Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Countdown to the Grand Opening (3)
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For example, suppose we created a skill called Sword Mastery to represent the swordsmanship prowess of its holder.
A common foot soldier would have Sword Mastery Lv.1, a skilled knight Sword Mastery Lv.5, a royal guard knight Sword Mastery Lv.9, something like that.
In a standard RPG, it's really not that complicated.
You just give numerical bonuses like +10%/+50%/+90% attack power when wielding a sword, spruce it up with flashier effects, and call it a day.
But things get tricky when it's a virtual reality game.
If some neighborhood guard who's just yawning and shuffling around has the exact same sword swings and footwork as a royal guard knight—differentiated only by skill levels—won't that shatter player immersion?
NPCs at least have it easier. You can just craft killer animations for them.
A typical game dev might pop a vein yelling "What bullshit is this?" but we've got Nebula.
Even a major player like Kaedics throws up their hands going "How the hell did you make this???" with zero chance of reverse-engineering it. Oppa himself swears he couldn't replicate it twice—that spaghetti code, that OOPArts AI.
Leveraging its power, we can whip up stuff like "fictional martial arts predicated on mana use" that could never exist in the real world.
But players? That's where it gets messy.
No matter how perfectly Nebula crafts the martial arts, you can't just beam them straight into a player's brain.
Not even Kaedics' army of super lawyers could cover that stunt.
So you might think, "Just don't make skills that quantify martial arts proficiency." And yeah, that idea floated around inside Kaedics more than once.
"Express strength through raw stats like attack or defense power. Why go the hard route?"
But Oppa's stubbornness—who holds near-total authority on game dev—wasn't your garden-variety pigheadedness. No matter what anyone said, he jammed those maddeningly vague elements like "swordsmanship" or "martial arts" right into the system.
And that's exactly why I could go toe-to-toe, blades clashing, with Iris the Reincarnating Saint—the pinnacle of Holy Knight-lineage NPCs in combat tech.
Kaang!
The instant our swords met, my body slid back.
Iris barreled forward like a main battle tank, shield out front. To my eyes, the motion unfolded in slow-mo.
She hadn't actually slowed. My perceived speed had just ramped up.
Oppa's martial arts reproduction project, step one:
"The higher your level and skill levels, the faster your perceived speed becomes relative to your opponent."
I sidestepped her strike with ease and sized up Iris visually.
Red lines like veins lit up all over her body.
As I breezed past, I slashed along the crimson line at her side—like painting with my blade.
Squish! Blood sprayed, and Iris's HP bar dipped slightly overhead.
Oppa's project, step two:
"Compare skill levels in specific areas—the higher side visualizes the lower side's weaknesses. The bigger the gap, the clearer and more numerous the weak points."
Despite the gash in her side, Iris stayed cool as ever, twisting at the waist to lash out with a kick.
It hit my chest like a horse's hoof—sending me tumbling back amid the shock.
No pain, but a scorching heat bloomed in my chest and raced through my body.
The payoff from beating down Oppa's dumb idea of adding pain mechanics for "realism." Who the hell wants to endure actual hurt in a game?
I glanced at my HP bar glowing red in the top-left corner and muttered:
"Blood Festival"
My body moved on its own, disregarding my will. A creepy yet dazzling red effect erupted as I shredded the space ahead.
True to its nature—increasing power with dropping HP—even Iris's shield guard couldn't fully block it. Her bar plummeted.
Oppa's project, step three:
"Trigger an active skill, and your body auto-executes it. Activation condition: utter the skill name."
Normally, players control their characters directly. But for designated skills, the character autonomously performs the preset motion.
Oppa originally envisioned residual images previewing the "required motion," with players mimicking it to activate. But fewer than 10% of testers pulled it off.
Loosening it to "broadly similar motions" topped out at 30%. So it shifted to full auto-activation.
Oppa griped about the realism dip, but a system most players can't use needs fixing.
Default's auto, but manual's an option. Motion lovers will toggle it.
Manual avoids auto's rigid post-delay and predictable patterns—its own perks.
Bet as the game ages and vets multiply, more'll switch to manual.
My one beef: voicing the skill name feels cringy. Mental triggers? Too fiddly for players, prone to unwanted pops.
That's what testing's for—acknowledge valid gripes.
After that, Iris and I scrapped for ages. I snagged a solid 7-3 record.
Only possible 'cause we matched levels and specs. Main game starts me at Lv.1; facing her properly's way off.
"What a delightful time. Goddess—no, Lady Erin. Shame it's the last. Please visit the main game too."
"Sure, no biggie."
I didn't say she'd forget me if I dropped by.
