The facts proved that even a genius like Vegapunk could not avoid making a few mistakes when creating a project on such a grand and massive scale.
As over a thousand lucky participants randomly selected from islands across the Pokémon Sea joined the closed beta testing of Pokémon World, quite a few bugs in the finer details began surfacing one after another.
Fortunately, as long as there were no issues with the overall framework, these minor bugs were nothing to worry about.
With Vegapunk's brilliant mind behind it all, every problem was ultimately resolved with ease.
And so, after more than a month of refinement, this virtual reality game loaded with the Kanto region expansion pack finally completed testing and successfully entered its promotional phase.
…
…
One day.
The breeze was gentle, and the sunlight mild.
As always, it was Abra Island, the Pokémon Sea's main island open to the outside world.
Ship after ship streamed toward Abra Island's harbor like a school of fish crossing a river.
Then from those ships descended one sharply dressed figure after another, all in suits and leather shoes, carrying all kinds of recording equipment. Like elderly people scrambling for free eggs, they swarmed toward the plaza at the center of the island.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!!! If we're any later, there won't be any seats left!!!"
"The headline is definitely going to be ours!!!"
"In your dreams! With the relationship between the World Economy News Paper and the Straw Hat Pirates, that old bastard definitely already knew what this press conference was about!"
"Ahhh!!! Why did the Straw Hat Pirates suddenly decide to hold a press conference at a time like this!? My wife went into labor today!!!"
"My condolences, brother. The kid might not even be yours anyway, so whether you're there or not doesn't really matter!"
"You bastard! Bakayaro!!!"
"…"
"…"
Amid the noisy quarrels, these staff members from various media outlets finally arrived at Spoon Plaza in the center of Abra Island.
At this moment, a giant stage had already been set up in the square.
Above the stage was an enormous display screen, prepared to play the virtual game PPT specially made at Red's suggestion.
Below the stage were rows upon rows of tables and chairs arranged for reporters and media workers.
In truth, the reporters who had just gotten off the ships had no idea that this press conference had already assigned seats according to the size of each media platform, so all their urgency and scrambling had been completely meaningless.
After all, there was no way Red would let some obscure little news outlet sit in the front row just because they arrived early.
Soon, after learning that the seats had already been arranged, everyone began taking their places in an orderly manner.
At exactly ten in the morning, when a ray of golden sunlight shone upon the center of the venue, the giant screen above the stage suddenly lit up.
Shua—
Against the pitch-black screen, a line of white text suddenly appeared:
[Have you ever felt disgust toward this world!?]
[Have you ever regretted being born into this world!?]
[Do you want to experience an entirely new life!?]
Along with thunderous, perfectly timed drumbeats, these three soul-piercing questions appeared before everyone's eyes.
Then the words shattered, turning into specks of starlight that fell into the void of the universe. Yet as if imbued with holy power, they gave birth to an entirely new world within the darkness!
The opening animation Red had seen when he first entered the game was now shown once more, and together with Uta's heartfelt performance of Aim to Be a Pokémon Master, it delivered an overwhelming feast for both the eyes and ears to everyone present!!!
The song was stirring yet not overbearing, lively yet not frivolous. Paired with Uta's unrivaled voice and the procession of Pokémon appearing onscreen like divine beings wielding authority over the Pokémon World…
Even though the people present still had no idea what all of this was for, the flames in their hearts were already burning uncontrollably.
"Th-This… what exactly is going on!?"
Watching one powerful creature after another appear on the screen, a reporter's heart filled with curiosity.
Soon, the opening animation finished, and the screen once again displayed white text over a black background:
[Welcome to the Pokémon World!!!]
Rustle~
Ripples spread through the space at the center of the stage.
At some unknown moment, Red's figure suddenly appeared onstage, instantly drawing everyone's gaze.
"Welcome, everyone, to Pokémon World…'s press conference!!!"
Using the text on the screen, Red played a little long-drawn joke on the crowd.
Then he raised one hand, and a microphone suddenly appeared in it, effectively carrying his voice to every corner of the venue.
