The COS competition...
If you had to describe it with one idiom — it was a dance of demons and monsters!
Perhaps because the prizes were simply too generous, the contestants were all kinds of eccentric characters. Men and women, young and old, tall and short, fat and thin — everything you could imagine was there.
You could see a sixty-year-old woman with a round black figure cosplaying a dark elf, or a plump, pasty "fairy" elf cosplay… and all sorts of other retina-destroying sights, the kind of visual impact comparable to a flashbang — powerful enough to scorch the human eye and make one scream in agony.
At the beginning, the competition was still relatively normal. The first few contestants who came on stage looked decent enough. But the moment a certain female contestant appeared, the entire tone of the show took a sharp, grotesque turn.
If the first half was a feast of beautiful men and women, then the latter half was a combo attack on everyone's retinas.
The spectators covered their eyes and ran in all directions, bumping into one another, chaos erupting throughout the hall.
Mu Yang and White Yasha, after witnessing the very first "retina destroyer," immediately teleported away — fleeing through space itself and plunging their heads straight into the glaciers of Antarctica. Their eyes burned with blazing solar flames and divine light of eight colors. The surging energy and scorching heat radiating from their eye sockets melted the glaciers into steam at astonishing speed.
They had seen something that should not be seen — and the sheer horror of it caused their internal energies to spiral out of control, shattering their very eyes.
Meanwhile, chaos of another kind had erupted at the product launch event, for Tony Stark's announcements were simply too shocking.
The first piece of news: the Ark Reactor entering the field of new energy.If the Ark Reactor truly was a clean energy source — and as powerful as Tony claimed — then the shock to the energy industry would be nothing short of seismic.
The old financial giants of the energy world would never sit back and watch. They would definitely make a move against Stark Industries.
For a long time to come, there would be a fierce, drawn-out struggle between them.
The second announcement: Full Dive — a form of virtual reality or VR technology.
Humanity was about to step into the virtual world, and that revelation caused an even greater stir than the last.
After the presentations, the event moved on to the hands-on experience segment.
Of course, the Ark Reactor couldn't be used for personal testing, but people were allowed to take a look at it. With humanoid robots standing guard, no one dared to try anything stupid like grabbing it and running — for fear of being punched into orbit.
Ivan Vanko moved along with the crowd, stopping before the glass display case. As he gazed at the Ark Reactor within, his eyes narrowed slightly, and the corner of his mouth curved — a faint, silent smile.
When he moved along again, leaving the display behind, one of his goals had already been achieved.
Compared to the quiet observation around the Ark Reactor, the NERvGear helmet area was far livelier.
Those who had experienced virtual reality came out buzzing with excitement, gathering in animated discussion, faces flushed with enthusiasm.
One side was cold and quiet; the other burned with fiery passion.
The stark contrast made Tony Stark's face grow darker and darker — he couldn't shake the feeling that he had somehow lost to Kayaba Akihiko.
Meanwhile, through the news and internet, word of the NERvGear helmet and the Ark Reactor spread at breakneck speed — like a gust of wind rippling across a calm lake, setting off wave after wave.
Stark Industries' stock price soared accordingly, the curve so steep it looked like a cliff.
Online, countless people flooded the company's official site, demanding to know when the NERvGear helmet would go on sale.
In real life, the situation wasn't any better — Stark Industries' customer service lines were practically exploding from the volume of calls.
Even the management of other corporations were calling Stark's executives, all asking about the same two things: the NERvGear helmet and the Ark Reactor.
But the employees and managers of Stark Industries had never even heard of those products. They knew absolutely nothing.
So, the callers left cursing and fuming.
Leaving aside the uproar in the outside world — once the NERvGear demo phase wrapped up, Tony Stark took the stage again to announce that ten thousand NERvGear units would officially go on sale in six months. The first ten thousand people to purchase one would be selected as the lucky participants in the world's very first full-dive VR game beta test.
In short: the first ten thousand buyers would be the testers.
And with that, the press conference came to an end.
Having completed his duties, Tony wandered into the convention to kill some time — planning to enjoy the cosplay beauties.
There's not much to say about what happened next: after witnessing a few eye-searing cosplays, Tony Stark's psyche took severe damage, and he fled back to his villa in retreat.
As for the various members from other worlds who had arrived at the convention, some suffered mental collapse after staring into the unspeakable and fell into confusion, losing the ability to act.
Others managed to contact White Yasha one by one — luring her in under the pretense of "gratitude."
But once she appeared, the group revealed their true faces. They told her they were there to teach her a lesson — that words had consequences, and that even wealth didn't give one the right to act recklessly.
Coincidentally, White Yasha had only recently stared into the unspeakable herself, and her alignment had shifted from lawful good toward chaotic evil.
So when she heard Uchiha Madara and his companions provoking her, she said nothing — simply pulled out a Gift Card.
The stars shifted; the world transformed.
Madara and his party were instantly drawn into a realm of pale snowfields, endless mountain ranges, and slowly moving celestial bodies.
What happened next, no one knew. When Madara's group reappeared the next day, they looked like survivors of a battle royale — clothes in tatters, bodies covered in wounds.
White Yasha, having missed the rest of the convention, didn't feel the slightest regret. She simply thought the event was far too terrifying — like Pandora's box filled with monsters.
For the foreseeable future, she didn't have the courage to step foot in another convention.
After the event, she recalled her palace and began mental recovery alongside Mu Yang.
Their therapy sessions — morning, noon, and night — consisted of browsing beautiful photo albums.
At first, the two had planned to take medication to forget those traumatic memories, but they were both too strong for ordinary drugs to work, and the ones that could work were so expensive that the thought made their teeth ache. Neither was willing to waste money that way.
While the two of them recuperated in peace, Tony Stark and Kayaba Akihiko were busier than ever.
Kayaba dove into the depths of hell itself, grinding monsters for money to repay debts and rebuild his home.
Having read his own biography, Tony Stark had caught a glimpse of the future — and decided to take action.
First, he would remodel Stark Tower.Second, he would establish factories for NERvGear and humanoid robots.Finally, he would research and develop stronger armor — to make himself even more powerful.
In another world, Uchiha Madara made a similar vow: to become stronger.
After witnessing the view from the summit, how could one resist climbing again?
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