On the night of the first day of the carnival, most regular exhibitions had already closed.
However, Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's carnival showed no sign of ending.
On the contrary, the nighttime festivities were even livelier than before.
Inside the venue, the popular game demo areas were still packed with people.
Earlier that morning, Monster Hunter had intimidated quite a few attendees.
But then, for reasons unknown, a sudden wave of players began throwing themselves into the game, determined to take down the Rathian.
Their enthusiasm quickly spread to those who were initially uninterested, drawing more players into the hunt.
According to backend data, the Rathian had been under nonstop assault since the afternoon.
...
...
It wasn't even a particularly difficult monster. As long as players got used to its attack patterns, anyone could take it down with ease.
It essentially served as an introductory boss for Monster Hunter.
Initially, many had been scared off by the game's difficulty, thinking it was just a form of self-inflicted pain and no fun at all.
But after failing again and again, gradually improving with each battle, that exhilarating feeling of finally defeating the Rathian was something no other game could match.
There were no heart-wrenching storylines or flashy effects, yet people were gradually getting hooked.
This, perhaps, was the true charm of video games.
They always had a way of drawing players in unexpectedly.
Meanwhile, in another stadium nearby, the Gamestar Electronic Entertainment World Cup Esports Tournament was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
This time, there were ten competitive game titles in total.
From casual games like Tetris and Fruit Ninja, to hardcore esports titles like Street Fighter and StarCraft, each one attracted different kinds of spectators.
Just within the stadium alone, the tournaments drew over 30,000 attendees.
For the still-emerging field of esports, this was a significant breakthrough. It showed that esports was starting to develop a real audience.
Still, there was much work to be done before it could truly flourish—after all, in Takayuki's previous life, there had been esports events with over 100 million viewers for a single game.
But that kind of success would only be possible with the rise of internet live-streaming. For now, they just had to wait for time and technology to catch up.
Aside from gaming and esports, the nighttime carnival had plenty of other attractions—starting with a fireworks show.
In the morning, fireworks were useless under the daylight, but at night, it was a different story.
At 8 p.m. sharp, fireworks lit up the sky in the shapes of familiar characters from Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's games.
Each character had their own matching background music.
The atmosphere of the carnival peaked at that moment.
It wasn't until around 9 p.m. that the carnival events began to wind down, and by 10 p.m., the venue finally closed. Many players left the grounds reluctantly.
Of course, the carnival wasn't over—tomorrow promised to be just as exciting.
With that in mind, the players left the venue satisfied.
By 11 p.m., Takayuki and the management team had already gathered in the conference room at the venue.
"President, we've compiled the latest data."
Takayuki, seemingly waiting for this moment, immediately perked up upon hearing the voice outside.
A member of the data analytics department rushed into the room.
Everyone else turned to him eagerly.
Takayuki composed himself and said, "Go ahead, share the numbers."
The data manager nodded quickly. "Yes, sir."
He glanced at the report in his hand.
"The main carnival venue saw a total footfall of 63,000 people on the first day."
Everyone's faces lit up with joy.
Gamestar Electronic Entertainment's carnival was a brand-new exhibition event.
Only Gamestar showcased their products here. There were some sponsor booths for accessories, but the spotlight was entirely on Gamestar.
Normally, a new exhibition format like this would attract maybe a few thousand to ten thousand people.
Yet the debut of Gamestar's carnival drew in over 60,000 attendees.
Sixty thousand—on the very first day.
And today's revenue had already exceeded 4 billion yen.
This included video game sales, merchandise sales from various IPs, and ticket revenue from the esports arena—all impressive numbers.
Of course, the money wasn't even the main point.
The real purpose of this carnival was to serve as a massive advertisement and a celebration.
As long as it caught enough public attention, it had served its purpose.
Once people were aware, many of them could become loyal users and players of Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.
Even taking a financial hit to run the carnival would be worth it.
This was an extremely valuable advertisement.
Everyone in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief—their efforts had not been in vain.
They had gone all-in preparing for this event.
Initially, they estimated around 20,000 to 30,000 visitors.
Now, they had doubled that estimate.
And that didn't even include the 30,000+ esports spectators.
When combined, the total audience for the carnival was 90,000 people.
"Wonderful! Truly wonderful," Takayuki clapped with a smile. "This is a brand-new milestone and proves that our carnival truly mattered—it shows our strength."
Everyone nodded in full agreement.
Even the staff themselves were thoroughly enjoying the carnival atmosphere.
