Chapter 4
There was a sense of discord when I fought the Elder Lich for the trailer footage.
While it was definitely stronger compared to the Ancient Necromancer that was an Object of Destruction.
Somehow… should I say that the Elder Lich’s patterns seemed a bit simpler?
‘I was originally planning to recruit beta testers and get feedback.’
It felt as if I was doing QA all on my own, albeit unintentionally.
“Aka-chan, could you summon the Elder Lich once more for me?”
“Understood.”
Although I dropped a Meteor and completely obliterated the Elder Lich’s raid map, it didn’t matter.
After all, this was just a part of the many records that Aka-chan had stored, merely summoned into a virtual space.
If I had to compare, it was more like a test server or test world concept from a game.
That’s why I didn’t hesitate to drop the meteor on the Elder Lich.
“By the way, Aka-chan, the scene where I dropped the meteor isn’t included in the trailer. Was that left out intentionally?”
Aka-chan nodded at my question.
It was because the moment the meteor collided, the map for filming was completely destroyed, making it impossible to capture. Aka-chan added in explanation.
“So please refrain from using Meteor.”
“Okay.”
I felt a bit wronged by that.
A legendary being, the Transcender of Death, the King of All Undead.
Yet, this guy couldn’t withstand a single Meteor and vanished just like that.
“If it were the Ancient Necromancer, it would have created corpse golems, used Reverse Gravity to make them float, and blocked it with Corpse Explosion.”
Quite literally, if it had been the Ancient Necromancer I once faced, it would have countered the Meteor in that manner.
Compared to that, the Elder Lich felt a bit lacking in intelligence? Like a kid who had power but didn’t know how to use it.
Of course, it would be foolish to judge everything based on just one battle.
That’s why I asked Aka-chan to set up another fight.
“How dare you challenge the Transcender of Dea— Guh-aaaah!”
Defeating an opponent I’d already bested once was an easy task.
“Aka-chan. Is it possible to grant this Elder Lich the record of the Ancient Necromancer?”
“…It’s possible. However, doing so will create an Object of Destruction.
Object of Destruction.
If I were still a hero protecting the other world, I would’ve hesitated.
“That level of difficulty should be expected.”
This was, after all, just a game.
If the final raid boss wasn’t challenging, it would lose its excitement.
At the very least, I wanted others to experience the same sense of dread I felt when I first encountered an Object of Destruction in the other world.
“You know what they say, ‘Comedy from afar, tragedy up close.’”
I experienced a tragedy when I faced the Object of Destruction in reality.
However, through the game, if one were to face an Object of Destruction and triumph, it would be a meaningful achievement.
“Then I will summon the Elder Lich, replacing its soul with the record of the Ancient Necromancer.”
“Mhm… sounds good.”
After a fierce battle, stretching felt oddly satisfying.
Even though I had just woken up from a good sleep, mental fatigue and physical fatigue were two different things.
-“Where is this…?”
The Elder Lich’s atmosphere suddenly shifted as its head turned slowly.
With its massive frame, it had to look down at me.
-“That magic power. That repulsive face. You are…!”
“Do you remember me?”
When did Aka-chan pull out the records of the Ancient Necromancer?
-“The gender, speech, and atmosphere are all different, but…”
Thud—
The Elder Lich rose.
Its eyes blazed with hatred.
-“It’s you, Aurora.”
“It’s been a while.”
Aurora.
The name of the mage my master gave me, stating I was suited to all attributes.
‘I argued about how feminine it sounded…’
Who would have imagined that Crassaire, that Crazy Demon King, would actually turn me into a woman?
I brushed off memories of a now distant past and surveyed my surroundings.
The atmosphere of the darkened audience chamber denied the very existence of life itself.
This pattern was similar to what the Elder Lich showed, but the level of skill in utilizing it was overwhelmingly different.
Booom-!!!
An undead emerged from the black sludge and immediately exploded.
