And just like that, Little Mary's life was utterly ruined

February, President's Day.

According to traditional festival customs, this is the day to commemorate the release of Gamenova's major title.

For gamers across the entire gaming community, these are the few holidays they look forward to all year round.

Aside from major holidays like Christmas and Independence Day, President's Day is the busiest time of year.

Even this long-standing industry rule is now becoming increasingly formalized.

The biggest sign of this is that various manufacturers are starting to choose such days to release their works.

Perhaps when players are snapping up Gamenova's new game, they might just grab a copy on the side because they're in a good mood.

However, this grand occasion is far from having an impact on the entire society.

Even within the gaming community, only hardcore gamers treat this day as a major holiday.

For most people, today is just an ordinary day.

Only when the discussion continues to ferment, and reaches a point where they can hear about it, will more people truly begin to take action. For Las Vegas, the golden city that never sleeps, today is just another ordinary day among countless others.

For many people, there are many ways to have fun, but games happen to be the most boring one.

Phil was one of them.

He sat there calmly, a deck of cards in his hand, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Add bet."

He pushed the chips in front of him forward, looking very confident in his hand.

The others glanced at him, silently lifted a corner of their cards, hesitated for a long time, and then all gave up calling.

The dealer reveals their hand: one deck of cards with two pairs.

Upon seeing this hand, the players who had just folded breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Phil, who sat there silently, with amusement.

"Sorry, I am a gourd."

"Damn! You won again, kid. You're on a lucky streak today!"

The customer next to him curled his lip, slammed his chips on the table, and stood up dejectedly. "Forget it, my luck isn't great today. I'm going downstairs to play some ' Hotline Miami ' to clear my head. What about you guys?"

"Agree."

"Me too, let Phil do his own thing here."

The group huddled together and made a move to leave.

The man at the front glanced at Phil, and although he knew it was probably futile, he still asked anyway:

"Phil, are you coming? Or are you planning to stay here all day? I've unlocked the tiger mask, you can try it out."

"You may go."

He knew about "Hotline Miami," but he wasn't particularly interested in it.

That game was too "rash," and it clashed inherently with his philosophy of life.

However, his other friends seemed quite happy to go out and play a few games to relax, and he didn't want to spoil their fun. "Okay, I guess so."

Without another word, the group walked arm in arm toward the bar.

Grab a cold drink, go downstairs and play video games all afternoon—god, there's nothing more enjoyable than this.

After the others left, Phil looked at the dealer and gestured with his lip:

"Continue?"

She smiled slightly and rearranged the cards and chips on the table.

While tidying up, she used her professional skills to strike up a conversation with Phil.

"You don't like playing video games? That's really unusual."

"It's alright, I occasionally play Tetris to clear my head, but Hotline Miami is just too fast-paced and not for me."

To be honest, it's hard for anyone living in this country not to be exposed to video games.

With the meteoric rise of Gamenova, a behemoth in the entertainment industry, its influence has now permeated every aspect of North America. You can listen to a plethora of game soundtracks, and hear your favorite artists boasting about their new albums charting in the new expansion pack for Rocksmith.

You can even hear top rock stars, like Michael Jackson, mentioning Gamenova's name intentionally or unintentionally in various programs.

Even when watching a movie, the influence of Gamenova is everywhere.

Even now, action movies featuring tough guys often include occasional homages to the classic stunt.

Those characters always imitate classic scenes from Contra, or use various references to Guile from Street Fighter.

Even when watching a family comedy, the jokes and lines made by the actors are inseparable from Gamenova.

It's fair to say that Gamenova has long since become an important symbol of United States popular culture.

What comes to mind first when you think of the United States?

Faced with this question, many people's first reaction would be Gamenova, followed by Hollywood and American fast food.

This alone is enough to prove the value of Gamenova.

For a modern United States living at the end of the 20th century to say that he didn't know what Gamenova was would be utter nonsense and pretentious.

Phil felt the same way. It wasn't that he disliked games, but rather that he disliked those games that didn't require thinking.

He has always been dismissive of those fast-paced arcade games that emphasize exhilaration.

"I understand, I don't really like the gory stuff in ' Hotline Miami ' that involves splitting people open with their heads all the time."

The dealer nodded and began dealing the cards.

For some reason, there weren't many people here today.

Everyone else had left a while ago, but his family was still the only ones at this table.

The dealer silently dealt the cards, waiting for him to check his hand and decide on his betting strategy.

She pursed her lips, and after a long while, suddenly spoke:

"Speaking of which... our boss bought a batch of new games from Gamenova. Have you played them? They say they're really interesting."

Phil didn't answer immediately, but instead revealed his cards.

He paused for a moment before replying:

"Sorry, I've been hanging around here these past few days and I'm not really aware of what's going on outside... Well, it's President's Day, so they usually release a new game." Phil picked up a few chips, tossed them casually into the betting area, and continued...

"So, you're saying the new game is another arcade game?"

This isn't an arcade; we won't just randomly put a bunch of game consoles here for them to play.

The fact that "Hotline Miami" even exists is a testament to its terrifying money-printing ability.

"Hmm... I guess so? Actually, I'm not too sure. I was on duty all day today, so I didn't have a chance to go check."

As she spoke, she deftly rolled up her sleeve, revealing her fair wrist.

She glanced at the exquisite wristwatch and let out a soft gasp of surprise.

"Wow, time flies! It'll be time for my shift soon... How about it, if you're interested, let's go check it out together later? I heard it supports multiplayer."

Phil hesitated for a moment, then casually took the last card dealt to him.

"Hmm... it's not impossible, I am indeed a little curious."

And just like that, Little Mary... I mean Little Phil's life was completely ruined.