In line with the premium image Zog’s Game Store had always cultivated, he organized a special product launch to introduce the new auto-battler game machine.

The event was designed to highlight its key selling points: mysterious, minimalist, hand-picked by Mages, and expensive.

He aimed to make playing games in formal attire the new trend in this world’s high society.

To this end, he even wore his "channeling a deity" ensemble: a black turtleneck sweater and twill work pants—the predecessor to jeans.

A massive projection screen was set up to display a meticulously crafted illusionary slideshow and a live broadcast of the gameplay demonstration.

In short, he brought over the entire playbook from Earth’s tech company product launches.

He decided to skip the part where a female product manager would go on stage to show off her legs. While that would certainly attract attention, in this era, it would definitely get him labeled as morally corrupt.

The Church is watching you!

Zog just hadn’t expected the Church to *actually* come and watch him. In the middle four or five rows of the audience sat a number of people dressed in the Church’s standard-issue robes.

Judging by the style of their robes, several of them held high ranks.

’What’s going on?’

’Is serving the Deities every day so boring that they need to play games to lift their spirits?’

Just then, Furin, who was also backstage, reminded Zog, "Those people are from the Church’s ascetic faction."

"They’re ascetics, so what right do they have to manage other people’s entertainment? Don’t tell me they’re on the ’entertainment is just a fleeting sight, the Goddess remains in our hearts’ path."

Zog was reminded of someone who claims to be a vegetarian but has to eat meat because of a pica-like condition.

’To put it more elegantly...’

’...it’s completely pointless.’

"That’s not it. They oppose the use of Magic for any purpose outside their commandments. I don’t know all the specifics since there are too many, but entertainment is definitely not on the list," Furin explained.

’Got it. They’re here to cause trouble.’

He remembered the Church having a faction like that, though he hadn’t had much contact with them.

To be precise, he hadn’t had much contact with the Church in general. It wasn’t that they were particularly pious or without worldly possessions, but because they were genuinely protected by Deities, he’d only managed to rob them a few times.

And even then, he’d ultimately paid the price.

’From what I remember, this faction is full of hypocrites of the highest order.’

’Things like, "Magic cannot be used for killing, but it can be used to punish those who disrespect the Deities."’

’So when they use Magic to kill people who disrespect the Deities, it doesn’t count as a violation.’

’It has the same beautiful logic as "fermented wheat juice doesn’t count as alcohol."’

But the good thing about this group’s double standards was that as long as the standards were flexible, it meant they could be negotiated with—far better than those fanatical zealots with whom communication was impossible.

He clearly remembered once teasing a zealot with the paradox: ’Could a god create a stone so heavy they couldn’t lift it, and then lift it?’

The man’s answer had been: ’Of course. The god would lift the stone, and at the same time, the stone would be one the god could not lift. Because Deities have no need for logic; logic is merely a shackle for mortals.’

And yet, in the previous age, the various religions didn’t have this concept of omnipotent deities. Back then, gods could be killed, too.

Who knew the Church of this age would turn out like this.

Besides, other than the Magic Goddess, there seemed to be no news of any other Deities making an appearance.

’But no matter. Since the Church bothered to show up today, they aren’t leaving until they’re hooked on this game.’ 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

On stage, the promotional video, its visual effects cranked to the max, was about to end.

Zog had burned through a massive budget to produce this trailer.

Various Legendary Heroes were summoned to a battlefield, and the realistic fight scenes drew continuous gasps of astonishment from the audience.

The entire trailer was notable for not having a single frame of actual gameplay footage.

It was accompanied by the stirring music of the Zor Orchestra, performing live to complete the audio-visual bombardment.

A music studio that can’t make cinematic trailers isn’t a good game company.

The Lighting Technique flared to life, and Zog walked onto the stage.

"Hello, everyone. I’m Zog."

He scanned the audience. Aside from the dignitaries in the front rows representing various nations at the expo, the crowd was filled with mostly young faces.

The concentration of Mages was extremely high.

They were likely all fans addicted to the *Flying Red Middle* mini-game, here with immense enthusiasm to see what was next.

’These are the real players, the primary target audience for the auto-battler. I wonder if they’ll scramble to grab the low-digit IDs when the servers go live.’

In addition, major merchant groups had been invited. All of them had distribution partnerships with the Zog Group on other projects, and he would need their help to popularize the game machines.

Facing an audience of thousands, Zog felt no stage fright whatsoever.

In fact, before he transmigrated, he’d been terrified of public speaking. Even though he knew nothing bad would happen, he just couldn’t control his nerves.

But after becoming a Dragon and getting used to being surrounded while charging major cities, a crowd of a few thousand was small potatoes.

Zog introduced the various models one by one.

The Standard Edition, the Pro Edition, the Plus Edition, and the Pro Plus Edition.

As long as you were willing to buy, you could choose any color scheme, and a rich selection of optional accessories was also available.

And of course, there was the fully-customizable special edition for the mega-rich.

Launching alongside them were the Dwarf Collaboration Edition, the Repin Academy Collaboration Edition, the *Holy Mountain Journey* Collaboration Edition, the *Mechanical Warrior* Collaboration Edition...

The strategy was all about IP management: targeting the fanbases of different properties for the same sustainable, predatory monetization.

Finally, after a mercifully brief explanation of the game’s rules, it was time for the most exciting part: the live gameplay demonstration.

The players would consist of developers, invited guests, and randomly selected members of the audience.

To ensure the demonstration wouldn’t be a one-sided slaughter, Zog decided not to have Toto play.

Instead, he sent up Bane Furnace, representing hardware development, and Uffie, representing software development.

Bane had apprenticed under Toto, and his formulaic playstyle had received an epic-level buff. He had already mastered three meta compositions, each with two variations, all without needing a cheat sheet.

Although none of his compositions included a single Elf piece, his play had become much more flexible.

As for Uffie, she was mainly there for her looks, tasked with attracting young Mages to enroll in the Illusion School.

Once they actually became Magic Programmers, they would realize just how rare the opposite sex was in their field.

For the invited guests, Zog chose the people who would generate the most buzz.

The bald Legendary Hero, Soron; the Ancient Golden Dragon, Furin; the Elf Envoy, who was there specifically to raise Bane’s blood pressure; and a member of the Church.

The "random" selection from the audience "coincidentally" produced one lucky young Mage, as well as Figxin.

Some of the others on stage recognized the Princess but said nothing.

When it came to the Royal Family, it was best to feign ignorance even if you knew the truth.

As for the Church, they were allowed to select their own representative to come on stage, if they so wished.

In the end, they chose a very young Priest, who solemnly recited a prayer before ascending the stage.

Zog and Toto would serve as the live commentators, explaining the finer points of the game to the audience.

This, too, was a novelty for the audience.

Since this world had only recently reached a point where everyone had enough to eat, it hadn’t yet developed large-scale sports leagues, and thus the profession of commentator didn’t exist.

With eight players assembled, the game began immediately.

Bane passionately performed a war dance in the Elf Envoy’s direction, while the Elf Envoy simply put on an air of not being able to see him because he was too short.

The young Priest sent by the Church looked solemn. In a firm voice, he declared, "This decadent entertainment will never corrupt the Goddess’s most devout servant! I will prove that this game of Magic is an insult to Magic itself, and it is doomed to fail!"