Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

Without him, there would be no NieR: Automata, and they would not feel sadness and anger because of it.

It would be perfectly reasonable to say that Zhu Youxing was the mastermind behind all of this.

However, this is just wishful thinking.

They're now thinking more about who's behind the NieR: Automata story itself.

The exploration process is interspersed with 9S storylines from time to time.

9S did not die after falling off the cliff; on the contrary, he did not seem to have suffered any serious injuries.

He was apparently rescued by two mysterious twin red-haired women.

This time, two brand new characters have appeared.

There is no explanation for either of these characters.

But just by looking at the very unique appearances of these two characters, everyone knows that these two characters are definitely not simple.

"Wait, I suddenly remembered something. Didn't those two female phantom figures appear when 2B first destroyed 9S? Do you guys remember?"

"It seems so. By the way, is there any related record in the official setting documents?"

"No, absolutely not. I'm absolutely certain of that. These two characters have never appeared in the official lore."

"That's strange. Why did these two characters appear so abruptly? It doesn't make any sense at all."

Everyone was very confused.

The reason these two characters seem out of place is entirely because Zhu Youxing started by developing NieR: Automata.

NieR: Automata is the second work in the entire universe. There was another work before it, but the protagonist of that work was male. Takeyusei had a clear purpose in developing NieR: Automata, so he did not include the first work in the development plan.

However, Zhu Youxing plans to release some derivative novels based on the story in the future. If there is an opportunity, he may also release some derivative animations and film and television works. In any case, he does not need to be limited to the story told in the game itself.

At that time, some settings outside of the game will be explored.

As for the two red-haired women who have appeared now, let's just consider them a hidden Easter egg, and let players discover them themselves when other derivative works are released in the future.

However, many players seem to have a somewhat confused memory of these two characters, partly because they are so inconspicuous in the game itself.

The phantom figures that appeared several times in the game were not these two red-haired women, but rather someone else. Moreover, the phantom figures were little girls, while the two red-haired twins were older.

But this isn't a big problem and doesn't affect the overall plot.

After 9S woke up, his emotions were very unstable because he had witnessed 2B's death, which greatly shocked him.

Then he saw a giant white tower standing on the ground.

It was unclear what exactly it was, but 9S chose to approach and make contact.

However, a specific key is required to enter the White Tower, and the key is hidden in several resource recycling buildings in the setting.

9S needs to explore these three places.

During the exploration, 9S's mental state becomes increasingly unstable. Occasionally, he will see memories of his past with 2B, and sometimes he will treat them as if they were real events, which will make him more and more insane.

Players and viewers alike were also filled with renewed emotions during this process, with feelings of profound sadness and grief.

"Waaah, the adorable 9S is getting crazier and crazier."

"He's just a boy, what's there to cry about? My idiot is the one who deserves a good cry!"

"You, the one upstairs, speak clearly! What do you mean 'your idiot'? It's clearly mine!"

"Please calm down, everyone. This is virtual; it's not anyone's exclusive property. You could say it's our '2B' (a slang term for someone who's foolish or silly)."

"That's right, our 2B!"

Chapter 761 We cannot accept this ending!

761

The story of NieR: Automata continues, and the sad tale is far from over.

Among the three locations 9S explored, the last one contained an acquaintance of 9S.

That was 9S's logistics liaison, a very intellectual, aloof, and proud older sister.

This wise and intelligent older sister has now been corrupted by the virus and become an enemy.

9S's mental state became even more unstable at this moment, and he could not possibly kill this older sister with whom he had a very good relationship.

This caused him great distress.

The players' sadness was quickly building, and more and more people were posting sad emojis in the comments section.

"She's so pitiful and tragic, I really don't want to kill this older sister I used to know!"

"21O... Waaah, why did you have to kill her? Couldn't we just run away?"

The girl anchor's eyes welled up with tears again; the story had deeply moved her.

She felt as if she had returned to the feeling she had when she first experienced the fall of the Titans.

In the end, 9S did not actually kill his once very close friend.

Even though this intelligent older sister kept begging 9S to kill her.

And the more these kinds of voices are heard, the more they resonate with players and viewers. Now, no one cares about 2B's image or appearance anymore; they are completely immersed in this sad and desperate story.

And this is exactly what Zhu Youxing wanted to see.

Thus, the purpose of NieR: Automata was achieved.

Ultimately, it was A2 who stepped in to deal with this intelligent older sister. She appeared at 9S's critical moment and eliminated the friend that 9S didn't want to kill.

