Started as a comics editor

Chapter 322 To the Moon

Life is always full of surprises.

Zhang Da understands this all too well.

Because he never expected that Avalon would actually announce a new game...

In fact, after the start of AG platform's Summer Game Festival, this media person roughly guessed Avalon's purpose - to launch lightweight games and then offer discounts on games across the entire platform to attract untapped players! Perhaps they also had the idea of ​​filling the gap in the market with small-scale games.

Their strategy was so clear and so upright.

They didn't even bother with acting...it was like they were just going to do it.

It's all out in the open.

What's even more outrageous is that their above-board strategy actually succeeded...

Because their small-scale game, Plants vs. Zombies, is just too perfect for those niche gamers.

After all, even he, who initially looked down on Plants vs. Zombies and thought it was childish, became addicted to it after playing it for a while, let alone those newcomers who hadn't played many games.

So when I learned that even people in my social circle who don't play games had heard of this game and tried playing it...

Even Zhang Da, a media professional who had just launched a tirade against the "Plants vs. Zombies" promotional video, had to admit it.

Avalon really knows what they're doing!
The game itself is great! And the operations team is incredibly creative too!
He was already prepared to write an essay praising the company.

just.

He didn't expect that.

I haven't even started writing yet.

Then he saw news about Avalon's new game...

Moreover, it's a completely different type of game—a pixel-style adventure puzzle game.

I really couldn't have guessed it.

This was the only thought that came to Zhang Da's mind when he saw the game "To the Moon".

Because it's so unusual!

"This isn't right."

Zhang Da sat in front of the computer, touched his receding hairline, and looked puzzled: "Didn't you guys launch a lightweight game with discounts across all platforms to attract new players? Plants vs. Zombies was a success, and the strategy was achieved. How come there's another new game? And it's pixelated like Undertale. Is this also a lightweight game suitable for new players? It doesn't seem like it."

Zhang Da muttered to himself, then scrolled through the comments section below the promotional video.

There are all sorts of replies below.

What do you mean by "highly productive like a sow"?

What about Avalon speed?

Anyway, it's all just random banter.

However, players were quite surprised because the intervals between new games were too short. Avalon's incredible speed of releasing new games is astonishing.

As for more information.

Then there is none.

Because Avalon is truly mysterious, even Zhang Da, a media professional, finds him mysterious.

This goes without saying for the players.

Their manager refuses all interviews, and game promotion is done through their established proprietary channels. As for game reviews, they do occasionally submit games for evaluation, but the reviewers are just ordinary staff members.

Zhang Da had only heard that the company's boss was a young girl... but he took it as a joke, something about a beautiful young woman.

Zhang Da didn't believe it at all.

After all, it doesn't sound reliable at all!
Anyway, Avalon is a very mysterious company, and their game style is so varied and wide-ranging... The mystery, coupled with their unpredictable product release schedule, makes it impossible to guess what kind of game they will release next, or what their strategic intentions are.

And even if they manage to guess it, they will then surprise everyone from another direction.

For example, when Avalon was dominating the mobile game market and everyone thought they would continue their success, they suddenly went and made the PC game "Dungeon Fighter Online"... and it became the number one PC game.

With PC games being so successful, everyone assumed they would focus more on this area.

They've gone back to making single-player games...

The most prominent feature is that it allows you to do whatever you want.

The same is true at this moment.

Not long after the release of Plants vs. Zombies, another game, To the Moon, was suddenly released.

The reason is actually quite simple.

It was because one of the bosses at Avalon was unwilling to put in the hard work and led a group of newcomers to create three new games... and the two major projects were progressing rapidly, so let's release them!
But how could Zhang Da possibly know that!

So he's completely bewildered right now.

Something doesn't feel right.

Isn't Avalon's goal to attract new players by combining Plants vs. Zombies with AG platform events?

So what's the purpose of this new game?

Do they make games entirely at will, without caring about market rules, user profiles, or strategic pace?
That shouldn't be possible... right?

Zhang Da couldn't understand it.

But he did develop a strong interest in this new game from Avalon.

He believes many players think the same way.

After all, Avalon's reputation has truly skyrocketed following this series of boosts...

Meanwhile, as the two major project teams within Avalon were working feverishly on their projects, time quietly slipped towards the release date of "To the Moon".

The summer heatwave swept through the city, and AG platform's summer gaming festival ushered in its second climax.

On the day of the game's release.

Filled with doubt and intense curiosity, Zhang Da once again fulfilled his duty as a media professional. He opened the AG platform, paid the affordable price, downloaded and installed it, and then, with a hint of scrutiny and even more inquiry, double-clicked the pixel-style icon—"To the Moon".

Actually tell the truth.

Before he opened the game, he thought that this "To the Moon" would be similar to "Undertale".

But once the game started, he immediately dismissed the idea.

As soon as the game started, a melodious and slightly melancholic piano tune flowed out, instantly creating an atmosphere completely different from the cheerful Plants vs. Zombies and the tense Left 4 Dead.

Of course, it's also quite different from Avalon's previous pixel masterpiece that was nominated for the TGA.

