My Skills Can Evolve Infinitely in a Game-Like World

Chapter 17: Trailer (2)

"The first trailer of the Nova Roma Game has been released! Click here to watch!"

These words and the familiar interface immediately let Aurelius know what was happening.

He had read posts earlier that speculated that the game’s first trailer would soon be released.

Originally, Aurelius had simply regarded this as the nonsense of some delusional gamers.

After all, this was not a game, but a real world. How could there possibly be a trailer about it?

Yet, his previous ridicule had seemingly caught up with him.

The trailer had not only been released, but judging from the term "first" being used, more trailers would follow.

Aurelius was doubtful but at the same time curious.

Instinctively, he couldn’t help but press the "Play" button.

The forum immediately vanished.

In its place now stood a long screen, about the same size as a computer screen.

In a similar manner to it, the screen lit up.

A logo, supposedly of the Nova Roma Game, flashed in the middle before slowly fading away.

Powerful, solemn music began to play out.

It was holy and majestic—thunderous and intense.

The trailer opened with a sweeping bird’s-eye view of the world’s continents and oceans.

Names floated above them.

Dawn Kingdom. Pirate Kingdom. War Empire. Amazon Jungle.

Each region was marked by its own name and emblem.

The more knowledgeable viewers immediately recognized it as the map of the world of Nova Roma.

As that realization settled in, four points of light emerged.

One within each of the aforementioned powers.

Aurelius was briefly surprised to see them, not understanding their meaning.

But as the music faded away and the camera zoomed into the War Empire, he soon came to realize.

A beautiful woman appeared on the screen.

Standing in a vast hall and surrounded by a large number of nobles, she was wearing several luxurious ornaments and clothes made of silk.

The chatter of people could be heard, accompanied by the sound of clinking glasses.

As she moved through the hall, everyone would turn around and greet her with a warm smile.

The woman would reciprocate the favor.

Yet as the camera zoomed in further and landed on her crimson pupils, a trace of aloofness could be detected.

It was as though the woman’s external appearance was a mere disguise, a way for her to hide her inner indifference.

At the bottom of the screen, a subtitle appeared.

"Name: Livia."

"Identity: Princess of the War Empire."

"Traits: Psychology Expert, Master Manipulator, Overly Ambitious."

The trailer lingered on her for only a few seconds.

After Aurelius read this, the screen panned out and focused on another location.

This time, it was the Amazon Jungle.

In a dimly lit room, a young man with blonde hair was sitting with a sword lying on his lap.

He had a chiseled face, golden eyes, and sharp eyebrows that were shaped like swords.

Behind him stood a hidden, hunched figure, whose whispers lingered within the room.

"May the Goddess bless the Knights Order..."

A new subtitle emerged.

"Name: Sauron."

"Identity: Member of Knights Order."

"Traits: Righteous, Sacred, Selfless."

The familiar zoom-out occurred yet again.

This time, the camera left the mainland and arrived at a vast sea.

Inside a tavern, several worn-out, rough pirates were drinking and gambling with cards.

Among these tough men, a figure stood out.

A brown-haired woman.

She played with a silver gun with one hand and gulped down her drink with the other, while her pirate shirt strained against her ample chest, as though threatening to burst apart.

"Name: Cassidra."

"Identity: Pirate."

"Traits: Adventurous, Freedom-Seeking, Reckless."

Three of the four lights had been explained.

There was only a single one remaining, leaving both Aurelius and the Players curious.

At first, Aurelius’ eyes were glued to the screen, afraid he would miss what happened next.

But as the camera focused on a certain part along the northern region of the Dawn Kingdom, a bad premonition arose within his heart.

As it arrived above a familiar city, that premonition only grew more intense.

Soon afterward, his worst fears were confirmed.

The scene began with a shaking bed.

A man and a woman were having a fierce "battle", and their shadows could be seen intertwining against the flickering flames of a lamp.

The exact process was not shown.

The trailer skipped to the moment the woman was leaving, and the man was lying dead on the bed.

Just as everyone would think that he had perished, however, the man’s eyes opened wide. An extraordinary brilliance shone within them, mirroring that of the flickering flames.

If things followed the same pattern, his information would appear at this point.

Yet, it didn’t.

The trailer continued, with the camera seemingly following the man’s story.

Photo-like images flashed onto the screen.

The man walking in a forest with his guards, the man arriving in an academy and studying in the library. Then, the man towering above the corpse of a ferocious Rabbit King.

Finally, the trailer returned to its movie form.

It showed the man walking in the streets of a dark city, only to encounter the fight between two Awakeners.

Just like before, the trailer skipped the exact process.

The sound of a gun rang out, and a white light flashed.

It cut directly to the final result:

The man killed one of his enemies and carried the other toward a prison cell.

Then, a solemn female voice rang out:

"You should understand the gravity of the situation."

"Unless we stop them, the Sunless Sect’s conspiracy will be successful."

"By that time, the Blood Sun City, and perhaps the Dawn Kingdom as a whole, will be in danger..."

Selene’s voice echoed through the dark cell as the camera slowly landed on the man before her.

As though the director wished to deliberately have his face for the final frame, his silver mask turned transparent, and the handsome face beneath it was revealed.

Golden hair. Blue eyes. Facial features that carried the atmosphere of nobility.

At the same time, the expected information finally arrived.

"Name: Aurelius Sol."

"Identity: Son of an Earl, ???"

"Traits: ???"

The title card remained on-screen for only a few seconds.

Then, the screen faded to black.

The trailer was over.

The familiar forum interface appeared before Aurelius.

He didn’t have the will to take a look at it, however.

The contents of the trailer constantly replayed within his mind, especially the second half that was entirely focused on himself.

He didn’t know what to feel.

Surprise, anger, or joy? Perhaps even fear?

Fortunately, Aurelius didn’t have to dwell on these complicated feelings for long.

Only a moment after the forum emerged, the glow of hundreds of lights fell on his face.

With the trailer’s completion, the game’s forums were flooded with new posts!