Chapter 824: What the Heck, This is Just a Demo?

Players argued back and forth, unable to convince each other, as it was all based on personal speculation.

You could make a very convincing argument, but the other side would just say: "Has the official source confirmed it?"

This immediately shut down the conversation.

But it had to be said that Final Fantasy indeed gave players an unforgettable experience, even though various tragic endings made them wipe away countless tears.

The cinematic-quality pacing and script, along with the moving story, brought players an indescribably wonderful experience.

But just as many players finished Final Fantasy and stopped fiercely debating the CP camps, and the game's popularity slowly began to cool down...

Nebula Games and Chen Xu's official Weibo account posted a new piece of news that greatly surprised many players.

The Weibo message was just one sentence.

'What if the future can be changed? The brand new Easter egg version of Final Fantasy is now available!'

Seeing this news, many players, including Song Ren who had just finished the game and recovered from its sad atmosphere, initially looked bewildered at Chen Xu's Weibo post, not understanding what it meant. But after a moment, many players realized something, then opened the Nebula Games Platform.

The newly appeared update notification on the store interface explained everything.

The future changed? Does this mean multiple endings!? A perfect ending!?

Suddenly, players were ecstatic.

Countless players chose to update immediately.

And upon entering the game, countless players became excited, because it was exactly as they had imagined.

The plot was still the Final Fantasy plot, but the game's presentation and details were completely different.

It was as if it had become a different game.

Aerith and Sephiroth even seemed like reincarnators or time-travelers!

In the early and mid-game, most of the story was the same, until Cloud and Barret completed their mission to destroy the first Mako Reactor.

When Cloud met Aerith again, this part of the story made players realize that some things were different.

Aerith, it was as if she were a reincarnator.

In the initial plot, Aerith and Cloud's first meeting was very simple.

Cloud helped Aerith navigate through the agitated crowd, and then discovered that she was selling rare flowers in Midgar.

Since it was getting late, he bought a flower from Aerith.

Money exchanged for goods, then they went their separate ways.

There wasn't much interaction.

The real interaction happened in the church in the slums.

Cloud, much like Zack years ago, fell from the sky onto a bed of flowers, which piqued Aerith's curiosity about Cloud.

But now it was completely different.

Here, Aerith was knocked down by the surging crowd of refugees and was entangled by a group of seemingly invisible monsters.

Finally, Cloud helped Aerith, and facing Cloud who had helped her, Aerith seemed very familiar, as if she had known Cloud for a long time.

‘Take this flower. Thank you for helping me get rid of them.’

‘The price depends on the person, but for you… it’s free.’

‘The flower language is reunion.’

Aerith's dialogue had completely changed, and it had a double meaning.

In addition, there were many other plot points, such as in the church, Aerith was not particularly flustered when Reno attacked, but instead directly called out Cloud's identity as a Shinra SOLDIER. Cloud had not yet told Aerith that he was a former Shinra SOLDIER before this.

Also, at Aerith's home, at night, Aerith seemed to know that Cloud would leave, so she waited for Cloud at the doorstep in advance, instead of accidentally encountering him as in the previous storyline.

Including Sephiroth, he also seemed to have returned from the future, with a Riddler-like feeling, and even expressed hope to team up with Cloud, stating that he didn't want him to lose his companions and become stronger.

And in the plot segment returning to Sector 7 from the commercial district, when Tifa learned of Shinra's conspiracy and felt a trace of unwillingness about her companions' safety, Aerith seemed to know something and actively gave a reminder.

It was precisely because of Aerith's reminder that Cloud and Tifa returned to Sector 7 earlier, coincidentally encountering Avalanche battling Shinra.

Wedge, who died by falling in the original version, survived here.

"So, can the story be changed? Can Aerith survive?"

Countless players who played up to this point had their eyes wide open, because this was the first major change in the game.

Just like Biggs, due to Cloud and Tifa's early return.

During Shinra's attack, Jessie and Biggs did not die, only suffered serious injuries.

Especially when the Sector Plate was about to fall later, Aerith's reminder to everyone to leave quickly was a tacit admission for the players.

Later, when Cloud and his companions first met Red XIII while rescuing Aerith from Shinra, Red XIII, as the planet's sacred beast, immediately recognized what those ghost-like entities truly were.

According to Red XIII, these ghost-like entities were called Phira, and they were the Guardians of Destiny.

In other words, the planet's trajectory from birth to disappearance was predetermined.

It was like a curved line; if it bent, Phira would straighten it.

What would the subsequent plot be like?

Song Ren, who was playing the game, couldn't contain his excitement. Although he had recovered from the previous sadness, he truly wanted to see a perfect reunion ending.

It might not be as memorable as a tragedy, but as a player, he just wanted to see a perfect ending.

Now, this Easter egg gift from Mr. Chen, and this Phira setting!?

After returning to the game, could the subsequent fate be changed?

Song Ren was incredibly excited at this moment.

