Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Secret Class Revelation
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The progression of the hidden job incident went like this.
Daehyeop Kim stated that he wanted the job of "the world's strongest martial artist."
Of course, no such job existed, so I created it on the spot.
Since it was hastily thrown together, it hadn't been added to the official site yet.
Ah! So that's why Martial Artist is a hidden job!
'Ugh...'
This is... well. Um.
It wasn't intentional at all.
It was just a quick fix, and it veered off in a completely different direction from what I'd planned.
But I couldn't exactly come out and say that was my honest intention.
📰 Top Posts Hidden Job 'Infinite Sword Emperor' is mine to claim [204] Sudden Gal frenzy over hidden job hunt reasons summary.txt [183] Looking at In-Gem Gal makes me regret maid life and want to quit [125] Yell "From Rhode Island!" and the maid turns into a sheep RAM [381] Daehyeop Kim ended his stream right before starting the main story involving a meeting with a fallen noble.
I had no idea why he turned off the broadcast. He'd just made an excuse and ended it.
That drew everyone to In-Gem Gal, the hottest gallery for Akashic Records discussions.
They rewatched his Akashic Records stream from today and kept rolling out the hype.
And after all that hype-rolling, this was the current state of In-Gem Gal.
"..."
Having thoroughly read the recent posts, I dropped my head.
Sorry, Aka-chan.
I don't think I can protect you.
'This isn't the time to worry about others...'
My mind was so muddled it felt like my soul was detaching from my body.
"Six days left, huh."
Six days until the beta tester recruitment ended and the test server opened.
I had to resolve the 'hidden job' issue that all the prospective users were hyped about during these six days.
"Should I just brush it off as a simple mishap?"
No. It would be a huge waste to dismiss such a massive hype bomb as mere happenstance.
Or should I quickly create a bunch of jobs and pass them off as 'hidden jobs'?
No, that wasn't a perfect solution either.
Let's think this through.
Why had the hidden job hype exploded like this?
I pondered, recalling the saying about not seeing the forest for the trees.
And finally, I came up with the answer.
Click-clack- click-clack-
I logged into the Akashic Records official site with admin privileges.
There were currently five official jobs listed on the site.
Warrior, Thief, Hunter, Mage, Cleric.
The Knight and Mercenary from the initial planning stage had been moved to sub-jobs.
"Now, if I edit it like this...!"
NEW! Martial Artist (*Secret Class) I added Martial Artist from the stream as a new job.
And next to it, I attached the new label: Secret Class.
To be precise, it was just redefining it as a hidden job.
Anyway, I added a separate tooltip explanation for Secret Class.
📜 Secret Class Tooltip 📜 Secret Class (Secret Class) - Lost to humanity's history, but the world remembers.
- Unlocked via specific interactions in the Hall of Heroes.
- Once unlocked, anyone can change jobs to a Secret Class.
Ah, and I should add tooltips to the other jobs too.
⚔ Normal Class Tooltip ⚔ Normal Class (Normal Class) - Jobs commonly used throughout humanity's history.
- Selectable in the Hall of Heroes.
Now that things had come to this, I needed to clearly distinguish between them.
That didn't mean Secret Classes would outperform Normal Classes, though.
'It says right there they were commonly used.'
Commonly used meant chosen by many people.
Chosen by many meant they were highly practical.
"Well, I went ahead and did it..."
The Secret Class and Normal Class split was another hasty creation, just like before.
Since it deviated so far from the original design, it was hard to predict what would happen.
"...Overtime confirmed again."
What jobs to designate as Secret Classes.
What interactions to set for those Secret Classes.
As the director of a virtual reality game, there were just too many things to decide.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ [Indie Minor Game Gallery] The top hot gallery these days thanks to Akashic Records: In-Gem Gal.
It used to be a place to review and share minor indie games.
But now, it had transformed beyond recognition.
📰 Breaking News [Title] Breaking) Job update on Akara official site! (Screenshot of new job 'Martial Artist' update) (Screenshot of jobs split into Normal and Secret) A game releasing a new job before official launch or even beta start? (Akashic Records dev logo screenshot) I just... worship it. GOAT Upvotes 491 Downvotes 2 💬 Comments [234] — Huh... that's about it (fuck, that's about it) No clue lololol Even trolls admit it's GOAT — America shocked, China trembling, Japan begging (for real) Why for real wtf lol Fact) No big reaction overseas yet Bankrupt server fees 500x over, all falling apart 📰 Breaking News [Title] Daehyeop Kim << What the hell is this guy's deal? Defended Akashic Records during dev gate backlash, solo-tanked the hate Akarec devs saw it, got emotional, gave him a week-early free pass Starts up and drops romantic lines while discovering Secret Class Yesterday's peak viewers hit a whopping 46k (Photoshop of New Daehyeop smiling) Hogging all the world's luck and favor, and he's an alpha male too Seriously upvote if "inferiority complex" kicks in Upvotes 850 Downvotes 15 💬 Comments [444] — First VR experience, first VR game play, first Secret Class discovery Game not even open and career's fucked lol Second life? Fr reasonable suspicion — Living in a different world so no inferiority complex This is fr fact When the gap's overwhelming, it's awe not envy Total defeat as a male in every aspect The hot streamer Daehyeop Kim was lurking In-Gem Gal while drying his hair.
