These words coming from Silas's mouth didn't feel out of place at all; it was a greeting nearly every gnome used upon meeting someone for the first time.
Raymond knew him, but Silas certainly didn't know Raymond. He took a flyer from Raymond's hand and glanced at it.
"Hmm... rooms... beer... why is the Lion's Pride Inn advertising all the way over here at my place?"
It was only when he flipped it over to the back that he understood what Raymond was actually promoting.
"Oh, my dear friend, doing this is a bit inappropriate."
Raymond thought Silas was like Burrows, not wanting anyone to snatch his customers, but Silas continued: "Good activities should naturally be promoted, but over-exaggerating to this extent is just fraud."
Raymond immediately defended himself: "Boss, you can't just talk nonsense. There isn't a shred of exaggeration on this flyer. In fact, I feel that the shock of our net cafe is something words simply cannot describe."
Silas had actually heard of this net cafe from a few customers over the past few days. He had asked around a bit, but because the Faire was so busy, he hadn't had the time to see it for himself.
He shook his head at Raymond: "Friend, I have traveled to most places in this world. Even the most outstanding theater troupe can only use props to simulate the soaring dragons and world-eating you've written about, let alone an 'unprecedented experience.'"
Raymond was stunned: "Theater... theater troupe?! We are a net cafe, not a theater troupe!"
Silas was also stunned: "Is your net cafe not a theater troupe? I heard you perform shows in a black frame with soldiers fighting skeletons, heroes battling beasts, and people in strange clothes hitting some kind of Pegasus Fist."
Hearing this, Raymond quickly straightened out the flyer in Silas's hand: "Boss Silas, it seems you definitely must find the time to check out the net cafe! It is absolutely different from what you imagine!"
Silas stared into Raymond's eyes for a long time. He had seen too many people. As the owner of the Faire, he didn't participate directly in reception; he preferred to stand aside or wander through the camp, observing the guests' experiences.
Over time, he had learned to read emotions in everyone's eyes—joy, excitement, annoyance, regret, and even the sweetness between couples or tiny lies.
But at this moment, he saw no deception in Raymond's eyes, only surprise and delight.
"Alright, I'll make time to visit later. However, until I'm certain whether you are scammers or not, you cannot distribute any more flyers here, or the guests will think I am in league with you."
Back in the net cafe, Wayne continued playing. As time passed, nearly a hundred people were gathered outside watching the stream. However, the two 30-inch screens were a bit small; those at the back of the crowd were too far away to see clearly.
Wayne had escaped the black dragon's attack through the secret passage of the camp prison, but he encountered several other Stormcloak soldiers who had also fled into the tunnels.
Those men thought Wayne and Hadvar were there to capture them and drew their weapons without a word. This was the first opportunity for combat in the entire game.
Hadvar charged forward with his shield raised while Wayne fired arrows from behind him.
The first arrow fell short, hitting the ground before it even reached the enemies.
"Aww!"
A collective sigh of disappointment rose from the crowd.
In the VR-enhanced version, drawing the bow, nocking the arrow, aiming, and releasing were all physical movements, not something easily accomplished with a mouse click as in a computer game.
Over there, Hadvar was shouting "Hmph" and "Ah" while blocking with his shield and swinging his sword, fighting two enemies at once while constantly calling for Wayne to hurry up and help.
This time, Wayne adjusted his strength and angle. With a "whoosh," his arrow struck one of the enemies in the knee!
The man's leg buckled instantly, and he lost his balance. Hadvar stepped in and slit his throat, then raised his shield to shove back the other enemy who was swinging at him. This time, it was Wayne's turn to finish the job—an arrow through the chest, successfully taking "First Blood."
After firing three arrows, he had basically gotten used to the draw strength of the bow. With those three shots, his Archery skill increased from 1 to 2.
The two continued forward. During the journey, Wayne used lockpicks he found to open two prison cells, picking up a spellbook for Fireball.
Firing arrows, picking locks—this made two Night Elf women in the crowd feel an itch to try it themselves.
One was named Anasha, a Hunter by profession, and the other was Oneiya, a Rogue. The two were childhood friends who usually patrolled between the port of Auberdine in Darkshore and the outpost of Astranaar in Ashenvale. Recently, after completing a very important intelligence delivery mission, they were rewarded with a two-month vacation and came to Stormwind City for sightseeing.
After wandering the city for a few days, they wanted to head out to the Faire for some fun, but they found themselves unable to move when passing through Goldshire.
Anasha: "Oneiya, I really want to try this game. In the name of the Goddess, I bet my archery skills could hit those enemies much faster."
Oneiya stood on her tiptoes—making her already tall frame, a head taller than humans, even more prominent—so she could see the screen clearly. She replied: "Mmm, I bet so too. For a lock like that, I could pick it just by touching it."
Anasha: "But why are these human things so expensive? This will use up all our travel funds."
Oneiya: "It's fine, sister. We have to go back to the city anyway. When the time comes, we can join a fighting tournament. If we win, there's prize money."
In the game, after crouching in stealth to circle around and then landing a headshot on a bear, Wayne and Hadvar finally walked out of the secret passage and returned to the surface.
By this time, the black dragon had turned Helgen into a pile of scorched earth—not a single tile remained. It flew directly over their heads and disappeared into the horizon as if breaking through the clouds.
Following Hadvar's advice and directions, Wayne ran a very, very long way—so long he almost started questioning his life choices—dealing with a few wild wolves along the way before finally arriving at the first town one usually encounters in the game: Riverwood, situated by a small river.
After entering the town gates, one of Wayne's actions left the onlookers very confused.
They saw an old hen walking leisurely on the town street, blocking Wayne's path. Wayne acted as if he had seen a plague god; far from touching it, he acted as if he didn't even want the wind from his passing to brush against the chicken, terrified of causing it even a shred of harm.
Like the destroyed Helgen, the area of Riverwood was much larger than when Wayne played it on a computer. The main buildings were separated by many houses and facilities. In addition to the original sawmill by the river, there were now farmlands and livestock pens. The whole town felt no different from Goldshire.
At this point, Wayne wasn't in a hurry to proceed with the next quest. Instead, after meeting the blacksmith Alvor through Hadvar's introduction, he began doing odd jobs like smithing, forging, and buying/selling loot.
The crowd was deeply interested in Wayne's new game. They felt that the net cafe was offering more and more variety, and they wished they could turn one minute into two, rather than only being able to play for a few hours every other day to satisfy their cravings.
Inside, Wayne gave Tess a look, and Tess nodded seriously.
This was the marketing strategy they had agreed upon last night while watching Raymond furiously write flyers.
"Everyone! Everyone!"
Tess walked out of the net cafe, cleared her throat, and shouted:
"To reward everyone for your love and support, our net cafe is now launching limited-edition pre-order slots for the new game!"
She gestured toward the live-streaming screen:
"Early access for the fantasy epic The Elder Scrolls! There are only 30 slots in total, and pre-orders are limited to members of this shop!"
"The pre-order fee is 20 gold. Members who purchase will not only gain access to play this game two weeks early, but will also receive a Strategy Mega Bundle from our boss, Wayne! It includes powerful starting equipment, stat allocation advice for each class, and one-on-one in-game coaching from the boss himself! We guarantee you'll master the game!"
"Slots are limited. 20 have already been sold, leaving only the last 10! Buy now while you still can!"