Making Game: CH 148 – Monstrous Trailer (Patreon)

The grand jewel of the Rheesian Hotel sparkled under a billion camera flashes. Inside the massive auditorium, the sheer spectacle of the Gilded Crescendo Awards was in full swing.

The charismatic host walked across the glittering main stage, raising his hands to welcome the galaxy to the historic 350th annual ceremony.

Down in the absolute front row, seated comfortably among the greatest legends of the galactic music industry, sat Percival. A few stubborn critics might argue a composer with merely a five-year career had yet to earn such a prestigious seat. However, anyone who actually looked at his track record of absolute chart dominance would immediately shut their mouths.

Percival sat quietly in his tailored suit, his iconic mask reflecting the stage lights. He reached down and took a sip from a sealed water bottle Ratik Courtie had personally brought him, completely ignoring the luxurious open bar provided by the venue.

The first section of the evening progressed smoothly. The specialized categories were handed out alongside incredible live performances, several of which featured artists singing tracks Percival himself had written.

Then, the atmosphere in the room shifted. The host returned to the podium to announce the transition into the most anticipated segment of the night. It was time for the "Big Four" alongside the Special General Awards. These included Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, Producer of the Year, and finally, Songwriter of the Year.

Songwriter of the Year was up first.

The tension in the auditorium skyrocketed. It was a completely crazy sight for the trillions of viewers watching from home. As the giant holographic screens behind the stage displayed the nominees, three out of the six panels featured Percival's masked face. He held exactly half of the entire category.

Famous vocalist Tesi Telrezi stepped up to the microphone to present the award. She flashed a dazzling smile to the crowd and slowly peeled open the golden envelope.

As her eyes scanned the card, her smile visibly wavered. She raised an eyebrow, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing her face before she quickly forced it away. She cleared her throat and leaned back into the microphone.

"And the Songwriter of the Year goes to... Ral Tedray!"

A heavy ripple of shock washed over the entire auditorium. Even Ral himself looked completely stunned. He slowly stood up from the Zesel Music Entertainment section, surrounded by cheering ZME artists and producers, and began his long walk to the podium.

Percival immediately rose from his seat and politely clapped along with the rest of the front row. Despite his calm outward demeanor, he could feel the burning weight of thousands of gazes suddenly locking onto him. Composer Percival, the phantom who held three out of the six nominations, had actually lost. His legendary four-year winning streak was officially broken. It seemed a five-time consecutive victory remained out of reach even for a recognized genius like him.

Ral reached the stage and respectfully accepted the gilded trophy from Tesi. He stepped up to the microphone, his hands trembling slightly as he looked out at the massive crowd.

"Wow... this is entirely unexpected," Ral breathed out.

That exact sentiment was currently being echoed by countless viewers throughout the galaxy.

"I want to thank my incredible team," Ral continued, his voice thick with sincere emotion. "I want to thank ZME for believing in a kid from the outer colonies. A massive thank you to CEO Ezil Zesel for his personal guidance, his endless patience, and for giving me the exact tools I needed to craft my sound. I owe this completely to my family and the fans who streamed the tracks."

Ral paused, taking a deep breath before his eyes scanned the front row and locked directly onto the masked composer.

"And lastly... I need to say a massive thank you to composer Percival," Ral said, his tone shifting into pure, unfiltered admiration. "Your work paved the way for my entire generation of writers. Without your inspiration, there would be no me standing here today. Thank you."

Percival felt genuinely taken aback by the heartfelt declaration. By all accounts, he had absolutely never met this young man before in his life. The sincerity in Ral's voice felt entirely real.

Yet, as the applause roared through the Rheesian Hotel, a dark, lingering question remained firmly lodged in Percival's mind.

How exactly did he lose a category where he dominated half the board?

…

Hours had passed since the glittering broadcast came to an end. Inside the quiet warmth of the Kepler estate, Dorian stood before a massive wooden display shelf in the living room. 

He gently placed his two newest Gilded Crescendo awards onto the polished wood. This year, he had just added Record of the Year and Song of the Year to his growing collection.

John walked slowly toward him and stopped to silently admire the impressive achievements his sons and daughter had garnered. 

The shelves were a colorful history of their lives. Dorian had dozens of gleaming trophies from his Percival persona. 

Lyra occupied the middle tiers, which were heavily decorated with gold and silver medals from various debate tournaments and intellectual championships. 

Meanwhile, the bottom section belonged entirely to Marcus. Since the youngest sibling had just left for the Solar training camp, he had proudly set up all his hand-crafted dioramas and mechanical creations in his designated spot.

A deeply proud gleam shone in John's eyes. In a quiet way, studying this shelf was his personal method of catching up on everything he had missed during his grueling years of mining. Every single item resting on this display felt exactly as precious as the years he had lost with his children.

John reached out and placed a warm, heavy hand on Dorian's shoulder. "Congratulations yet again, son."

Dorian smiled softly, his eyes scanning the golden statues. "I think I am starting to get what Maestro Gil meant when he told me it is all just empty decoration."

John raised his eyebrow. "Is that what you see? Hmmm, I don't view it that way at all."