"But everyone, let's not get too proud. The carnival isn't over yet. We still have two days to go. Keep pushing forward. If possible, I'd love to see even better numbers by the end."
The group gave a unified reply of determination. Many of them were now too excited to sleep, already planning the next day's activities.
The carnival would run for three full days.
If day one brought in 60,000 people, then there was no room for slacking. They had to push those numbers even higher.
Takayuki was just as eager to see a stronger turnout—it would solidify his resolve to build a theme park, even if it meant spending most of his personal savings.
He would need to consider the location carefully, maybe even negotiate with the Japanese government for a good deal on land.
After all, this was a project of national prestige—it had great significance, and the government likely wouldn't mind granting him a piece of land.
…
The next morning, the carnival opened once again to the familiar tunes of classic game soundtracks. Despite playing well into the night before, the players returned full of energy, as if sleep wasn't even a concept.
Video games once again proved their powerful appeal.
Thanks to the previous day's word-of-mouth and the fact that it was a weekend, the crowds today were even larger than yesterday's.
On the second day, the carnival featured several specially choreographed stage plays.
Dragon Quest, The Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy—all were story-rich RPGs, making them ideal for theatrical adaptation.
In addition to stage plays, there was also a cosplay showcase.
Many professional and amateur cosplayers took to the stage, and Gamestar Electronic Entertainment would choose some of the best to reward with prizes and recognition.
Among these performances, a small surprise occurred.
A handsome young man, cosplaying as Cloud, walked up to his fellow cosplayer—dressed as Tifa—after their performance, got down on one knee, and proposed right there on stage.
The crowd was stunned.
It took a while before people realized this wasn't part of a scripted event—it was really happening.
The girl playing Tifa was wide-eyed, covering her mouth in shock as she stared at the kneeling Cloud.
"Damn it, Cloud! Your true love is Aerith! Stand up! Don't propose to Tifa!"
Someone shouted from the audience—clearly a die-hard Cloud × Aerith fan.
His eyes were red from the emotional betrayal.
"How can you say that?! Tifa is obviously Cloud's true love! Good job, Cloud! Say yes, Tifa!"
Naturally, where there were Cloud × Aerith shippers, there were Cloud × Tifa shippers too.
The two sides began bickering in the audience.
One cheering for her to accept, the other begging her to decline—a delightful commotion.
The host was momentarily stunned by the turn of events.
But he quickly composed himself, wiping away tears and applauding.
"Dear adventurers, this is a real proposal—not part of any roleplay. Outside the characters, shouldn't we be congratulating them?"
No one could argue with that.
Imposing game storylines on real people didn't make much sense.
The host stepped up to the couple and looked at the shocked, blushing girl.
"My beautiful lady, do you accept this gentleman's proposal?"
"I… I…" she stammered, cheeks burning.
Cosplaying as Tifa, she was clearly shy but deeply moved.
The two had been childhood friends for over a decade. Their relationship had long been inevitable—both families had already met.
Proposing in front of such a crowd was incredibly brave of him.
"Haruko, I've wanted to marry you since we were kids. Through all these years, especially with our shared love of games, I knew I'd always love you. I wanted to do something big so everyone could see how serious I am. So… will you marry me?"
He pulled out a small box from his pocket.
Everyone knew what was inside.
Even the shippers stopped arguing, their eyes softening with well wishes.
Most people, in the end, loved seeing moments of joy like this.
Especially a proposal like this one.
And under the gaze of thousands, the girl tearfully and happily said yes.
This was just the final step in a relationship that was already set in stone, but this moment would stay with them forever.
"So touching…" sniffled a girl in the crowd, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Alright, alright, Kazuha, don't get too emotional," her friend Aiko said, patting her on the shoulder. "We go to an all-girls school—romance can wait. For now, let's focus on designing an awesome game."
But Aiko's eyes were also a little red.
Not all girls idolize grand confessions—but both Kazuha and Aiko had been genuinely moved by the scene.
As for their other friend, Oto?
She felt nothing.
Her mind was already spinning with ideas for game development.
Once she was focused, nothing could distract her.
This surprise proposal added a sweet romantic twist to an already lively carnival.
"Sigh, what a beautiful story," a man in the crowd muttered. "Why haven't I ever met a woman like that? None of the women around me even play games."
"Tell me about it," his friend agreed. "That guy's marrying a Tifa. What could be luckier than that?"
Even after the proposal ended, people kept talking about it. No one even paid attention to the rest of the cosplay performances.
After all, nothing draws attention like love.