With unwavering confidence.
Soone had criticized Hellic 2's aggressive marketing, but Studio Rewind had proven their confidence right with solid results.
In the first three days, they had sold 1.03 million copies of the ga.
Considering that the demo version had sold 300,000 copies in its first month, it might not seem like a lot, but in absolute numbers, it had far exceeded the realm of indie gas.
Well, wouldn't selling 1.03 million copies in the initial sales be considered explosive even if it was a AAA ga?
Of course, factors like the accessibility of online platforms and external factors like Aldred Russo's respect played a significant role, but results were results.
There was no escaping the articles.
"Dostic Ga Hellic 2! Shaking the World!"
Dostic, worldwide, shaking.
These were carefully chosen keywords, often referred to as "nationalism." In 2011, these keywords were undoubtedly effective, and the community was delighted with such news.
Helic2Enthusiast: If I had to pick just one ga to play for the rest of my life, it would probably be Hellic 2... I can't even rember Diablo anymore.
SpaceWarriorFan: What?
LordofBloodshed: The story didn't make any sense. The plot twist was mind-blowing.
ZZoneHanSu: I cried...
TooFocusedToSleep: After playing the first chapter, I couldn't wait to start the next one! LOL
SweetBellMan39: More importantly, I got so into it that I forgot I need to sleep... ^^
S2PoppyS2: The speculations were way off, and it was an unexpected twist!
DeferredMilitaryServiceInspector: That's why it was even more enjoyable! LOL
At this point, a peculiar trend erged in the community.
GaKnowledgeSeeker: I've been away for a while. What's so special about Hellic 2? Is the ending that amazing?
When a long-absent user asked, everyone began giving the sa response.
Hellic2Enthusiast: If you're curious...
LordofBloodshed: You should buy and play it.
It was a kind of compensatory psychology.
Rember the closed beta period, how badly "Jas Han" had humiliated.
Of course, he adhered to the developer's spoiler-free clause, but he had acted like sore loser to so extent, hadn't he?
When you've been through it, you naturally feel the urge not to be the only one suffering.
(Chat)
Hellic2Enthusiast: T_T_T_T
DeferredMilitaryServiceInspector: T_T_T_T
Posts like these were popping up in response to every question.
(Chat)
GaKnowledgeSeeker: ...I'll wait. I'll buy and try it.
And this led to increased sales.
(Ga)
GaKnowledgeSeeker: Hey, hey, hey, is this the ending? It's so abrupt! I want more!
The mont they see the ending and tried to cope with the lingering feeling, they all started asking the sa question.
Even the returning "GaKnowledgeSeeker" asked the sa question.
But there was no one who could give a straightforward answer.
(Ga)
TooFocusedToSleep: Has anyone unlocked the hidden route yet?
Even though there was officially one more ending in the ga, released as an event by the developer, no one had reached it.
And it had already been a week since the ga's release.
(Chat)
Helic2Enthusiast: Ugh... There's only one week left for the event...
The reason was obvious.
The final boss battle with Warden lasted only 3 minutes, and the difficulty was extre. There were only three counter patterns to it.
In the midst of that, trying to clear the path to the hidden route without any hints was an incredibly challenging puzzle.
Many had tried and failed.
As the desire for a different ending grew stronger, so did the impatience of the players.
There were two other changes during that week.
The first was the accumulation of user content and increased information,
"(Strategy) EnjoyingHelic2: Katana - Swift, Blade Master Alice Build
(Strategy) Lord of the Pibadeong: Drug (Giant Transformation) Strike, Barbarian Alice Build
(Strategy) Draft Delay Specialist: Katana - Strong Strike Drug (Attack Speed), Rogue Alice Build"
The second was the analysis and creation following the slowly unfolding endings.
"(Chat) ClearWithoutT: So, isn't Alice basically using her mom as a weapon?"
In-ga s.
"(Chat) Z-Only-Numbers: Alice was reborn and beca happy.
(Luka cosplaying as Alice and busking)
She beca an old man, but she's happy."
s using images.
"(Chat) FlowerJaeheePlumLips: Made a cheeseburger.
(Cooked homade burger )
It tastes like Alice's tears..."
Even trends in food.
The highlight was once again the analysis post of "S2 Poppie S2."
"(Analysis) S2 Poppie S2: Story Analysis after 7th Run
I've co back to make ands! There's quite a bit of hidden information in the ga's tooltips!
Thinking of the protagonist as Butterfly rather than Alice revealed different perspective!
Especially the tooltips related to the Giant Transformation and Miniaturization routes were significant clues!
(Screenshot)
The tooltip for Giant Transformation says, 'I wanted to beco a big person. I thought it would happen.' This could be interpreted as reflecting Butterfly's life that had gone awry. Of course, you could say this is just Alice's dream.
But when you connect it with the tooltip for 'Miniaturization,' the aning changes!