Dorian turned his head to meet his father's eyes.

"I see the heavy years you spent entirely alone raising Lyra and Marcus," John explained, his voice thick with raw emotion. "I see the exhausted boy who chased every single scholarship available just to support his family."

"Dad..." Dorian started.

John gently squeezed his shoulder to stop him. "When I look at everything on these shelves, I see the universe finally giving back exactly what you gave to us. So I would say you should truly enjoy it."

Dorian looked back at his own collection of awards. The cold gold suddenly seemed a little warmer under the living room lights. He let out a soft breath. "Thanks, Dad."

Meanwhile, the galactic net was completely blowing up over the sudden snub of Percival in the Songwriter of the Year category.

Countless fans immediately voiced their intense disappointment over Percival missing out on a historic five-in-a-row victory. Some optimistic listeners tried to console the furious fanbase by pointing out he still secured Song of the Year and Record of the Year in the exact same night. Winning both of those major categories simultaneously was a monumental achievement on its own.

Other users took a much more analytical approach to the drama. They pointed out the result made perfect mathematical sense. Since the Gilded panel's votes were split between Percival's three different nominated songs in that single category, it naturally gave a massive statistical advantage for another artist to take the win. In this specific case, Ral walked away with the prize.

Ultimately, the internet will latch onto a massive controversy, yet the public attention span rarely holds onto it for very long.

Just several days later, the entire galactic focus violently shifted. The official RTS Stellarcast channel suddenly uploaded a brand new video trailer. The thumbnail alone was enough to break view-count records across the net. It featured a terrifying, towering reptilian monster locked in a tense standoff against a single, heavily armored man holding a massive iron greatsword.

…

On the digital space, specifically Roric's live stream. The popular Stellarcaster was completely decked out in a vibrant Sky: Children of Light cosmetic set. He had just finished the game the day prior, completing the main story, the alternate endings, and exploring absolutely every secret area.

The viewers tuning in could easily see he looked significantly slimmer than he did several months ago. This physical transformation occurred entirely because he had been walking and running around in his VR rig non-stop to explore the massive, endless clouds of Sky.

The live chat scrolled rapidly beside his facecam.

>: RTS out here making Roric slim again. >: bro lost 10 pounds just chasing spirits >: VR fitness routine working wonders!

Roric read the chat and scoffed playfully. "Hey, I am perfectly healthy! I just put on some weight to bulk up over the winter. The VR rig just gives me a good sweat, okay?"

Normally, Roric would take the time to swap out his digital background and overlay graphics for a new broadcast. Today, however, he had zero time to change his streaming room set. RTS had uploaded yet another trailer completely out of nowhere. From the initial look of it, this was a brand new game and an entirely new IP.

The title on the screen simply read Monster Hunter.

Roric analyzed the gripping thumbnail and the bold title card. He leaned closer to his microphone. "What do you think, chat? What do you think this game is actually about?"

The chat immediately exploded with suggestions ranging from completely unhinged to downright outrageous.

>: definitely a mature spin-off of Pokemon >: Poaching simulator confirmed >: nah it is a Solar hunter simulator. We are gonna hunt superpowered beasts. >: hunting giant space bugs?

Roric laughed, reading and reacting to the messages flashing across his secondary monitor. "A poaching simulator? Guys, Arthur Pendragon is never going to make a game where we just illegally trap animals for credits. A Solar hunter simulator sounds cool, though I highly doubt the Accord would ever allow a game about hunting active military assets to stay online."

As the viewer count rapidly skyrocketed, Roric decided he was ready to begin the official reaction segment.

"Alright chat, we are going to record this to upload as a regular reaction video on my main Stellarcast channel," Roric announced, clapping his hands together. "Chat, say hi to the camera while I do the intro."

The text box turned into a chaotic blur of greetings.

>: hi SC! >: IM IN THE VIDEO >: hello Stellarcast!>: Mom I made it to the front page!

Roric straightened his posture, flashed his signature smile at the camera, and began the recording. "What is up, galaxy! Roric here, back with another reaction video. As you can see right beside me, RTS just dropped a new trailer out of absolutely nowhere. From the look of the thumbnail alone, it is yet another masterpiece in the making."

The chat wasted absolutely no time roasting him for the immediate praise.

>: yet another RTS glazer >: do not ride RTS too much Roric >: damn even a donut did not get glazed this much >: bro is wiping his mouth already

Roric chuckled, shaking his head at the relentless teasing from his viewers. "Okay, okay, you guys are brutal today. Alright, without further ado, let us jump right in."

He moved his cursor over the video player and hit enter.

The screen of the video remained completely pitch black. A single line of text slowly faded into the bottom corner.

Music Composer: Percival - Proof of a Hero.

Roric instantly slammed his hand onto his spacebar to pause the video. He leaned entirely out of his gaming chair, his eyes wide. "Another massive collaboration with Percival, guys!"

The chat scrolled at lightning speed beside his facecam.

>: Oh, so that is exactly why he lost Songwriter of the Year! He was busy working on this! >: RTS secured the bag again! >: We are getting blessed today!

