Chapter 27
Two princes and one princess.
Among them, the Crown Prince was the youngest.
In fantasy novels, it usually depicts power struggles among siblings to become the emperor.
But the Crown Prince was like a well-mannered youngest son who grew up properly in a wealthy family.
I didn’t personally see the Crown Prince of that time, but the Crown Prince that people talked about was like that.
However, during the war against the undead army raised across the continent by an ancient necromancer,
The First Princess was assassinated, and the First Prince, his older brother, died while leading the battle.
The death of a sister and brother who cherished the youngest more than anyone. The Emperor, their father, was critically ill.
The war against the rotten corpses kept escalating, and there was only one person who could be the central figure of the Empire.
The young Crown Prince.
He was strong. No, he had to be strong.
He grew up in such an environment and ended his childhood that way.
This was the Crown Prince’s childhood that I had not witnessed firsthand.
I first met him after the war with the ancient necromancer ended.
The royal family invited my master and me, who were war heroes, and that’s where I first met the Crown Prince.
“Back then, you told me, ‘You’re acting like a cold corpse.’ I still remember it.”
As the Crown Prince reminisced, I averted my gaze and whistled.
Did I say something like that upon our first meeting? I couldn’t quite remember.
“Anyway, were all the stories about the young Crown Prince that spread among the public true?”
The story of the young Crown Prince was a well-known tale.
There had been many opportunities to ask the person himself if it was true.
But it was someone else’s family matters, and it wasn’t an easy topic to bring up lightly.
“In the stories, the young Crown Prince is portrayed as a very strong person. Unlike me.”
“Yeah… is that so?”
To me, the Crown Prince seemed like a strong person too.
But if he himself said he wasn’t, what could I do?
“So, what do you think? About my proposal.”
Before talking about the young Crown Prince’s story, I told him everything about mine.
And I proposed to him. To develop the Akashic Records with me.
He wasn’t a modern person, nor an expert like Aka-chan,
But with the Crown Prince I knew, he would quickly adapt and become a capable employee.
“Hmm…”
“It’s a perfect opportunity to break free from all your positions and responsibilities, and to gain a vast amount of knowledge you’ve been curious about.”
If described by stats, he’d be a maxed-out hexagon; in terms of genre novels, he’d be SSS-tier.
There’s no way I’d miss out on such talent.
At my enthusiastic pitch, the Crown Prince let out a sigh-filled laugh.
“It feels like just the other day when you left without a proper goodbye…”
That stung.
It was true; it was just the other day. I had summoned the Crown Prince from that exact point in time.
“Breaking free from all positions and responsibilities… That does sound nice.”
“Right?”
Even after becoming the Emperor, he still preferred being called the Crown Prince.
Being the captain of the massive ship known as the Empire, against his own wishes, would have been tiring.
In a way, wasn’t his situation similar to mine? I hadn’t chosen to become a hero either.
“Very well.”
“Great.”
We shook hands and smiled at each other.
***
In fact, there was a separate reason why I hurriedly hired the Crown Prince as an employee.
Of course, it was also challenging to continue development with just Aka-chan and me.
But when I thought about it, I had never played Akare even once.
So this time, I secretly planned to create an alternate account and play thoroughly.
‘The job will be a priest.’
In the other world, the relationship between magic and religion was very simple.
They didn’t mix, like water and oil.
They were opposites, like darkness and light.
So I thought I’d try it this time.
“It’s almost open now.”
I entered the capsule. And with the Creator’s Authority, I checked the number of capsule users.
“Ten million?”
Is this for real?
It matched the number of applicants for the Beta Test.
Ten million. 20% of the total population of South Korea was currently inside the capsule.
‘The capsule price was quite high too.’
One million won.
It was by no means cheap, yet so many people bought the capsules, waiting for the opening.
“There are foreigners too.”
I had set it so only verified Koreans could buy it.
But it seemed that many found ways around this, like proxy purchases.
I considered suspending them immediately in accordance with the terms. But…
On the other hand, I thought about how eager they must have been to come all the way to Korea just for this.
With that thought, I decided not to suspend them right away and to give them a grace period.
Once the grace period was over, I planned to permanently ban those who engaged in proxy purchasing.
While thinking about how to deal with this, it was soon time for the opening.
I logged in with my pre-prepared alternate account, accessing through the Akashic Records.
“Ah, ah.”
Black hair and red eyes.
It wasn’t as good as my main, but it still looked pretty decent.
Step— Step—
“To the one who has reached the Hall of Heroes. What do you seek here?”
A maid asked from beyond the giant corridor and the Aurora statue.
That was one of Aka-chan’s many avatars, so she didn’t recognize my identity.
“I am…”
“Master, what are you doing?”
What the—how did you know?
Upon closer inspection, I saw that the main body of Aka-chan had entered the avatar.
“Did you notice?”
“To some extent. I expected it.”
Aka-chan, do you know me too well?
“I want to be a priest. Please skip the Echo of Records.”
“Master. I want to play the game too.”
What the—so even Aka-chan wanted to play Akare.
“Aka-chan. There is a way for you to play the game.”
“…! Requesting the method. Desperately.”
I said quietly with a wicked smile.
“Finish the Crown Prince’s training, then deal with the odds and ends. Won’t that give you time to play Akare?”
“Affirmative. Question? Isn’t this the same thing you did to me, Master…”
“I’ll be going first!”
