Goddess Ren's Reluctant Dive
Goddess Ren commanded her apostle and received a magitech terminal as tribute.
The intangible terminal, lifted by the touch of divinity, slipped into the goddess's grasp.
"What manner of device is this?"
Normally, she wouldn't spare a glance at such vulgar contraptions from the mortal realm, but her outrage at the game brazenly using her name—and a spark of curiosity—compelled her to act.
Thud! Thud!
Even slamming it with her fist yielded no response.
"...A defective item, perhaps."
Designed with magical resilience in mind, the terminal's screen shattered into pieces anyway.
Several hours later.
Goddess Ren hurled the wreckage of her fifth terminal aside and snatched the sixth from her apostle.
After enduring a torrent of lectures from him on how to use it, she finally managed to activate the device properly.
"...To dare inflict such humiliation upon me."
The game had done nothing wrong, and the scolding from her apostle was well-deserved, but the goddess muttered a half-hearted blame at the game before launching the downloaded program.
Whirr.
Black screen with white text and logo fade.
Flash!
The power of dreams enveloped her.
"This is..."
Her vision shifted in an instant, startling the goddess as she scanned her surroundings.
360 degrees.
Every direction—up, down, left, right—plunged into pitch-black darkness.
"Virtual reality..."
To perfectly deceive a god's senses with nothing more than a program from a magitech terminal—this was a mystery beyond mere illusion or fantasy magic.
The touch of a constellation. Or an apostle.
"A fellow constellation dares use my name without permission..."
Infuriating.
She'd give them a solid knock on the head...
Beyond the enveloping darkness,
countless points of light began to emerge one by one.
A vast cosmos.
Astronomical numbers of stars flickered into view beyond.
A breathtaking cosmic vista even she, as a constellation, had never witnessed.
Captivated by the mesmerizing scene surpassing any night sky,
the goddess was entranced.
"Let's see a bit more."
If she willed it and unleashed her divinity, the dream's power would shatter instantly—but she chose to observe quietly.
Please tell us your name.
A sudden question popped up.
Her name?
As she opened her mouth to reply, the goddess closed it again.
She couldn't use her true name in a game.
Even if her true name was widely known as a famous constellation, a god's name carried inherent power—it was not to be used lightly.
"Wendy."
She uttered the first name that came to mind, and the screen responded.
This is the Akashic Archive.
The repository of all heroic sagas in the world.
"Akashic Archive?"
The goddess unconsciously echoed the white text and accompanying narration voice.
It contains the souls and spirits of countless heroes who saved the world.
You are the successor to the previous Archive Keeper, a candidate for the new one.
Whirr.
Her surroundings spun once around her.
As her blurred vision cleared, a hazy pair of nude man and woman floated there, eyes closed, barely visible.
Are you male or female?
-Select-
Male
Female
A holographic selection screen materialized in the air alongside the question.
It seemed to be for choosing the protagonist avatar.
Ren naturally reached for the female option.
Just as she was about to press it,
It's virtual anyway—does it have to match reality exactly?
The sudden thought made her hand veer sideways.
Ding!
Wendy, you will experience countless sagas recorded in the Akashic Archive.
May the constellations' light shine upon you.
May your saga reach the ideal.
The moment she pressed the male button, the goddess's mind was sucked into the character.
The screen went black.
"Wendy."
Someone called her name.
"Wendy, awaken."
"...Mm."
Her avatar stirred against her will and opened its eyes.
"You're awake, Wendy."
Her vision, filled with white light, revealed a handsome young black-haired man in his late teens.
The goddess turned her head to survey the surroundings.
A colossal library of thousands of bookshelves crammed with tomes.
The vast space could house dozens of imperial capitals, yet only she and the man before her occupied it.
"Nervous about your first test day? Did you stay up all night?"
The man reached into the air.
Whoosh.
A book floated from the shelf into his hand.
"That doesn't mean I'll go easy. This trial is to see if you're fit to succeed me as Keeper of the Akashic Archive."
He opened the book.
"Here's your first test. This book holds the tale of a hero who defended the nation from abyssal monsters. This great saga endures, symbolizing the virtue of sacrifice deep in countless hearts."
