Chapter 28. Kiana: "Help!!"
After fixing a few small bugs and getting a good night's rest, Bronya was full of energy.
Fifth place on the combined leaderboard felt like a shot of adrenaline.
The mix of excitement and pressure made her work even harder.
The games ranked behind them were biting at their heels.
Hold the top five for now, then think about the next step.
Riding yesterday's momentum, the previously unknown Alahato α welcomed its first wave of curious players drawn by word of mouth.
All morning, they were even busier than yesterday.
Fortunately, Kiana's stamina was good, or she would have collapsed already.
At noon, they gulped down a few bites and rushed back to the booth.
The afternoon foot traffic would be heavier than the morning.
Kiana was already pulling a long face, imagining her miserable days ahead.
"Kiana, didn't you say you wanted to go to the seaside last time?"
Kiana couldn't hide her emotions, and Bronya quickly noticed.
She walked over and patted Kiana on the shoulder.
"Huh? Yeah, but isn't Mei's family's private beach under maintenance and unavailable?"
Summer vacation was coming soon, and she really had mentioned it before.
But because Mei, Sirin, and Seele didn't like crowded places, the plan fizzled out.
"What if I can borrow a private beach in Europe?"
"Eh?!!"
Kiana's eyes lit up.
"Bronya, you mean…"
Without spelling it out, Bronya chuckled, raised an eyebrow, and gave Kiana a look.
"Let's see how you perform these next few days~"
At once, Bronya felt her arm being grabbed.
Kiana put on a world-weary face, teary-eyed, and gazed at her with deep emotion.
"Kiana has drifted half a lifetime, lamenting never meeting a worthy lord.
If Bronya doesn't abandon me, I am willing to acknowledge you as—"
"Stop, stop.
I'm not trying to be your dad!"
Bronya pushed Kiana's forehead away, a bit disgusted.
"Heh-heh, just setting the mood.
Boss Bronya, leave everything to me.
I'll get it done!!"
It wasn't just the vibe.
Compared to a moment ago, Kiana even stood straighter.
Let's just say—Bronya knew how to paint a tempting picture.
Soon, players who had finished lunch and rested gathered again into a stream of people.
Seeing a wave even more surging than the morning, Kiana instinctively held her breath and readied herself!
But she quickly noticed something strange.
Even though there were more people, very few stopped in front of Bronya's booth.
It was like they had already decided on a destination before entering.
They wouldn't even spare a glance along the way.
Weird.
Unfortunately, she couldn't leave to investigate.
Fewer people didn't mean none, and she still needed to greet each visitor properly.
Bronya had noticed the same thing.
But just like Kiana, she couldn't abandon the players present.
So she could only press the doubt down for now and wait to look into it later.
A few hours later, with a while to go before closing, no new players came to try the game at Bronya's booth.
After explaining the rules to the last player, Bronya looked left and right, then walked over to Kiana, who had been idle for a bit and was dozing off.
"Kiana, do you remember that afternoon flow of people?"
Startled awake, Kiana rubbed her eyes, yawned, and answered lazily.
"You mean the ones who were all walking in one direction?
Yeah."
"Mm."
Bronya nodded.
She tapped her chin, thinking aloud.
"The booth is quiet for the moment.
Go see what's going on.
I'll stay here."
"Huh?"
Kiana blinked, then, after glancing around at the few scattered people in the venue, nodded in understanding.
"Okay, I'll go ask around over there.
If anything comes up here, call me."
Stretching in a long arc, Kiana swayed her silver hair and waved behind her at Bronya.
…
[Here's a joke: To the Moon ranked tenth from the bottom.]
[Lol, I didn't notice at first, but now that you said it, I can't stop laughing.]
[Even To the Moon is only tenth from the bottom.
That must mean the games in our mini-game festival are all amazing (lol)~]
[Our mini-game festival is just too strong~]
[Anyone on site, go support them!
Online voting is easy, but the on-site buzz matters too!!]
[Thanks for the invite.
I'm at St. Freya and already on my way.]
[Oh, bro, remember to take pictures.
I want to send some local specialties to that interesting designer.]
[Guys, I'm calling a number: by this afternoon—first place.
Can we do it or not?]
Top-tier story, plus Elysia, plus Eden's studio—this trump-card combo had been obscured on day one because it was a pixel game, earning a "tenth from the bottom" result.
You had to admit, it was pretty dramatic.
By now, the bullet comments in Sirin's stream were already getting lively.
After they finished teasing Sirin, they forgot about the still-crying streamer and turned the stream into their chatroom.
Some were snarky.
Some came for the fun.
Some were calling for support.
In short, everyone was talking at once, a lively mess, with Sirin's unstoppable sobbing as the background track.
The heat from the stream could indeed bring a lot of traffic to Xander's booth.
But the real surge still came from Elysia and Eden's side.
"What?
Eden dropped a new song?"
"Huh?
Not Eden?
If it's not Eden, why are you— … It's Eden's studio plus Miss Pink Elf?"
"Just say that up front.
Now I have to go support."
Conversations like this filled the fan groups of Elysia and Eden, pushing the already buzzing chats to the next level.
Quite a few people near St. Freya changed their afternoon plans and headed straight for the expo hosted there.
After asking a few bystanders, Kiana quickly got the exact answer.
"It's actually Xander's booth… sheesh~"
An irrepressible surprise crept across her face.
Kiana remembered that Xander said his booth didn't get many visitors yesterday.
How did it explode in popularity today?
Could it be that he was doing a striptease on site for the hype?
Driven by thick curiosity, Kiana headed to the neighboring hall where Xander's booth was.
And then came a scene that shocked her to the core.
The moment she entered the other hall, she felt how packed it was.
Kiana circled around twice before she could inch closer, but layer upon layer of human walls blocked any view inside.
The noisy chatter drowned out whatever was being said.
The surrounding stalls had even been abandoned by their staff.
Kiana found a corner piled with miscellaneous items, climbed up, and soon had a bird's-eye view of the entire hall.
Her eyes quickly locked onto the center of the crowd—Xander's booth.
People were sitting on the floor in rows, filling the space from the booth to the open area, watching the big screen like they were at a movie screening.
Just then, the image on the screen switched.
With her excellent eyesight, Kiana barely made out what it showed.
Was that… a spaceship?
A rocket?
While she was puzzling over it, something happened that almost made her fall.
The people sitting in the center suddenly started crying.
Tears streamed down their faces.
Those sitting close even hugged each other.
Their sobs seemed to echo into every corner of the hall.
That grief and sorrow wrapped around Kiana in an instant and seized her heart.
Shivering all over, Kiana's legs went weak.
Her expression grew increasingly alarmed.
Staring at the scene before her, her right hand trembling, she fumbled out her phone.
Bronya picked up quickly.
"Kiana, what's wrong?"
Bronya's puzzled voice was a lifeline to Kiana at that moment.
She clenched the phone so hard the veins on the back of her hand stood out.
"Bronya, come save me!!!"
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