Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Mad Director
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Even I thought I was acting like a total lunatic.
The words I said after summoning Daehyeop Kim, who had just witnessed that cutscene.
What? Did you enjoy the beta test?
I'd always brushed off Aka-chan calling me evil as baseless slander.
But right now, in this moment, I couldn't deny it.
'Ah. I shouldn't be smiling.'
My lips kept curling up.
It felt like my emotion control was completely broken.
"Fun... Was it fun?"
Daehyeop Kim's condition was obviously far from normal.
His trembling hands. His shaking eyes. His agitated voice.
Gritting his teeth, Daehyeop Kim finally unleashed the pent-up rage he'd been holding back.
"Why? Why the hell does Raven have to suffer like that!"
After venting his emotions once, Daehyeop Kim let out a rough breath.
"Why are you mad at me?"
"...What?"
I asked as if I genuinely couldn't understand.
Daehyeop Kim glared at me with murderous intent.
Oh dear, how scary.
"The one you should be mad at isn't me, Daehyeop Kim."
Snap.
I flicked my fingers, pulling up a scene from the cutscene he'd just seen.
I zoomed in on the Elder Lich in that scene and showed it to him.
"I didn't do anything to Raven."
I spouted sophistry disguised as truth.
I recited an obvious line from a cheesy play that no one would fall for.
"Who destroyed Raven's kingdom? The Elder Lich."
"Who tried to do the same to the Empire? The Elder Lich."
"Why did Raven have to sacrifice herself to stop it? The Elder Lich."
The Elder Lich was the root of all evil.
The source of every tragedy.
"I'm not the enemy of the players."
The Elder Lich was the enemy of all players.
"I'm someone who sincerely hopes you'll defeat the Elder Lich and save Raven."
It was sincere. I preferred healing over despair, happy endings over bad ones.
"So there's no reason to be mad at me."
Venting at an innocent person wouldn't do anyone any good.
"Ha, haha..."
Daehyeop Kim let out a hollow laugh at my absurd words.
I could feel his overheated emotions cooling down a bit.
"I'll make the Director's wish come true."
But the fire in his heart didn't seem fully extinguished.
His provocative gaze and the resolute determination in his voice said as much.
"I'll be looking forward to it."
Anything in excess is no good.
Like the saying, "excess is as bad as deficiency."
I wanted Daehyeop Kim to stick around long-term and keep enjoying Akare.
That's why I'd pulled this stunt and said all those ridiculous things.
...Of course, I did have a bit of personal desire to mess with him.
"Oh, and I'll put off answering the Director's question for now."
"Pardon?"
Daehyeop Kim's lips twitched up slightly.
"I still don't know if Akare is a fun game."
What.
Before I could ask if he really meant that,
Daehyeop Kim logged out right then and there.
"He got me good."
To calm him down and tease him back like that.
Still, it didn't feel bad, so I laughed.
"I did a good job making Akare."
I was looking forward to what fun things would happen next.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 💬 [Indie Minor Game Gallery] Beta test final day.
The floating population on Indiegame Gallery was at an all-time high.
Just as many concept posts flooded in.
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📰 Breaking News Aurora Director << All-Time Psycho Bitch [519] 📰 Breaking News "Why are you mad at me?" Total BS lol [601] 📰 Breaking News Daehyeop's Facial Expressions During Director Meeting Compilation.jpg [498] 📰 Breaking News "Did you enjoy the beta test?" lololol [515] 📰 Breaking News Drew Some Raven Fanart After Watching Daehyeop's Stream Today [584] ────
⭐ Top Post [Title] Aurora Director << All-Time Psycho Bitch (Beta test enjoyment meme) (Why mad at me? meme) First live stream was just a mask, she's actually insane lol You can tell she's holding back laughs, devil incarnate Recommend 1010 Disrecommend 1 — Anonymous [519 Comments] I'm making her my bride and isolating her from society I could keep her locked up for 10 months no problem ↳ Reply You guys all crazy? lololol ↳ Reply Everyone's housebound heroes, uh huh sure — Anonymous She's so crazy she seems cute, is that normal? ↳ Reply Normal ↳ Reply Wouldn't be normal otherwise? ↳ Reply Fuck what am I supposed to do — Anonymous (Raven hypnotized, brainwashed, and trained by Elder Lich meme) Not really fanart tbh Trained an AI and generated it Quality came out pretty good? Recommend 100 Disrecommend 1950 — Anonymous [584 Comments] AI using bastards deserve extinction ↳ Reply Got hard looking at the meme ngl ↳ Reply Raven NTR top tier ↳ Reply (Unicorn cucking con) — Anonymous We'll use 'fuck' here ↳ Reply Yeah ↳ Reply Why vent in the gallery fuck ↳ Reply This is the fault of the mod who doesn't manage NTR posts The entire Indiegame Gallery was plastered with talk about me.
