Saintess Kate
-Waaah!
-Save our Orpheus oppa!
-Oh... O-oppa!!
-Wuu, Baby's so sad she's crying...
I checked the community reactions popping up after players cleared the story.
Even though he was a villain character, the players had empathized with Orpheus just as I'd intended.
Constellation [Magus Engulfed in Rage], true name Ian Kaliuga.
In reality, he had been childhood friends with Saintess Cartesia back when she was Kate.
But family conflicts drove them apart, and due to the magitech engineer's mistake, Kate lost her life.
With the single-minded goal of reviving her, the magitech engineer devoted himself to magitech, ultimately transcending to become a constellation.
The execution scene midway through, the havoc wreaked by the rampaging magitech engineer's father, and Orpheus's villainous deeds were fictional elements I'd added to heighten the drama.
Unlike with [Sacrifice who Overcame Sloth], I didn't need to stick strictly to real history here, so I added some variations.
Thanks to that, players were able to immerse themselves in Orpheus's tragic narrative.
Of course, there were a tiny few who didn't feel that way.
A handful were pouring out harsh criticism, unhappy with the story for whatever reason.
Maybe because I set Orpheus as a villain to deliver shock value through the character, quite a few hated him for his atrocities.
I couldn't deny it.
In truth, Orpheus was a villain who didn't care how many others he sacrificed as long as it was for Kate.
Still, there was a reason I'd cast the constellation [Magus Engulfed in Rage] as the villain in this Orpheus tale.
Villains are more effective for delivering twists and emotional impact than good guys.
It's more memorable for a guy who's done nothing but evil to make one final sacrifice at the end than for a good guy to sacrifice hundreds of times.
Having the villain you've opposed throughout the story complete their redemption in the final battle works best.
In fact, players had built up resentment toward Orpheus from being tormented by him all throughout Act 1's story, so entering his mental world made his arc hit even harder.
"Glorification of villains and their evil deeds..."
I hadn't considered that angle.
Given the nature of a villain's story, it was tricky to handle.
You can't satisfy every player. Some will always feel uncomfortable with a villain taking center stage in the main narrative. That's just how it is.
It's criticism I have to accept as the one who made Orpheus a villain.
But through this feedback, my next story can evolve in a better direction.
There were also those who found the villain-centric narrative boring since it wasn't protagonist-focused.
I could empathize to some extent.
The entity players empathize with is the game's protagonist: the Candidate Archivist.
But in this Act 1, Orpheus had more screentime than the Candidate Archivist.
Especially with the forced loss events during the mental world entry and boss fight, some were questioning if they were actually playing or just watching cutscenes.
"I overlooked this part."
I jotted down notes about protagonist screentime in my memo pad.
For true satisfaction, players need to utilize the characters they've pulled and the Abyss Essences they've gathered—but we fell short there.
It was a problem caused by focusing too much on the magitech engineer's story about her.
I also compiled other complaints: the messy early backstory and exposition, confusing proper nouns that hindered understanding.
"The next story will be different."
Today's problems won't repeat tomorrow.
My game's story evolves with every moment.
The very next day,
I released a new pickup character.
Concurrent users broke past 300k, and the revenue graph shattered its peak.
I couldn't stop the grin creeping across my face.
[Dream Storyteller] is waving her short arms excitedly in joy!
"Tell me if there's any food you want. I'll have it delivered right away."
I'd built a temple for the constellation near the academy.
Couldn't make it too grand per her orders to keep it simple, but with the game's revenue, treating her to a feast delivery was no problem.
[Saintess Kate]
[Knight Ren]'s pickup hadn't even ended yet, but this new pickup character was created to honor my promise to the magitech engineer by etching her into players' minds.
I'd have loved to pull out Orpheus, the narrative's protagonist, but releasing a dead character felt off, and it was too soon to drop a villain anyway.
"Save her for later as a cheat key."
Plan to use her to quell unrest if operations stir up backlash.
Players were in full festival mode over the new [Saintess Kate] character.
Guess this fulfills the promise.
The magitech engineer wanted the continent's people to recognize Saintess Kate, his real-life lover.
No idea if he plans to revive her through that recognition, but at least that goal's solidly achieved.
Reset marathon, shortened to "reresma."
Refers to repeatedly deleting and restarting accounts until you pull the desired character.
This world had no gacha games—just primitive early-era stuff—so the concept was unknown at first.
But suddenly, deleting accounts until your fave appears became widespread.
And the term came straight from Orpheus's saga: [Ostinato].
Players looping regressions endlessly until they snag their waifu.
Part of me wants to block it since it'd all be revenue, but stopping player Ostinato could mean denying Orpheus's story outright.
Ruining the narrative and dopamine hits I'd crafted? No way.
[Dream Storyteller] is tilting her head, asking if we can't just let it slide this once.
After agonizing over it, the constellation whispered to me.
I decided to hold off on their antics for now.
At least spare the ones rerolling on their own accounts.
↳ He's a dude
↳↳ I know
↳↳↳???
"......"
The community had more weird pervs than expected, so some interpretations veered off wildly from intent.
But most shed tears over Saintess and Orpheus's saga.
Even young couples and older married folks were playing "Ian and Kate" in real life—proof Earth's game stories were hitting home here.
"Hope things work out for the magitech engineer too."
He collaborated on my game solely to revive Kate.
Now the whole continent's weeping over him and Kate's love—if it fails in reality, it'd be the ultimate tragedy.
I hoped this tale wouldn't end as just a dream.
May the tragic love unfulfilled in-game find a happy ending in the real world.
A remote corner of the Divine Realm
[Hi? What's your name?]
[Let's play again like today]
[You look like a cute frog]
[I'm a saintess, protecting people and guiding them right]
[Sorry, Ian]
[Farewell... my frog prince]
Divinity born from countless people's cognition gathered.
A departed soul, annihilated beyond revival without time reversal.
Unified faith in that lost soul manifested into reality.
Puuwaaang
A divine woman opened her eyes from within.