Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Crown Prince's Past and the Grand Launch
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Two princes and one princess.
Of them, the Crown Prince was the youngest.
In fantasy novels, they usually depict brutal power struggles among siblings vying for the throne.
But the Crown Prince had the image of the pampered youngest son, raised properly in a wealthy family.
I hadn't seen the Crown Prince back then myself, but the rumors painted him that way.
However, during the war against the undead legions unleashed across the continent by the Ancient Necromancer...
The First Princess was assassinated, and her older brother, the First Prince, died on the battlefield while leading the charge.
With the deaths of his beloved older sister and brother—who had doted on him more than anyone—and his father the Emperor on his deathbed...
The war against the rotting corpses only grew fiercer, and the Empire had only one figure to rally around.
The young Crown Prince.
He was strong. No, he had to be.
That's the environment he grew up in, how he spent the end of his childhood.
That was the Crown Prince's early years, which I hadn't witnessed firsthand.
The first time I met him was after the war with the Ancient Necromancer had ended.
The imperial family invited me and my master, war heroes both, and that's where I first encountered the Crown Prince.
"I still remember you looking at me and saying, 'You're acting like a cold corpse.'"
Turning to the Crown Prince's reminiscence, I whistled.
Had I really said that to a total stranger? I couldn't quite recall.
"Anyway, were all those stories about the young Crown Prince really true?"
The tales of the young Crown Prince were hugely famous anecdotes.
I'd had plenty of chances to ask him directly if they were real.
But it was still his family history—not something you just casually pry into.
"In those stories, the young Crown Prince comes across as a truly strong person. Unlike me."
"Uh... is that so."
To me, the Crown Prince seemed plenty strong.
But if he said otherwise, what could I do?
"So, what do you think? Of my proposal."
Before diving into the Crown Prince's story, I'd already shared all of mine.
And made my pitch: Let's develop the Akashic Records together.
He wasn't a modern person, nor an expert like Aka-chan.
But knowing the Crown Prince as I did, he'd adapt quickly and make an excellent employee.
"Hmm..."
"A golden opportunity to escape all positions and responsibilities, to freely acquire all that knowledge you've been curious about?"
In stats, he'd be a perfect hexagon. In genre novel terms, SSS-rank.
I couldn't let talent like this slip away.
The Crown Prince let out a sigh-mingled laugh at my enthusiastic pitch.
"It feels like just yesterday you left without a proper goodbye..."
Ouch.
It literally was yesterday. I'd summoned him from that exact time.
"Escaping all positions and responsibilities... That does sound good."
"Right?"
Even after becoming Emperor, he'd always wanted me to call him Crown Prince.
He'd been made captain of the Empire's massive ship against his will—he had every reason to be sick of it.
In a way, weren't we in similar positions? I hadn't chosen to become a hero either.
"Very well."
"Great."
We shook hands, smiling at each other.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In truth, there was another reason I'd rushed to hire the Crown Prince.
Sure, developing with just Aka-chan and me was tough.
But thinking about it, I'd never actually played Akare myself.
So this was my chance to secretly roll an alt and grind it out properly.
'Class: Cleric.'
In this world, the relationship between magic and religion was simple.
They didn't mix, like water and oil.
They were polar opposites, like darkness and light.
That's why I wanted to try it this time.
"Open's coming up soon."
I climbed into the capsule. Using Creator privileges, I checked the user count.
"Ten million?"
For real?
It matched the beta sign-up numbers exactly.
Ten million. Twenty percent of Korea's total population was now in capsules.
'And we priced them pretty high.'
One million won.
Not cheap by any means, yet tons of people had bought them and were waiting for launch.
"Even foreigners."
We'd restricted sales to verified Koreans only.
They must've bypassed it through proxies and such.
Part of me wanted to slap immediate bans per the terms of service.
But another part thought: How bad did they want it to come all the way to Korea?
With that in mind, I held off on bans, giving a grace period instead.
After that, permanent bans for the proxy sellers targeting foreigners.
Lost in thoughts of punishments, launch time arrived.
I logged in with my prepared alt account, connecting via the Akashic Records.
"Ah, aah."
Black hair, red eyes.
Not quite main-character level, but definitely pretty.
Step-step-
"Hero who has reached the Hall of Heroes. What do you seek to have come this far?"
The massive hall and Aurora statue. Beyond them, a maid asked the question.
One of Aka-chan's many clones, unaware of my identity.
"I am..."
"Master. What are you doing?"
What? How'd she know?
Looking closer, Aka-chan's main body had slipped into the clone.
"You noticed?"
"Somewhat. I suspected."
Aka-chan. Don't you know me too well?
"I want to be a cleric. Skip the record recall."
"Master. I want to play the game too."
Oh. Aka-chan wanted to play Akare too.