Once the game officially started, he became even more certain.

Because the style of the story... has changed a lot.

In the future, there will still be rich and poor. The rich will have no worries about food and clothing, while the poor will be destitute for life, and many people will never be able to realize their ideals.

However, a technology that can alter human memory has slightly changed this situation, but because its negative effects are too great, it is only allowed to be used when people are dying, as end-of-life care—helping the dying person, in the final moments of consciousness, to reshape their memories and fulfill their last wishes that they could not fulfill in their lifetime.

On a rugged mountain road by the sea, a car sped along, carrying a man and a woman. The man was Dr. Watts, and the woman was Dr. Rosalion.

They are employees of the company "Endless Wishes," and they are currently on a mission, or rather, a business trip.

They were going to fulfill the lifelong wish of a dying old man... a wish that even the old man himself couldn't explain: to go to the moon.

Memory reconstruction, dying wishes.

This setting was introduced.

Zhang Da's eyes lit up slightly; his professional instincts allowed him to instantly grasp the potential of this core concept.

After all, this topic itself is full of philosophical speculation and narrative tension.

So soon, his mind was filled with discussions about life, regrets, and illusory satisfactions...

Until the game officially begins.

The game controls are very simple: move, talk, and investigate the environment.

The same old three.

Very traditional.

This game doesn't even have combat elements; it only has puzzle-solving elements.

After all, the main focus of these kinds of games is the story.

And the story of this game... is indeed interesting.

soon.

Zhang Da then accompanied the two doctors to meet the elderly man who needed help to fulfill his wish.

The old man's name is Johnny. His wife passed away two years ago, and only his nanny and her two children take care of him.

When the two doctors asked the nanny why Johnny wanted to go to the moon, the nanny said that she didn't know why Johnny had made such a strange wish.

Although the two doctors found this strange, after a brief investigation, they decided to grant the old man's request.

In order to fulfill Johnny's wish to go to the moon, the two doctors must enter Johnny's memories and explore when and what events prompted Johnny to have the desire to go to the moon, and then modify those events.

Having accepted this absurd yet captivating premise, players begin to follow Dr. Watts and Dr. Rosalie as they delve into Johnny's life story.

But it doesn't start from when Johnny was a child; instead, it goes back step by step from Johnny's most recent memories to when he was a child.

As Johnny's past memories are gradually revealed, one mystery after another unfolds before Zhang Da's eyes.

Johnny's life seemed to have nothing to do with the trip to the moon.

On the contrary, another side of him quietly emerged. He was a good husband who took good care of his wife, who suffered from autism, and showed her great tolerance and love in daily life.

His wife, suffering from an illness, was filled with paranoia and confusion. She kept folding inexplicable paper rabbits and asking Johnny what they were, but Johnny's answers never seemed to satisfy her needs.

Furthermore, she preferred to use the money to buy a house under the lighthouse rather than invest in the continuation of her life. Apart from the rabbit, she seemed indifferent to everything else, repeating this monotonous action day after day. Her obsession and irrationality once troubled Zhang Da.

The game continues.

Zhang Da continued to explore the old man's memories, and then began to follow the character in the game, trying to change the old man's life trajectory by tampering with the speech about the journey to the moon, and even trying to stop the old man from interrupting his wife's treatment due to financial difficulties.

He began to rewrite Johnny's life as if he were creating a completely new person, all to fulfill a dream that seemed absurd from the beginning—to go to the moon.

However, when all the conditions were met, Johnny seemed to have lost his longing for the moon.

"..."

Zhang Da paused slightly when he saw the latest pop-up notification, then continued playing seriously.

Four hours of gameplay...like a long movie.

The plot continues to unfold.

The life of this old man named Johnny.

We've finally arrived at the starting point.

Zhang Da finally unlocked Johnny's long-buried childhood memories, revealing the childhood trauma that had haunted him for life.

It turns out that when he was young, his twin brother died in front of him. Fearing that he would not be able to bear the pain, his mother gave him a blocker, which caused him to lose his memory of those years.

Therefore, he forgot the pain of losing his loved ones, and also forgot... his earlier encounter with his wife.

He couldn't remember the night he and his wife talked under the lighthouse, pointing to the stars, nor could he remember the duck-foot beast and the little sandbag he had given her.

However, he clearly remembered the promise: "If you don't come next year, we will meet again on the moon."

So, later, his wife, who also suffered from autism, tried to awaken Johnny in her own unique way.

However, her autism limited her normal communication with Johnny, so she could only fold paper rabbits repeatedly and ask her husband what they were.

She preferred to use the money to buy a house under the lighthouse rather than receive treatment, because the lighthouse represented the brilliant starry sky of that night…

But Johnny really couldn't remember anything.

Despite this, the two supported and tolerated each other throughout their lives.

In the end, the wife left this world with deep-seated pain and endless regret.

Then, after his wife passed away, Johnny unexpectedly recalled the promise they made on the moon.

