The mascot of Monster Hunter

In the Monster Hunter's demo area, it looks like a cave wilderness.

The atmosphere in the entire demo area is fantastic, completely different from the feeling of randomly setting up a few game consoles in the exhibition area and then trying out their own games on the consoles.

Just the style of decoration makes people want to play here for a while longer.

Three girls are arranged to try out the games in the same row.

By this time, the machines for the demo have already loaded the weapons they selected, and a sturdy man in hunting gear walks over.

"Come on, rookie hunters, let me tell you how to adventure in the jungle."

The sturdy man in hunting gear acts as a guide for newcomers to the game.

The three of them are already quite familiar with video games, so they catch on quickly.

After a simple guide, they begin their journey of hunting monsters.

At this moment, there is a large screen in this demo area.

The screen displays the names of players who have successfully defeated certain monsters.

Among them are those who have defeated the Wild Boar King and those who have defeated the Dog Dragon King.

And on this list, the monster with the fewest kills is undoubtedly the last one.

Female Rathalos, Number of Defeats: Three.

All three names are foreign, some Korean and some American.

"All right, you've got the hang of being hunters roughly. Now choose your tasks and try to defeat your prey."

The enthusiastic rookie guide said in a very cheesy manner.

Among them, Aiko has already chosen her first target, the Wild Boar King.

Aiko thinks that such a creature should be relatively easy, and she can also get to know the game better.

But Aiko doesn't really like this style of art.

The style is too realistic, not her cup of tea.

But the cats in the game are cute, and their highly anthropomorphic animations are very enjoyable.

Aiko has always wanted to have a cat, and seeing the cute and lively cats in Monster Hunter makes her even more eager to get one.

Meanwhile, Kazumi opts for the least difficult task, hunting Dog Dragons, which doesn't require defeating any big monsters, just a few small ones.

It's basically a task that anyone with hands can play.

As for Kanade, without hesitation, she chooses the most difficult creature, the Female Rathalos.

"Oh? This new female hunter is brave, choosing the most difficult Female Rathalos for her first attempt. Well, I look forward to your performance here."

The eccentric rookie guide couldn't resist adding a dramatic touch, seeming to be really into his role as a newbie hunter instructor.

Kanade pays no attention to this strange old man; right now, all she wants to do is to play the game properly.

Unlike Aiko, Kanade really enjoys this style of art, and she felt comfortable during the brief action test earlier, feeling that this kind of game was very pleasant, with no sense of dissonance, everything felt so real, which suited her taste very well.

"Cai, do you see those three girls over there? They look like they're just in high school, right?"

In a monitoring room outside the demo area, Takayuki, is watching the dynamics of each area.

The three high school girls who entered the Monster Hunter demo area seem particularly special to Takeyuki, who immediately noticed them.

It's not common for girls to be interested in trying out Monster Hunter.

Beside Takayuki, Tsukino Ayano also follows Takayuki's finger to look at one of the screens.

It's really rare for a girl to try out this kind of game, which is quite surprising.

The three girls have entered their respective hunting environments.

The experience of playing a game for the first time and not playing it is really two completely different experiences.

Just like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Only those who have truly experienced this game for the first time can appreciate the stunning feeling of seeing the plain for the first time.

It's a vast world, also considered the prototype of open-world games.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was basically the first game to present such a large world in a game, which was quite rare.

Unlike The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Monster Hunter's overall art style is more realistic, which also makes the game's atmosphere easier to immerse in.

When the three simultaneously enter their hunting missions, their performances are all different.

Among them, Aiko is filled with curiosity, holding the controller and looking around the very realistic world.

Aiko's task is to hunt the Wild Boar King, and the environment she's in is a lush forest area.

In the distance, you can vaguely see a grassland.

The scenery of this world is truly beautiful.

After gaining experience in building rich game worlds through The Legend of Zelda, this time Monster Hunter is even more realistic in terms of environment.

On the ground, grass sways in the wind, and in the distance, you can see a mountain covered in snow.

All of this fills Aiko with curiosity.

How was this created?

It's really magical. If given the chance, she really wants to investigate how such a game world was created.

So Aiko almost forgets her original task and is completely attracted by the surroundings.

At this moment, Kazumi is also attracted by the splendid scenery.

Her mission area happens to be in the grassland area visible to Aiko.

Now she's controlling her character to a lake, where she sees a prompt to use the fishing ability.

Without much hesitation, Kazumi presses the fishing button.

Her controlled character starts to swing a fishing rod to catch fish.

It's strange because Kazumi has never really liked fishing.

But for some reason, she's drawn to this small fishing feature in the game.

The fishing system in Monster Hunter is quite simple; you just need to determine if the fish can be caught based on the feedback vibrations.

After trying a few times, Kazumi successfully catches her first fish.

Looking at the fish she caught, Kazumi bursts into laughter.

"Hehe, this is quite interesting."

She mutters to herself.

Like Aiko, she unconsciously forgets her original task.

On the other hand, Kanade is clearly different from Aiko and Kazumi.

She always remembers her task.

Although she was briefly captivated by the splendid world, marveling at how such a beautiful world was created in the game.

Then she quickly adjusts her mindset and prepares to go hunting with her weapon.

