Chapter 112: The World of Spirits Finally Begins
Chapter 112: The World of Spirits Finally Begins
“Ah. It worked.”
Pana muttered in relief when she saw the standby screen change to the battle stage. She remembered how terrible the coding team’s mood had been when this failed before. This was a relief.
There were several battle stages, and this time, they were summoned to a place that resembled an ancient colosseum.
<Please summon your spirit.>
Garazt briefly engaged in a battle of wits. Of course, since neither side could see what spirit the other had summoned until after the battle began, there was no advantage like a first turn. He was simply trying to predict what the other person would summon.
Nebrania definitely likes grass-type spirits, right? But she isn’t the type to insist on only using them either. Hmm.
It was only a test, but since he wanted to win if possible, he stayed still for a while even after the notification message appeared. The problem was that his opponent was the same.
Nebrania was definitely not someone with a weak competitive streak.
“What? Did the program freeze?”
Because of that, the two of them did not summon their spirits until Ras said that in confusion. But now that the president was startled and checking on them, they couldn’t keep playing mind games.
“Ah. No. I was just thinking about what to choose.”
“Mm. I see.”
Once he chose a spirit, a small stone engraved with Rune Language gave off a faint glow and summoned something with a silhouette made of light. Soon, a spirit appeared.
Ah…
Garazt inwardly groaned when he saw Nebrania’s spirit. It was a spirit called Wallop, a large water droplet with two bright eyes. As its appearance suggested, it was water-type.
And his spirit appeared with a flourish as a toad-shaped creature burning with red flames. A short laugh came from Nebrania’s side.
I thought simple was best, so I just picked it.
After thinking about it from every angle, Garazt only made things more complicated for himself and simply pushed fire-type based on the fact that Nebrania liked forest-type spirits, but he had chosen wrong.
His Flame Toad was relatively agile, so it was able to take the attack turn.
<Flame Whip Tongue!>
Since the match had begun, he immediately attacked, thinking he should at least shave off as much health as possible. An effect flashed as the attack struck the opposing spirit.
But there was no way proper damage would go through against a bad type matchup.
<Flame Whip Tongue hit! Wallop took [9] damage!>
Damn it. Wallop’s health is close to 200, so I’d need to hit it around twenty times?
Contrary to the flashy effect, the number was pitifully timid, and Garazt smiled bitterly without realizing it. Of course, he would not be given twenty chances to attack.
<Cold Water Splash!>
<Cold Water Splash hit! Patoad took [45] damage!>
More than thirty percent of its health was cut away at once. Garazt felt like recalling it if he could. In the end, his Patoad collapsed under Wallop’s water splash.
“How is it? Is there any stuttering or anything like that? It looks fine from here.”
“Ah. Yes? Yes. It’s fine.”
Garazt had momentarily forgotten this was a test and was thinking only about avenging Patoad, so when Ras spoke to him, he was startled and stuttered instead of the computer.
“There shouldn’t be anything strange at all with a turn-based game like this.”
Karkov, who had been watching the test with his arms crossed, suddenly cut in. It was a game test, but it also doubled as a test for the network equipment, so he had come as well.
In addition, two more engineers from Meta Hardware were also present.
Ras watched as Garazt recalled the fallen spirit and summoned another one. This also proceeded smoothly without any notable issues. Then again, aside from a few signals, everything was processed on his computer, so there was no reason for it to stutter.
After that, the employees, including Ras, watched the two Spirit Masters fiercely trade blows.
First, Garazt summoned a wind-type spirit and defeated Wallop. However, Wallop had extremely high health and durability, so he had to consume quite a few skill uses.
Because of that, he lost the third round at lightning speed.
The fourth round became a same-type battle. However, Nebrania’s spirit had barely taken any damage in the previous round and still had plenty of skills left.
“Ah…”
Garazt fought hard and somehow managed to win, but it was already his last spirit, while the opponent sent out a completely unharmed spirit with a favorable type matchup. The moment he saw it, Garazt had no choice but to accept his defeat.
Still, since this was a test, he couldn’t simply give up, so Garazt fought mechanically with a completely drained expression and suffered the expected loss.
<Spirit Master Bard has won.>
That was the ID Nebrania had chosen. She grinned as she saw the word “victory.”
This concept of an ID was something the employees of Meta Soft and Meta Hardware found quite interesting.
Some wondered why they did not simply use their names. However, they had already experienced creating names for their own characters in several games, so it was not completely unfamiliar. Still, the ID used in this match did not feel like a character’s name.
It wasn’t as if the Spirit Master had no illustration at all. But since the Spirit Master did not appear in the actual battle and only watched, it felt more like oneself than a game character.
A name for oneself in a network world different from reality felt like something out of science fiction to the people of this world.
People from Earth might laugh and say that was too grandiose, but the impact of a first encounter with anything was always intense.
“For now, network play seems to be functioning without issues.”
“Yes. There may be delays if the communication environment changes, but judging from how it’s running now, there probably won’t be any major problems under most circumstances.”
What Garazt had worried about was something that exchanged signals quickly in real time, like Tetris 2. A simple turn-based game like this had almost no room for problems. It would not have mattered much even if all data was exchanged before the game began and then executed afterward.
