"Here we go, the annual Gastar Carnival ga showcase—this is the festival for gars every year!"
It was still chilly in Japan that March, but nothing could cool the excitent of the players eagerly awaiting new ga announcents.
Every year, the Gastar Carnival wasn't just a celebration for gars—it was also the stage where many highly anticipated titles made their grand debut.
That included gas from third-party studios partnered with Gastar Electronic Entertainnt.
To be featured at the Gastar Carnival was considered a badge of honor—practically a stamp of quality. Gastar acted as a filter of sorts, curating and highlighting the best gas that players could look forward to in the current or upcoming years.
Gas showcased here were often considered "safe bets." Unless a developer ran into unexpected issues later in production, you could buy these gas sight unseen and be confident they'd deliver.
Many studios saw being part of the Carnival as a major recognition—perhaps not a guarantee of massive profits, but certainly of not failing.
There were other major gaming expos around the world, but few could match the level of trust and reputation that Gastar Carnival had built over the years.
"Didn't expect to run into a familiar face here, Mr. Myron."
Just before the showcase began, Myron Case was already standing among the crowd at the venue.
Then suddenly, a voice called out to him. Soone had recognized him—which caught him completely off guard.
Myron instinctively turned his head, only to imdiately regret it.
The CEO of chforce, one of the most prominent tech companies in the U.S., secretly attending a Japanese gaming event—specifically the Carnival hosted by Gastar Electronic Entertainnt, his long-ti rival—was newsworthy, to say the least.
It was a statent in and of itself.
And once the press got wind of it, it could even impact chforce's stock price.
But it was too late to undo anything now.
All Myron could do was steel himself and face the person who called out to him.
Hayakawa Ueto?
President of another tech giant with significant international clout. And here he was, standing openly and confidently in the crowd, wearing everyday clothes and showing no intention of hiding his identity.
Hayakawa looked at Myron with a teasing smile.
"..."
"Co on, Mr. Myron, don't go all quiet on now. I really wasn't expecting to see you here. Though I bet you're wondering how I recognized you so quickly, right?"
"..."
"For people at our level, tracking soone's movents isn't that hard. The mont you boarded a flight from the States, I already knew when and where you were landing. And once I saw Tokyo on your itinerary, I figured exactly what you were up to."
Hayakawa casually walked over to Myron's side, speaking his deductions aloud, a smirk on his face the whole ti.
"Quite the spectacle, isn't it? Gastar's Carnival is sothing else, right? You jealous?"
"It's impressive," Myron admitted, taking a deep breath, no longer bothering to hide. "And yes, I plan on doing sothing similar in the future. It's clearly an effective way to promote gas and build brand loyalty."
"Brand loyalty... couldn't agree more. A good Carnival turns custors into die-hard fans. Anyone who attends basically becos a lifer. It's enviable, no doubt."
Hayakawa turned his eyes toward the massive countdown screen onstage.
Only five minutes remained before the show began.
"Honestly, it's not just you. I'm planning to host one too next year."
"But don't you already have one?" Myron asked.
Suray Electronics had already launched their own "Suray Festival" a few years ago, inspired by Gastar's Carnival. It was fairly successful and had governnt backing.
Land was cheap. Suray had deep pockets. A perfect match. But it still couldn't hold a candle to Gastar.
Hayakawa shook his head. "No, no. Holding one here in Japan just won't cut it anymore. Everyone compares it to Gastar. How could we possibly top that?"
Myron frowned. He was getting a bad feeling.
"If Japan's out of the question," Hayakawa continued, "then why not do it in the U.S.? Perfect timing, don't you think?"
Was he serious?
He failed to beat his local rival, so now he was invading Myron's turf?
Weren't these two Japanese tech giants ever going to give him a break?
Myron sneered. "You're welco to try in the U.S."
"Thank you."
"You know I'm not being polite."
"Oh, I know. I just said it to annoy you. After all, Takayuki and I are partners now—working together to deal with you. So don't expect to play nice."
Hayakawa's grin only widened.
Suray had suffered at chforce's hands. Their ga division and a few mobile entertainnt departnts had been gutted. So had to shut down entirely, and only the ga division survived thanks to Hayakawa's unwavering support.
Now, seeing Myron squirm? Oh, it was delicious.
"Oh, right—did you catch any leaks about this year's ga showcase? See any rumors?"
"Why?"
"So really great gas coming, including one of ours."
Yours?
"You—"
"Oh, look, it's starting. Whatever you were about to say, save it for after. Let's enjoy the show first, Mr. Myron."
On the massive stage ahead, a figure stepped out from the side.
It was Takayuki.
Every year, he was the first to take the stage to open the showcase, followed by wave after wave of ga announcents—without fail.
His appearance alone triggered a thunderous roar from the audience.
On the stage's giant screen, a highlight reel of the past year's gas played in a seamless montage. It had beco an annual tradition—every fan made a point to watch the official edit.
These trailers often racked up tens of millions of views on Facebook. The most-watched ever was the 2011 edit—following the legendary "Switch Year" of 2010 when top-tier gas dropped one after another, raising the bar to a level few could follow.
In Takayuki's original world, they called this "gar burnout." No one had coined a phrase for it in this one—yet—but the sentint was surely on the way.
Now, standing center stage, Takayuki looked down at the sea of cheering fans.
And for the first ti in a long while, he smiled.
"Gars—welco to a brand-new year of the Gastar Carnival. Thank you all for being here!"
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