The story reaches its final scene at this point, and what follows is nothing short of melodramatic and over-the-top.

The entire story revolves around a predetermined outcome.

The two loli phantoms that appeared could be considered the final behind-the-scenes bosses of the entire story.

She showed the final, top-secret contents to 9S, who had successfully entered the White Tower.

The content tells the story that all of this is for the purpose of successfully reclaiming Earth, and that it is all a predetermined story arranged by the current mechanical life forms in order to continuously evolve.

9S, 2B, A2, Commander... they were all pawns in the plan. Once the data required for evolution is completed, all the mechanical beings and androids can die and perish.

9S thus went into a frenzy at this final moment.

He desperately wanted to destroy everything because 2B was gone, and with that, he lost his own reason for being. All his previous efforts were in vain; he was a puppet, a pawn, and it was all meaningless.

"Look, it seems we can now choose to help A2 or 9S."

The audience then noticed the options in the game.

These are either the A2 control or the 9S control.

This means that players must make a choice at this moment: either help 9S defeat A2 or help A2 eliminate 9S.

Why make this choice? I'd much rather all stories had a happy ending!

"But now we only have a choice, what should we do?"

"Let's all calm down. Maybe we should let the streamer make her own choice, after all, it's her playing the game."

The streamer was also somewhat conflicted at this point.

However, what she's worried about right now isn't how the story will end.

She was just considering which ending to play first.

She could now roughly predict that neither story would have a happy ending.

With so much tragedy building up to the beginning, how could there possibly be a happy ending in the end?

Moreover, given the nature of this game, it's unlikely to have a truly happy ending.

But even though she knew the story wouldn't end well, the girl still wanted to watch it all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I don't actually have to choose just one. Since the game saves can be saved repeatedly, we can experience both endings in advance by repeatedly saving and loading, right?"

"Huh? Oh right, there's also the SL method."

"Wait, what is the SL technique? What does it do?"

"This is a new method that some people have recently come up with. Many games have multiple endings, but you can only experience one ending when you complete the game. If you want to experience other endings, you have to play the game again, which is too time-consuming. It's hard to play repeatedly unless you're a true fan. So, the SL method came about."

"SL is an abbreviation for Save and Load. First, save a previous save file to a folder outside the game console, which is like backing up the save file. Then, after playing the first ending, put the backed-up save file back into the game console. This saves a lot of time and allows you to quickly experience other endings."

"Huh? So there's such a method? Where did this amazing trick come from? I've played so many games with different endings and I never knew about this trick."

"This method was initially revealed by a guy named 'Sony is great' on the official forum of Yuxing Electronic Entertainment. This guy is really good at researching game vulnerabilities."

"But wouldn't this violate the regulations of Yusei Electronic Entertainment?"

"It doesn't seem to have violated any rules. At least this post has never been deleted or penalized by the authorities. If you search for it on the official forum now, you can find it. There are still hundreds of thank-you messages for sharing on this post every day. I estimate that this post has tens of thousands of posts by now."

"I'll go check it out now... oh no, I should check out the ending of NieR: Automata first. I can't calm down until I finish reading the ending."

Looking at the discussion in the comments section, most viewers were no longer struggling with who to help. Since they could watch the story all the way through anyway, the girl subconsciously chose to help 9S.

This is probably the person I subconsciously most want to help.

However, unsurprisingly, 9S and A2 both died after the battle, and the story came to its final conclusion, with even the cast and crew credits appearing.

As expected, the audience engaged in another heated discussion after watching the ending. Most of them were unwilling to accept the ending and really wanted to see a happy ending.

But imperfections always leave a lasting impression, and the imperfect ending of NieR: Automata is indeed deeply etched in their memories. Perhaps many years from now, they will never forget the story of this game.

Immediately afterwards, the girl, still feeling sad, experienced a second ending where she helped A2 through save/load.

This ending is slightly better than 9S's ending.

A2 ultimately sacrificed itself to ensure 9S's survival, while A2 silently watched as the White Tower collapsed.

Having witnessed the tragic ending where both 9S died while helping them, viewers were much more accepting of this ending where only one of them survived.

At least one of them is still alive, isn't he?

When the second ending ended and the credits rolled again, all the viewers began to sigh.

"This is really a great story. I never thought that a video game could have such a dramatic story. I always thought that video games were all the same old princess rescue plots."

"Hey, what era are you living in? Even at the end of the 7th century, video games were no longer just about rescuing princesses. If we're talking about how touching the plot is, I think Final Fantasy VII is a cut above."