Even after stepping out of the explosion’s range, the same thing happened again.
A merciless barrage of explosions that didn’t give the opponent a chance to counterattack.
The creature was demonstrating why it was considered an Object of Destruction through its actions.
A maniac obsessed with explosions, a homicidal maniac, and a lunatic crazed by battle.
Did it become a necromancer simply because it wanted to fight forever?
“Even after death, I couldn’t close my eyes… just because I lost to you!”
Despite having a human body, this lunatic had single-handedly wiped out half of the Empire’s army. And now, it possessed the body of an Elder Lich.
It was like adding wings to a tiger. It embodied what I had defined as an ‘Object of Destruction’ itself.
“If the difficulty is too high, I should probably nerf a few of its patterns…”
If the game’s difficulty was too extreme, it could discourage gamers, leading them to quit entirely.
I didn’t want to see such an outcome, so I was conducting a detailed solo QA session.
“Chain explosions are way too overpowered…”
“You’re even crazier than me…”
I swallowed my retort and continued the QA for about 10 hours.
By then, the Ancient Necromancer had already surrendered.
To be exact, it broke its own Life Vessel to escape to the sanctuary of death.
“Aka-chan, did you record everything?”
Nod-nod.
However, even death falls within the scope of the Akashic Records.
If I had to use a game analogy, it’s akin to the save & load function.
If I wanted, I could summon the Ancient Necromancer I had been debugging moments ago anytime.
“Hmm.”
It’s true that I had some trauma related to the Ancient Necromancer.
But after conducting today’s 10-hour-long debugging session, I felt like all that trauma had vanished.
“A Scary Master.”
“…”
Aka-chan.
When you say things like that, it hurts my feelings too.
***
[Indie Minor Game Gallery]
InGameGal.
The gallery was still filled with discussions and gossip about ‘Akashic Records’ today, just like yesterday.
The first-ever virtual reality, the beta test application method for the domestic no-name game company Akashic Records, debates like Mage vs. Priest — who would win, etc…
The buzz around the game ‘Akashic Records’ continued to burn without showing signs of cooling down.
It was thanks to the title of “First Virtual Reality” that many fanboys emerged.
But what kind of place is a community?
Wherever there’s light (fanboys), there will also be shadows (haters).
It was common for the gallery’s gossip to shift drastically in an instant.
____
“These guys would believe in superconductors too, lol.” [185]
“Obviously edited footage, but you guys make such a fuss. I really want to smack you all.” [244]
“Didn’t you notice from the part where they asked for your home address during the beta test sign-up?” [123]
“It’s an obvious phishing scam, but seeing everyone cheer had me wondering why.” [359]
“As soon as you apply, your money’s going to be sucked out, lol.” [219]
“If it feels like something made by that ‘country,’ give it an upvote.” [83]
____
The haters’ common argument was that the whole thing was a “phishing scam.”
Their basis was that Akashic Records was a ghost company (paper company) without even being listed.
They argued that if it weren’t a ghost company, there’d be no reason for them to hide the game developer’s name.
Of course, the claim that Akashic Records was a ghost company hadn’t been fact-checked and was just baseless speculation.
However, it was a plausible claim, and more importantly, it was an entertaining gossip.
Most of those browsing InGameGal jumped on the bandwagon and upvoted posts related to the controversy.
Thus, the haters’ phishing scam narrative took over InGameGal.
That’s how only posts criticizing Akashic Records ended up making it to the top of the community.
And the situation in InGameGal soon spread to various media platforms.
It started with other community sites.
Then, content creators on MuTube began to weigh in.
Even streamers who primarily follow community topics started to engage with it.
“What do you guys think about the recently hot topic, ‘Akashic Records’?”
Streamer, Daehyeop Kim.
Unlike other streamers who shy away from controversial topics.
He was a streamer who actively dealt with the hottest topics on various communities.
