advance/early chapters : p atreon.com/Ritesh_Jadhav0869
Instead of immediately double-clicking to open "My Account," Caelan paused and turned back to address the audience.
"When a new console is activated for the first time, several information fields will appear that you need to fill in properly. This is the initial setup process—only done once per console. Let me demonstrate by resetting this unit to factory conditions."
He performed the reset command, and the console's screen briefly went dark before rebooting. The moment it came back online, a clean white interface appeared with simple, clear text.
"Begin Account Binding"
"Please enter your real name: ______"(Confirm)
"Real name, as the term suggests, means your actual given name—the one on official documents, the one your family calls you." Caelan gestured to the physical keyboard built into the console's surface. "You can use this keyboard on the desktop to input text. Watch carefully."
His fingers moved across the keyboard keys with practiced efficiency, each press causing corresponding letters to appear on the screen. This simple action caused quite a stir among the audience below—the concept of typing text rather than writing it by hand was still novel enough to generate excited whispers.
The screen now displayed:
"Please enter your real name: Caelan Ironfist"(Confirm)
Caelan clicked the confirmation button, and the screen smoothly transitioned to the next field.
"Please enter your game nickname: ______"(Confirm)
"Now, your game nickname is different from your real name," Caelan explained, his voice taking on a slightly more serious tone. "When you achieve certain accomplishments in a game—such as appearing on the First Clear Hero Rankings or breaking into the top positions of score rankings—you have a choice. You can disclose your real name to claim that glory publicly, letting everyone know exactly who achieved the feat. Or, if you prefer privacy, you can choose to display only your nickname instead."
He typed again, his entry appearing on screen:
"Please enter your game nickname: Illusionist"(Confirm)
After confirmation, the system progressed through several more basic information fields—date of birth, gender, home region. Caelan filled them in quickly, the process straightforward and self-explanatory. Each field vanished after confirmation, replaced by the next until all required information had been entered.
The final confirmation screen appeared with a single line of text and a prominent button.
"Console owner, please sit directly in front of the display screen and press Confirm."(Confirm)
Caelan turned to face the audience, his expression becoming notably more serious and focused.
"Everyone, this next step is crucial—especially for those purchasing the Supreme Edition console. Pay close attention." He gestured emphatically to the screen behind him. "You must personally sit in front of this black display panel and click the confirmation button yourself. The console will use advanced recognition magic to record your facial features—your unique identity."
He let that sink in before continuing. "In the future, when you power on the console, the system will immediately scan for your face. If it doesn't detect your registered appearance, the console will refuse to fully activate. This means that without your explicit permission, no one else can use your console. Not your siblings, not your servants, not a thief who breaks into your home."
Except for me, Caelan added silently, the thought accompanied by a small mental smile. My Black Mithril administrator access bypasses all that. But they don't need to know that particular detail.
"Of course," he added aloud, "you can also set a password later when you have time. That password will allow you to log into your account when using an Elite Edition console elsewhere—at a friend's house, in a shop, anywhere the network reaches. The face binding is specifically for the Supreme Edition to ensure absolute security of your personal device."
Caelan hadn't strictly needed to implement the face recognition binding—simpler authentication methods existed. But after various considerations of user psychology and market positioning, he'd decided this approach was optimal. Putting aside the genuine security benefits, it immediately made the console feel more sophisticated, more exclusive, more worthy of its premium price point. The high-end nature would somewhat reduce customers' resistance to the Supreme Edition's elevated cost.
The audience's reaction matched exactly what Caelan had anticipated. Even the merchants—who'd been mentally complaining about prices and profit margins—looked impressed despite themselves. Several were nodding slowly, clearly thinking that while the setup process was somewhat troublesome, the console's security features were genuinely sophisticated.
Caelan positioned himself directly in front of the console, sitting close enough that his face filled the display's field of view.
Immediately, glowing frames appeared on the screen, precisely encompassing Caelan's face. The magical recognition traced his features—the shape of his jawline, the distance between his eyes, the contours of his cheekbones. It was all rendered in clean geometric lines that pulsed gently with blue light.
"Facial features detected. Processing biometric data..."
The frames flickered once, twice, then solidified into steady green.
"Biometric scan complete."
Caelan clicked the final Confirm button.
"Binding successful. This console is now exclusively yours—no one else may use it without your permission."
The console immediately restarted, the entire reboot process taking barely a second before the familiar desktop appeared once more. The six icons sat in their neat arrangement, waiting to be explored.
