—
Chapter 61
—
Global service.
Discussions about this continued to take place.
Although the Crown Prince was in charge of this area, the final decision rested with me.
I had to mediate between Amazon, which was handling publishing, and the Crown Prince.
Because of that, I could only stream with my alternate character about once or twice a week.
But wasn’t that enough for streaming?
Of course, compared to the average streaming hours of large company parties,
it was a drop in the bucket.
But it wasn’t like I was aiming to be a full-time streamer.
In any case, compared to my responsibilities as a Director,
streaming was just a mere hobby.
Especially when considering the first broadcast and yesterday’s broadcast.
It seemed streaming and I didn’t really go well together.
Every time I did something, I found myself at the center of controversy.
Another strange nickname would be born.
Or I’d become an object of desire.
Of course, since I was originally a man, I could understand it.
But as I’ve said before, just because I understood didn’t mean I accepted it.
“The servers should probably be separated…”
Currently, love calls were pouring in from Japan and China, among other countries.
Oh, in China’s case, it wasn’t the ‘country’ but Chinese companies sending the calls.
Unfortunately, there were no plans to service Akare in China.
The shutdown policy. Game regulations. An unstable economy.
Setting those aside, China had already crossed the line.
What line, you ask?
It’s a simple story.
When Akare was officially launched,
capsules sold only domestically had been leaked en masse to other countries.
When I personally stepped in to crack down on the farms,
I permanently suspended 64 capsules.
The owners of those farms handed the capsules over to China,
and through those capsules, China attempted to steal virtual reality technology.
Well, China’s economy and game industry were already faltering,
so even without that, my choice wouldn’t have changed.
Of course, even considering all that, the Chinese market was quite attractive.
But was it worth it? I had no reason to cling to the Chinese market.
My goal wasn’t to make money with Akare.
I had already earned plenty of money to begin with.
“Regions at war should also be…”
Russia and Ukraine were, of course, excluded from the service.
War.
I had experienced war firsthand.
Not on Earth, but in another world.
And precisely because it was another world,
I felt the horrors of war all the more acutely.
War brought about by human greed, not an Object of Destruction,
was something I never wanted to experience again.
‘Is Earth a little safer?’
With so many Objects of Destruction,
they ended up suppressing each other.
“Next is the Twisted World Tree Raid agenda…”
Currently, the levels of the large company party members were the same.
Level 78. They were nearing the entry-level requirement for the Twisted World Tree Raid.
The Elf Guardian, Fowler, who had made a pact with the Corrupted Spirit King.
Celestia, the daughter of the World Tree and friend of the Spirit King.
When players reached level 75, they could receive sub-quests from these two NPCs.
Through these sub-quests, they could gain significant experience points.
Typically, from levels 60 to 70,
it was possible to level up at a fairly fast pace just through hunting and dungeons.
But due to the massive experience requirements that increased sharply from level 70 onward,
those in the vanguard called the period between levels 70 and 75 the Wall of Wailing.
Once you got past that wall, progress could pick up again thanks to the sub-quests.
‘I should watch the large company party.’
I had worked almost all day.
It was time to take a break.
Not just a simple break, either.
This wasn’t from the perspective of a developer or Director.
It was more like additional work(?) to see how the game I made looked from the perspective of the vanguard players.
So I got comfortable and started watching Suzuka’s stream.
***
“The source of the distortion… lies with us elves.”
Covering his face with one hand, Fowler bowed his head,
and Suzuka looked at him with pity.
To protect his kin from the Twisted World Tree,
he had tried to kill his creator with his own hands.
A terrible sin. It weighed heavily on Fowler’s entire being.
“Don’t let your emotions sway you. Ellie could take control of your body again.”
“…Understood.”
At Celestia’s warning, Fowler took a deep breath before replying calmly.
Corrupted spirits were entities that fed on the impure emotions of sentient beings.
If Fowler, who had made a pact with the Corrupted Spirit King,
felt self-reproach and guilt,
the Corrupted Spirit King could use those emotions to take over his body again.
“I hate dark, enclosed spaces. I’ll go out and wait.”
The place Fowler was currently in was a temporary prison created by Celestia.
Even if Fowler’s emotions changed,
he was still someone who had tried to kill the World Tree.
And he was an elf who had made a pact with the Corrupted Spirit King.
“Look, I understand your choice.”
“…Are you offering comfort? If so, I don’t need it.”
Shaking her head, Suzuka expressed her honest feelings.
“Making a pact with the Corrupted Spirit King was certainly wrong, but it was a decision made to protect your kin.”
“In the end, I couldn’t protect them. I became nothing, unable to do this or that.”
Regret washed over Fowler’s bound face.
“A half-being.
I am nothing more, nothing less.”
The moment he made the decision to kill the World Tree, his creator,
he was disqualified as an elf.
And in the end, having made that decision but failing to protect the elves,
he was also disqualified as an Elf Guardian.
Just as he said, Fowler, the Elf Guardian,
was nothing but a half-being who had failed to protect any identity.
“In that case…”
Looking at the self-reproaching Fowler, Suzuka spoke softly.
“Why don’t you try standing again, not as an Elf Guardian or an elf, but as Fowler?”
Disqualified as an elf. Disqualified as an Elf Guardian.
If he gave up moving forward, unable to protect any identity,
he would remain stagnant forever.
“Haha… What am I even saying?”
“Anyway! Cheer up!”
