Pirates: Trainer on the Straw Hat Ship.

Chapter 471 Virtual Game Release (asking for monthly ticket~)

It turns out that even a genius like Vegapunk is bound to make some mistakes when working on such a grand and huge project.

As thousands of lucky people randomly selected from various islands in the Pokémon Sea participated in the internal testing of "Pokémon World", many bugs in details still followed.

Fortunately, as long as there are no problems with the overall framework, these small bugs are nothing to worry about.

With the genius mind of Dr. Vegapunk, all problems were eventually solved.

Finally, after more than a month of hard work, this virtual reality game loaded with the Kanto region expansion pack finally completed the testing and successfully entered the promotion and marketing stage.

……

……

One day.

The breeze is gentle and the sunshine is not too hot.

Casey Island is still the main island facing the outside world in the Pokémon Sea.

One after another, ships gathered towards the port of Casey Island like a swarm of carp crossing the river.

Then, people dressed in suits and carrying various filming equipment got off the boats one after another, and swarmed towards the square in the center of the island like old men and women chasing free eggs.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!!! If you're any later, there won't be any seats left!!!"

"The headline must be from our newspaper!!!"

"Are you kidding me?! Considering the relationship between the World Economic News Agency and the Straw Hat Pirates, I think that old bastard must have known the content of this press conference a long time ago!"

"Ahhhh!!! Why did the Straw Hat Pirates suddenly hold a press conference at this time!!! My wife went into the delivery room today!!!"

"Please accept my condolences, brother. Anyway, the child may not be yours. It doesn't matter whether you follow him or not!"

"Asshole! Bageyalu!!!"

"........."

"........."

Amid the noisy arguments, the crews from various media platforms finally arrived at Spoon Square in the center of Casey Island.

At this time, a huge platform had been set up in the square.

Above the platform is a huge display screen used to play the virtual game PPT created at Chihong's suggestion.

Below the stage are tables and chairs arranged for reporters and media workers.

In fact, the reporters who had just disembarked had no idea that the seating list for the press conference had already been determined according to the size of the media platforms, so their eagerness and scramble were meaningless.

After all, it is impossible for Chihong to let a small and unknown media outlet sit at the front of the venue just because they arrived early.

Soon, after learning that the seats had been arranged, everyone began to take their seats in an orderly manner.

At exactly ten o'clock in the morning, when a ray of golden sunlight shone in the center of the venue, the big screen above the stage suddenly lit up at this moment.

Swah——

On the pitch-black screen, a white text suddenly appeared:

[Have you ever felt disgusted with this world?! ]

[Have you ever regretted coming to this world!? ]

[Do you want to experience a brand new life! ? ]

Along with the deafening and punctuated drum beats, three soul-piercing questions appeared in front of everyone.

Then, the words shattered and turned into starlight that fell into the void universe, but it seemed as if it contained divine power, giving birth to a whole new world in the darkness!

The opening animation that Red had seen when he first entered the game also presented an audio-visual feast to everyone present at this moment, along with a song "The Aim is to Be a Pokémon Master" sung by Uta.
The song is exciting but not ostentatious, cheerful but not joyful, with Utana's strongest voice in the world, and the Pokémon that hold divine power in the Pokémon world appearing one after another on the screen...

Although the people present still didn't know what all this was for, their hearts were burning with excitement.

“What…what are you doing!?”

Looking at the powerful creatures appearing one after another on the screen, a reporter had curious thoughts in his mind.

Soon, the opening animation finished playing, and a black background with white text appeared on the screen again:
【Welcome to the Pokémon world!!!】

簌~
The space in the center of the stage was rippled.

At some point, a red figure suddenly appeared on the stage, attracting the attention of everyone present.

"Welcome everyone to the press conference of "Pokémon World"...!!!"

Chihong used the text on the screen to play a little joke on everyone present.

Immediately, he raised his hand and a microphone suddenly appeared in his hand, effectively transmitting his voice to every corner of the venue.