"I'm sure everyone is wondering what exactly those creatures and that world you just saw are, and you're also very curious why we suddenly decided to hold such a grand press conference."
"Before I answer those questions, I first need to very regretfully apologize to all of you~"
Red paused, a slight smile rising at the corners of his mouth as he looked toward the reporters below.
"I know many of you came here hoping to watch us officially declare war on the World Government, or expecting us to once again trigger some massive battle that would shake the world order."
"But unfortunately, today's press conference has absolutely nothing to do with war!"
"On the contrary…"
"We have come bearing peace and hope."
"Perhaps it sounds a little hypocritical for pirates to say such things, but what I want to tell all of you is…"
"A new era has already arrived!!!"
"Welcome, everyone… to the Pokémon Era!!!"
Shua!!!
The instant Red's words fell, a huge red cloth that had long been blended into the stage's color was suddenly yanked aside, revealing ten strange devices hidden beneath it that looked like cyber-style coffins, as well as over a hundred virtual game helmets.
Red's voice rang out once more:
"It is my great honor to inform all of you that, after three years of tireless effort day and night by Dr. Vegapunk, we have finally developed a second world in which everyone can live!!!"
"In other words—the legendary virtual world!!!"
"In this world, everyone will have a chance to refute their life and make their choice all over again."
"Whether you're a bartender wiping glasses in a tavern or a hardworking farmer in the fields, as long as you're tired of your ordinary life in reality, as long as you no longer wish to endure all kinds of unfair treatment…"
"From this day onward, you may choose to enter the virtual world and begin a life that truly belongs to you all over again!"
"This is not escaping reality. It is giving your dull life a second chance at choice."
"It is full of challenges, but also full of opportunities!"
"In the virtual world, there is a fair set of rules. As long as you are diligent enough and lucky enough, you will rewrite your fate."
"Of course, I also understand that for this world, everything I've just said may sound far too novel. Even though all of you here are elites from the major media platforms, it may still be difficult for you to understand what these words truly mean."
"But that's all right. We can draw 110 lucky people from the audience and let them demonstrate it for us on the spot…"
"What exactly a so-called second life really means!"
Snap!
With a crisp snap of his fingers, a large pile of golden little balls suddenly appeared before Red, each one marked with a number from 1 to 110.
Red smiled and said:
"Next, we will toss these little balls evenly throughout the venue. The media friends who are the first to touch a metal ball with their hands will earn a chance to experience the virtual game!"
"I ask that everyone please refrain from fighting over them. Even if you don't get a chance to try it yourselves, those of you below the stage will still be able to record this world-changing scene even more clearly."
"And if anyone lets me notice any behavior that disrupts the venue…"
A crimson gleam flashed through Red's eyes, and a faint pressure swept across the crowd like a thin mist, making everyone present swallow nervously.
Though they were usually people who stood above the masses and controlled public opinion, in this venue today, they truly did not dare do anything out of line.
After all, this was a ruthless monster who dared slaughter Celestial Dragons at will!
If he wanted their lives, it would be the easiest thing in the world.
Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Red smiled and shifted his thoughts.
In an instant, the 110 little balls before him shot into the air and, just as he had said, spread evenly throughout the venue, descending lightly to seek out their lucky owners.
Ten minutes later, the 110 selected participants came onto the stage with nervous hearts.
Red greeted them with a friendly smile. "Those holding numbers 11 through 100, please sit in the reclining chairs over there and put on the virtual game helmets by your seats while awaiting the next instruction."
"Those holding numbers 1 through 10, please lie down inside these virtual game pods."
"Next, you are about to experience a wondrous journey that will completely shake your worldview."
The virtual game pod was something Red had asked Vegapunk to specially create based on the web novels he had seen back on Earth.
In truth, its structure was very simple: it was just a shell-less virtual helmet device paired with a clone cultivation chamber.
And just like in traditional web novel tropes, players who purchased a virtual game pod would also need to buy matching nutrient fluid separately.
