The Game Is a Hypnosis App

Selah Roselyn shot upright from her seat with a sharp gasp.

Was it a dream?

The horrific memory of being chased through a bizarre mansion with her magic sealed away flooded back, leaving her body trembling violently.

"Awake now?"

"Kyaaak?!"

Eugene Feltro stood in the corner, wearing a sly smirk.

Only then did Selah recall the details of the bet she had accepted with such overconfidence.

"N-No way!!! This is invalid!"

"What's invalid?"

"You even cheated! You never told me the game would be like that!"

"You never asked, did you? You heard the conditions and immediately accepted. That was all you."

"Ugh... uuu..."

"Don't even think about weaseling out of it. It's all recorded right here."

Eugene pulled a small crystal orb from his pocket.

It was a magic tool that could capture memories.

The orb contained everything: Selah confidently accepting the bet, followed by her pathetic screams and subsequent fainting.

That was it.

It was over.

With solid evidence like this, any further denial would only make her look more pathetic.

Sudden fear and anxiety crashed over her.

Eugene Feltro.

The academy's heretic, the library's troublemaker, the bizarre failing mage. The worst pervert in history who had even insulted the student council president.

There were countless other titles used to describe him.

After all, no one in Philemon Academy's 54th class could claim ignorance of the name Eugene Feltro.

He had committed every outrageous act imaginable and never once backed down, even against the academy's professors.

- Back then, I was your master. You do whatever I say, got it?

Master?

What exactly was he planning to do to her?

"A promise is a promise, right? There's no way the perfect Five Colors lady would throw a childish tantrum..."

"D-Don't come any closer!!"

Selah's voice shook with terror. Without realizing it, her hands had risen to cover her chest.

"Even if you did throw a tantrum, broadcasting the contents of this crystal orb to the world wouldn't be difficult at all."

She was overwhelmed by his aura.

The way he looked down at her, that cold voice, the mockery laced within it.

He was merely a 3-Circle mage at best.

With a single gesture, she—a 6-Circle mage—could reduce him to ashes or freeze him into a giant ice statue.

If she wanted to avoid excessive violence, a light lightning spell could temporarily paralyze him.

But right now, she was afraid.

Like a mouse frozen before a snake, her body shrank back. Every time Eugene took a step forward, she instinctively retreated.

"Hik! I said stay back—kyaaak?!"

With a loud crash, her continuous backward shuffling finally caught the edge of the sofa, sending her tumbling over.

Having rolled pathetically across the floor, Selah glared up at the man looking down at her, her voice filled with contempt and terror.

"S-Stop it...! You're planning to be violent with me, aren't you?! Like in those dirty novels...!!!"

Eugene answered with an utterly dumbfounded expression.

"What kind of bullshit is that, you ultimate pervert?"

"So... you're telling me I have to learn how to produce Cubes and how to design these things called games from you?"

"That's right. It's impossible to do alone from the start. We've been operating as a team for quite a while now. I'm even paying everyone's salaries these days."

Selah poked at the expensive cake Eugene had brought, lost in thought.

This is the really expensive stuff...

Even for a 6-Circle mage like herself, it was a dessert she could only justify buying after some serious mental preparation. Yet he had purchased it without a second thought.

In the year or so they hadn't seen each other, Eugene Feltro had changed in more ways than one.

"If we're calling it an experiential internship, I'd say about... ten gold coins a month."

"Ten gold coins?!"

Selah's eyes widened like saucers.

Contrary to her public image, Selah Roselyn was a commoner.

She did not come from a wealthy family by any stretch.

The reason she had fought so desperately for the top spot was largely because of the performance bonus that came alongside the scholarship.

But ten gold coins per month?

The average salary at a magic tower was around five gold coins.

At 6-Circle, it could approach twenty, but even then, a side gig offering ten gold coins was an exceptionally generous amount.

"The performance bonus is separate, of course. By the way, the bonus from the success of Escape from Sanctuary comes out to 120 gold per person."

She wasn't even surprised anymore. The numbers had gone beyond realistic.

If the performance bonus was 120 gold per person, just how much had Eugene earned?

After doing some rough mental calculations, Selah swallowed dryly.

"Exactly what does this internship involve? What exactly am I supposed to do?"

"All sorts of things. Modeling, finding and fixing bugs, checking awkward sections, going in personally to test. Even that Dimensia you just played was something Wiki and I created piece by painstaking piece."

"You created that entire world?! It wasn't some black mage's twisted lair, so how was it that ominous??"

"There's a method to everything."

Eugene waved his hand dismissively and added, "And you want to learn Opening the Gate, don't you?"

