Game Director from Hell

Chapter 44: Hidden Ending (1)

With unwavering confidence.

Someone had criticized Hellic 2's aggressive marketing, but Studio Rewind had proven their confidence right with solid results.

In the first three days, they had sold 1.03 million copies of the game.

Considering that the demo version had sold 300,000 copies in its first month, it might not seem like a lot, but in absolute numbers, it had far exceeded the realm of indie games.

Well, wouldn't selling 1.03 million copies in the initial sales be considered explosive even if it was a AAA game?

Of course, factors like the accessibility of online platforms and external factors like Aldred Russo's respect played a significant role, but results were results.

There was no escaping the articles.

"Domestic Game Hellic 2! Shaking the World!"

Domestic, worldwide, shaking.

These were carefully chosen keywords, often referred to as "nationalism." In 2011, these keywords were undoubtedly effective, and the community was delighted with such news.

<Comments>

Helic2Enthusiast: If I had to pick just one game to play for the rest of my life, it would probably be Hellic 2... I can't even remember Diablo anymore.

SpaceWarriorFan: What?

LordofBloodshed: The story didn't make any sense. The plot twist was mind-blowing.

ZZoneHanSu: I cried...

TooFocusedToSleep: After playing the first chapter, I couldn't wait to start the next one! LOL

SweetBellMan39: More importantly, I got so into it that I forgot I need to sleep... ^^

S2PoppyS2: The speculations were way off, and it was an unexpected twist!

DeferredMilitaryServiceInspector: That's why it was even more enjoyable! LOL

At this point, a peculiar trend emerged in the community.

GameKnowledgeSeeker: I've been away for a while. What's so special about Hellic 2? Is the ending that amazing?

When a long-absent user asked, everyone began giving the same response.

<Comments>

Hellic2Enthusiast: If you're curious...

LordofBloodshed: You should buy and play it.

It was a kind of compensatory psychology.

Remember the closed beta period, how badly "James Han" had humiliated.

Of course, he adhered to the developer's spoiler-free clause, but he had acted like sore loser to some extent, hadn't he?

When you've been through it, you naturally feel the urge not to be the only one suffering.

(Chat)

Hellic2Enthusiast: T_T_T_T

DeferredMilitaryServiceInspector: T_T_T_T

Posts like these were popping up in response to every question.

(Chat)

GameKnowledgeSeeker: ...I'll wait. I'll buy and try it.

And this led to increased sales.

(Game)

GameKnowledgeSeeker: Hey, hey, hey, is this the ending? It's so abrupt! I want more!

The moment they see the ending and tried to cope with the lingering feeling, they all started asking the same question.

Even the returning "GameKnowledgeSeeker" asked the same question.

But there was no one who could give a straightforward answer.

(Game)

TooFocusedToSleep: Has anyone unlocked the hidden route yet?

Even though there was officially one more ending in the game, released as an event by the developer, no one had reached it.

And it had already been a week since the game's release.

(Chat)

Helic2Enthusiast: Ugh... There's only one week left for the event...

The reason was obvious.

The final boss battle with Warden lasted only 3 minutes, and the difficulty was extreme. There were only three counter patterns to it.

In the midst of that, trying to clear the path to the hidden route without any hints was an incredibly challenging puzzle.

Many had tried and failed.

As the desire for a different ending grew stronger, so did the impatience of the players.

There were two other changes during that week.

The first was the accumulation of user content and increased information,

"(Strategy) EnjoyingHelic2: Katana - Swift, Blade Master Alice Build

(Strategy) Lord of the Pibadeong: Drug (Giant Transformation) + Strike, Barbarian Alice Build

(Strategy) Draft Delay Specialist: Katana - Strong Strike + Drug (Attack Speed), Rogue Alice Build"

The second was the analysis and meme creation following the slowly unfolding endings.

"(Chat) ClearWithoutT: So, isn't Alice basically using her mom as a weapon?"

In-game memes.

"(Chat) Z-Only-Numbers: Alice was reborn and became happy.

(Luka cosplaying as Alice and busking)

She became an old man, but she's happy."

Memes using images.

"(Chat) FlowerJaeheePlumLips: Made a cheeseburger.

(Cooked homemade burger meme)

It tastes like Alice's tears..."

Even trends in food.

The highlight was once again the analysis post of "S2 Poppie S2."

"(Analysis) S2 Poppie S2: Story Analysis after 7th Run

I've come back to make amends! There's quite a bit of hidden information in the game's tooltips!

Thinking of the protagonist as Butterfly rather than Alice revealed different perspective!

Especially the tooltips related to the Giant Transformation and Miniaturization routes were significant clues!

(Screenshot)

The tooltip for Giant Transformation says, 'I wanted to become a big person. I thought it would happen.' This could be interpreted as reflecting Butterfly's life that had gone awry. Of course, you could say this is just Alice's dream.

