On the other side of the sea, a popular live streamer by the name of Noala was beginning his stream.
"Are you going to complete the game?" he read his chat. "If it’s good, yes."
- Will you be doing a sleepless run?
"Do I look like a masochist?"
"Well, I am not a masochist. So, no, I am not going to do a sleepless run." He raised a finger and an eyebrow. "We will stream for like eight hours straight, though."
- That sounds brutal.
- He is making millions, what do you mean get a life?
"Alright, let’s get started," Noala said to his live audience of forty thousand.
He was the biggest streamer in the world, and that number wasn’t even half of his regular audience.
He was a former game developer and writer, which made his success in the streaming industry even more uncanny.
While his former professions did provide him with insight, nerds like that usually did not possess the charisma required to deal with public perception.
But Noala was different. He was calm and charming. Whether his fortunes were entirely because of his abilities or timely opportunities was debatable.
But undoubtedly, he was the best streamer when it came to RPGs, especially Xinema games.
"The trailers hyped things up. Let’s hope the game lives up to it."
On the day Heresy of the Fallen world released, it became the third-largest launch according to first-day sales.
A week passed, and the popularity of the game only continued to increase.
From new to veteran gamers, it was being livestreamed to hundreds of thousands of viewers.
The reviews were stellar. The game journalists and players alike had little to complain about.
9.4/10 from CreedGames.
Both sites praised the visuals, writing, voice acting, and gameplay.
Its popularity was evident from the ads on subways and the posts on forum sites.
Looking at the audience numbers on streaming sites was enough to give an idea about the storm it was creating.
Each day, hundreds of thousands of people were logging in exclusively to play and experience the beautiful world of this new game.
Hundreds of videos were uploaded to SilkTube every day. Videos explaining the lore, showcasing the gameplay, guides for class builds, and general reviews occupied the trending list.
One of the beneficiaries of the game’s popularity was Noala.
He had been streaming religiously for a week, and the fatigue was starting to get to him.
"Oh, lord," he yawned.
He had again spent an entire day immersed in the game.
"It’s getting late; I am going to sleep after this."
But his audience would not allow such blasphemy.
- I just got off work, man. You are leaving already?
They kept insisting that he continue the stream.
"Y’all are enjoying this, huh?"
Noala’s player character was named Noa. Coincidentally, it was the default or canon name of the character. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and a scar running down his right cheek.
Noala checked the time.
"Alright, let’s get this side quest done. Then, we will sleep."
He drank a can of energy drink and leaned back into his chair.
- How far along are you?
"Currently," he paused, trying to remember. "I think I am seventy hours in."
- Are you sure you are ready to face this boss?
- You will get your ass kicked.
- You need to level up more.
- Catch me up, please.
"We did a bunch of quests related to the past of the empire and received a clue to a side quest from a wandering knight."
Noa arrived at the palace of Trellise of Riever.
"And now, we are here."
He walked up to the man on the throne, whose eyes were covered with a thick veil.
It was King Trellise.
He stood up from his throne and approached his guest.
"Ah, you are here," he said, with a friendliness lacking royal dignity. "Come."
Noala’s mind was too groggy to pay attention to the cutscene.
- Is this a main quest?
"Uh, no. This is a side quest."
- Must be something big if the king is welcoming us.
Noala rushed through the story and cutscenes, yawning while drinking energy drinks.
"I will give you a keep and piles of gold. As much as you want." King Trellise sharply turned to Noa, despite his blindness. "But you must earn it."
He took off the veil covering his eyes and showed a gnarly gash running through his upper face.
"That’s nasty!" Noala yelled. "Did they have to make it so realistic and ugly?"
And indeed, there was an option to react that way on the screen.
- Choose the first option!
"I don’t want to lose this quest, guys."
"Bring me the artifact that the previous Queen stole." His body shook with rage. "But most importantly, bring me the head of that traitor, that runaway dog of the kingdom, that deserter."
He brought the vestiges of his eyes closer to Noa.
"Bring me the head of Allaryx."
"Ah, I won’t be able to sleep tonight. This is torture," Noala said.
He took another gulp of his energy drink.
"Alright, tough guy. Let’s get the head of Allaryx."
- The name sounds kinda cool.
- Shouldn’t you ask around about him?
- The NPCs usually give out more information about quests.
- You can read about named NPCs in the royal library. Plenty of people do that. Makes battles easier.
"Skill issue!" Noala yelled at the top of his lungs.
- I looked up, and there is nothing about this quest online yet.
- I don’t think any content creator has done this quest yet.
- There aren’t any posts either, so it probably isn’t that impressive.
- Man, I have a bad feeling.
He massaged his temples as Noa made his way towards the quest area.
"What’s the worst that could happen?"