This nutrient fluid was enough to maintain a living being's daily nutritional needs, and with long-term use, it could also strengthen immunity and prevent many diseases, giving it certain health supplement benefits as well.
With effects this good, the price was naturally very high.
Since Red's original goal in releasing the virtual game world was to let all the people of the pirate world come to understand the existence of Pokémon—and to see whether the special rules of this world might give rise to Pokémon native to it—
he had set the price of each virtual game helmet at 299,000 Beli!
Even though that price was still three times the production cost, in a world where even a single newspaper cost 100 Beli, a price below 300,000 Beli could already be considered extremely affordable.
As long as one lived in a reasonably normal society, with just a bit of effort, one month of work would be enough to earn the cost of a game helmet.
And in order to emphasize the prestige of the game pod, the price of each pod was not all that outrageous either—only 30 million Beli, a mere fifty times the production cost!
A higher price naturally meant a better gaming experience.
For all players who purchased a game pod, when drawing their starter Pokémon, the final-form base stat total of their Pokémon would be increased from 450–550 to 480–550.
The upper limit did not change, but it guaranteed that no one would get an especially weak starter Pokémon.
However… the nutrient fluid used with the game pod still had to be purchased separately.
For ordinary people, one month's worth of usage would cost around 1 million Beli.
As for powerful individuals, they would probably need to refill the nutrient fluid once a week—or even sooner—for the pod to function properly.
That price was by no means low, but to the truly wealthy, it might amount to nothing more than the cost of a single meal.
Red believed that whether it was the virtual helmet or the virtual game pod, both would have their own target market.
Of course, to accommodate the pirate world's wildly uneven range of heights and body types, standard game helmets and game pods were suitable for individuals under 2.3 meters tall.
If one exceeded that range, an additional customization fee would need to be submitted to the factory.
But those were all small expenses. Surely anyone willing to enter Pokémon World would not care about such additional costs.
Under Red's guidance, the 110 lucky participants quickly entered the game world.
And on the giant screen, 110 separate windows labeled with their corresponding numbers appeared.
Because the screen was large enough, even divided into 110 parts, it was still enough for everyone present to clearly see what was happening inside each one.
Everything on the screen was being shown from the players' first-person perspectives.
Still, it was somewhat different from Red's first time playing.
In order to make sure that after entering the game for the first time, each player would have some peace and quiet to think and familiarize themselves, Aunt Delia and Professor Oak—who had originally been located in Pallet Town—now both appeared before the players right from the beginning.
These were not the original Delia and Professor Oak from Pallet Town, but isolated instances created specifically for players to complete the two introductory steps of naming themselves and receiving their Pokémon.
As for tasks like receiving beginner equipment and Poké Balls, those were still left within Pallet Town, allowing players to familiarize themselves with the environment of this world while progressing through the quest flow.
These were all irregularities discovered by the beta testers during the closed beta.
After a brief period of shock and confusion, the 110 lucky participants quickly completed their initial setup and officially began their adventure in the Pokémon World.
Some players who moved through the process especially smoothly had already entered Route 1, where they took their newly received Level 5 Pidgey and battled wild Rattata in their very first Pokémon battle.
Outside the game, every media worker in the venue watched the various demonstration screens with bated breath, each one wearing a stunned expression.
Anyone who had been sent to attend a Straw Hat Pirates press conference was a core pillar of their respective outlet. The moment they saw what was happening on the screens, they immediately understood something, and they also grasped what Red had meant earlier by a "second world."
Even though the press conference had not yet ended, they were already too impatient to hold themselves back. One after another, they pulled out their communication devices and began transmitting the freshest first-hand reports back to their offices.
"Hello, chief editor!? Did my wife deliver safely!? What? It's a blond-haired boy just like you, Chief Editor? But my hair is obviously green!?"
"Sigh, forget it! That's not important!"
"Chief Editor, just as you predicted, the Straw Hat Pirates have once again made a piece of world-shaking news!!!"
"I can't wait to see my article on the front page of our East Blue Gossip News!!!"
(End of Chapter)