But when you connect it with the tooltip for 'Miniaturization,' the meaning changes!

The Miniaturization tooltip says, 'There were times when I realize I'm a very small person. Especially when I'm in a crowd!'

Miniaturization and Giant Transformation were a pair of items that represented Butterfly's reality and dreams!

And finally...

··· So, the name of the beach revealed in the final boss battle is the Beach of Resentment.

Perhaps it was Butterfly's life, unable to live without resenting that dragged Alice into that hell.

In fact, it's a quite bitter story.

Depending on how you interpret it, it could become a religious story like the earlier speculation, or it could become a story that tragically illuminates the life of a poor unmarried mother!

This part is difficult to talk about as it hasn't officially been released, hehe."

Most of the comments reflected on the moment of the first ending, and it was indeed a tragedy.

Tragedy had that effect.

When a desperately desired dream isn't realized, it becomes even more painful, yet we come to accept it through death.

Stories like these, when they are completed narratively, are more memorable because they make us dream of a fairy-tale happy ending.

So, all the stories converged once again.

"(Record) ClearWithoutT: Record of Failed Hidden Ending Route"

In the end, they held onto the one remaining hope.

They yearned for a happy ending hidden behind the curtain.

Beyond national emotions, the same was true for the North American land.

"Kissme: Record of Failed Hidden Route

Dadbom: It doesn't seem to be related to pattern combos.

Luka: The boss seems to have a health gauge. Could it be related to that?"

The North American community also mourned the sad ending in the same way.

Analysis posts similar to what "S2 Poppie S2" accomplished through in-game narrative tooltips became the norm, and they searched for a possible happy ending.

Of course, success was elusive.

The path was too long, too treacherous, and too dark.

Nevertheless, they never gave up, and among them, there was one person.

"Luka: James turned on the broadcast!"

It was a cliché and was cheesy and corny but still heart-warming.

"On Air: I won't turn off the broadcast until I find the hidden route."

The transformation of a former villain into a hero.

The chat room lit up.

"Luka: James! You're back!

Kissme: Did you find it? Is there a way?

Hellic2Joy: I believed in you! You're our hero!

Dadbom: Why did you take so long?"

James chuckled with slightly tired eyes.

"When did you stop cursing at me, pretending to have waited all this time? And you, the third one, don't chat in Korean."

"Hellic2Joy has been banned for 10 minutes."

James casually brushed it off.

"I didn't find a way. I'm still looking. That's why I turned on the broadcast."

He splashed some water on his face.

How many hours did he sleep in the past week?

Yeah, barely around 30 hours.

And that was when his body couldn't take it anymore and he dozed off.

James realized how obsessed he was with this game.

Words came later.

"I couldn't figure it out on my own. That's why I decided to rely on collective intelligence."

On the screen appeared a notepad document with community posts compiled.

He had scraped all the posts, both Korean and North American, and among them, there were sentences with lines in the middle.

"The lines indicate what I've already tried and failed. I haven't attempted about ten of them yet."

But he didn't think it would end here.

James knew how meticulous Yeonho was.

"If this doesn't work, then I'll start taking opinions from now on. It's a week until the event ends, right? Let's give it a shot."

Bang!

He launched the game.

The button he pressed was different from before: "Load game."

The viewers were shocked when they saw the screen.

"Dadbom: ...27th run?"

He had downloaded the official version and played it 27 times in a week.

It was evident from this overwhelming runs that James had speed-run through all the previous playthroughs and focused only on the final boss battle using an optimized route.

"I ran through it hoping to find clues during the chapter progress. Now I'm sure. There's no way during the middle of the chapter. You just have to deal with the Warden boss fight."

So, the strategy was to go back to a save point just before clearing.

"I'm going to try multiple routes."

James opened the build window.

All weapons were unlocked, and he hadn't allocated any points to any route.

Yes, he had cleared the entire game with just a basic slingshot.

Now, he was building specifically for hidden routes.

Helic 2 had advantages in every playthrough.

The unlocked routes from previous playthroughs could be immediately unlocked without going through the previous steps if you had the points.

In other words, a wide distribution of points was possible.

The way to use this advantage was none other than the "Optimization Build."

Selecting only the necessary items for each route and expanding the combination exponentially by placing them in quick slots.

"DoDorian: Wow."

You could see James's dedication.

Only one final boss battle remained, and the question was what kind of build James would showcase. That alone was worth watching.

Viewers were getting excited.

James casually brushed off the reaction and said, "Well, let's go in."

Is there a happy ending in this darn game, or if not, do we have to be sad about another sad ending?

"Let's see if it's just a bad ending. If it's not, I'll go to Korea and put a bullet hole in Cheon Yeonho's head."

With that, he entered the beach.

And so, 15 times.

[Returning to the save point.]

All the prepared methods failed.