The Magitech Engineer's Burning Request
In a corner of the Divine Realm, a bespectacled man gripped by rage fiddled with a device's lever.
Click.
Hiss...
Thick plumes of smoke billowed from the machine in the dim room.
Vreeeeee—
With a deafening whine, divinity surged through the device, activating it... only for it to sputter.
Vree...
Boom!
Something inside malfunctioned, erupting in a burst of black smoke.
Crash!
"...Damn it all!"
The man, who had shielded the surroundings with his divinity, slammed his fist on the desk.
"Another failure!"
Unable to contain his fury, he kicked the device. Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Why! Why won't it work! I fixed everything!"
After venting his rage for a while, he suddenly clutched his head.
Again.
This blinding rage filled his mind once more.
This unnaturally rapid fury clouded his reason.
When he should have been calmly advancing his research, he was wasting energy on pointless anger, destroying a perfectly good device.
Gritting his teeth against the throbbing headache, the man flung open the lab door and stepped outside.
He figured a breath of fresh air would calm the storm, letting him resume his work.
A cool breeze enveloped him as he emerged.
After holing up tinkering with gadgets, gulping down the outdoor air cleared his head a bit.
"...Hm?"
Strolling the streets of the Divine Realm, he spotted a cluster of deities gathered around a signboard.
These pompous gods, strutting about with their divine dignity, clustering like that? It was an odd sight.
Intrigued, the man approached the group.
We're looking for someone to be the protagonist of [Akashic Archive]!
The sign in the center bore childish, wobbly handwriting.
It was a call for constellations to star in a game currently running on the mortal plane.
"That slothful one appeared as the protagonist in that game and got an amplification of her divinity."
"Yeah. She led one episode as the main character. Seems the perception in the game boosted her big time."
"I thought it was just a lowly mortal toy, clowning around for their amusement, but it caused this much divinity flow?"
The man tuned into their chatter.
"Can't get exact figures, but estimating from mentions of faith and divinity flow, her total haul over the last seven days has likely surpassed Blessing."
"As I recall, Sloth was from the 7 Heroes, symbolizing sacrifice, so she already drew plenty of divinity."
"Even so, she ranked at the bottom of the top ten constellations. Less than a tenth of what top dog Blessing raked in."
"Whoa... that bad?"
...The bottom-feeder Sloth, scraping by at around tenth place, overtook former number one Blessing in a week.
The man stroked his chin.
Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth hadn't done much lately, holing up like a hermit, but her epic saga's popularity kept her in the upper ranks.
Still, tenth place was tenth. Laughably short of first.
For her to rocket to the top in a week...
"So, just participate in this game production, and you can become like Sloth?"
To constellations, divinity was life and power itself.
Boosting intake through stronger worship and faith drew every god's interest.
"Don't be ridiculous. How would you know what image this game company paints you in? Sloth got a cool, positive portrayal, but you could end up damaging your divine authority."
Authority was key to sustaining worship.
If they became unworthy of reverence and lost it, their faith could crumble, leading to downfall.
"...True. Sigh. Tempting as hell, but too risky."
For gods facing oblivion from divinity depletion, it was a life-or-death gamble.
"Ho ho. So everyone's too scared, huh."
The deities turned at the man's mutter, buzzing in surprise.
"Wr, Wrath?"
"What are you doing out here?"
Spotting him, they recoiled in shock.
"What? Can't I step outside?"
He adjusted his glasses, eyeing their fear.
The irritation that had flooded his mind moments ago was gone.
Joy at finding a breakthrough in his stalled research filled the void.
"If you lot won't..."
Euphoria at a new path to reach her curved his lips.
"I'll do it."
* * *
[The Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] says he wants to do a job with you.
Seeing the identity of the constellation messaging me through the chat window, I couldn't help but be stunned.
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage].
The Raipania Continent teemed with constellations worshipped as gods.
Among them, the most renowned—those recognized by the masses with hordes of followers—were the 7 Heroes, 3 Sages, and 5 Lords.
Heroes like Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth—Ren—who left massive legacies for the continent or their groups were the 7 Heroes.
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the 7 Heroes as one of the 3 Sages.
Like Goddess Ren, he was infamous for rarely venturing out or meddling in mortal affairs.
Even though he was the god of magitech, revered by every engineer on the continent.
Never imagined he'd be my first customer...
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] says it's fine to use his story freely.
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] permits you to portray him as a villain or ally at your discretion.
Freely usable? Even his human-era image?
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] says there's just one condition.
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] asks you to imprint one human in the minds of everyone on the continent.
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] says that's his condition.
"That alone... is enough?"
Just imprint one person's image.
No sweat at all.
Compared to freely using a constellation's life story, it was nothing.
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] says he hopes there are no negative aspects to that woman's image.
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] adds that his own image doesn't matter—on second thought, villain role might be better.
A woman, huh.
Come to think of it, the magitech engineer...
So that's how it was.
"Understood. No problem. ...Could you tell me about that lady?"
I'd half-guessed already.
After all,
[Magitech Engineer Steeped in Rage] wistfully recalls the past: she was a kind-hearted, fragile yet resolute fool who couldn't tolerate injustice and worried more for others than herself.
He was famous as the god of pure love, pouring all his divinity and lifespan into reviving one woman since ascending.
* * *
[Developer Mode Activated]
Ending the call with the magitech engineer, I logged into the [Akashic Archive].
Time to craft the episode as promised.
"The magitech engineer's beloved... huh."
The tragic romantic, the magitech engineer.
His tale was legendary across the continent.
A prodigy in magitech from childhood, his genius brain earned him "child genius" whispers. He invented armored golems, magitech generators, mana drills, and more, elevating continental magitech by leaps.
'No magitech engineer surpassing him will ever be born in continental history.'
That summed up the pinnacle of magitech, standing as a 3 Sages alongside the gods of magic and alchemy.
His feats, still praised by scholars, were ahead of their time. Even after ascending, he relentlessly researched and innovated—the god of magitech incarnate.
Yet even he couldn't protect one person.
His childhood friend, Kate.
"Imprint her deeply in everyone's minds," he'd said.
But with zero negative traits.
Why that request?
Planning to use continental perception to revive her via recognition?
...No clue.
Magitech was beyond me.
How could I grasp a god's thinking? Especially the continent's top genius from his human days.
My job: Craft a game episode satisfying his conditions, packed with that sweet dopamine hit.
Gacha character-collection games—subculture staples—relied on killer elements: alluring character designs, tight plots, perfect character placement, lingering narratives and direction, avant-garde music, etc.
But it all boiled down to one thing driving immersion, affection, and pulls.
Dopamine rush.
Whether character or story, the key was that euphoric high players craved.
Essential for my first story too.
Inventor and childhood friend romance.
What dopamine could I pull from that?
I recalled gacha games from my past life that tugged my heart.
One villain character's arc flashed by.
"This is the most selfish thing one person could do..."
Perfect motif for the magitech engineer's story. Nothing better.