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Chapter 64
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Akare’s game difficulty is fundamentally hard.
To be precise, it took a long time to adapt to the virtual reality environment.
Even if you approached the combat thinking, “This is just a game,”
Akare’s realism felt as if it had materialized another world.
Violence.
Combat.
Killing.
Death.
The fear penetrating through all these aspects.
Most players struggled to adapt to these.
Of course, Akare was not solely about combat content.
If you wanted, you could travel to a new world,
or engage in activities like fishing, mining, logging, or farming…
It even offered lifestyle content for those who disliked combat.
Moreover, by participating in lifestyle content and adventuring,
you would naturally strengthen your foundation.
As your character’s specs improved,
you could overcome the difficulties and fears of combat.
However, this approach was only valid during the early to mid-game.
As players progressed towards the endgame content,
Akare displayed an outrageous spike in difficulty.
This was already a contentious issue during the Elder Lich Raid,
and the same problem resurfaced in the Twisted World Tree Raid.
[Akashic Records Gallery]
―――
[Title] Did they seriously design the Forest Keeper’s pattern to be beatable?
(Certified screenshot of the Twisted World Tree Raid)
Let’s start with a screenshot of the pioneers.
We’ve been stuck on the Forest Keeper’s pattern for over a day now.
Our party morale is dropping, and the atmosphere is turning sour.
At this rate, we’re going to disband and quit altogether.
It’s even more frustrating because there’s a party that cleared it.
Like: 2,560 | Dislike: 360
―――
[Comments: 1,461]
“Blame the raid when it’s your own lack of skill.”
ㄴ You b*****!
ㄴ LOL.
ㄴ Triggered?
ㄴ So mad.
ㄴ Template reactions are always effective.
―――
First Gate: The Forest Keeper’s pattern.
Also known as the “utterly insane pattern.”
Among the pioneers, the Twisted Forest Keeper’s pattern was called just that.
It was considered exceptionally difficult to counter.
Only a handful of parties, including major company parties, had managed to clear it.
If no party had cleared it at all,
the community could have unified against the developers
and called out WWE (dev shenanigans).
Unfortunately, the most famous party was the first to clear it,
and tens of thousands of viewers had witnessed it live.
Thus, public sentiment like, “The Forest Keeper’s pattern is impossibly hard—did the devs even test this raid?”
failed to take root.
Whenever such opinions surfaced, people retorted with,
“Well, the large company party cleared it. Maybe you just lack skill.”
Watching it on a stream versus experiencing the raid firsthand—
there was an insurmountable gap between the two.
Because of this gap, the community’s opinions remained divided.
―――
[Title] ???: Is Akare really that hard…?
(A screenshot of Aurora with a question mark above her head)
“I soloed the Cradle of Dark Magic.”
“I beat the #1 ranked martial artist and mage.”
“I earned respect from the #1 ranked warrior.”
“I soloed the Place Stained with Malice.”
“I cleared the Elder Lich Raid with just two people.”
“Akare is such an easy game.”
“Are you really saying it’s hard?”
(A screenshot of Aurora smirking)
“Could it be… that you just lack skill?”
Like: 2,691 | Dislike: 1,022
―――
[Comments: 1,245]
“Isn’t this referring to streamer Fera?”
Read the room.
ㄴ What are you talking about?
ㄴ You just…
ㄴ Overdid it, didn’t you?
“What’s with all the manipulated downvotes?
ㄴ This is…
ㄴ …bulls***.
ㄴ But are the downvotes actually manipulated?
ㄴ Public sentiment seems tense.
ㄴ The pioneers are seriously pissed off.
ㄴ Honestly, it does seem hard, though. LOL.
―――
Perhaps because of the brutal difficulty,
the pioneers’ anger, initially expected to subside quickly,
grew increasingly solidified.
This was, to some extent, predictable.
Eventually, everyone would face the Twisted World Tree Raid.
Moreover, the related buzz kept spreading in other communities outside of Akashic Records Gallery.
Since it was rare for users to participate in just one community,
spin-off posts naturally emerged.
Watching this entire progression, I let out a sigh.
“Hmm… What should we do?”
The pioneers were angry for one reason:
the brutal difficulty of the Twisted Forest Keeper.
The solution? Simple.
Normalize the difficulty immediately.
Simple, but not simple at all.
This wasn’t some notebook RPG where I could just change things arbitrarily.
Let’s say I nerfed the pattern right now.
What about those who had already cleared the Twisted Forest Keeper’s pattern?
If the developer’s intervention narrowed the gap between pioneers and latecomers,
it would ultimately be an act of undermining fairness.
“Nerfing is not an option.”
Muttering this to myself, I headed to the Akashic Records server room.
The server room’s scenery resembled a library.
It was called a server room, but it was essentially a degraded version of the real Akashic Records.
Everything that happened in Akare was recorded here.
With the Creator’s Authority, I gathered the desired data,
visualizing the numerous datasets as graphs.
The graphs revealed shocking truths.
“…This is overwhelming.”
The entry level for the Twisted World Tree Raid was 80.
Its difficulty was designed for that level.
Currently, the pioneers attempting the raid
all had specs below that threshold.
“They’re attempting it as soon as they hit level 80…”
Reaching level 80 should mean acquiring the proper gear,
transferring enhancement stats, and so on, right?
