story teasers during the closed beta, you will understand most of what didn’t make sense by watching the prologue.
There were also quite a few interesting contents revealed such as Edges Story, PVP, stage battles, and area domination contests.
Also, if you fill up the Edge points, you can even marry a character.
In any case, if you’re looking forward to Girls’ Memorial, you should definitely visit once.
You will not regret it.
P.S: I met the director of Girls’ Memorial at the booth, and he’s surprisingly young.
And there might be good news coming soon regarding the Korean version, so it’s worth waiting.
P.S2:
[Photo with Yerin dressed as Karin]
This is the photo I took with the booth girl who guided me earlier.
She was really beautiful, and her Karin cosplay was spot on.
The first time I saw her, I was so nervous; I thought I would die.
[Comment Section][Registered Order]
-Haha, the first day of the Tokyo Game Show isn’t accessible to the public, right?
-For the first three days, it’s called Business Days where only industry insiders can participate.
-Then how did you participate? Are you a reporter?
-Not really. A game company I usually outsource projects to gave me an entry ticket. I was lucky.
-Envious…
-The life-size cutouts look tempting to take home! Will they be auctioned off?
-How many people were there?
-Not as many as I thought since it was business day, but everyone was polite as they were industry people.
-Is the mention of Korean version really true, not fake?
-Yes, it’s true. However, no definitive answer was given besides that good news is coming soon.
Jae-hyun’s Tokyo Game Show review post quickly garnered a lot of upvotes and moved to the popular section at an unprecedented rate.
This was due to the hunger and anticipation of the Girls’ Memorial fans who had been waiting eagerly for the official release after the closed beta.
*
As the relatively quiet Business Days concluded, it was time for the Public Day to kick off on the 5th day.
Unlike the Business Days accessible only to industry insiders, the Public Day allowed participation by the general public.
As expected, the number of visitors crowding our booth increased significantly.
Our booth, in particular, seemed to receive double the traffic compared to the other Korean company booths, possibly due to the word-of-mouth effect.
Exaggerating a bit, I could say that about half of the people visiting the Korean exhibition hall eventually ended up at our booth.
Despite predicting a crowd, we were overwhelmed by the masses, and we were practically exhausted.
“Please line up in a single file! Absolutely no cutting in line! The estimated wait time is an hour and a half!”
“All official goods have been fully reserved! Everything is sold out!”
“Please don’t push people when entering the Experience Zone, and return your smartphone to its proper place when finished!”
“Don’t yank the headsets in the Listening Area! They will break!”
The scene was exactly like a bustling market.
In all the chaos, Yerin had possibly the busiest schedule of all.
It seemed that SFLAG had promoted Yerin’s cosplay on social media, as quite a few people recognized her.
“Excuse me, are you Yerin from Donghwa Workshop?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I’ve been a fan for a long time! Would it be possible to get an autograph on this doujinshi?”
“Sure. Here, give me the pen, and I’ll sign it.”
While carrying the signboard on her shoulder, Yerin signed the doujinshi handed to her by her fan.
“Wow, thank you! Do you plan to restart your activities anytime soon?”
“It might be a while as I’ve been busy with work lately.”
“That’s disappointing. Well, keep it up!”
The customer who had received Yerin’s autograph seemed to have been her personal fan, offering encouragement before moving on to another booth.
“Good job.”
Taking advantage of a lull in visitors, Ho-jin approached Yerin.
“Aah… I’m exhausted.”
“Hang in there, there’s not much left. Is there anything you want to eat once we’re done?”
“Meat… No, eel, let’s go for eel.”
Her sparkling eyes spoke of the determination to enjoy herself after all the hard work.
“Alright, I’ll let the team know. It seems we’re reaching a calmer phase now.”
As closing time approached, most visitors exited the booths and headed out of the exhibition hall.
Confirming that all the visitors inside the booth had left, the sight inside revealed how utterly worn out everyone was.
“Jihojin… I will not come again… Hand over my overtime pay….”
“Please contact the human resources department.”
“Is everything done now…?”
“It’s all done. Senior Myunghoon, thank you for all your hard work.”
“Senior… I just need a little break….”
“Take a rest.”
“Good job. Don’t forget our last agreement.”
“Of course.”
“Se, Seol-i, you also worked hard for five days.”
As the team members lay sprawled out, exhausted, Ho-jin was tidying up the booth at that moment,
[ding ding dong─]
[Tokyo Game Show has been concluded. Guests, please depart promptly…]
As the announcement marking the end of the event played, applause erupted from all around.
This was the applause marking the successful closing of the booths.
With that, the Tokyo Game Show ended in a grand conclusion.