Kanade uses a dual-blade weapon. After a brief initial test, she gradually gets the hang of it, and then follows the map's instructions to the area where the Female Rathalos is located.

At this moment, the Female Rathalos is wandering not far from the area, occasionally lowering its head, as if eating.

What a huge monster...

Before experiencing the game, Kanade had imagined many feelings when playing this game.

But no matter how she imagined it, she didn't expect the scene now.

Even though the Female Rathalos is still some distance away, just looking at it from afar, Kanade feels a sense of oppression washing over her.

Is this a real dragon?

It's really terrifying.

But after all, this is just a game, and if it's a game, there should be a solution.

And on the leaderboard, there are already three players who have successfully defeated the Female Rathalos, which means defeating it is definitely achievable.

So she nudges the joystick and stealthily approaches the Female Rathalos.

Kanade clearly intends to catch the Female Rathalos off guard.

However, just as Kanade is about to approach the Female Rathalos and has already drawn her weapon to launch a surprise attack, the Female Rathalos suddenly turns around.

Kanade is momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events.

She's already a bit intimidated by the Female Rathalos in front of her.

Then, the Female Rathalos lets out a terrifying roar, as if angry at an unexpected visitor.

"Hey, rookie hunter, get yourself together! This is your prey, defeat it!"

The cheesy hunter guide suddenly raises his voice, snapping Kanade out of her daze.

She quickly operates her character and starts to attempt rolling and attacking.

However, a minute later, Kanade is unsurprisingly carted back to the initial camp by several Palicoes.

At this moment, Kanade is still immersed in the scene of being knocked out by the Female Rathalos just now.

The oppression was really too strong.

She suddenly recalls hearing a group of people before coming in, using beautiful words to describe the scenes in this game.

This game... is really difficult; it's like punishing oneself.

But at this moment, Kanade is ignited with fierce determination.

This game is just to her taste!

So she gathers her courage to prepare for another attack.

At the same time, Aiko and Kazumi have no intention of completing their tasks yet.

Kazumi is completely immersed in the electronic fishing mini-game, seemingly enchanted by it.

Aiko, on the other hand, has already started exploring the entire world.

Picking mushrooms here, mining there, with no intention of hunting the Wild Boar King, it's really hard to guess what she's up to.

Each of these three girls is attracted by different aspects of this game.

And most of the other players in the demo area are more or less the same, with about sixty to seventy percent of them being discouraged by the difficulty.

But they all highly appreciate the incredibly realistic feel of this game, unfortunately, they lack the skills to truly experience it.

About ten minutes later, Aiko, Kazumi, and Kanade all walk out of the demo area feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

In Kanade's case, she exhausted her respawns and ended the task prematurely.

Kazumi, on the other hand, played until the demo time limit was reached.

Aiko also used up her respawns, almost doubting life because of being knocked out by the Wild Boar King.

It's really difficult to challenge the Female Rathalos right after playing Monster Hunter for the first time.

Moreover, Takayuki actually increased the difficulty of the Female Rathalos during the live demo, making its strength roughly equivalent to that of its mate, the Male Rathalos.

Under such difficulty, it's natural that few can pass.

At this moment, Kanade looks at her two good friends and says, "Are you two still going to play?"

Kazumi nods vigorously, "Of course! That fishing is quite interesting; I want to try it again."

Aiko and Kanade look at Kazumi strangely.

The person who has no interest in fishing in real life unexpectedly is interested in the fishing feature in the video game, which is really strange.

At this moment, Aiko somewhat resentfully says, "I even made a bet with Tachi that if I win, I can see him walk on his hands in person, is there anything more fun than that? So I'm definitely going back in to play."

Kanade also nods, "I think so too. That Female Rathalos seems very powerful. I want to challenge it again."

Kanade is the type who likes challenges, so after being surprised by the astonishing difficulty of Monster Hunter, it actually ignites her fighting spirit to defeat the most difficult Female Rathalos.

There's another reason; she also hopes to see Takayuki.

She's not a fangirl of Takayuki, but she's very interested in the game worlds created by Takayuki and wants to observe this person who creates such fun games up close.

So the three of them enter the entrance of the Monster Hunter demo game without hesitation once again.

Compared to before, there are noticeably fewer people trying out Monster Hunter now because the difficulty of this game is too high, and only a few have the patience to repeat the experience.

However, this also has another advantage: Kanade and her friends have more opportunities to experience this game.

"Hey? Cai, look, those three girls have entered the Monster Hunter demo area again. That's quite unexpected."

Takayuki, who is watching the monitors, naturally notices Kanade and her friends.

It's already quite rare for girls to be interested in trying out Monster Hunter.

Tsukino Ayano also shows a rare expression of surprise at this moment.

She's also interested in these three girls.

For the second time, Kanade and her friends spend ten minutes playing around.

Kazumi completely gives up on various task requirements and focuses on mining, picking fruits, and fishing.

She quite enjoys this feeling of leisure in the wilderness, as long as she doesn't encounter any fierce beasts, it's quite enjoyable.

And there's always a Palico by her side, which is exactly the kind of life she desires the most.

Kanade and Aiko are trying to challenge the Female Rathalos in their own ways.

But this time, they both failed without any suspense.

If the Female Rathalos were so easy to defeat, she wouldn't be the flagship character of Monster Hunter.