His broadcasting style was characterized by often making statements that challenged social norms and skillfully addressing the sensitive issues of community members.
“If you look at this summary here, the first virtual reality game is being released. Specifically, they’re first recruiting beta testers and will go through a month of testing before the official launch. There’s even an official website with information on the world’s lore and what classes are available. Oh, it’s an RPG genre? You guys know I love RPGs, right? But we have to differentiate between personal preference and the issue at hand…”
Daehyeop Kim followed his pre-written script as he continued his broadcast.
The first appearance of Akashic Records, the cheers from InGameGal users, the first-ever virtual reality, and a no-name domestic game company. Suddenly, phishing controversy arises. The game company remains silent regarding the issue.
Focusing on the core keywords, the streamer naturally unravelled the story, drawing the audience’s attention.
“… So that’s roughly how the controversy started. Yeah. What do you think, brothers? Do you really believe this Akashic Records is a large-scale phishing scam?”
____
“After reading the full post, it’s definitely a scam, isn’t it?”
“They might as well say superconductors are real, lol.”
“But the footage looks legit, though.”
“Coming from InGameGal, lol.”
“This guy’s playing on a tightrope again to pump up viewership.”
____
Daehyeop Kim checked the number of viewers on his stream.
4,331 people.
His average viewer count is 2,000, so more than twice the usual amount were watching.
Because of this, Daehyeop Kim found himself conflicted about sticking to the pre-written script.
‘Akashic Records is real.’
What he believed and what the public believed were completely different.
If he were to make a statement that opposed the main opinion here.
It was clear to anyone that the outcome would be disastrous.
‘I’m not blindly believing it.’
The main source of Akashic Records buzz came from the Indie Minor Game Gallery.
It was originally a place where hipster gamers gathered.
However, due to the buzz around Akashic Records, the community saw an influx of outsiders.
In the first place, ‘InGameGal’ was also home to ‘developers’ who created indie minor games.
In other words, the current public opinion was not representative of the original InGameGal ‘ community.
‘The controversy itself is absurd.’
After conducting his own investigation, Daehyeop Kim confirmed that the game company behind Akashic Records was not a ghost company.
It simply hadn’t gone public yet, but it was obvious that it wasn’t a ghost company with a little bit of research.
‘And there’s something fishy about this.’
The intensity of the controversy and the speed at which the issue spread were abnormally fast.
It felt like some group was trying to bury Akashic Records before it could even emerge.
There were probably many others who noticed this besides himself.
However, they were likely remaining silent, not wanting to be swept away by the massive wave of public opinion.
‘This is an opportunity.’
The ‘sense of a content creator’ who has survived in this industry for years was screaming at him.
Even if it led to ruin right now.
It was clear that in the not-so-distant future, he would experience great success.
“Making a bold statement~”
That day, as a consequence of his bold statement, Daehyeop Kim received streaming report attacks and a flood of dislikes on MuTube.
It was summer.
***
“Hmm. So that’s what’s been going on?”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
I hadn’t been able to keep up with the community because I was busy developing the game in virtual reality and conducting my own QA.
But my game, Akashic Records, was being accused of being a ‘phishing scam.’
What was even more ridiculous was that the controversy was confirmed just because I hadn’t responded to it.
I paused the development and spent an entire day reviewing everything that had happened.
“The only streamer who sided with Akashic Records?”
At least there was someone who believed in it.
“Aka-chan, should we give this person priority access?”
It was currently the beta tester recruitment period. There was about a week left.
What if, at this point, someone got to experience the virtual reality game a week earlier than everyone else?
After checking, I saw that this streamer named Daehyeop Kim had also applied for the beta test.
“I think it’s a good idea.”
“Got it.”
With Aka-chan’s approval, everything was set.
It was finally time to introduce it to the world.
The first-ever virtual reality and virtual reality game.
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
-> MAKE ACCOUNT AND GET [50] COINS FREE!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Comment