He only knew the outcome of that agreement, but nothing about its origin. The memory erased by the drugs, while removing the pain, also took away that night under the starry sky when the two children pointed at the stars and said they looked like rabbits...

The end of the story.

"My God, his memory was blocked, and he never came back, but he met her again in middle school and still fell in love with her."

"His memory remains unchanged, he's entered a vicious cycle, he hasn't fulfilled his dream of going to the moon, and his condition has become unstable."

"Let's make some changes."

The doctors began implanting numerous hints about space and the moon into Johnny's memory.

But to no avail; the memory remained unchanged.

“I know why! This requires a major change: his brother must live! And his wife must disappear! I'm going to delete his wife!”

"That's too cruel! You have no right to erase a client's memories! We can only provide partial hints, allowing him to achieve his wish on his own."

"Making his wish come true is the top priority!"

To help the elderly fulfill their wish.

One of the doctors swiftly traveled to all of Johnny's memories of his wife, completely erasing Johnny's memories of her and allowing his brother to live on in his memories.

Finally, Johnny's memory changed, and the two brothers worked together towards their ideals.

His brother became a writer, while he himself took the exam to become an astronaut for NASA.

But his wife was lost forever in his memory... There was no more moonlit encounter on the mountaintop, no more invitation from the middle school, and not even the piano piece "To Riva" for his wife.

At this point, Johnny's world of memories began to become unstable.

In reality, the elderly person was already on their deathbed.

But in his memory, when he arrived at NASA, his boss encouraged him on his first day of work and sent him to space training.

Just as he was about to leave, a young girl with a red ponytail walked in.

"This is Riva, she's also a new employee, and she'll be training with you," the supervisor said.

Riva is the name of Johnny's wife.

Even if the memory is erased, completely erased.

Johnny will also meet Riva, and these two once lonely and unable to meet each other will seem to merge into one.

She left, and although Johnny didn't know why, he always remembered that he wanted to meet her on the moon.

So... he's going to the moon.

So... they meet again in the space agency built from memories.

Finally, the day arrived when we would take a rocket to the moon.

The rumble of the rocket filled the air, and inside the spacecraft sat Johnny and Riva, who had completed their training. As the rocket slowly ascended, they smiled at each other and clasped hands together, as if they had known each other for a lifetime.

The piano music started again; it was the piano piece "Für Riva".

The two of them boarded a rocket together and headed for the moon.

At the same time, the heartbeat of the elderly man in reality quietly stopped.

"..."

In front of the computer.

Zhang Da was stunned. "To Liwa" was playing in his ears. When he first saw the opening scene, he had thought of many possible developments, exploring life, regret and illusory satisfaction.

But what he never expected was that Avalon would use such simple pixel art to tell such a moving, tender, and cruel love story.

...The rocket soared into the fictional starry sky of memories, Johnny and Riva held hands tightly, and the melody of "To Riva" lingered in Zhang Da's ears, as if carrying an inexplicable weight, settling heavily on his heart.

The light from the screen illuminated his stunned face until a chill ran through him.

Zhang Dacai suddenly realized something and subconsciously raised his hand to touch his cheek; his fingertips were wet.

As a media professional who has witnessed the ups and downs of the gaming industry and reviewed countless masterpieces and mediocre works, he thought he had long since developed enough composure and detachment.

But as it turns out, that wasn't enough.

This game is like a dull knife; it doesn't tear Zhang Da apart during gameplay, but rather stabs him back and forth until the rocket finally launches...

The game has no dazzling graphics, no complicated controls, and not even traditional gameplay. It simply tells the story of two souls who transcend forgetting and time and finally reunite under the starlight in a calm and persistent manner.

Johnny's forgotten pain, Riva's unspeakable obsession, the countless days and nights of folding paper rabbits, the silent vigil under the lighthouse... all the fragments converged at the final moment, transforming into a rocket heading to the moon.

The old man's wish was fulfilled. Before he died, he went to the moon and met the wife he remembered.

But what about his wife?

What about his autistic wife, who folded rabbit models day after day in an attempt to awaken Johnny's memory, but failed until she died in loneliness and pain?

this moment.

Zhang Da's thoughts were in turmoil, a mix of emotions including感动 (moved), 浪漫 (romantic), and 悔悔 (regretful).

But in the end, all the emotions collapsed into that seemingly naive line in the game.

"What if you forget... or get lost?"

"Then we'll meet on the moon eventually."

"..."

The moment I remembered the lines.

Zhang Da could no longer hold back. Staring at the screen, his shoulders trembled slightly, and tears streamed down his face.

The melody of the piano piece continued to play on repeat, each note like a gentle tap on the softest part of his heart.

All his previous confusion—why Avalon suddenly launched such a different game, To the Moon, after the huge success of Plants vs. Zombies and the achievement of its strategic goals—seemed to have an answer at this moment.

Perhaps there weren't so many complex strategic considerations or so many sophisticated business plans.

Avalon is like a stubborn yet romantic craftsman. Its core driving force is perhaps unbelievably simple: they just want to make good games that touch people's hearts and leave a lasting impression...

(End of this chapter)