Game galleries usually tabooed streamer talk, but not this In-Gem Gal anymore.
The massive influx had turned it into something other than a 'game gallery'.
'Public opinion's good.'
The public's view of Daehyeop Kim was very positive right now.
He was the only streamer and gamer who could play Akashic Records at this point, after all.
"...Feels a bit excessive, though."
But who was Daehyeop Kim?
The god of self-objectification.
A beast who'd survived years as a wreck who could plummet at the slightest slip.
Even outside In-Gem Gal, other galleries and communities were filled with Akashic Records and Daehyeop Kim talk.
"Not good."
Rapid growth always brought side effects, no matter the field.
His fans were growing, sure.
But far more were there to see the first VR game 'Akashic Records'.
Naturally, their churn rate would rise quickly over time.
He had exclusivity on the game now.
But beta test, then official launch.
Two waves would split the flow for sure.
"Best to shake off the casuals now, but..."
Purging influx to solidify core fans is called 'ant-shaving'.
But the risk of ant-shaving was too high.
If it was manageable scale, he could ride it out.
One misstep and it could be downfall round two.
"Ah, this is tough. For real."
Since that incident, it felt like constant trial.
Doubting choices, distrusting judgment, fearing results.
Too many things messing with his mind.
The mental clutter tormented Daehyeop Kim endlessly.
While preparing for stream in that state, yesterday's memory suddenly surfaced.
In the Hall of Heroes, facing the new world, forgetting real worries and feeling childlike liberation.
He'd definitely felt that liberation before. When was it?
"Ah."
He remembered.
-This is how you use your fist.
When he'd seen the man's straight punch in the Record's illusion.
Daehyeop Kim couldn't look away.
Just watching felt like a cool breeze.
Like the unconscious stuffiness was lifting.
So he couldn't tear his eyes from the man.
"So that's it."
Daehyeop Kim opened his unconsciously closed eyes.
In the recollection, enlightenment struck suddenly.
That was liberation.
That was the man's teaching.
"Aha."
A laugh escaped naturally.
"I was bound and sunk in it."
Obsessed with the overly cold reality.
No need to cling to that anymore.
Freed from heart demons, Daehyeop Kim smiled.
"Alright, let's go!"
[Daehyeop Kim's stream has started. - Talk 1 sec ago] ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Aurora was grinding away madly on the Secret Class update.
Daehyeop Kim was heading to the Empire's capital with the fallen noble NPC he'd met yesterday.
Munch munch-
Aka-chan held a bag of snacks in one hand, munching with the other while watching the stream.
"Very comfortable duty. Satisfaction max."
Aka-chan's assigned task was monitoring Daehyeop Kim's stream and jumping on any game bugs immediately.
"Akashic Records is a perfect game. No bugs exist."
Munch munch-
Aka-chan smirked coolly seeing the game proceed as designed.
She kept a blank face around Aurora or others nearby.
But alone like this, she smiled often.
"..."
Thus savoring the joy of coasting through work today, Aka-chan felt dissonance in the next scene.
- Be careful! Those guys are Dark Wolves... monsters that hunt in packs...
Krunch-! Yelp! Krunch! Yelp!
The battle ended before the prepared fallen noble's line finished.
Daehyeop Kim had smashed the heads of five charging Dark Wolves with his fists.
- ...Your skills are impressive.
- No need for flattery.
The fallen noble marveled at Daehyeop Kim's prowess, and Daehyeop Kim replied coolly.
"Bug...?"
Watching, Aka-chan muttered in disbelief.
Dark Wolves were level 6. Daehyeop Kim was also level 6.
Humanoid with limbs gave him favorable matchup.
But Dark Wolves respawned in packs.
A same-level user soloing a pack?
"Impossible. Critical error."
This was impossible within Aka-chan's designed system.
By design, he should've teamed with the noble NPC.
Aka-chan scanned all VR records to find the bug source.
And pinpointed it.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ [Daehyeop Kim's User Info] - Level: 6 - Job: Martial Artist - Title: None ⚔ Stats ⚔ ⚡ Attack Power: 11 💨 Agility: 1 ✨ Affinity: 1 🛡️ Endurance: 1 📊 Modifier: 7 Akashic Records grants one stat point per level-up to distribute.
All characters start with 1 in every stat.
Daehyeop Kim's equipped weapon: Attack Power +5, Modifier +1.
He allocated five stat points to Attack Power.
Total should be Attack Power 11, others 1, Modifier 2.
But his Modifier was currently 7.
"Why?"
Aka-chan pulled up a chair in the incomprehensible situation.
"Emergency situation."
She had to overcome this crisis somehow.
Before Aurora finished work and returned.