"...Of course. That's the entire reason I left the Green Tower."

"Then you need to make games with me. In the end, it's about building a world. Right now, you're not doing any Opening the Gate at all."

Contrary to the circulating rumors, Eugene confessed that neither the City of the Dead Mage nor Escape from Sanctuary had been observed futures. They were worlds the team had built themselves, along with the additional explanation that the chaos at the conference had been purely coincidental.

After hearing all of it, a strange feeling stirred inside Selah Roselyn.

It was closer to fascination than jealousy.

Building a virtual world...? Was something like that even possible?

She had known for a while that Eugene had assisted their master with improving the Cube.

But she hadn't known the exact nature of his work.

Maybe she simply hadn't cared enough to ask.

"So... to summarize what Master said, I have the qualifications but still can't manifest a world within my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mind yet?"

"Pretty much."

"Opening the Gate depends less on circle count and more on how solidly you've constructed your own world?"

Eugene nodded.

Selah Roselyn let out a deep sigh, then spoke in her usual tone.

"No helping it, then. Learning from you doesn't sit well with me at all... but Lin Ashford is part of it too, right? If someone like her is involved, there must be something real to this."

The lineup for this so-called 'game development club' was indeed extraordinary. They were all people who had made names for themselves in their fields. Such talented individuals had gathered around Eugene Feltro.

It was definitely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worth looking into.

"Fine. I'll accept your proposal."

She had never harbored any sense of inferiority toward him.

She simply hadn't liked the person known as Eugene Feltro.

But sometimes you had to lie in the same bed as your enemy.

Since she couldn't figure out their master's true intentions, taking Eugene's hand seemed like the better option for now.

However.

"Now we'll proceed with the Mana Oath."

"Even a Mana Oath?"

It was a form of contract and discipline among mages.

Swearing on one's own mana meant the oath had to be kept no matter what.

Maybe the game development process required special security measures?

Though slightly suspicious, Selah placed her hand over her mana core and assumed the proper stance.

"I'm ready."

"Repeat after me. I, Selah Roselyn, swear that from now on I will absolutely obey Eugene Feltro's every command and serve him as my master."

"I, Selah Roselyn, swear that from now on... Wait! What did you just say?!"

"Did you honestly think I'd let you off the hook? You lost the bet."

"This is unacceptable!"

"Then I won't teach you. Since you have no intention of keeping your promise, I have no obligation to keep mine, right?"

"..."

"Suit yourself. There are plenty of other people I could bring in instead."

It was Eugene's world-class gaslighting, acknowledged by all.

Though his mana was third-rate, as a former Korean developer who had reached first-rate status in smooth-talking, Selah was nothing more than tasty prey.

"Instead, if you successfully launch one game, I'll consider the oath null and void."

"H-How do I do that?"

"How should I know? How would I know what kind of game or world you want to make? You don't even know yourself, so how could I?"

It was a perfectly logical argument.

"If you don't like that, you can always try properly clearing the Dimensia from earlier."

"I hate that even more...!!"

"Then there's no other choice."

In the end, Selah Roselyn had no option but to accept defeat.

"I... Selah Roselyn... swear that from now on I will absolutely obey Eugene Feltro's commands and... s-serve him as my... m-master..."

A blue light resembling the color of her hair rose from her mana core.

The Mana Oath had been successfully established.

At the sight, Eugene Feltro clapped his hands together.

"Okay. Then shall we finish the game we couldn't complete earlier?"

"What?! You mean that Dimensia thing?"

"Ahem. Your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tone is rather short, isn't it? I may not look it, but I am the third son of Count Feltro."

"...Uuuu. D-Do you mean the game where one escapes the mansion, Master?"

"No, we'll save that one for disciplinary purposes. Let's start with The City of the Dead Mage. You should find out why it drove all those mages into such a frenzy, right?"

The City of the Dead Mage.

The game that had swept through the mages like a storm during the conference she had attended.

As Selah Roselyn's expression grew tense and her lips parted, Eugene spoke in a much gentler voice.

"You won't regret it."

And roughly twelve hours later.

"Eugene Feltro——!! Did it really have to be like that?!"

"Ahem. Your tone."

"M-Master, do you even have a heart?!"

"Hmm. The review is delicious. Let's move straight to the next game."

After Queen Omae came Escape from Sanctuary.

Selah Roselyn remained glued to the games until the next morning.

"Please... let me develop games...!! I beg you...!"

In the end, she had become someone who could no longer live without them.

"I can't go back to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠how things were...!!"

The taste of dopamine that had crossed dimensions was sweeter than anything else in existence.