Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Hero's Guarantee
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I'd poured nearly two months into creating Maple Leaf Tale.
The goal was to recreate the fundamental era of Victoria Island from before the Big Bang patch.
Building the monsters' stats and balance, the map structures—none of that posed a major problem.
Not everything came back to me perfectly, but for someone who'd devoted almost their entire life to the game, it was more than doable.
The real issue lay elsewhere.
Like the story and the NPCs.
I had to set up every little detail of the main storyline, the NPCs' designs, their dialogue.
For someone with no artistic sense like me, it was pretty tough.
"Hitting a snag in the most unexpected place... Ha..."
"What're you up to, little bro? Need big sis to lend a hand?"
"No... I'm busy. Ah, wait. Medea. How long did you say you'd been working at the theater troupe?"
"About... five years now?"
She was Medea, who worked part-time at the theater troupe.
She could handle multiple roles using clones, and she knew how to do makeup herself.
"Then, could you help with this...?"
And so, I started getting help from Medea and a few senior part-timers from the troupe.
I handed over the NPCs' dialogue and designs to them.
Who knew theater experience would come in handy like this? Nothing useless in life, after all.
"All done!"
Two months and a week later.
The creation of the Maple Leaf Tale illusion magic artifact was complete.
To make it special, I'd even shaped the artifact like a maple leaf.
Just looking at it made my heart race.
Playing it myself, I'd perfectly recreated that old feeling.
Actually living and breathing inside the game as I played felt incomparable to staring at a monitor screen.
This was definitely going to work.
"Now I just need to find investors..."
Show them this prototype and secure funding. That was my plan for now.
Mana stones were consumed way more than expected, so what I'd implemented so far only went up to the first job advancements.
Starting as a beginner and covering the four first-job quests on Victoria Island: warrior, magician, archer, and thief.
To go beyond that, I'd need a lot more mana stones.
"Haa... Why isn't anyone replying?"
"Mm... Rye, not going well?"
"It's finished. I selected some investors and sent letters, but no one's replying."
"W-well, of course no one would invest in us..."
"Is that obvious... Yeah, it probably is..."
Hina approached me as I slumped in defeat.
She'd been sulking for a while after I'd used up the tower's mana stones without permission.
Two months had passed, so her anger seemed to have cooled a bit.
Or maybe she pitied me enough to talk.
"...Want to give it a try, Tower Master? It's only up to first job advancement, but it's perfect up to there."
"First job advancement?"
"Yeah. Think of it as evaluating your disciple's magic. Here."
I placed the maple leaf-shaped artifact in her hand.
In a way, I'd used the mana stones without her permission, so letting her play first made sense.
Better late than never—it'd surely smooth things over with Hina.
And an hour later.
"R-R-R-Rye...!"
"Oh. You're out already?"
"Wh-what's next? I became a thief, and it ended...!"
"You already did your first job advancement? You're fast. Mana stones ran out, so that's as far as I got."
"U-uwaaa...! Nooo..."
She did all that in just an hour.
Not impossible, but definitely fast for a total beginner.
Plus, you had to move around in real life, so it took twice as long as on a computer.
"H-hurry, find an investor...! Q-quickly!"
"Isn't that usually the Tower Master's job?"
Hina was excited, speaking faster than usual.
The game must've hooked her.
If it worked on her, it should work on people in this world too.
Maybe they just needed to try it themselves to invest?
"If someone just tried it once, they'd invest... The problem is they won't even meet me."
I'd already visited the merchant guilds around Trinity.
"Please invest in our magic!" But once they saw it was illusion magic, they chased me out.
There were other investors besides guilds, but guild-level or national ones were impossible to approach.
They had strict procedures and conditions.
For us without proper track record or experience, no chance.
"Argh, screw it. I'm heading out!"
"F-find an investor, no matter what!"
Screw it. My life's already on the streets anyway.
Might as well wander and beg for investment.
Famous people all started from the bottom.
Couldn't fall lower than this.
Trinity had plenty of tycoons living there—maybe some individual investor would bite.
"Get lost!"
"Ugh!"
Splat.
But was my reality different?
People wouldn't even listen to an illusion mage like me.
Desperate, I grabbed one guy, but all I got was a kick.
"Ow ow... That hurts."
If only I had a spell for times like this.
I could use illusion to trick my senses and numb the pain.
