Promotional Video

At an internet café somewhere in Tianhe, a promotional clip for World Tree was playing.

Online, a virtual reality game called World Tree had suddenly emerged and instantly claimed the top spot in the headlines.

In a dorm room at an ordinary university in Tianhe City, Zhao Xin slapped Ge Xiaolun awake just as he had fallen asleep.

Ge Xiaolun looked helplessly at his roommate and said, "Xin, if you don't have a good reason, I'm going to hit someone."

Ge Xiaolun's morning temper was always terrible. Then he looked at the clock by his bed—11:59 p.m. His anger only grew.

Zhao Xin had no interest in fussing with Ge Xiaolun over such trivial matters. He yanked him out of bed and said, "Xiaolun, look! The government and Elf Group jointly developed a virtual reality game."

"What does that have to do with us?" Ge Xiaolun did not care at first and was about to climb back into bed to continue sleeping.

But just as he touched the edge of the bed, Ge Xiaolun finally processed it and turned around.

"Xin, what did you just say?!"

Before Zhao Xin could react, Ge Xiaolun shoved him aside.

Ge Xiaolun looked at the news announcement. "It really is a virtual reality game."

"Xiaolun, Xiaolun, there's a promotional video too. Let's watch it together." Zhao Xin pointed at the related video and sat beside Ge Xiaolun.

They clicked on the promotional video.

Accompanied by an ethereal, beautiful song, the screen gradually brightened.

What came into view was a lush green forest, and at its center stood an enormous World Tree.

The camera slowly pulled back from the World Tree, revealing one exquisitely beautiful city after another before the viewers' eyes.

The city had a European style, with a giant statue at its center. Beautiful, elegant elves laughed and chatted throughout the streets. Elves clad in knightly armor patrolled the city, while beside an alchemy bench stood a beautiful elven mage whose experiment had just failed—a vivid portrait of a real elven civilization...

No matter how distracted the viewers were, they were soon drawn in by the lifelike, beautiful scenery and the six other distinct elven civilizations.

The pleasant landscapes, the seven nations with their unique characteristics, the graceful and beautiful elves, and the cheerful, melodious background music all made people feel as if they were truly there.

As a melodious voice-over began, it told the story of a World Tree that had drifted into the primordial world, where the tale began...

At Tencent, a certain Ma slapped the table. "Buy it."

The secretary beside him reminded him, "Boss, their scenery is incredibly realistic, their character models are highly detailed, their movements are smooth, and even the background music clearly comes from a professional team. It's obvious they aren't short on money."

At that, the secretary added, "They're also working with the authorities, and the support they're receiving is substantial." As he spoke, he pointed at the ceiling.

Seeing that, a certain Ma coughed twice and said solemnly, "We're just an ordinary company."

The story continued...

The World Tree gave birth to the first life in the newly created primordial world—the first elf.

And so, the fledgling elven civilization slowly developed in that unfamiliar primordial world.

Every elf's face bore a smile that came from the heart.

But good times did not last. A monster that seemed to have crawled out of the abyss appeared beyond the elven world. These were the Fierce Beasts.

Thus began the first calamity of the primordial world: the Beast Calamity.

Soon afterward, beautiful cities collapsed, the earth split, and mountains crumbled. Different races of the elven world fought together against Demonic Beasts corrupted by Chaos Qi.

The once beautiful scenery turned into a scorched battlefield...

Brutal clashes of blades and claws, dazzling magic and forbidden spells, mysterious Dao arts and immortal techniques...

One magnificent, epic scene after another appeared. Combined with the tragic scenes and the ethereal yet harrowing background music, they made viewers' blood boil. Countless people watching the clip could not help crying out.

In the end, even the Seven Archons joined the battlefield, pushing the short film to its climax.

When the Anemo Archon wielded the winds of freedom to scatter the Demonic Beasts' assault.

When the Geo Archon used stone to protect the comrades fighting alongside him.

When the Electro Archon unleashed Musou no Hitotachi, even gods were left dimmed in comparison...

Who knew how many animals shouted, "She's my wife!" when Raiden Ei in the video drew Engulfing Lightning from her chest.

With the Seven Archons joining the battle, the fighting soon subsided. Yet the battlefield was filled with weeping. The surviving elves were taken by the Seven Archons to different places to recover and rebuild. Different gods guided the course of civilization, and thus the seven nations were born...

The screen fell into darkness, while the background music shifted into something like a rallying call, setting people's blood ablaze.

A moment later, the screen brightened again, returning to the forest from the beginning of the video. Beneath the massive World Tree, a beautiful elven girl appeared.

As the elven girl appeared, subtitles introduced her identity: the first elf born from the World Tree, the Great Elf Skadi.

She wore magnificent armor and sat cross-legged beneath the World Tree, humming a prayer. The Mountain-Mist Sword was embedded in the ground beside her.

As the girl hummed, the background song reached its climax. At last, the humming ended. Skadi pulled out the Mountain-Mist Sword and looked into the distance, where seven stars glittered.

The screen fell dark, and the music came to a halt.

Just as everyone thought the promotional video had ended, several lines of stylized text appeared on the screen.

"Magical thought-acceleration technology will lead you into a second wondrous life."

"Intelligent AI will bring you an unprecedented gaming experience."

"Creating the most realistic, profound, immersive fantasy cultivation game experience, with the richest combat system."

"On May 1st, Labor Day, the virtual reality game World Tree will begin its non-wipe closed beta. See you there."

"Explore the seven nations of the mortal world, broaden your horizons, and set foot in the vast primordial world, all in the virtual reality game World Tree."

"Click the link below and sign up now."

The promotional video ended there.

In the dorm room, Zhao Xin and Ge Xiaolun were still a little dazed, unable to recover from the grand battle they had just witnessed.

A moment later, Zhao Xin slapped Ge Xiaolun's thigh. "Damn! How much would effects like that cost? I can practically smell money being burned like funeral paper!"

Ge Xiaolun bared his teeth at that and raised his hand, intending to slap Zhao Xin's thigh hard in return.

Unfortunately, Zhao Xin dodged with quick reflexes.

Unable to do anything about it, Ge Xiaolun said resentfully, "Such an exquisite promotional video is even better than a Hollywood blockbuster. And when you think about it, Ska..."

Ge Xiaolun sucked in a sharp breath, making an insignificant contribution to global warming.

Prompted by Ge Xiaolun, Zhao Xin also came to his senses. Although neither he nor Ge Xiaolun had much knowledge or professional experience in the field, they had played plenty of games and watched plenty of movies.

Whether it was the visuals, characters, sound effects, special effects, or anything else, the promotional video could be called the absolute pinnacle. It was decades ahead of its time and could easily be treated as a movie.

Ge Xiaolun scrolled down to the comments.

The most-liked comment at the top was:

Big D: Am I the only one who thinks that Great Elf is really handsome?

Working Hard to Make Money: Hmph, Mr. Zhongli is the most handsome.