Epilogue: The Ripper of the Lancaster Family
“Gears, I swear I didn't do that on purpose! I really didn't!”
“Yeah, I know the results and all that. But you pushed people way too hard, man. Benders, after that, you're still my best buddy?”
“No, really, that's how it showed up! Why did it happen? Was it some Jack the Ripper ability or something?”
“Well... actually, yes, it was Jack the Ripper's ability. It lets you disrupt a designated target's ability exactly once. Since Mr. Benders said he'd use his ability, I timed it for that night.”
“Damn it! So that's what it was? Hanna, you...!!”
“Esteemed company executives... I was simply immersed in my role. Even the Guild Leader doesn't need to avoid me now...”
“Hanna, today you're banned from coming within two meters of me. Stay back.”
“Whew, glad I died before this whole mess blew up.”
“That was a truly horrific experience...”
The employees of Liana Merchant Guild, who had been so tightly knit before playing the game, were now scattered, each keeping a careful distance from the others.
I watched the scene and thought to myself.
Over-immersion is no joke.
Of course, since the Lancaster Family's Ripper was half a virtual reality game, it was inevitable.
If they didn't over-immerse in a setup designed to encourage it, that would be disappointing in its own way.
If players don't get immersed, it's an F for the game dev.
But conversely, there was a duty to prevent excessive over-immersion.
There are no real people in here, right?
Especially in a mafia game like this—a social game played among close friends with no separate NPCs—over-immersion was even more dangerous.
Surprisingly, fights break out over mafia games pretty often.
And Liana Aishinkiore and her guild were VVIPs supporting this precious project.
I had to prevent any discord among them because of my game!
“Okay, how about this.”
I drew everyone's attention.
Thanks to Hanna's stellar performance as Jack the Ripper, everyone else had suffered a crushing defeat.
Feeling frustrated and wronged by getting wrecked without a chance to fight back?
Then you guys should try being mafia once.
Ah, trust me, it's different when you play it yourself. Come on, come on.
“Shall we play a few more rounds? You get the gist of how it works now.”
“W-what?! No, Lord Yujin! Are you insane!?”
“Why do you think I called you all here? There are still plenty of rough edges. I can't tell on my own what's broken or if the balance between Jack the Ripper and the family members is right. Plus...”
I checked the time.
Time inside the Dimension flows differently from outside.
One hour here was about ten minutes out there.
“Real-world time? Only about thirty minutes have passed. We can easily squeeze in two or three more rounds.”
“Hold on, the time flow inside and outside the Dimension is different...?”
“Of course! If it was 1:1, it'd be chaos. Three rounds would eat up dinner time.”
Liana looked speechless, her mouth hanging open.
“Lord Yujin, didn't you say you were a 2nd Circle mage? Cubes flow exactly like real time, so how can a 2nd Circle mage manipulate time...?”
“Cubes can't have altered time flow, or obsessive mages would camp in them for hours. Cubes can actually adjust time flow too. No way I could do something my great master can't.”
“Ah.”
The stares that had seen me as some hidden archmage quickly cooled.
But people were still hesitant about my proposal.
All except one.
The dark horse of the mafia game I'd been admiring throughout—the one besides Hanna.
“I-I'm good with it...! Everyone else should enjoy it too. It'd be a shame to end it with me dominating one-sidedly, right?”
I read her intentions.
She's not really itching to play again.
As the one who'd stabbed and schemed against her trusted comrades, she just wanted to drag others into complicity to save her own skin.
A perfect mafia mindset.
But it was effective enough.
Especially Gears and Benders, who'd been royally played by Hanna's schemes, quickly flipped and agreed to another round. They must've felt cheated after cooling off from their heated argument.
“I didn't even get to use my ability properly.”
“Exactly. And seeing Hanna... Jack the Ripper looks fun too.”
With Rowell and Kalian joining in, Liana looked incredulous.
“You're all serious?!”
“Of course, if the Guild Leader doesn't want to, we can just head out. Right, Ms. Hanna?”
“...Y-yes.”
