Chapter 105: Influence Extending into Brunyad

In Pokémon, different Pokémon lived in each specific region, but according to the setting, the types of monsters that appeared at one time were extremely limited.

In other words, it would not be strange for three of the same monster to appear in a row at once. That immediately broke the concept of facing a Spirit one-on-one in the wild.

But if there was only one monster and only the player fought with three on their side, that also felt strange because the tension dropped.

Of course, they could set it up so that wild Spirits had higher combat power. After all, enemies being strong when hostile and weak once they became allies was a kind of cliché. But that had a high chance of lowering the player’s motivation.

And when considering multiplayer, the current backward environment also required minimizing data transmission, so one-on-one battles were more advantageous.

In the end, Ras had no choice but to return to the same method as the original work.

Perhaps the original creators had also thought all of this through and deliberately chosen the one-on-one battle method.

“You were about to test it, right? Try capturing it once.”

“Ah. Yes.”

Perhaps pleased by Ras’s intrigued expression, Garazt grinned and placed his hands on the keyboard.

<Curabl cast “Flaming Wingbeat.”>

Naturally, since this was a game played on an 8-bit computer, there were no flashy effects.

The text below simply displayed what skill had been used. In truth, even on an 8-bit system, adding effects was not impossible, but the problem was that there were too many Spirits appearing in the game. Asking the Graphics Team to create motion and effect pixels for more than two hundred Spirits would be far too much work.

And the Spirits only had a few skills each, and those skills were fairly simple, so compared to the workload, it did not seem like they would create a very flashy impression. The efficiency was too poor.

If this series truly succeeded, Ras planned to invest the profits at that time and add effects. Although it was a successful work on Earth, he could not be certain how it would turn out in this world.

Of course, he had started the project because he did have some confidence and intended to make it succeed one way or another.

In any case, the battle began, and the first thing Ras thought was whether the attribute matchup was unfavorable. He did not remember every Spirit he had approved, but just from the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠appearance and circumstances, the wild Spirit was water attribute, while Garazt’s Spirit was fire attribute.

<Snabil resisted “Flaming Wingbeat.” Snabil counterattacked with “Water Vortex.”>

As expected.

Curabl looked quite grand, so it seemed to be at least a Mid Grade Spirit, but even while facing a small Low Grade Spirit, it failed to shave off its health in one blow and seemed to struggle.

Still, there was a difference in Species Value and level after all. The small Spirit only managed to hold out to some extent. Snabil slowly lost health, then ended up being captured by the Spirit Stone Garazt threw.

<Snabil has been bound to the Spirit Stone.>

In any case, Ras was able to confirm that battles ran without issue and that attribute values were being properly applied.

“I saw it well. For now, development seems to be going smoothly. Please keep up the good work.”

“Ah. Yes!”

Garazt had become fixated on the idea of a game with network play and was developing it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠passionately. Because of that, Ras’s approval made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him feel as if his efforts had been recognized, so he was quite pleased.

Ras had already seen all the Spirit illustrations, but seeing them on the computer, and during battle at that, felt rather different. Perhaps because he had offered performance bonuses, the quality itself felt much better than the early Pokémon illustrations.

“Ah. President.”

“Yes, Ms. Pana. Please don’t mind me and keep working hard.”

Ras had quietly moved toward the Graphics Team to watch their work, but Pana noticed him immediately and turned around. Perhaps even though she lived in the city, she was still sensitive because she was an Elf. Naturally, the other team members also turned to look at Ras, so they had to exchange greetings once more.

The Graphics Team was busy creating images of the Spirits. Since there were so many Spirits, no matter how many pixels they drew, there seemed to be no end.

Fortunately, the Graphics Team had quite a few members, so several were being completed each day. Otherwise, it truly would have been endless.

Still, when he asked, it seemed the other work was mostly finished. The world, NPCs, towns, terrain, major illustrations, and so on had already been completed first. Now they were racing toward the end of the graphics work by filling in the Spirits still displayed as “no image.”

After looking around like this, Project “Spirit” seemed to be developing without any major problems. Ras told the development team to keep working hard, then left.

Zerax was an ordinary university student in the Brunyard Federation.

When people talked about their identity, there were many different things they could mention.

As already stated, besides his country and his status as a university student, there was also his race as a Gnome. He looked down at his thick palms covered in soft fur and his short legs.

And recently, one more identity had grown stronger within him.

He was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gamer.

Until now, games had been seen as toys that some people occasionally enjoyed. But recently, it felt like more and more people treated them as their main hobby.

The first reason for that was the large Arcade Game Land that immediately entered his field of vision as he walked down the street.

Unlike before, game machines were no longer quietly occupying some corner. Instead, a place like this stood boldly in the middle of an expensive district and drew an enormous crowd, so it was impossible for it not to attract attention.

And attention and numbers were elements more than enough to create strength and confidence. Thanks to that, even people who used to hide the fact that they liked games because of the gazes around them now visited arcades openly and talked about it without hesitation.

Another reason was that many among those called the upper class had bought Hammer 1 Computers and were enjoying games imported from the Republic of Smite.