In the middle, they called me psycho bitch, slutty bitch, hot bitch, etc...
Lots of people who clearly weren't afraid of lawsuits, but I didn't care.
I used to be a guy, after all.
...Though now I'm a woman.
Either way, it was good that stories about me kept becoming hot topics.
It was proof that what I did yesterday had entertained them, at least.
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📰 Breaking News [Title] So when's official launch? No official announcement? Probably soon tho right? Recommend 0 Disrecommend 0 — Anonymous [4 Comments] They said right after beta ends ↳ Reply Official? ↳ Reply I think so, so it's official ↳ Reply Fucktard that's brainfart not official Posts asking about official launch date popped up occasionally too.
Sure enough, we hadn't set a specific date.
No date set, so no announcement either.
"Need to communicate more..."
I wanted to fire up an official stream and chat, but.
The game's face, the director, showing her face too often didn't seem ideal.
"We did a raffle live recently."
And though not official, I'd appeared on Daehyeop Kim's stream too.
My goal was the game's success, so official streams had to be handled carefully.
'Maybe just post an announcement.'
Reviewing the collected data, normalization for standout classes.
Plus content developed during beta.
First raid boss, Elder Lich trailer upload.
Bundling all that into an announcement would be tidy.
"Hmm..."
But my stiff delivery from nerves in the first live kept nagging at me.
I could do better. I was confident I could now.
Those thoughts clouded my judgment.
"Ah, why not both?"
In the midst of agonizing, a brilliant idea flashed.
Post the announcement, then do an official stream reviewing it.
People won't read past three lines anyway.
A light 'preview' stream for them wouldn't hurt.
"That's the plan..."
One issue left to solve.
Balance patch.
Which classes to normalize.
The past week's data told the truth.
Two classes that stood out wildly.
"Martial Artist. Mage."
For Martial Artist, Forward Leap was the problem.
The stack system Daehyeop Kim discovered.
It was actually my intended mechanic.
Balanced to max 3 stacks, of course.
But Daehyeop Kim cranked compensation to hit 6 stacks.
Not at all intended.
Punching once to alter terrain? Ridiculous.
Clearly abnormal, so nerf without mercy.
Forward Leap direction changes limited to max 3.
"Mages are bad too."
A normal Mage example: Sweet.
Managing first awakening skill cooldowns.
Basic attack Energy Bolts for poke damage.
That was my intended early Mage playstyle.
But other Mage beta testers played differently.
Magic casting methods: Chant, Breath, Motion, Imagery.
Four refined methods through history.
Learned by talking to Raven in Darkness-Devouring Forest.
One Mage beta tester used this for a new Energy Bolt.
Normally Motion via staff swing.
But added Chant, firing two Energy Bolts.
Mana cost doubled, sure.
But not limited to Energy Bolt.
Fireball, Frostbolt, even Blink.
All skills usable this way.
"Double Casting."
Mage tech to cast one spell twice simultaneously.
Intended mechanic, yes.
But double casting alone causing such outliers?
Later triple, quad, even multi-casting different spells.
Had to normalize Mages thinking ahead.
Weak early, king late.
"This hurts."
Having to gut Mages myself, like a second life.
The cruelty pained me, but someone had to.
I compiled the update notes and posted to the official site.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ After beta ended, Sweet didn't stream the next day at regular time.
Viewers chalked it up to his usual WWE.
But Sweet wasn't just uninterested in streaming.
"She said she was waiting for me."
Still vivid in his mind.
Raven ascending the magic circle for a final farewell.
Begging to be saved with a sad smile.
Couldn't forget; it replayed clearly.
Raven triggered the cutscene memory every time.
Crunch-
Powerlessness. Rage. Regret. Negative emotions.
Ending with self-loathing for his incompetence.
Sweet stared at his reflection.
Days of poor sleep left dark circles heavy.
Skin pale, complexion poor.
Pfft-!
Laughter burst out.
"...What the hell am I doing."
Pathetic. Truly.
Life returned to Sweet's eyes.
"Preview official stream. Tonight, right?"
Beta was over.
Official launch meant starting over.
Time to shelve memories and move forward.
Usually playful and friendly Sweet.
But the face in the mirror now held steely resolve.
"I'll kill it for sure."
The Elder Lich.
Swallowing unfulfilled epilogues.
Sweet sat at the now-unfamiliar computer.
[Sweet-nim's stream has started. - Talk 1 sec ago]