This time, Caelan moved the mouse pointer to hover over "My Account" and performed a crisp double-click with his left finger on the mouse button.
The icon expanded smoothly, filling the screen with a clean, organized interface displaying his account information:
Account: 1000 (Password not set)
Real Name: Caelan Ironfist
Nickname: Illusionist
Gender: Male
Age: 19 (Details)
Account Balance: 0 game coin (Recharge)
Game Achievements:(Details)
"This icon," Caelan explained, gesturing to the organized information, "is currently primarily used to check your account balance and review your game achievements. More functions will be added gradually in future updates as the system expands."
He clicked on the Game Achievements section. "This divides into two main categories: 'World Rankings' and 'Solo Achievement Rankings.' The Solo Achievement Rankings display your personal best performance in each individual game—highest scores, fastest clear times, most impressive accomplishments. You'll understand it better once you actually clear a game and see your statistics displayed."
"As for World Rankings," he continued, pointing toward the wall where the physical leaderboards glowed, "I believe everyone has already seen the 'Game Rankings' and 'First Clear Hero Rankings' displayed over there. In the future, you can check both ranking systems anytime through this console interface—no need to visit the shop physically."
Caelan clicked through to demonstrate. The World Rankings menu appeared, splitting cleanly into two options: 'First Clear Hero Rankings' and 'Game Rankings.' He selected the First Clear option, and indeed, the displayed content was identical to what currently glowed on the wall—every name, every game, perfectly synchronized.
He clicked back to exit the rankings interface.
"Now, game coins." Caelan highlighted the Account Balance line showing zero. "Game coins are the universal currency for purchasing games within the console ecosystem. Your current balance is zero, obviously, since this is a fresh account. You can add funds using specific recharge runestones that we provide for this purpose."
He clicked the small (Recharge) button beside the balance.
A pleasant, neutral voice emanated from the console—not quite male or female, carefully designed to be non-intrusive:
"Please place a recharge runestone anywhere on the console surface and click Confirm Recharge."(Recharge)
Caelan produced a smooth, blue-colored runestone from his pocket, holding it up for the audience to see clearly. "The conversion rate is straightforward: one copper coin equals one game coin. We offer recharge runestones in three distinct colors, each corresponding to different denominations."
He pointed to each as he listed them. "Red runestones recharge one silver mark—that's one hundred game coins. Yellow runestones recharge ten silver marks—one thousand game coins. And blue runestones, like this one I'm holding, recharge one gold crown—ten thousand game coins."
With his left hand, Caelan placed the blue runestone carefully on the console's surface. With his right hand, he clicked the confirmation button.
The response was instantaneous. The account balance updated with a satisfying animation:
Account Balance: 0 game coin → 10,000 game coins
"These game coins can be used to purchase games from the Game Store," Caelan said, already navigating back out of the account interface. "Let me show you how that works."
He double-clicked the "Game Store" icon, and a new window populated the screen.
The interface was clean, elegant, and immediately comprehensible. Eleven games were displayed in a grid format, each with its own cover art and pricing. Ten were the FC games from his previous life that he'd already released or completed development on, plus the brand-new Super Street Fighter.
Caelan watched the audience's eyes track across the familiar titles—games many of them had already played and loved. But alongside the seven already-released games, three additional entries caught everyone's attention:
Total Recall - Locked - Coming Soon
Maplestory - Locked - Coming Soon
Snow Bros - Locked - Coming Soon
The locked games showed only their cover art and pricing information, with no purchase button available. Tantalizing promises of future content.
"Among the currently available games," Caelan explained, "all of them cost 250 game coins—that's 2.5 silver marks—with one exception. Chronicle of the Fierce Tortoise Warriors, due to its increased complexity and content, costs 500 game coins or 5 silver marks."
His finger moved to highlight the Street Fighter display. "Super Street Fighter, as our most advanced game to date, costs 2,500 game coins—or 25 silver marks if you're calculating directly."
That pricing drew some sharp inhales from the merchant section, but Caelan pressed on before objections could form.
"However—and this is important—if you purchase a Supreme Edition console right now, during this initial launch period, all eleven current games will be added to your library completely free. That includes the three upcoming releases the moment they become available. You'll own the entire catalog without spending a single additional game coin."
That changed the mental calculations happening throughout the audience. Buying all eleven games separately would cost... Caelan could practically see people counting on their fingers. The bundle suddenly made the console's price seem more reasonable.