Games had begun to be recognized as one part of upper-class culture.

And the topic attracting the most attention lately was the game tournament held in the Republic of Smite.

It was not some small neighborhood tournament. They had rented a large stadium, and thousands of spectators had come. Moreover, it was not only games. They had also gathered entertainers and held various events, so for those who had looked down on games, it had delivered a kind of culture shock.

Of course, there were some who felt resistance toward this. Mothers with children in particular seemed to feel a sense of crisis.

But more than that, it felt like the status of games had risen.

At the same time, the rejection toward the Republic of Smite seemed to have grown a little weaker. That was especially true when it came to games.

Perhaps because of that, these Arcade Game Land arcades had recently begun pouring in like a flood, and even the game magazine that had apparently started in the Republic of Smite had now begun publication here.

“Welcome.”

“Yes. Has Gamers come out?”

Zerax had come to the bookstore to get it.

In truth, he had been a fan who even obtained and read the older Aran-language version of Gamers. When he heard that the Brunyard Federation branch would now release a Ruta Language version of Gamers, he had waited for the publication date with excitement.

“Yes. Many people have been looking for it.”

The female Dwarf clerk smiled brightly and took out the magazine Zerax was looking for. Since Dwarves and Gnomes shared some aspects of their aesthetic standards, the clerk’s smile made his heart flutter slightly as he received it.

The mixture of two kinds of excitement made him feel almost electrified.

Ah. Maybe I should’ve at least asked her name.

But he was somewhat timid, so even though his heart wavered, he could not find a way to approach her. He simply bought the magazine and hurried out of the bookstore.

He felt a little regretful, but soon soothed himself by looking at the magazine in his hands.

For starters, he liked the cover. The word Gamers written in Ruta Language was incredibly welcome. Just in case, he flipped through the pages, and as expected, articles densely written in Ruta Language waited for him inside as well.

Zerax immediately flipped to the very back and opened his favorite section, the manga.

Then a squirrel in a familiar art style entered his eyes. It was Arcade Commute Diary. And this too had been fully translated into Ruta Language. Zerax was so happy that his mouth opened wide without him realizing it.

Perhaps because the author was a squirrel, this manga seemed to be drawn from the perspective of someone with a slightly small physique. As a Gnome who also could not be called large, Zerax found many parts especially relatable and liked it a lot.

This chapter began with one of the company coworkers teasing her for having short arms and legs. The squirrel character in the art style had especially short arms, so she examined herself, failed to properly refute it, and looked dejected.

What a nasty bitch.

Once again, Zerax deeply sympathized with the squirrel character and remembered the people who had teased him.

After work, the squirrel went to the arcade with her coworkers, including the nasty Elf. Zerax wondered why she would go play somewhere like an arcade with such a nasty coworker, but since this was the basic pattern of the manga, he let it pass.

In reality, one could not simply reject every mischievous coworker and live that way. Zerax himself was no different.

Then the squirrel wanted to play a rhythm game and headed there, but the Elf who was already waiting in line noticed her and started teasing her again.

At that point, the squirrel completely lost her temper and snapped back, which turned into an argument. After one thing led to another, they ended up having a duel through Pump.

Then the squirrel pretended to be bad at it while secretly resolving to crush her opponent completely. And when the Elf turned out to be surprisingly decent, the squirrel grew nervous, did her best, and won.

In the end, she received an apology from the dejected Elf after the Elf lost, then pretended to be magnanimous and forgave her.

Because the manga’s art was so comedic and the story felt so satisfying, Zerax read it while giggling on the street without even noticing other people’s eyes.

After finishing the manga, he returned to the front and began reading the articles.

Some were simply similar to the Gamers articles he used to read before. Of course, they were interesting and fun. Just being able to read them in Ruta Language made him happy.

But some articles were clearly not written in the Republic of Smite and instead seemed to have been written locally here in Brunyad.

<An Anticipated Title Scheduled for Release Soon from Meta Soft’s Brunyad Development Team!>

It was an article introducing fragmentary information about the game and what kinds of people worked on the development team. Zerax was surprised to learn that one of the famous Meta Soft development teams existed in Brunyad as well.

He read the article with interest.

So they were originally a game company here in Brunyad.

The people in that development team were people Zerax had never seen before, but the fact that they were fellow Brunyad people somehow gave him a sense of familiarity.

And though the introduction was very fragmentary, the game they were developing looked interesting. Zerax thought he should buy and try it once it was released.

In this way, the expansion of Ras’s businesses crossed the line of resistance and began spreading rapidly through the Brunyard Federation. In particular, Arcade Game Land was expanding at the same speed as it had during its early rapid expansion in the Republic of Smite.

This was partly because resistance had disappeared.

But the fact that players from their own country had been invited to the game tournament had also had a major influence.

It was not only that they wanted to participate in a major event. The bigger issue was that they had failed to make much of an impact there. If talk of biased judging or anything similar had emerged, resentment toward the Republic of Smite would have flared up instead. Fortunately, however, since these were games where there was little room for judging, they had been able to avoid that issue.