Too harsh, even for an NPC this human-scented.
Why's she so damn friendly to me, though? Polled other players—no special treatment there.
Asked Oppa if he tweaked her settings. Nada.
With the beaming silver-haired beauty seeing me off fondly, I logged out.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Time flew. My status upgraded from high schooler to college student—or salaryman. Kinda a downgrade? Whatever.
Game dev? Smooth sailing.
Post-internal alpha, the beta with outsiders lit a firestorm of hype.
📰 Breaking News Kaedics x Nebula's Ambitious New Title! 'Beyond Elysion' Launch Imminent! 📰 Breaking News New Winds in VR Gaming. A Fantasy Worlds Apart from Anything Before! 📰 Breaking News Beta Tester & Game Expert Y: "This Will Be the Masterpiece of My Life" Sparks Outrage! Hmm... the hype bordered on tacky kitsch at times. Still, overall sentiment skewed positive.
Fans patiently built from Beyond: The Lost Era over years. Word of Kaedics going all-in on a title after two solid hits with Starving Shadow and Dance of the Dragon Sword. Raves from beta players.
Of course, negativity's par for the course.
— Anonymous Too much hype from the jump. Smells like a total flop incoming. — Anonymous Nebula's just some gacha nobody, right? What makes 'em collab material with Kaedics? — Anonymous Heard Kaedics spoon-fed Nebula from day one. Nebula prez is some exec's kid or whatever. — Anonymous Nepo family crap again? Thought they were self-made. Total letdown. — Beta Tester Game's solid otherwise, but monetization's trash. Fuck, you gotta get value for cash spent. Charging up yields jack—effects, looks, pets, housing crap. Feels like they don't even want money. — Anonymous LOL dead on arrival. Good game needs killer BM. Who the fuck botched the monetization like this? Starving Shadow and Dragon Sword Dance nailed it reasonably. — Anonymous That's Nebula's MO. Industry buddy ripped their last game's braindead monetization to shreds. — Anonymous Sigh, hipsters ain't always right. Kaedics needs to rein 'em in. — Anonymous Game's hilarious. Unique skills—only one player gets each. Others just suck it up. ⭐ Top Comment — Anonymous Prediction: One unique-skill godplayer massacres everyone else. — Anonymous Old-school game fantasy vibes. Balance already fucked. — Anonymous ??? For real? Lmao. Unique skills... yeah, can't defend that. But what're ya gonna do when Oppa digs in his heels to the grave?
Kaedics cracked down hard on fabrications and agitators peddling fake "facts." But they didn't try smothering all negativity.
Kaedics could flood the net with positivity if they wanted. Strong-arming just backfires harder.
Besides, no spin needed. The game was plenty enticing on its own.
💬 Player Chatter — Player1 "Whoa, the realism slays. Even blows Dragon Sword Dance outta the water?" — Player2 "NPC quality's nuts. Chatting feels like real convo—straight-up chills." — Player3 "No curse censorship, but yap about 'games' or 'VR' to NPCs? Muted." — Player4 "10k concurrent per server? Player wars viable AF." — Player5 "NPC models fire. Time for 'illusts good, IRL ugly' haters to STFU." — Player6 "Combat's divisive, but hits my tastes. Real enough without grossing out—smart gamification." ⭐ Top Comment — Player7 "Who said monetization's useless? Gukbap's 500 won IRL. 10k charge = 20 bowls in-game. Yummy, zero calories, pure win." Even beta skeptics crying "overhype" and "false ads" sang praises once they played.
Week-one post-launch survey: 60% "very satisfied," 30% "satisfied," rest under 10%.
"Dream achieved—finally satisfied?"
"Not yet. Near 40% didn't say 'very.' Goal's 100% very satisfied."
"Dude. You'd need to wire all brains together or invent hypnosis waves. Some just hate what others love, no reason."
"...90% it is."
Still unrealistic, but effort's admirable.
Those sparkling eyes? No death game jitters.
Bumped security post-ghost scare—no incidents.
Thwarted that damn "original plot" whatever. Time to chill and game.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ About two weeks later.
One month post-official launch.
🚨 EMERGENCY CALL 🚨 "Y-Yes, Lady Ye-rin! Are you there? Nebula's not responding! External commands ignored, power shutdown failing! Director Ryu In-seo—home? Contact him quick! Lady Ye-rin? You there? Lady Ye-rin?!" "─Fuck."
His chest gaped perfectly circular, like scooped clean by a cookie cutter.
A wound no mundane blade could inflict. Oppa's corpse in his own room.
I dropped the phone from my hand.