Video Game Tycoon in Tokyo-Chapter 755: Comrades and Enemies

They were once comrades—now, they had become deadly enemies.

Faced with this situation, 2B didn't know what to do.

Fortunately, 9S appeared in time to help remove the mind-corrupting digital virus and brought 2B back to normal.

But with so many former friends now turned enemies, there was no other choice.

9S chose to self-destruct, allowing them both to return to the base.

They succeeded in escaping, but when they got back to the base, they found it too had been infected by the virus.

Former friends had turned into enemies, and only the commander remained conscious.

At this point, the girl (streamer) had no choice but to break out of the base.

The base was no longer safe. Escape was the only option.

The commander followed closely behind as they retreated.

During the escape, they had to face former allies attacking them under the virus's control.

One of them was 2B's old operator, 6O—a minor character in the game, but well-loved for her warm personality.

She was a sweet girl who longed to one day visit Earth.

2B would often bring her small mementos from Earth—photos, observations, little trinkets.

This only deepened 6O's dream of seeing Earth with her own eyes.

2B had even promised her: one day, she would get that chance.

Now, 6O had been infected. She was an enemy.

And to escape, 2B had to fight and defeat her, like all the others.

"Why does it have to be this way? What is this virus?!"

"Whoever created this virus is the worst—I swear, if I find out who did it..."

Viewers were reminded of that heartbreaking moment in Titanfall, when BT was destroyed.

That same anger and sadness was back.

"Gamestar Electronic Entertainment really knows how to hit the emotions."

Some viewers stayed calm—they knew this was all part of storytelling, meant to deepen immersion.

These were fellow game developers.

Ever since Monster Hunter: World launched, Gamestar had redefined what developers believed was possible.

The world could be this detailed. Consoles could handle this scale.

No wonder they pushed so hard for industrialized game development.

Without it, Monster Hunter: World couldn't have existed in such polished form.

Then came Bayonetta, which showed how attractive characters could bring in more players. It was a powerful hook.

And now, NieR: Automata.

People assumed it was another "fan-service" driven game.

But it wasn't that simple.

The attractive female lead drew people in—but the game didn't rely on that alone.

To truly move players, you needed more.

Whether it was gameplay or story, or ideally both—like NieR: Automata.

Use beauty as the initial bait, then let the game's quality keep players invested.

That was Takayuki's goal.

Now, players were no longer focused on 2B's looks—they were completely immersed in the story.

Everyone wanted to know: Who created the virus?

But for now, there was no answer. The only option was to escape.

Eventually, the commander herself became infected. After holding out as long as she could, she chose to stay behind to guard the last line of defense, letting 2B and 9S escape.

The two left the space base, and a cutscene played.

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The base exploded.

The commander stood silently in the blast, watching into the distance, as if she could still see 2B and 9S escaping safely.

Seeing they had survived, she finally seemed at peace.

The streamer had tears at the corners of her eyes.

It was a powerful, emotional moment—and a devastating one.

When Takayuki added this story segment, he was indifferent.

But the writing team admitted they felt emotionally drained while creating it.

In real life, facing something like this might drive someone insane.

Takayuki, having played through NieR: Automata so many times, had grown numb to it.

"This is nothing," he thought. "There are even sadder stories coming later."

Still, seeing players resonate with the moment brought back some of his old feelings.

It proved that NieR: Automata had succeeded.

After the explosion, 2B and 9S faced nonstop pursuit.

Their former allies were still after them.

The two had to escape back to Earth—during the escape, they were separated, and 2B crash-landed in an unknown region.

When she regained consciousness... she realized she, too, had been infected.

She was... turning into one of them.