But after the excitement, he thought of something else and felt a little unwilling.

Because according to the timeline, Zack was already dead by this point.

No matter what, it seemed there was no way Zack could survive, right?

But as Cloud and his companions escaped during the Midgar segment of the story, the appearance of a character surprised him immensely.

When Cloud faced Phira's destiny duplicates on the Shinra Grand Bridge, the scene shifted to the wasteland outside Midgar.

‘Honestly… the price of freedom is high.’

‘Embrace your dreams… And, never give up your pride as a SOLDIER.’

‘Welcome!’ The same lines, the same plot.

But what was different was the visual: this time, Song Ren saw them.

Phira surrounding countless Shinra soldiers.

Why were Phira appearing behind these Shinra soldiers?

Before Song Ren could recover, countless Phira enveloped the sky, seemingly intending to rush towards Zack.

But the next moment, with an explosion of light, countless Phira vanished without a trace.

At the same time, within Midgar.

Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and Barret successfully defeated Phira, the Guardian of Destiny.

Phira Rothes: An entity drawn from future destiny and materialized, wielding a sword to protect and create her own future.

This symbolized Cloud's future.

Phira Ferdie: An entity drawn from future destiny and materialized, using hand-to-hand combat to protect and create her own future.

This was Tifa's future.

Phira Jarro: An entity drawn from future destiny and materialized, manipulating firearms to protect and create her own future.

And this was Barret's future.

But what made Song Ren a little uneasy was that among the protagonist team, there was no future for Aerith.

The moment the Phira collective was defeated.

From day to night, then to dawn, the scene shifted to outside Midgar.

Zack, covered in blood, looked up at the rain in the sky and smiled.

"Did we win?"

Supporting his body with the Buster Sword, Zack, with a smile on his face, returned to where Cloud had been placed, then helped Cloud up, and slowly moved towards Midgar, step by step.

Clearly, both existed on different world lines.

Then the rain from the sky fell, as Zack took Cloud towards Midgar.

On the other side, Aerith and her companions, who had defeated Phira, also had to make a choice.

Facing Cloud, who wanted to leave, Aerith reached out her hand, seemingly wanting Cloud to stop and not step beyond the singularity of fate.

‘This moment is the crossroads, the divergence point of destiny’

‘Another side to what?’

‘Freedom… but freedom is terrifying. You heard the planet’s cries, didn’t you? Those are the voices of people from the past, the shouts of life which loops through the planet.’

‘Was Sephiroth responsible?’

‘Yes… but… this wall is the obstruction of destiny. Once you enter… once you cross this wall… everyone will change.’

Facing Aerith's words, Cloud said nothing. Red XIII, Barret, Tifa, everyone simply walked slowly together, crossing the grand gate that represented the unknown.

"Oh my god! Is this a parallel world line setting like in BioShock?"

"In the Final Fantasy multiverse, the original plot and the Advent Children plot are the primary universe, and the newly updated mode is an extended parallel universe."

"At the same time, the Phira setting is to bring everything in the parallel universe back to its original point. So Phira would help Cloud and his companions, even reviving the deceased Barret, but also help the root of all evil, Hojo, escape from Cloud and his companions."

"Because in the first playthrough's storyline, which is the predetermined timeline, neither Barret nor Hojo died, so the power of destiny transcends death!"

"And according to the original plotline, Sephiroth would definitely be defeated by Cloud in the end."

"So why did Sephiroth's motive also appear? He cannot let destiny continue on its original world path, and Aerith might not have as much power as Sephiroth, only knowing a part of the future."

"And the reason Sephiroth isn't confronting Cloud now is because Sephiroth's true body isn't here; what's here is just a clone that might not be able to defeat Cloud and his companions at all."

"But now destiny has been changed, and Zack, from another parallel world, even survived. So can Cloud still grow and defeat Sephiroth?"

"And the subsequent fate of this world has also been changed. Can Cloud defeat Sephiroth again?"

Song Ren's eyes were wide open.

Not just him, but all players who reached this point were excited.

Big news! Nebula Games made big news!

How would it develop next!?

Filled with excitement and anticipation, Song Ren eagerly looked forward to what was next.

But the next moment, he was dumbfounded.

"What the heck! Why are the credits rolling already? What the heck, isn't Midgar just the newbie village!?"

A wail escaped Song Ren's mouth.

He, who was incredibly excited for the subsequent development in the original version, was stunned by the scene before him.

This feeling was like finally finding a certain adult film, closing the door, getting tissues ready, confirming that the first three minutes of the film were what you wanted to watch, but then realizing, upon actually trying to play it, that the video source file after three minutes was completely corrupted and only showed a distorted screen. How could anyone tolerate that!?

Rage, resentment… all sorts of emotions. Finally, countless players uttered one sentence: "Mr. Chen, are you even human!?"

Is that even allowed!?

It looked like a sequel, but now you're telling them it's just a demo!? (End of Chapter) <>