The release of World of Warcraft was destined to send game fans around the globe into a frenzy.
Anyone who had seen the promotional CG already knew—this was going to be a truly open world.
Before this, other developers had tried to create such games, but either technical issues emerged, or the gameplay was full of loopholes. Without strong narrative support, the entire experience felt hollow and dull. Most of those titles never even made it past their demo phases before dying stillborn.
But the moment the World of Warcraft project was announced, players around the world knew there was no going back. The reckless old era of gaming was gone forever. They were ready to step into the new world Xu Dan had created for them.
As they played Warcraft, they silently counted down in their hearts, waiting for this day to arrive.
By now, even people who didn't play games knew that Antarctica Corporation was famous for its conscience-level quality—its in-game graphics were nearly identical to its promotional CG, sometimes even surpassing it.
Everyone was waiting for that kind of world.
The day before release.
Xu Dan rubbed the rough stubble on his chin—he hadn't shaved in days—as he silently browsed the system points mall.
He stared at the game package that now weighed in at 50 gigabytes, and for the first time, he felt an emotion he couldn't quite describe.
In the past, both The King of Fighters and Warcraft had been small.
But this game—this world—was enormous.
He had been thinking a lot about the "Game Effects Optimization Pack."
The last two times, he'd used the intermediate version. But for this… he planned to use the advanced one.
With a project as vast as World of Warcraft, in a world so boundless, anything less than advanced optimization felt like a shameful waste.
In his previous life, when he played the game, he had always noticed how ugly the character models were. Of course, American games had always been like that—they seemed to come with a built-in "ugly character" setting.
That shortcoming needed to be fixed. A great game should strive for perfection.
He looked at the system's options:
[Primary Effects Optimization Pack]: 10 million points[Intermediate Effects Optimization Pack]: 30 million points[Advanced Effects Optimization Pack]: 100 million points[Top Effects Optimization Pack]: 500 million points
…
Over the years, Xu Dan had constantly exchanged points for skills. He now possessed the full skill set of the Warcraft Blademaster, along with many other powerful abilities.
His current points balance: one hundred and three million.
The points earned from The King of Fighters had gradually dwindled. Arcade fighting games simply couldn't stay on top forever. Even with optimization, players eventually grew tired of repetitive loops.
Most of his points now came from Warcraft. So it felt fitting to use the points earned from that world to build its successor.
"Buy the Advanced Effects Optimization Pack."
"Purchase successful."
With a crisp chime, the images on Xu Dan's computer transformed instantly.
The rough models became delicate.
The ground looked like actual soil.
Skin—every pore, every strand of fine hair—became clearly visible.
Orcs appeared more imposing than ever.
Their faces were vivid and expressive.
The higher the grade of the optimization pack, the more attention paid to detail.
The most important upgrade, of course, was the character animations. The original movements had been painfully stiff. As a perfectionist, Xu Dan was deeply satisfied with the improvements.
His eyes lit up as he watched the reborn World of Warcraft. His fingers instinctively tapped the keyboard, guiding a character to move and throw a punch.
It was unbelievably real.
With a single punch, its muscles rippled, and he could feel the displaced air as the fist sliced through it. It was as though the player had stepped into another world.
The graphical quality now surpassed anything describable as "4K." If one had to put it into words, it was more like traveling to another realm entirely.
The characters on screen looked like real people.
It felt as if they were about to step off the monitor and drag the player straight into Azeroth.
Staring at such a flawless game, Xu Dan almost didn't want to release it—it was a work of art.
Even his harshest teachers would have considered this optimized version perfect. Players had no chance of objecting.
What was even more astonishing was that beyond the lifelike characters and buildings, the landscapes were breathtaking.
Endless grasslands.
Ancient forests made of towering trees hundreds of meters tall and meters thick.
Lakes as pure as a goddess's tears.
And countless scenes impossible to find on Earth—Elven Forest, Dalaran, the Emerald Dream, Stormwind… and many more.
With the advanced optimization pack, even the simplest of environments had blossomed into magnificent dreamscapes.
One glance was enough to intoxicate the viewer.
Play the game, admire the scenery, enjoy the fantasy realm—how could a game like this not explode in popularity?
————————
In the streets of New York—often called the center of the world—cultures and advertisements mixed freely on most days.
But today, everything was different.
The streets were packed with game fans, some in cosplay, some simply dressed, all celebrating spontaneously.
They chanted the names of Antarctic Games and Xu Dan.
If you didn't see their expressions up close, you might have mistaken them for political protesters. In reality, they were simply celebrating—and shopping—with their fellow players.
With such a massive crowd flooding the city, the American police had no choice but to come out and maintain order.
"Oh my God! What are these people doing? Is it some holiday today? How did I not hear about it?" one officer complained to his partner.
"Brother, don't you see? They're all hardcore nerds. Honestly, if I weren't wearing this uniform, I'd be a hardcore nerd too!" the colleague replied enthusiastically.
Ninety-nine percent of men in the world liked games. And if they didn't… well, that said something.
And anything from Antarctica Company was guaranteed to be a masterpiece. They didn't even bother ranking ordinary games anymore—only masterpieces.
The more games this company made, the more incredible it became.
Click! Boom!
A helicopter soared overhead.
It was a national news helicopter broadcasting the spectacle live across the United States.
"As you can see, today isn't a holiday of any kind, yet people have gathered from all directions, converging on one mysterious place. I can think of no better word than… worship."
"So what exactly is drawing this fanatical crowd? Let's switch to our ground reporter. Tom?"
The broadcast cut to a reporter on the street, who stopped a young woman.
"Hello, beautiful lady. What are you all doing here? What's going on today?"
The woman smiled, answering calmly and clearly:
"Because today… is release day."
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
patreon.com/SuperTL
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
" Accelerator in Marvel "
" Marvel +18: My Travel Frog Steals Across the Multiverse! "
" DC Universe: Starting Off Controlling Batman "
" Marvel Starting from Gwen Spider-Man "
" Marvel: Invading the Multiverse, Wanda and Gwen Are Shocked "
" Just Arrived in Marvel, System Awakens Silver Superman "
" Marvel: I Took Over Iron Man's Team "
many more are available 47+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)