I Made a Game Featuring Constellations

Chapter 33

Reira Academy, Research Lecture Building, Lecture Hall 3

Murmurs.

Groups of students gathered together, chatting away in their own cliques.

I squeezed past the academy students and found a corner, pulling out a chair to sit down.

Thud.

I slumped over the desk.

I'm so tired...

As the director of the most popular game on the continent and someone tasked with defending against extra-dimensional attacks, it's hard to believe I still have to attend academy classes.

After fiddling with game development all through the night, I barely managed to drag myself out of bed in the morning, and now my body just can’t keep up.

I’m probably one of the richest people on the continent... Surely, I shouldn’t have to attend academy classes.

So, I told the Constellation I’d drop out of the academy and focus on game development.

[The Dreamteller admonishes you with a stern voice and a frown, saying you’ll be branded for life if you drop out and people will mock you.]

Apparently, it's a terrible idea.

Even though academy classes aren’t helping me at all, and I don’t care about things like credentials or face, the Constellation was vehemently opposed to it.

“It's fine if commoners don’t graduate, but a commoner who drops out? People will look down on you,” they said. “I won’t let my apostle be disrespected like that.”

Honestly, I couldn’t care less about that...

It felt a little like being scolded by my mom.

But as an apostle, I couldn’t simply ignore the Constellation’s orders.

So, although I wasn’t attending the classes properly, I was still showing up.

“Hey, did you pull the Demon King?”

“Yeah. I rolled ten times trying to get a four-star character, and it popped right out. Such a waste of the stacks.”

“Dude, you’re bragging about it like it’s nothing.”

“This story made me cry...”

“Yeah, it was so sad...”

“Poor Lina, what should we do...!”

“Lina-chan is so cute and strong! I’m rooting for her!”

“Have you seen the new dungeon with the enhancement stones?”

“I couldn’t finish it as a knight. Should I really pull the Demon King?”

“Yeah, you should. How is a demon not pulling the Demon King?”

“Wait, did you just make a race-related comment?”

“I’ve hit the weekly boss so many times, but I still don’t get the pattern.”

“Then just keep getting hit.”

“I’m getting hit and still don’t get it... sigh. When am I going to clear this? I need to clear the boss to enhance the Demon King.”

Flinch!

I tried to nap with my head on the desk, but the constant chatter about [Akashic Archive] from all around me kept me awake.

As the only developer and director of the game, as well as the owner of the company, I had to listen to my customers’ stories, so there was no way I could sleep.

[The Sacrifice Who Overcame Indolence nods, saying that your game is very popular, as expected.]

Part of it was the fault of the goddess, who was floating beside me in her spectral form, guarding me.

[The Sacrifice Who Overcame Indolence is puzzled as to why their story, along with their companions’, has been diminished.]

Well, it's because right now, the Demon King Perlerina's story is the focus. The goddess’s story has ended a while ago.

I responded to her, still slumped on the desk, putting my thoughts into words.

[The Sacrifice Who Overcame Indolence looks shocked, saying, "Has it ended...?"]

Well, not completely ended, but it's not the main storyline anymore... It's just out of fashion now. Especially with the new weekly boss, people are more focused on that. When they go after the Demon Queen, they’ll think about the goddess and the heroes.

When a new character rises with story significance and fanfare, it's natural that the older characters are somewhat forgotten.@@@@

Thanks to the usefulness of [Knight Ren] as a single-target dealer in the weekly boss battles, the Demon King almost got overshadowed, but with the additional events and content, people's attention shifted entirely to [Demon King Perlerina].

It wasn’t surprising that people were only talking about the Demon King.

Don’t worry. Later, Ren will be released in an exclusive version, with an event story to boot.

[The Sacrifice Who Overcame Indolence comments that they’ve heard many gods from the heavens want to appear as characters in your game.]

[The Sacrifice Who Overcame Indolence’s eyes sparkle as they ask if you plan to recreate their stories.]

Of course. The goddess was my first investor and my companion.

If it weren’t for her, the [Akashic Archive] Dream Story project might have flopped from the very start.

In a way, she’s like a lifelong partner.

...Most importantly, there’s the possibility of selling the same story format as an event once again.

[The Sacrifice Who Overcame Indolence beams, exclaiming, "Only you could pull that off!"]

Goddess, do you know the God of Wisdom?

A female student slammed her desk and stood up.

What now?

“He’s not dead.”

The girl glared at the Apostle of Wisdom with a strong animosity.

“Ah, so you want to debate the curator’s life and death? Interesting. I didn’t think we’d end up discussing this topic.”

The two students, a boy and a girl, faced each other slowly.

“The curator was pierced by the [Abyssal Assassin] at the end of Act 2 of [Akashic Archive]. And he died in the player’s arms. The scene where the curator used the Cube’s power to create the battlefield was impressive. But everything about that scene suggested that the curator had died. What basis do you have to claim he’s not dead?”

The boy adjusted his glasses and asked the girl.

...What is this feeling?

Seeing others discuss the future of a story I created was... strange.

It was kind of fun.

This is why writers watch their readers’ reactions.

[The Sacrifice Who Overcame Indolence asks, “I’m just curious... did the curator really die?”]

The curator in the game died, but... the curator himself didn’t die.

The curator was a character modeled after my past life.

Even though I tried to avoid making a self-insert character, I wasn’t going to just throw away ‘another version of me’ who led the story.

The curator is alive.

But the breadcrumb to prove this is buried in a side quest that’s virtually impossible to find.

And it’s difficult to base this on the worldview of the people in this world, so it’s not something they could easily comprehend.

So, I found myself paying more attention to the girl.

Her keen eye for the subtle clues I’d hidden away...

I was curious how she figured it out.

“How do you justify your claim? There’s plenty of evidence that suggests the curator is dead. But there’s no basis to claim he’s alive. What’s your evidence?”

The boy’s question continued.

How would the girl answer?

Would she use the clues I’d hidden away?

It would be hard for anyone who hadn’t done the side quest to understand. Even if they did, it’d be a tough pill to swallow.

It’s going to take time and be boring and academic.

That’s why I’m curious about her answer.

“Well then...”

She raised her hand and placed it above the boy’s head.

?

“What is this?”

“...Die.”

Crash!

The next moment, the girl grabbed the boy’s head and slammed it forcefully onto the desk.

Shiny

Through the commotion, I caught a glimpse of something.

The badge on the girl’s jacket, hanging inside her coat...

It was a bizarre badge with the curator and a male prospective curator drawn on it, with a heart between them.