"Aka-chan. There's a way you can."
"...! Request method. Desperately."
I flashed a wicked grin and whispered low.
"Finish training the Crown Prince, then squeeze in some time. Won't that give you room for Akare?"
"Affirmative. Question? Same as what you did to me..."
"I'll head out first!"
Leaving Aka-chan—who'd swallowed the red pill—I opened the door ahead.
Stepping through, the Darkness-Devouring Forest came into view.
"Suuuup~ Haaaa~"
The Darkness-Devouring Forest was still a forest. The air was amazing.
Definitely different from the pollution-choked modern world.
After a deep breath of fresh air, I headed straight for Raven's spot.
"Whoa whoa! Calm down!"
"Hiiiing!"
Raven was playing the fallen noble, soothing her horse.
I wonder if this is what it feels like reading my own writing from a reader's perspective?
A ticklish embarrassment bubbled up inside.
"Uh, uhhh...!"
Raven dropped the reins. The raging horse charged at me.
"Watch out!"
"Hm~"
When I was first summoned to this world, something similar happened.
A horse pulling a merchant's cart got spooked and barreled toward me.
Akare's prologue was reconstructed from my actual experience.
'Back then, I nearly got trampled.'
If it had hit, a few broken ribs for sure.
"Dodge!"
As the charging horse closed in and I didn't move, Raven shouted her prepared line in panic.
I ducked low, slipping into the horse's path, targeting the joint midway up its hind leg.
I slashed it precisely in a cross.
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥 "Hiiiing!!!"
I approached the horse writhing in pain on the ground and raised my cross.
"Calm down now."
Heal.
The severed joint began regenerating rapidly.
I stroked under its mane.
"That hurt, huh. Sorry."
"Hiiing..."
Exhausted from recovery, the horse let out a weak whinny.
"Who... exactly are you?"
With the horse calmed, Raven approached me.
Raven eyed me like, What kind of freak is this guy?
"Just a passing cleric."
"That makes no sense..."
Why? Never seen a passing cleric before?
I raised the cross like I'd done for the horse.
"...I suppose it could happen."
Raven, not wanting to end up like the horse, switched attitudes at lightspeed.
'Already fun.'
Just linking up with Raven, and...
It was so fun, I felt like I might go insane.
'Beta testers. So this is what you were doing?'
Daehyeop Kim. Sweet. Suzuka. And the other thousand beta testers.
You all had this insanely fun game to yourselves.
Of course, working as director had its own rewards and fun.
But playing the game free of all roles and duties? Way more fun.
"Alright, shall we go?"
I took the recovered horse and Raven, proceeding with the main story.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 💬 [Indie Minor Game Gallery] Today was a historic day for Indiegame Gal.
Beta tester reviews had felt like a teaser trailer.
Despair over wanting to play Akare but being unable to? That ended today.
📰 Breaking News [Title] Congrats on the virgin grad, Indibug? (Capsule open proof pic) Just cracked open the capsule seal Took the day off for this Let's dive in~ Upvotes 215 Downvotes 0 — Anonymous Virgin grad approved lol — Anonymous Tasteless as expected from Indibugs — Anonymous OP probably hasn't actually graduated ⭐ Top Comment — OP You fucking bastard Posts poured in from folks who'd become proper gamers, straight out of the game world.
Aka-chan and I had worked nonstop, so capsule stock was ample.
Any Korean with the cash could snag one.
📰 Breaking News [Title] What the hell is this capsule Has heating/AC, chair is insanely comfy Other 1mil chairs look like shit compared Internet works inside lol PCs << relics of a bygone era Time to vanish into history's trash heap Upvotes 455 Downvotes 5 — Anonymous How much power does it guzzle — Anonymous Power draw is low tho? — Anonymous What miracle material did they use — Anonymous Finally found the superconductor — Anonymous Aliens would beg to take us as disciples if they saw this — Anonymous No clue lol — Anonymous Alien torture theory now alien disciple theory 📰 Breaking News [Title] Korea's gonna snag more Nobels lol Nobel Physics, Economics, Peace Three ain't bad, right? Upvotes 811 Downvotes 0 — Anonymous Srsly, could we win Nobels? — Anonymous Overhype — Anonymous How's it overhype? — Anonymous VR look like shit to you? — Anonymous Alfred Nobel? Dude just invented dynamite — Anonymous Even so, that's a bit much — Anonymous Mind broken — Anonymous Just a mortal born into a world without Akare The capsule specs especially captivated buyers.
Heating, cooling, comfy seat.
Above all, internet access inside was a huge draw.
No need for a PC unless you're into regular gaming.
This sparked debates on Nobel Prizes for Akare, but they fizzled fast.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Akashic Records, Official Launch. At that moment, not a single post went up on Indiegame Gal.