(3rd Person POV)
The HS2 exploded across Horn Kingdom like wildfire. Within days, God of War dominated every conversation. The other launch titles—FIFA and Crash Bandicoot—performed well too, but God of War was the phenomenon.
Football was already popular worldwide thanks to Arthur's influence, so FIFA's success was predictable. But a game about gods and brutal combat? That was catching fire in ways no one had anticipated.
At a café near the university district, a group of students huddled around a table, bags under their eyes, coffee cups multiplying.
"Did you guys play God of War yet?"
"Are you kidding? I've been playing nonstop since launch."
"Same! I pulled an all-nighter yesterday. Couldn't put the controller down."
"I'm on chapter three and I'm already convinced—video games are actually going to replace movies. I never believed the hype before, but now?" The student shook his head. "Arthur was right."
Similar conversations echoed across the kingdom. Coffee shops, school hallways, workplace break rooms—everyone who'd touched the HS2 was evangelizing about it.
Within one week, hundreds of thousands of Horn Kingdom citizens had become gamers. The number was approaching a million.
Headlines reflected the seismic shift:
"Video Games Set to Dethrone Movies as Primary Entertainment—HS2 Sales Shatter Expectations"
"God of War Phenomenon Sweeps Horn Kingdom—'This Changes Everything'"
"Film Industry Executives Express Concern as HS2 Dominates Cultural Conversation"
The hype was impossible to ignore in neighboring kingdoms.
In Morningstar Kingdom, wealthy families who had connections to Horn Kingdom were already smuggling HS2 consoles back before the official release. The exclusivity only increased the mystique.
Princess Lucy sat in her opulent office, arms crossed, watching her servant play God of War on a smuggled console. The graphics, the fluidity, the sheer scale of it—all levels beyond anything her MStar console could produce.
Her servant's expression was glazed over, completely absorbed.
"So," Lucy said sharply, "how do we make MStar run games like this?"
No response. The servant dodged a Hydra attack, completely oblivious.
Lucy's tail flicked forward, smacking him on the shoulder.
"Ah!" He fumbled the controller, nearly dropping it. "Y-yes, Your Highness?"
"I asked you a question." Lucy's voice carried dangerous patience.
"Right, sorry, I—what was it again?"
Lucy's eye twitched. "Can. We. Make. MStar. Run. 3D. Games?"
The servant's enthusiasm deflated instantly. "Um... probably not. The technology is completely different. MStar wasn't built for this. Hellfire must have developed their own proprietary software and hardware architecture. We'd essentially need to rebuild everything from scratch."
Lucy felt her stomach drop. She'd invested millions into the gaming industry—her most successful venture outside royal duties. The MStar had been printing money for over a year.
Now it was about to become obsolete.
"What about copying it?" Lucy pressed. "We reverse-engineered the original HES to make MStar. Why not do the same with HS2?"
The lead researcher—an older dwarf with thick spectacles—stepped forward reluctantly. "We've already disassembled one of the units, Your Highness. The complexity is... staggering. The HES was relatively simple. This?" He gestured at the screen. "The processing power alone is ten times more advanced. The graphics rendering system uses principles we don't fully understand yet. And the game development software? Completely proprietary. Without access to Hellfire's development tools and documentation, we'd be guessing in the dark for years."
"Years?" Lucy's voice went flat.
"At minimum. And that's assuming we could even replicate the technology. Hellfire has patents on every critical component. They've locked it down tight."
Silence filled the office, broken only by the epic music from the paused game.
Lucy sank into her chair, mind racing. 'I thought I'd found my niche—capitalizing on the gaming industry my brother pioneered. Made millions while he focused on films and other ventures. Now he's about to make my entire business irrelevant.'
She had two options.
One: Swallow her pride and approach Arthur directly. Negotiate access to the technology, probably at an extortionate price and under humiliating terms.
Two: Accept defeat. Let the MStar die gracefully and pivot to something else before the losses mounted.
Neither option appealed to her.
"Get me a communication line to Horn Kingdom," Lucy finally said. "I need to speak with my brother."
The researchers exchanged nervous glances but moved to comply.
Lucy stared at the frozen image of Kratos on screen, his expression fierce and determined.
---
In the Hellfire meeting room, Arthur sat at the head of the table while department heads presented sales reports and international distribution strategies for the HS2.
An assistant slipped through the door mid-presentation and leaned down to whisper in Arthur's ear.
Arthur's smile widened as the message registered.