"I'm sure everyone must be wondering what the creatures and world that just appeared on the screen are. They must also be curious about why we suddenly held such a grand press conference."

"Before answering these questions, I would like to say sorry to everyone~"

Chihong paused and looked at the reporters below with a slight smile on his face.

"I know that many of you came here hoping to see us formally declare war on the World Government, or hoping that we will once again start a war that will affect the world situation."

"But unfortunately, today's press conference has nothing to do with war!"

"On the contrary..."

"We come with peace and hope."

"Perhaps it's a bit hypocritical for me to say this to you as a pirate, but what I want to tell you is..."

“A new era has arrived!!!”

"Welcome everyone to... the Pokémon Era!!!"

Swish! ! !
At the moment Chihong's voice fell, a large red cloth of the same color as the stage that had been on the stage for a long time was suddenly lifted up, revealing ten strange devices like cyber-style coffins and hundreds of virtual game helmets hidden underneath.

The red voice sounded again:
"I am honored to inform you that, after three years of unremitting efforts by Dr. Vegapunk day and night, we have finally developed a second world where everyone can survive!!!"

"That's the legendary virtual world!!!"

"In this world, everyone will have a chance to refute their life and make a new choice."

“Whether you are a bartender cleaning glasses in a bar or a hardworking farmer in the fields, as long as you are tired of the ordinary life in reality, as long as you don’t want to suffer all kinds of unfair treatment…”

"From now on, you can choose to come to the virtual world and restart your life!" "This is not to escape from reality, but to give you a second chance to choose your boring life."

“This place is full of challenges, but also opportunities!”

"In the virtual world, there is a set of fair rules. As long as you work hard and are lucky enough, you will rewrite your destiny."

"Of course, I also know that the remarks just now may be too new to this world. Even though everyone present here is an elite from various media platforms, it is difficult for you to understand the meaning of these remarks."

"But it doesn't matter. We can draw 110 lucky winners from the scene and have them perform for us on the spot..."

"What on earth does the so-called second life mean?"

Snapped!
With a crisp snap of fingers, a large number of golden balls suddenly appeared in front of Chihong. Above each ball, there was a number from 1 to 110.

Chihong smiled and said:

"Next, we will throw these small balls evenly across the field. The media friends who touch the metal balls first will have the opportunity to experience the virtual game!"

“Please don’t fight over it. Even if you don’t get the chance to experience it, you below can still better record this world-changing scene.”

"If I find anyone disrupting the meeting..."

A scarlet light flashed in the red eyes, and a faint pressure swept through everyone like a mist, causing everyone present to choke up.

Although they are usually the superiors who control public opinion, today, in this conference hall, they really dare not do anything out of line.

After all, he was an extremely ruthless man who dared to slaughter even the Celestial Dragons!
It's not easy to take their lives.

Seeing that everyone present had quieted down, Chihong smiled and had an idea.

In an instant, the 110 small balls in front of him flew high into the sky, and just as he said, they were evenly scattered throughout the venue, and gently fell down, looking for their lucky winners.

Ten minutes later, the 110 selected candidates came onto the stage with trepidation.

Chihong smiled warmly and said, "Friends with numbers 11-100, please sit on the reclining chairs next to you and put on the virtual gaming helmets near the reclining chairs. Wait for the next instruction."

"Friends with numbers 1-10, please lie down in the virtual game cabin over here."

"Next, you will experience a wonderful journey that will shake your worldview."

The virtual game cabin was a special product that Chihong asked Vegapunk to create based on the online articles he saw on Earth.

In fact, the structure of this thing is very simple. It is a virtual helmet device without a shell, combined with a clone incubator.

Similar to traditional online writing routines, players who purchase a virtual game cabin also need to purchase the corresponding nutrient solution.