The Miniaturization tooltip says, 'There were tis when I realize I'm a very small person. Especially when I'm in a crowd!'
Miniaturization and Giant Transformation were a pair of items that represented Butterfly's reality and dreams!
And finally...
··· So, the na of the beach revealed in the final boss battle is the Beach of Resentnt.
Perhaps it was Butterfly's life, unable to live without resenting that dragged Alice into that hell.
In fact, it's a quite bitter story.
Depending on how you interpret it, it could beco a religious story like the earlier speculation, or it could beco a story that tragically illuminates the life of a poor unmarried mother!
This part is difficult to talk about as it hasn't officially been released, hehe."
Most of the comnts reflected on the mont of the first ending, and it was indeed a tragedy.
Tragedy had that effect.
When a desperately desired dream isn't realized, it becos even more painful, yet we co to accept it through death.
Stories like these, when they are completed narratively, are more morable because they make us dream of a fairy-tale happy ending.
So, all the stories converged once again.
"(Record) ClearWithoutT: Record of Failed Hidden Ending Route"
In the end, they held onto the one remaining hope.
They yearned for a happy ending hidden behind the curtain.
Beyond national emotions, the sa was true for the North Arican land.
"Kiss: Record of Failed Hidden Route
Dadbom: It doesn't seem to be related to pattern combos.
Luka: The boss seems to have a health gauge. Could it be related to that?"
The North Arican community also mourned the sad ending in the sa way.
Analysis posts similar to what "S2 Poppie S2" accomplished through in-ga narrative tooltips beca the norm, and they searched for a possible happy ending.
Of course, success was elusive.
The path was too long, too treacherous, and too dark.
Nevertheless, they never gave up, and among them, there was one person.
"Luka: Jas turned on the broadcast!"
It was a cliché and was cheesy and corny but still heart-warming.
"On Air: I won't turn off the broadcast until I find the hidden route."
The transformation of a forr villain into a hero.
The chat room lit up.
"Luka: Jas! You're back!
Kiss: Did you find it? Is there a way?
Hellic2Joy: I believed in you! You're our hero!
Dadbom: Why did you take so long?"
Jas chuckled with slightly tired eyes.
"When did you stop cursing at , pretending to have waited all this ti? And you, the third one, don't chat in Korean."
"Hellic2Joy has been banned for 10 minutes."
Jas casually brushed it off.
"I didn't find a way. I'm still looking. That's why I turned on the broadcast."
He splashed so water on his face.
How many hours did he sleep in the past week?
Yeah, barely around 30 hours.
And that was when his body couldn't take it anymore and he dozed off.
Jas realized how obsessed he was with this ga.
Words ca later.
"I couldn't figure it out on my own. That's why I decided to rely on collective intelligence."
On the screen appeared a notepad docunt with community posts compiled.
He had scraped all the posts, both Korean and North Arican, and among them, there were sentences with lines in the middle.
"The lines indicate what I've already tried and failed. I haven't attempted about ten of them yet."
But he didn't think it would end here.
Jas knew how ticulous Yeonho was.
"If this doesn't work, then I'll start taking opinions from now on. It's a week until the event ends, right? Let's give it a shot."
Bang!
He launched the ga.
The button he pressed was different from before: "Load ga."
The viewers were shocked when they saw the screen.
"Dadbom: ...27th run?"
He had downloaded the official version and played it 27 tis in a week.
It was evident from this overwhelming runs that Jas had speed-run through all the previous playthroughs and focused only on the final boss battle using an optimized route.
"I ran through it hoping to find clues during the chapter progress. Now I'm sure. There's no way during the middle of the chapter. You just have to deal with the Warden boss fight."
So, the strategy was to go back to a save point just before clearing.
"I'm going to try multiple routes."
Jas opened the build window.
All weapons were unlocked, and he hadn't allocated any points to any route.
Yes, he had cleared the entire ga with just a basic slingshot.
Now, he was building specifically for hidden routes.
Helic 2 had advantages in every playthrough.
The unlocked routes from previous playthroughs could be imdiately unlocked without going through the previous steps if you had the points.
In other words, a wide distribution of points was possible.
The way to use this advantage was none other than the "Optimization Build."
Selecting only the necessary items for each route and expanding the combination exponentially by placing them in quick slots.
"DoDorian: Wow."
You could see Jas's dedication.
Only one final boss battle remained, and the question was what kind of build Jas would showcase. That alone was worth watching.
Viewers were getting excited.
Jas casually brushed off the reaction and said, "Well, let's go in."
Is there a happy ending in this darn ga, or if not, do we have to be sad about another sad ending?
"Let's see if it's just a bad ending. If it's not, I'll go to Korea and put a bullet hole in Cheon Yeonho's head."
With that, he entered the beach.
And so, 15 tis.
[Returning to the save point.]
All the prepared thods failed.
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