Lucy wanted to speak with him. So did several other major players in the gaming industry—the dwarf-led company dominating Eden Continent, the Wales corporation controlling Evros markets. All requesting urgent "discussions."
They were panicking about the HS2 and 3D gaming. Understandable, really. The world had been comfortable with pixelated 16-bit games. Arthur had just dropped a 64-bit 3D bomb on them.
But he wasn't in any hurry.
Arthur waved for the meeting to continue.
The presentation shifted to the next topic. Noah, head of the 3D Department, stood and activated a projection showing development timelines.
"Our 3D animation project is nearly complete," Noah reported. "We're looking at a release window in about three months."
God of War and the other launch titles hadn't appeared out of nowhere, of course. While Arthur focused on filmmaking, a secret Hellfire division had been working tirelessly—the 3D Department, led by a Dionysus believer following divine instructions he didn't fully understand but trusted implicitly.
They'd developed the games while Area 67 simultaneously perfected the HS2 hardware. Motion capture suits, advanced CGI software running on computers powered by Nether Cores—energy sources capable of running a city for years—and processing units with CPU and GPU technology Arthur had acquired from the Dragon Ball world. All of it came together with frightening efficiency.
Until recently, other departments had mocked the 3D division. Hundreds of workers laboring on mysterious projects no one understood, burning through resources with nothing visible to show for it.
Now? Everyone wanted to transfer there.
Arthur leaned forward. "The 3D Department will become its own subsidiary company soon. Video game demand is about to explode globally. We need the infrastructure to handle it."
Surprised murmurs rippled through the room. They'd expected expansion, but not this quickly.
"The subsidiary will handle three primary functions," Arthur continued. "Video game development, animated content production, and advanced CGI for films. Because I'm starting a new film project that will require extensive 3D capabilities."
That caught everyone off guard.
"You're making another movie already?" someone asked. "Shouldn't we capitalize on the gaming momentum?"
"We will. But film remains our foundation." Arthur nodded to Klein, who began distributing papers around the table.
Executives picked up the documents, scanning the first page.
The title read: The Matrix
Confusion showed on several faces. What kind of film needed the 3D Department's full capabilities?
Arthur's smile suggested they were about to find out.
---
After the meeting wrapped up, Arthur returned to his office to find Firfel and Vivienne already waiting. He poured them tea—the good stuff from his Divine Territory—and settled into his chair.
Vivienne looked like death warmed over. Dark circles under her eyes, hair slightly disheveled.
Arthur couldn't help but grin. "Rough night?"
"Your fault," Vivienne muttered, accepting the tea like a lifeline. "That damn God of War game you gave me. I haven't slept properly in three days."
Firfel laughed. "I told you to pace yourself."
"Easy for you to say. You probably get special spoiler-free hints from the director himself." Vivienne took a long drink, then paused, studying the couple with narrowed eyes. "Wait. You two are sitting really close. Like, really close. Did you finally get married or something?"
Arthur and Firfel exchanged a glance, small smiles playing at their lips.
They had married, technically. The divine ceremony that made Firfel a goddess. But that was secret—known only to a select few. The mortal wedding, the public celebration, that was still to come.
"Soon," Arthur said, his arm settling naturally around Firfel's waist. "We'll make it official soon."
"'Soon' isn't an answer," Vivienne pointed out. "Firfel, aren't you worried he'll keep saying 'soon' for the next decade?"
"Not worried at all." Firfel leaned into Arthur slightly. "I trust him completely."
Vivienne groaned. "Ugh. You two are disgustingly happy. I'm jealous."
"Speaking of happiness," Arthur changed subjects smoothly, "I've got something to show you both. An animation preview. If you're interested, there might be voice acting work available."
Vivienne perked up immediately, exhaustion forgotten. "New anime project? I'm in!"
Arthur didn't answer directly. Instead, he powered on the flat-screen TV and loaded a DVD into the player.
The screen flickered to life showing the preview footage.
Vivienne's excitement faltered almost immediately. "Wait... what is this?"
The animation style was completely unfamiliar. Not the traditional hand-drawn anime style she'd been expecting. This was something else entirely—three-dimensional, with a depth and realism that shouldn't be possible in animation.
"It's a 3D animation," Arthur explained. "Completely different technique from what you're used to."
On screen, toys moved and interacted with surprising life and personality.
Vivienne leaned forward, her tiredness forgotten as curiosity took over. "This is... how did you even make this?"
Arthur's smile widened. "Keep watching."