“No, we can replay the game, but are you really okay? You all... died horribly!”
That's what she was worried about?
I snapped my fingers, replaying the scene of my own death from the previous game for everyone.
Knock knock knock. The sound suddenly echoed in the silent room.
Then the firmly shut door creaked open, ending with a black shadow lunging in.
“That's a Jack the Ripper attack. Not scary, right?”
It was a solid horror setup, but with no actual pain, it felt underwhelming after the first time.
“Mr. Gears, getting detained was similar, wasn't it?”
“...The sensation of chains wrapping around me wasn't pleasant, but yeah, it didn't hurt.”
“Really? It really doesn't hurt...? Then I want to try it properly too...”
Even Ilia, who seemed the most timid, was slyly siding with replaying.
Persuasion is all about momentum.
I unleashed my finisher on the still-wavering Liana.
“If you're that worried, just one more round before you go. What do you say, Lady Liana? Who knows? Maybe you'll be Jack the Ripper next.”
Just one real round!
Lady Liana, you really not coming? We'll start as soon as you do.
“Who am I? Eugene Feltro, game director for the ages! Like I keep saying, it's just a game! No different from Path of Gold! And honestly, it was fun, right?”
“...Ugh.”
Liana, who'd held out till the end, finally waved it off in exasperation.
“Fine, but just one more. I have a schedule tomorrow.”
Couldn't resist the final push, huh.
“Great! Oh, right, I forgot to mention. When starting the game, you must shout 'Link, Star-to!'”
“??”
“It's like an industry tradition. Feels empty without it. Not 'Link Start,' but 'Star-to.' Got it?”
“Like an incantation? Never heard that form before...”
“Yep, similar. Ready? One, two, three!”
““Link, Star-to!!””
After that, Liana and her crew played four more rounds.
Last round leads to real last, then real-real last—that's the rule.
From the second round, their understanding of the rules improved, so they stayed vigilant while playing in their own styles.
And the results? Just like the first playthrough, Jack the Ripper wins.
This time, Liana was Jack the Ripper.
She didn't stir up division openly like Hanna, but subtly rode the coattails of others to push the game forward.
She nearly got caught in the final round but eked out victory because they failed to vote her out.
Quick rundown of the rest:
Third game: Family win. Reason: Ilia as Ripper couldn't hide her expressions. Ripper caught on Day 3.
Fourth game: Ripper win. Loss reason: Head maid Gears trolled hard by blatantly acting like Ripper. Hated his maid outfit.
Fifth game: Family win. Reason: Ripper Rowell's words didn't add up. Crucially, knight Gears successfully protected the young master for a textbook arrest.
Across five games, Ripper win rate was 60%, family 40%—right in line with standard mafia averages.
All in all, a solid test.
“Am I the only one with a headache? Brain fried from all the thinking.”
“Me too, my head's spinning...”
“Let's call it here then. It's almost three hours already.”
“We said just one more, how'd it turn into this?”
“I'll put your valuable feedback to good use. Second closed beta in a few weeks, probably.”
“...Lord Yujin, please call me. Next time, I want to be Ripper for sure!”
Liana and her group left the library quite satisfied.
Afterward, I tweaked a few things based on the vivid feedback from my closed beta testers.
Like swapping the head maid's mostly useless 'Trace Search' for 'False Insight.'
Of course, I didn't forget to add new roles for the next test.
As I steadily prepped for the second closed beta...
I ran into an unexpected roadblock.
“From the Imperial Central Investigation Bureau.”
“Pardon? Why would the Imperial Central Investigation Bureau come to the library...”
“First time meeting. I'm Chief Investigator Pletta.”
The tall woman in a black uniform approached, bowing her head before adding,
“The Bureau requests Lord Feltro's cooperation as a key witness in the 'Lancaster Vice-Count Murder Case' and asks him to appear as a reference.”
“??? What did you say???”
Lancaster Vice-Count Murder Case? Why's a game background name popping up in reality?
No way, Wiki. Did you pull references from real life when making the scenario?