Chapter 729 - 729: Phasmophobia Gameplay Demonstration

Before long, Haruno brought Utaha and Yukino upstairs. The other two computers beside Ichin's were powered on as well, and the four of them logged into Phasmophobia together, creating a local multiplayer lobby.

Putting on her headset, Utaha sighed.

"Why did you suddenly decide to play this in the middle of the night?"

Ichin laughed.

"The viewers wanted to see the new game, so I figured I'd give them a little demonstration. Don't worry, we'll only play two rounds. After that, the stream will be over."

"Fine~~"

Utaha agreed, sitting down beside Yukino and putting on her headset.

After entering the game, Ichin selected the easiest map and invited the other three into the lobby while explaining the game to the viewers.

"The gameplay really isn't that complicated. You play as paranormal investigators who accept jobs with your teammates and head to haunted locations. Your objective is to search for and identify the ghost, then either capture or eliminate it. Of course, once you've correctly identified the ghost type, you can also simply leave and submit your report without dealing with it directly. You'll still complete the mission, but your rewards and experience will be much lower."

After selecting a bald male priest as his character, Ichin turned to the others.

"Everyone pick your equipment. You've all tested the game at the office before, so you should remember how everything works."

The three nodded together and quickly equipped flashlights, thermometers, and various ghost-hunting tools before starting the mission.

The loading screen faded.

A truck carrying the four investigators stopped in front of a silent police station.

Oh! A new map! They never showed a police station in the trailers!

It's so quiet... somehow that's even scarier.

Where's the ghost?

After entering the dark, eerily silent police station, Ichin immediately assigned everyone's roles.

"Don't turn on your flashlights yet. The three of us will split up and check rooms with thermometers. Utaha, stay in the truck for now and monitor the readings on the equipment."

Switching to his thermometer, Ichin separated from Haruno and Yukino before entering a nearby room.

The instant he stepped inside, the thermometer reading dropped from the normal room temperature of fifteen degrees Celsius to below freezing.

"Holy crap! We found it already?"

Ichin blurted out in surprise before pressing the voice chat key.

"Hello~~ Have you eaten yet?"

His ridiculous greeting immediately sent the livestream chat into hysterics.

HAHAHA! Can you actually talk to ghosts like that?

Wonder if it'll answer.

Damn! I just saw a white shadow flash by!

Me too! Just for a split second!

Naturally, Ichin had seen the ghostly silhouette as well.

Almost simultaneously, Utaha's voice came through from inside the truck.

"Ichin, your readings are fluctuating a lot over there, and the sanity value dropped a little. Be careful."

"Got it."

Ichin nodded while carefully observing his surroundings.

Accompanied by faint rustling noises echoing through the room, he slowly backed toward the doorway.

Taking out his camera, he snapped a picture into the room.

Almost instantly, half of a pale white figure appeared along the edge of the photograph.

"A Revenant? Yukino, bring the Spirit Box you have. Haruno, come over too. You brought the salt, right?"

"Coming!"

"I'm on the second floor! I'll be there in a second!"

After a series of careful tests, the group eventually confirmed that the ghost haunting the police station was indeed a Revenant.

Using salt together with the capture device, they successfully sealed the ghost.

"Phew... Even though the Revenant escaped into another room twice, we still managed to catch it without too much trouble."

Looking at the generous amount of experience points and money they had earned, Ichin smiled and addressed the viewers.

"See? This game really tests your ability to think. We've designed many different kinds of ghosts, and you'll need to gather clues during your investigation to determine exactly which one you're dealing with before deciding on your strategy. Next, let's try one of the harder missions. Back during office testing, we failed this one twice in a row."

The group immediately started their second mission.

This time, however, they lasted only five minutes before the Nightmare hiding inside the mansion wiped out the entire team.

The team wipe happened unbelievably fast.

One after another, they were killed.

Haruno, who was the last survivor, didn't even make it out of the mansion.

She was cut down while sprinting toward the front door.

"Ahhh! This is so hard!"

Haruno grabbed her head in frustration, looking thoroughly depressed.

Ichin laughed helplessly.

"That was our mistake. We misjudged the ghost. Before we had enough time to adjust our strategy, the Nightmare had already started hunting."

He looked back at the camera.

"Alright, that's it for today's gameplay demonstration. It's getting late, so we're ending the stream here. Be sure to follow our official accounts on all platforms. We'll be revealing more information about our upcoming games very soon."

"See you next time. Bye, everyone."

After saying goodbye to the audience, Ichin ended the stream and turned toward the other three.

"Alright, what do you all want to do now? It's only ten o'clock, so we've still got some time before bed."

Utaha immediately raised her hand.

"Ichin, let's watch a TV series for a while!"

"I don't mind. Whatever you all want. Haruno? Yukino?"

Haruno smiled brightly.

"Sounds good! The thing I wanted most was that Fall Guys costume, and now I've got it. I'm happy doing anything else."

Yukino nodded as well.

"Mm. Let's relax with a show for a while, then we can head to bed."

After shutting down the computers, everyone turned on the projector in the media room and settled in to watch a television drama together.

Over the next several days, Ichin's life returned to its usual peaceful routine.

Aside from developing games at the office, nothing particularly eventful happened.

After all three interview videos were released, many more players learned about both Ichin and the games currently under development at the company.

Taking advantage of the increased attention, Ichin instructed his team to release brand new promotional trailers for both Phasmophobia and Bloodborne, generating another wave of excitement.

Shortly afterward, pre-orders for both games officially opened.

Phasmophobia would launch on PC, while Bloodborne would release simultaneously on both PC and consoles.

Even the Nintendo Switch version was included.

After extensive optimization and reducing certain visual effects and graphical fidelity, Ichin had managed to make the game run at a stable 30 FPS on the Switch.

All he could do now was hope Bloodborne sold well on the Switch.

Otherwise, the optimization costs invested into that version would likely never be recovered.

And just like that, August flew by.

Before anyone knew it, September had arrived.

As usual, Ichin got up on time.

After breakfast, he headed to the company with Utaha and Haruno, while Yukino continued her graduate studies and left for the university.

...

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