Originally, Caelan had envisioned the Game Store as something resembling the Steam platform from his previous life—a comprehensive digital marketplace with reviews, recommendations, community features. But after reconsidering the technological limitations and user sophistication of this world, he'd opted instead for this minimalist approach, separating game functionality from the purchasing interface.
Keep it simple. Make it work. Add features later.
"After you select and purchase your desired game," Caelan continued the demonstration, "the store will display 'Purchased' next to that title, and the game will be automatically added to your personal library. You can verify your purchases either in the 'Purchased' section here in the store, or by checking 'My Games' to view and download your collection."
He gestured to the three locked titles. "The latter three games aren't yet available for general release, and I haven't set a specific launch date. But as I mentioned, Supreme Edition purchasers receive them automatically when they do release."
"Oh, and one more thing," he added, as if it were an afterthought rather than a major selling point. "Currently, except for Super Street Fighter which was built for this console from the ground up, all the other games have been completely remastered for the console version. The graphics are significantly better—more detailed, more vibrant, smoother animations—compared to the runestone tablets you previously purchased."
More murmuring. People who'd already bought the games were now calculating whether the improved versions justified a console purchase.
Caelan selected Elemental Contra from the store menu as his demonstration choice. The purchase processed instantly—his game coin balance dropped accordingly, and "Purchased" appeared next to the title.
He exited the store and double-clicked "My Games."
The interface that appeared was organized into two clear tabs: "All Games" and "Downloaded." Currently, the game list contained only a single entry: Elemental Contra. Caelan clicked on the game's title, and a small information panel expanded beside it, displaying the game's details and several action buttons.
He selected "Download Game."
The download initiated immediately, a progress bar filling across the screen with remarkable speed. Within seconds—far faster than seemed possible for data transfer—the bar completed and a cheerful notification appeared:
"Download Complete!"
"This Supreme Edition console," Caelan explained, "features significantly faster game download speeds than the standard Elite Edition that will be released later for general purchase. You might not notice much difference now with these relatively simple games, but as future releases become more complex—larger capacity, more intricate magical rune structures, higher quality graphics—the comparison will become dramatically obvious. Supreme Edition owners will download in seconds what takes Elite Edition users minutes."
Another advantage to justify the premium pricing. Caelan was layering benefits carefully, making sure each revelation added perceived value.
He clicked the "Start Game" button.
Elemental Contra loaded instantly, and the difference in visual quality was immediately apparent even on the projection screen. The character sprites were more detailed, with smoother animation frames. The backgrounds had additional layers of depth. The colors were richer, more saturated. Everything looked more polished, more professional, more... modern.
A collective sound of appreciation rippled through the audience. Even people who'd played Contra dozens of times on their old tablets were clearly impressed by the enhanced presentation.
"The game's graphics and audio have been significantly enhanced," Caelan confirmed, "but the actual gameplay is completely identical to the original version. Same levels, same enemies, same mechanics. More importantly, the ranking systems are universal across all versions—arcade, home tablet, and console. So if you play the game on this console and your skill is sufficient, you can still enter the Hero Rankings and Score Rankings just like anyone else. No separate lists, no advantages or disadvantages. Pure skill determines your position."
That was crucial information for competitive players. The enhanced graphics couldn't be seen as "cheating" if everyone competed on the same leaderboards.
Caelan then directed attention to a specific button at the very top of the keyboard, distinct from all the other keys. It was larger, colored red for visibility, with clear text:
"EXIT"
"Currently, for all games running on the console, you have universal access to this Exit function. When you're in the middle of a game—regardless of which game, regardless of what's happening on screen—you only need to press this Exit button on the keyboard, and the game will immediately pause."
He demonstrated, pressing the button firmly.
The action on screen froze instantly, and a simple menu overlaid the paused game:
"Exit Game"
"Return to Game"
"Two options," Caelan explained, pointing to each. "Exit Game will close the application completely and return you to the desktop, though your progress up to that point will be saved if the game supports save features. Return to Game will unpause and let you continue exactly where you left off."
The options were self-explanatory, intuitive enough that even the least technically-minded person in the audience could grasp them immediately. But Caelan took the time to explain thoroughly anyway, ensuring that everyone—from the sharpest merchant to the most confused observer—understood exactly how the system functioned.
Clarity now prevented confusion later. And confused customers rarely became satisfied customers.