Roric hit the spacebar again to resume the trailer. The soft, rhythmic beating of drums and strings began to play, perfectly accompanying a group of heavily armored individuals trekking through a dense, overgrown jungle.

Cut. Cut.

Heavy machetes slashed through thick vines and branches as the group aggressively carved their path forward. The camera panned slowly. Deep in the background foliage, a set of glowing, slit reptilian eyes suddenly snapped open.

Roric leaned closer to his monitor. "Wait, what is that?!"

The chat immediately flooded with hilarious reactions.

>: Big lizard incoming! >: Someone grab the bug spray. >: Looks like my mother in law.

Unbeknownst to the armored hunters on the screen, an entire pack of predatory Jagras had already locked their eyes onto the group.

The screen cut to a bold title card: EMBARK ON A JOURNEY.

The scene quickly cut back to the hunters finally stepping into a wide jungle clearing. The lead hunter abruptly stopped walking. She clearly felt the heavy, menacing sensation of hidden eyes ogling them. She raised a clenched fist, signaling everyone in the squad to halt immediately.

The camera angle shifted high above the canopy. It zoomed out, then zoomed out again, revealing the terrifying reality. Dozens of yellow-scaled Jagras were already perfectly circling the hunters within the dense jungle brush.

Roric was completely on the edge of his seat, his hands tightly gripping his desk.

>: This is exactly how I felt as a Solar when receiving a highly dangerous hunt mission. >: At least they are not plasma-sync beasts.

The camera continued to zoom out rapidly, passing over the lush Ancient Forest and teasing several other massive, distinct regions in the distance.

The screen faded to the next title card: TO UNCHARTED LANDS.

The video cut back to the hunters on the ground. The camera zoomed into a tight close-up of the female lead hunter. The audio design was so incredibly crisp that the viewers could physically hear her heavy, anxious breathing. Suddenly, a massive Jagras lunged from the shadows directly behind her.

Just as the beast was about to sink its teeth into her armor, the screen cut perfectly to a third title card: THAT FIGHT BACK.

The scene exploded into pure action. The hunters began to expertly parry, dodge, and ruthlessly fight back against the swarming Jagras pack. At that exact moment, the main orchestral theme of Proof of a Hero swelled into an absolute, triumphant crescendo. The soaring brass and strings sent violent shivers down Roric's spine.

The camera dynamically detached from the hunters and began a sweeping, cinematic tour past the immediate battle. It flew across the sprawling jungle, showcasing a massive ecosystem where every unique monster lived and breathed in its natural habitat. The viewers watched in awe as giant, feathered wyverns and heavily armored beasts violently fought each other in brutal turf wars.

The seamless camera transitioned through every distinct region. It showed a barren, muddy wasteland, a vibrant coral highland floating in the air, and a toxic, bone-filled vale.

>: NEVER MIND! One of them just spit pure lightning out of its mouth! That is definitely a plasma-sync beast! >: Look at the size of that thing! >: The music goes incredibly hard!

The trailer escalated toward its grand finale, showcasing rapid cuts of the absolute apex predators of each region. A massive, pink-fleshed Anjanath roared furiously. A horned Diablos erupted from the desert sand. An elegant Legiana released a freezing blast of ice.

The very last shot featured the iconic King of the Skies. A majestic, crimson Rathalos let out a deafening roar and launched a devastating mid-air fire attack directly at the camera lens.

The screen instantly cut to black as the roaring flames engulfed the view. The massive, official logo finally slammed onto the screen.

MONSTER HUNTER

⋘ 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂.. .⋙

🎮:- Stardwey Valley: Completed.- Hades: Completed.- Pokémon: Completed.- Assassin Creed: Completed.- Monster Hunter: 92% █████████▒

VR: - Sky: Children of the Light: Completed.- ???: ◌ Loading…

🎬:- Spirited Away: Completed.

♬:- Your Song – Elton John (ch.9)- A Lovely Night – La La Land (ch.20)- Merry Go Round of Life – Howl's Moving Castle (ch.25)- Small Fragile Hearts – Victor Lundberg (ch. 27)- Skyfall – Adele (ch. 29)- No Time To Die – Billie Eilish (ch. 30)- Yesterday – The Beatles (ch. 32)- Lovely – Billie Eilish, Khalid (ch. 47)- Best Part – H.E.R. feat. Daniel Caesar (ch. 67)- Lovely Day – Bill Withers (ch. 68)- My Song – Labi Siffre (ch. 75)- Isn't She Lovely – Stevie Wonder (ch. 89)- Gotta Catch 'Em All – Pokémon OST (ch. 90)- Don't Stop Me Now – Queens (ch. 102)- Grow As We Go – Ben Platt (ch. 102)- Feeling Good – Michael Bublé (ch. 104)- You'll Be In My Heart – Phil Collins (ch. 105)- We Will Rock You – Queen (ch. 108)- The Bones – Maren Morris feat. Hozier (ch. 110)- Achilles, Come Down – Gang Of Youths (ch. 111)- Wind of Change – Scorpions (ch. 113)- From The Start – Laufey (ch. 126)