He flung the book into the air, and its pages flipped rapidly in midair.
"But recently, abyssal forces invaded the Archive, corroding parts of the story. Your task is to purge the abyss and restore the saga."
His gaze met hers.
"Let's begin the test."
Thud.
He closed the book.
A burst of light flooded her vision.
Boom! Boom!
Harsh explosions and shockwaves hurled her body backward.
"What?!"
As the white light faded, her vision cleared to a pitch-black battlefield reeking of iron and blood.
She had become a soldier standing amid the chaos.
-Kieeeek! "Die! Die!" "Gaaah, my arm!" Crunch! Crunch!
The field rang with screams and monstrous howls.
Hideous otherworldly beasts clashed fiercely with soldiers everywhere.
"Those monsters..."
Her eyes widened.
The creatures swarming around her.
Familiar.
How could they not be?
They were the exact otherworldly fiends she'd fought in her human days.
-Kieeeek!
!!!
Suddenly, a monster lunged from behind, pouncing on her.
Damn! I was distracted and didn't notice it approaching!
She was no longer a god armed with mighty powers—just an ordinary soldier.
No strength to fling off the massive beast pinning her down.
As its razor claws and fangs tore into her avatar,
Bang!
A flying sword beam cleaved the monster in half.
Crunch.
"You alright there?!"
Bathed in the monster's green blood, beyond her vision,
the goddess beheld her.
A woman in radiant armor, shining even in the dark battlefield.
The hero Knight Ren, who saved the kingdom through sacrifice.
Her form from her previous life,
ascended to constellation after death by popular acclaim.
Day 2 after launch.
Concurrent users, tallied via the system, had already surpassed 100,000.
Word of mouth must have spread—logins were skyrocketing.
Settlement balances were piercing the heavens.
"I'm still hungry."
Even in this fantasy world, magitech was so advanced that even commoners owned a magitech terminal.
With most of the continent as potential customers, there was still a long way to go.
I scrolled through communities on my terminal, gauging public sentiment.
As a VR game, most reactions were awestruck by the experience.
Notably, beyond the game itself, there was huge praise for the first episode's protagonist—Knight Ren from Episode 0.
Despite being an in-game NPC, the hyper-real immersion had players deeply moved by Knight Ren.
Naturally, pulls for the first limited pickup character, [Knight Ren], were pouring in.
"Good thing."
In gacha games, the drive to pull characters stems from performance and appeal.
Performance ties into inflation and value preservation—can't tweak lightly—but appeal is fair game, crucial for making players invested.
Especially with the gap system, I could sell separate versions: [Swimsuit Ren], [Christmas Ren], [Fallen Ren], [Constellation Ren].
Picking the continent-famous [Hero Ren] story for the debut was spot on.
A heroic tale locals would love, widely spread via hagiographies—it hit big.
...But why no mentions of the Archive Keeper?
The tutorial NPC mentoring the player/protagonist, previous Keeper of the Akashic Archive.
Based on my past life's face, polished up a bit.
I made him hoping my old self looked kinda cool... but zero mentions.
Everyone ignored the Keeper, obsessed with Knight Ren.
This stings a little.
Should I beef up the Keeper's role?
I toyed with the Episode 1 storyboard, then shook my head.
No.
Developer self-insert, Mary Sue—ruins games.
With my life, the constellations', no—new gods' fates on the line, no room for that.
Ding!
The Dream Storyteller shouts: Big trouble! Big trouble!
Big trouble?
The Dream Storyteller urgently cries: Constellation Ren has barged in!
!!!!
Knight Ren's real-life counterpart, Constellation Ren.
She's shown up at the Dream Storyteller's? No way. The slothful constellation famed for inaction?
Constellation [Sacrifice who Overcame Sloth], true name [Ren]—one of the continent's Seven Virtues heroes, elevated post-mortem. Most inactive among constellations, yet a major deity via childhood hagiographies.
Perfect story fodder, and I figured she'd never act... but she's already visiting? On day two?
A server-shutdown crisis might hit sooner than expected.