Though Ras called it simple, judging from the mood of the two people who played and the employees who watched, it seemed more than exciting enough.
Of course, that was because everyone had tested Project “Spirit” several times already and understood the game well enough to become immersed. The battle itself alone probably would not have created this level of immersion.
In any case, there seemed to be no major problems with either Project “Spirit” or the Network Card.
“Then please begin selling the Network Card immediately. We’ll need to spread it in advance.”
“Yes. I’ll pass that along to Mr. Utaro.”
They had to prevent a situation where gamers became interested in network battles only to be unable to play because they couldn’t get a Network Card.
Of course, since its uses were still extremely limited, sales were expected to be poor before Project “Spirit,” its biggest piece of content, was released.
Still, there was a messenger, and although capacity was limited, data transmission was possible as well, so it was not as if nobody would be interested.
“Then the title of this game will be Spirit Stone.”
The title was decided by reflecting the employees’ opinions. Ras kept drifting toward Pocket Monster, so he gave up entirely. “Spirit Monster,” “Pocket Spirit,” and other ideas were all too strongly influenced by Pocket Monster.
(Translator’s Note: Pocket Monster — The Korean name commonly used for the Pokémon franchise. The source uses 포켓몬스터, which reflects the Korean form rather than the shortened English brand name.)
Honestly, even this title, Spirit Stone, felt slightly awkward to Ras. Still, since the Spirit Stone was one of the important materials that played the role of Pokémon’s Monster Ball, it seemed reasonably appropriate.
Once the game was completed and the title was chosen, Ras contacted Barbal Soft.
“Oh! Did you finally make another role-playing game?”
Paul Roxy was delighted when he heard the genre. There were many role-playing games worth playing these days, but memories of the original were always the strongest.
Meta Soft had opened up a new world. Since that company was releasing another role-playing game, expectations toward the original creator naturally grew.
In truth, since he had been expecting Land of Adventure 3, he felt a little disappointed when he heard it was not that. But the fact that it was an entirely new role-playing game raised his expectations again.
“You said it was Spirit Stone, right?”
As soon as Paul Roxy received it, he inserted the diskette into the computer and belatedly checked the labels on the other remaining diskettes. Since these were not commercial products, the label had “Spirit Stone #2” roughly handwritten on it.
It was said to be a story related to spirits. That sounded interesting.
It’s probably about classical spirits, right?
Fairy tales and legends about spirits he had read long ago came back to him one after another. Come to think of it, when he grew older and learned what real spirits actually were, it felt like his childhood innocence was shattered.
“Oh… As expected, it supports the Hammer Computer.”
When he launched the game, a colorful opening appeared.
<In the distant past, there was an age when humans and spirits coexisted. The spirits did not hesitate to use their mystical power for their human friends, and thanks to them, human civilization was able to flourish greatly.>
At the same time, the screen showed a civilization with skyscrapers, airplanes, machines, and other things similar to the modern era. It had a slightly different feeling, and the presence of beings that seemed to be spirits in various places was the main difference.
<However, humans were beings who easily forgot gratitude toward those close to them.>
The setting was that spirits grew distant from humans after humans forgot their love for their friends, and civilization declined. Then the protagonist happened to read an old book about this in his grandfather’s study.
The protagonist became fascinated by the mysterious beings called spirits and began wanting to befriend them.
Even after becoming a teenager, he did not forget this dream. However, there was a barrier that prevented humans and spirits from becoming close again.
It was the Spirit Master Association.
Although its members could communicate with spirits, they thought of spirits only as tools and were obsessed with controlling them.
Thus, the protagonist formed an ambition to become a Grand Spirit Master who would defeat all Spirit Masters, change the association, and create a world where humans and spirits could become friends again.
On the day he turned fourteen, he set out on an adventure for that purpose.
That was the opening story.
Hmm…
It wasn’t bad, but unlike Meta Soft’s previous works, it felt like it lacked depth. It felt somewhat simple and light. Still, this was only the beginning, so there was no need to form a hasty prejudice.
After creating a character, Paul Roxy began the game. Without thinking deeply, he simply named the character Barbal Soft.
Then he went to the village and learned the basic game system from an elderly Spirit Master.
[In the past, they say spirits and humans lived like friends, but now they have grown distant, and without this Spirit Stone, we can no longer communicate with spirits.]
So this is the Spirit Stone.
The elderly Spirit Master showed him a rough stone engraved with mysterious Rune Language, and the screen briefly changed to display it as a full illustration.
The method of capturing a spirit was simple. Weaken it in battle, then throw the Spirit Stone.
Paul Roxy inwardly wondered whether a guy who wanted to become friends with spirits was really going to beat them up and then capture them. Of course, the game itself did make an excuse for this.
[That is not a fight. It is an act of showing the spirit who you are.]
It sounded plausible, but honestly, it seemed like a hand-waving explanation. Still, if he started nitpicking from something like this, he wouldn’t be able to play the game, so he decided to follow along for now.
The elderly Spirit Master talked at length, then gave him one of the spirits he once traveled with.
It was a pink spirit with thin legs, no arms, a plump body, and a single large eye. It looked somehow pathetic yet cute.