Yet most of the current parties had only reached level 80 in terms of numbers,
while their overall specs were essentially at the level 70 range.
And then they complained about the Twisted World Tree being too hard?
Was that it?
“How impudent…”
No, that’s not it. No.
I need to stay calm.
It’s true that the difficulty is genuinely high, isn’t it?
This was ultimately a problem that time would solve.
If the statistics for the Twisted Forest Keeper pattern continued to be abnormal afterward,
then it wouldn’t be too late to adjust the difficulty at that point.
“A broadcast like that would be great.”
As I reviewed the overall statistics,
an idea suddenly came to mind.
Paegwi.
Just like how a single user had almost single-handedly raised the overall warrior skill level,
what if I hosted a strategy broadcast?
Wouldn’t it be a huge help to countless users?
Yes. This is it.
No matter how I looked at it, it was a truly brilliant idea.
‘I also have a natural talent for teaching.’
Although my mentor often told me,
“Don’t take on disciples,” so often it left calluses in my ears,
that was only when I lacked knowledge and experience in the past.
But now? I held the Creator’s Authority.
When it came to knowledge, I was second to none.
If I looked at how Sweet’s magic skills had drastically improved in a short time just from a few of my coaching sessions,
it was clear that I was exceptionally talented at teaching others.
“Letting a talent like this go to waste would be an international loss.”
Of course, I didn’t plan to start streaming immediately.
I neither had the luxury for that nor did it seem like the right timing.
“Ugh… tomorrow, huh.”
The global launch.
The service was scheduled to go live tomorrow in several regions, including the United States and parts of Europe.
Naturally, the global servers were separate from the domestic servers.
However, the plan was to merge the servers eventually when the progress across regions reached a comparable level.
A scene where players worldwide challenge the new raid together and compete.
For now, it was merely a fantasy,
but I looked forward to the day when this fantasy would become a reality.
I reached out toward the pile of documents that had grown like a mountain during my brief break.
***
Day 5 of the Twisted World Tree Raid strategy.
The Large company party, which had already cleared the first stage long ago,
had their morale partially shattered upon reaching the “real” stage.
“Let’s take a quick break.”
At Daehyeop Kim’s suggestion for a rest, Suzuka and Paegwi collapsed to the ground.
“Daehyeop, I’ve been thinking.”
As the party leader, Daehyeop Kim also sat down.
Sweet, the only one still standing, approached him and continued.
“I think the premise was wrong from the beginning.”
“You’re saying the premise is wrong?”
The part where the Large company party was stuck was the Twisted Nightmare pattern.
This pattern exiled all party members to separate spaces
where they each had to face and defeat a Doppelgänger.
The problem was that the Doppelgängers’ stats were set slightly higher than the players’.
Under identical conditions, defeating a Doppelgänger was outright impossible.
“Before the pattern started, I swapped in a cursed item.”
A cursed item—also known as a Cursed Gear.
This referred to items that applied debuffs to the wearer.
“But the Doppelgänger didn’t receive the curse.”
The cursed item Sweet equipped was the Slayer’s Cloak.
It applied a debuff called “Guilt,”
which inflicted fixed damage equal to 1% of the maximum HP per second.
Sweet’s plan was to keep healing themselves with potions,
drain the Doppelgänger’s health by running away,
and finish it off with a single spell when its HP was low.
Unfortunately, the Doppelgänger was unaffected by the debuff.
“First hypothesis: it’s immune to debuffs.”
This was incorrect.
Freezing, burning, stunning, and blinding effects—
all of these had already been confirmed to affect Doppelgängers.
“Second hypothesis: it only copies the appearance.”
If the Doppelgänger’s stats were fixed,
and it merely copied the player’s appearance without inheriting any effects?
“That makes sense.”
Paegwi, who had been quietly observing, backed Sweet’s hypothesis.
“The Doppelgänger… that thing has never gotten stronger.”
There had been an instance where Suzuka failed to cast a buff on Paegwi.
If the Doppelgänger copied everything about the player,
it should’ve been weaker in the absence of buffs.
However, Paegwi’s Doppelgänger fought exactly the same, buffed or not.
As Sweet and Paegwi shared their thoughts,
Daehyeop Kim fell into deep contemplation.
Eventually, one realization pierced his mind.
“What gear is everyone using?”
In response to Daehyeop Kim’s question, the party listed their equipment.
“The highest is level 80. The lowest is level 65…”
Currently, level 80 gear was extremely rare.
Other than Daehyeop Kim’s “Nature’s Form,”
the Large company party didn’t have any level 80 gear.
Moreover, Daehyeop Kim, who was equipped with Nature’s Form,
occasionally succeeded against the Doppelgänger.
“It was just a pure stat difference…”
Daehyeop Kim had obtained Nature’s Form in a hunting ground near the centre of Elderheim.
The Nature’s Foundation was an area inhabited by Corrupted Spirits.
The Corrupted Spirits’ levels were fixed at 75.
Considering the appropriate level range of 70 to 80,
gear within that range could drop there.
“We need at least two pieces of level 80 gear to stand a chance.”
Realizing they had finally found a solution, Daehyeop Kim decided to halt the raid.
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