After offering those words of encouragement, Suzuka quickly left the temporary prison.
“…”
Fowler stared in the direction Suzuka had disappeared for a long time.
***
[ Side Story – Consolation ]
[ Sub Quest – ‘Elf Guardian’s Atonement’ Completed ]
[Level Up!]
Daehyeop Kim chose the option in the temporary prison.
Although there was only one option to begin with, so it was forced.
Anyway, after consoling Fowler as per the choice,
Daehyeop Kim left the temporary prison.
[ Sub Quest – ‘Elf Guardian’s Atonement’ Completed ]
[ Sub Quest – ‘Celestia’s Confession’ Accepted ]
[Level Up!]
At the same time, the sub-quest was completed,
and the level-up message appeared.
This raised Daehyeop Kim’s level to 79.
Only one more level was needed to reach the Twisted World Tree Raid.
During that time, Daehyeop Kim’s gaze turned to the side.
“I hated my kind.”
Celestia, who had been waiting near the entrance of the temporary prison, spoke softly.
“The knot in my heart hasn’t been untied for a long time.”
“···Naturally.”
Celestia’s gaze turned to Daehyeop Kim.
“Pfft. What do you mean naturally? Just now, you thought I was ‘an unattractive woman,’ didn’t you?”
“Not at all.”
“Really?”
Though Celestia seemed doubtful,
Daehyeop Kim was sincere.
Spirits and elves alike,
none of them acknowledged Celestia.
She had been ostracized since childhood and eventually became the target of a witch hunt.
Elf Guardian, Fowler.
When he learned of the dark history the elves had hidden,
he immediately apologized to Celestia on behalf of his kind.
Of course, an apology alone wasn’t enough to resolve her deeply rooted pain.
“Do you know what I realized during my long years wandering this world?”
“I don’t.”
“That tragedy is not special.”
Celestia began recounting various stories.
A young man from the countryside moved to the city and became a mercenary.
To avenge the bandits who had defiled his childhood friend, his lifelong companion,
the mercenary mistook an innocent merchant for the culprit and killed him.
The merchant’s son, witnessing this, was consumed by a thirst for revenge.
In the end, though the mercenary succeeded in avenging his friend,
he became the target of revenge himself and was killed.
A common, mundane tale.
A chain of hatred, a vicious cycle of tragedy.
As she witnessed countless tragedies repeating themselves,
Celestia reflected again and again on her own tragic past.
And finally, she was able to realize something.
“I thought I was special.”
“I could converse freely with the World Tree and was the Spirit King’s only friend.”
“Was that why? I couldn’t understand my kind.”
“The World Tree and the Spirit King also feel sadness, joy, and loneliness. They’re not perfect, just slightly more special than us.”
“Then why do our people consider serving and obeying them to be so natural? That’s what I thought, unable to understand.”
“No, to be exact, I didn’t even try to understand.”
“And so I believed the tragedies that befell me happened because I was special, different from others.”
“Even though I couldn’t save my mother and my friend without someone else’s help.”
“…Even though I can’t console a single grieving kinsman in front of me right now.”
The tragedies of spirits and elves repeat endlessly.
History over a thousand years has proven this, and it will continue into the future.
But there was a truly special existence that momentarily broke the chain of tragedy.
“I actually saw a hero that day.”
When Celestia heard about the strange phenomena affecting the World Tree and the Spirit King,
she overcame her fear of her kind and went to Elderheim.
There, she saw her horrifically transformed kinsmen and a single mage fighting them.
The mage who came to Elderheim quelled the ‘Distortion’ of the Twisted World Tree.
Likewise, they subdued the ‘corruption’ that had seized the Corrupted Spirit King.
Now, a thousand years later,
the distortion and corruption have awakened from their long slumber.
But hope remains.
This time, there is hope to break the vicious cycle that has lasted so long.
“When I first met you in Elderheim, I doubted you.”
“I doubted you too.”
“Ahaha! Really? So we doubted each other. Well, it makes sense given the circumstances with the Salvation Church.”
Celestia and Daehyeop Kim looked at each other.
“But now, I no longer doubt you.”
Fowler had shared with her what he had heard about the player’s identity from the Corrupted Spirit King.
Celestia also heard the same and used it to solidify her own beliefs.
The stranger walking the hero’s path,
the protagonist of Akare’s story, the player.
From the image of the hero she saw a thousand years ago,
“You reminded me of them.”
The hero of a thousand years ago was a special being.
Hero, Aurora.
Even she couldn’t completely end the tragedy.
But this time was different.
Celestia, who had overcome her past and mustered her courage, was determined.
“So I’m asking you officially.”
“Help me.”
[ Side Story – Help ]
[ Side Story – Reflection ]
As Celestia’s request appeared,
a choice surfaced before Daehyeop Kim.
There was no hesitation necessary.
[ Moving to the Side Story – Help. ]
“I was planning to help even without you asking.”
[ Achievement Unlocked – Celestia’s Uniqueness ]
Along with the system message announcing a new achievement,
“Thank you.”
Celestia shed tears and smiled brightly.
[ Sub Quest – ‘Celestia’s Confession’ Completed ]
[ Level Up! ]
—
Read More at – GENZNOVEL.COM!!
PLEASE JOIN OUR DISCORD AND SUBSCRIBE THE ROLE TO RECEIVE LATEST NOTIFICATIONS!!
Click here -> https://discord.gg/S8c2kGVr2g
Comment