Leaving Aka-chan behind, who had swallowed the red pill, I opened the door in front of me.
As soon as I passed through the door, the scenery of the Forest That Devours Darkness appeared.
Hoooom~ Haaah~
The Forest That Devours Darkness was still a forest in the end. The air was very fresh.
The air was certainly different from the modern world, tainted by all sorts of environmental pollution.
After breathing in the clear air, I headed straight for the place where Raven would be.
“Whoa! Calm down!”
“Wheeee!”
Raven was acting as a fallen noble, trying to calm down the horse.
Is this what it would feel like if I read something I had written from the perspective of a reader?
A sense of embarrassing awkwardness crept up from inside me, like a tickle.
“Uh, uh…”
Raven lost control of the reins. The enraged horse charged straight at me.
“Hey, watch out!”
“Hmm~”
When I was summoned to this other world, I had actually experienced a similar situation.
A merchant’s carriage horse that was passing by had gotten excited and charged at me.
The prologue of Akare was made by reconstructing what I had experienced.
‘Back then, I almost got hit by the horse.’
If I had been hit, I might have ended up with a few broken ribs.
“Dodge!”
Even as the charging horse approached right in front of me, I didn’t move. Raven frantically delivered his prepared line.
I crouched down, diving into the diagonal line of the horse, right around its hind legs.
I slashed precisely across the joint of the horse’s legs.
[Critical!]
“Wheeee!!!”
The horse rolled on the ground, writhing in pain, and I approached it with the cross in my hand.
“Calm down.”
Heal.
The part where the joint had been cut began to heal rapidly.
I patted the area below the horse’s mane.
“It hurt, right? I’m sorry.”
“Wheeee…”
As it healed, the horse let out a weak cry, seemingly exhausted.
“Who… exactly are you?”
After calming the horse, Raven approached me.
Raven looked at me with a gaze that seemed to say, ‘What kind of guy is this?’
“Just a passing priest.”
“Does that even make sense…”
Why. Haven’t you ever seen a passing priest?
I raised the cross just like I did with the horse.
“…That could be possible, I guess.”
Raven, not wanting to end up like the horse, quickly shifted his attitude.
‘This is already fun.’
I had just joined up with Raven.
But it was so much fun, I felt like I might go crazy.
‘Beta testers. Were you all playing this kind of amazing game alone?’
Daehyeop Kim. Sweet. Suzuka. And a thousand other beta testers.
So you guys were the only ones enjoying such a thrilling game.
Of course, working as the Director was rewarding and fun in its own way.
But playing the game free from all positions and responsibilities was way more fun.
“Shall we go?”
With the recovered horse and Raven, I continued the Main Story.
***
[Indie Minor Game Gallery]
Today was a historic day in In-Game Gallery.
The reviews left by beta testers felt like mere teases.
Today was the end of despairing at the cold reality of not being able to play Akare, even if you wanted to.
―――
[Title] Can you congratulate a fellow In-Boom on graduating from being a virgin?
(Capsule open verification photo)
I just opened the capsule membrane.
I even took time off for this day.
Now, let’s dive in~
Like 215 Dislike 0
―――
[Comments 251]
Virgin graduation, my ass.
ㄴAs expected, In-Boom is vulgar.
ㄴProbably couldn’t graduate for real.
ㄴ(Author) You bastard!
―――
Reviews poured in from those who had become proper gamers from mere game-onlookers.
Thanks to Aka-chan and Aurora working tirelessly, regardless of day or night, there were enough capsules.
As a result, any Korean could buy a capsule as long as they had the money.
―――
[Title] What the heck is this capsule?
It has heating, air conditioning, and a super comfortable chair.
Even other chairs that cost a million won wouldn’t be this good.
It even allows internet access inside, LOL.
Computer << Relic of the past itself.
It’s time for it to disappear into the annals of history.
Like 455 Dislike 5
―――
[Comments 414]
How much electricity does it consume?
ㄴIt has low power consumption.
ㄴDid they make it with some kind of new material?
ㄴFinally found the whereabouts of the superconductor.
Even aliens would probably ask to become disciples if they saw this capsule.
ㄴThis is absurd, LOL.
ㄴFrom alien torture theory to alien disciple theory.
―――
[Title] Korea’s going to win more Nobel Prizes, LOL.
Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Economics, Nobel Peace Prize.
Isn’t it worth getting three of them?
Like 811 Dislike 0
―――
[Comments 333]
Can they really win the Nobel Prize?
ㄴThat’s a bit of a stretch.
ㄴWhat’s so far-fetched about it?
ㄴDoes virtual reality look like a joke to you?
Alfred Nobel? He was just a guy who made dynamite.
ㄴNo matter what, that’s a bit much.
ㄴFanboys are out of their minds.
ㄴHe’s just a mere mortal who was born into a world without Akare.
―――
The capsule’s specs especially captivated the hearts of buyers.
It had heating and cooling features and was equipped with a comfortable chair.
Above all, the ability to access the internet inside the capsule played a huge role.
This made it so that unless one was specifically aiming to play PC games, there was no reason to use a computer.
There were even rumours circulating about Akare potentially winning the Nobel Prize.
But the chaotic Nobel Prize rumours didn’t last long.
Akashic Records, official release.
As the time arrived, nothing was posted on In-Game Gallery.
—
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