These nutrient solutions are sufficient to maintain the basic nutrients needed by organisms on a daily basis, and long-term use can also enhance immunity and prevent many diseases, which can be regarded as having some of the effects of health products.

The effect is so good, so the price is naturally very high.

Because it was originally a virtual game world, Red was aiming to make all pirates aware of the existence of Pokémon and see if it could create Pokémon belonging to this world through the special rules of the pirate world.

Therefore, the selling price of each virtual gaming helmet is set at 29.9 Baileys by Chihong!
Although the price is still three times the cost, in a world where a newspaper costs 100 Baileys, a price of less than 30 Baileys can be said to be very affordable.

Almost as long as you are in a normal social environment, you can earn enough money to buy a gaming helmet by working hard for a month.

In order to highlight the nobleness of the game cabinet, the price of each game cabinet is not too high, only 3000W Baileys, which is only 50 times the cost price!

A higher price will naturally mean a better gaming experience.

For all players who have purchased the game cabin, when they draw the initial Pokémon, the race value of the Pokémon's final form will be increased from 450-550 to 480-550.

Although the upper limit has not changed, it is guaranteed that there will be no particularly bad initial Pokémon.

However...the nutrient solution that comes with the game cabin also needs to be purchased separately.

The average person uses about 100 million Baileys per month.

As for those strong ones, it is estimated that nutrient solution will need to be added once a week or even less frequently to ensure the normal operation of the game cabin.

This price is by no means low, but for truly wealthy people, it may just be the cost of a meal.

Chihong believes that both virtual helmets and virtual gaming cabins will have their own market groups.

Of course, in order to take into account the extremely uneven heights and body shapes in the world of pirates, ordinary gaming helmets and gaming cabins are sufficient for individuals under 2.3 meters in height to use smoothly.

If it exceeds this range, you will need to submit additional customization fees to the factory.

But these are just small amounts of money, and I believe that anyone who is willing to enter the "Pokemon World" will not care about these extra costs.

Following Chihong's reminder, the 110 lucky winners quickly entered the game world.

On the big screen, there are 110 numbered screen windows.

Because the screen is large enough, even if it is divided into 110 parts, it is enough for everyone present to see the picture appearing on it clearly.

Everything on the screen is presented from the player's first-person perspective.

It’s just that it’s slightly different from when Chihong first played it.

In order to ensure that everyone has some quiet time to think and familiarize themselves with the game after entering it for the first time, Aunt Hanako and Professor Oak, who were originally in Pallet Town, all appeared in front of the players together at the beginning.

These are not Hanako and Ohki from the original Pallet Town, but individual spaces set up specifically for players to guide them in naming and claiming Pokémon.

As for the original operations such as obtaining beginner equipment and Poké Balls, they remain in Pallet Town, allowing players to complete the task process while becoming familiar with the environment of this world.

These are the anomalies discovered by internal testers during the internal test.

After a brief moment of confusion, the 110 lucky winners completed their initial tasks one by one and officially began their adventure in the Pokémon world.

Some players with smooth processes have even entered Route 01 and started their first Pokémon battle with their level 5 Pidgeot and wild Rattata.

Outside the game, all the media staff in the venue held their breath and watched the demonstration screens with different situations on the screen, each of them revealing a look of shock.

Those who were able to be sent to attend the Straw Hat Pirates' press conference were all pillars of various media. After seeing the situation on the screen, they immediately realized something, and also understood what the "second world" that Red had just mentioned was referring to.

Although the press conference had not yet ended, they could not wait to take out their communication devices and pass on the first-hand information to their respective work units.

"Hello, editor-in-chief!? Did my wife give birth successfully? What? It's a boy with blond hair like you? But I have green hair!?"

"Oh, forget it! Those are unimportant things!"

"Editor-in-chief, just as you expected, the Straw Hat Pirates have made another big news that is enough to shock the world!!!"

"I can't wait to see my article appear on the headlines of our East China Sea Gossip News!"

(End of this chapter)