Pointless, though.
"Hey, what's this? If it isn't the next Illusion Tower Master? Heh heh heh."
"...?"
As I sat there dazed, Haster from the fire magic school showed up.
"Looking for investors? Pfft! Hah hah ha..."
He read the sign I'd prepared and burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
It pissed me off, but engaging would just be a hassle, so I picked up my sign and moved.
"Hey. Where you going?"
Haster suddenly got serious and grabbed my shoulder.
"I'm talking to you... What if I invest?"
"This isn't something a few coins will cover."
I shrugged off his hand and kept walking.
But this time, he rushed ahead and blocked me.
"Hah... Damn illusion tower punks. Show me what amazing thing you made~ How do you know our tower won't make a charitable donation?"
Haster reached for the Maple Leaf Tale artifact.
I immediately clutched it to my chest to keep it from him.
"I didn't make this for someone like you to use."
"...Fuck. What'd you say?"
Haster's eyes narrowed at my words, flames igniting in his hand.
"You know what happens if you use unauthorized magic inside Trinity, right?"
"Right, right. No magic. Then let's throw some punches."
Thud- smack- pow-
Haster started beating me.
I tried to fight back, but someone who'd never fought—not even in my past life—couldn't beat him.
All I could do was hug the artifact and curl up.
"Haa... Fucking bug bastards."
After beating me for a good while, Haster left.
People's gazes on the curled-up illusion mage getting pummeled varied.
Mockery, contempt, sneers, disdain, and very rarely, pity.
That was how illusion mages were treated in this world.
"Ow ow... Gotta block that guy's access when it's officially released."
Still, I had to find an investor somehow.
I set up in a new spot and sat for hours.
Of course, no one showed interest.
As I was about to call it a day and head back.
"A completely new adventure awaits, you say. Is that true?"
Some buff old man appeared and took interest.
He didn't look like a tycoon with deep pockets.
But since he was the first, I explained earnestly and took him to the tower to play.
And now, as the old man finished playing and woke up.
"You cut it off right after I finally hit first job advancement! I haven't even tried warrior skills yet, hooook!"
The old man was hooked on the game like Hina.
He was furious at the cutoff.
"Uwooooooo!!"
Rumble-
"W-wait! Calm down! The tower's gonna collapse!"
He pounded his chest like a gorilla, shaking the ground.
Magic? The old man's muscles already seemed suspicious.
"Huuu... Sorry about that. I lost my composure."
"N-no, it's fine. Truth is, we're seeking investment to make the rest. It's a costly artifact, and as you can see, we're—"
I glanced at our crumbling tower.
The old man nodded as if he understood.
"...Never expected the illusion magic school to pull off something like this. Impressive. Are you the Tower Master?"
"Not the Tower Master. The youngest. But my attribute constitution is Illusion S-rank."
"Hm."
The old man gazed at me with deep eyes.
An immense pressure hit me.
He swallowed thoughtfully and nodded slowly.
"...Good attitude. Very good. I'll invest."
"Pardon? But this won't cover it with pocket change. To make it to the level I have in mind, at least..."
"What level do you have in mind?"
"At least for mana stones, one..."
"No. I'm not talking money. This Maple Leaf Tale. How far can you take it?"
"Ah, that? It'll keep updating, but initially... max level 200, plus six more regions beyond Victoria Island. New jobs will release with new areas over time..."
"Max level 200, you said?!"
"Y-yes... For now."
For now, just adventurer jobs, up to Osiris Continent including Ellas Mountains, Mirar Forest, Ludibrium, etc.
Then updates with Lignus Knights characters.
"I'll invest! Start now! A week enough?"
"Y-yes? No way in a week. It took two months just for this. And to finish everything, the money..."
"What! Making me wait that long?!"
Rumble rumble-
The ground shook again.
Just from yelling, the earth and air trembled.
What the hell is this old man?
"W-wait, calm down. That's not the point. Anyway, we need a ton of money. Just to get there..."
I calmed the old man and pulled out a calculator, showing the required amount.
An astronomical sum. Even I thought it was ridiculous.
Show him this, and he'd back off.
Too bad he wasn't an investor, but I was glad this old man tried my game.
"Anyway, it's tough right now. Won't work with average investors... It'll take time."
"...If I invest right now, how long?"
"Well, starting tomorrow... about a year, I think. I'm more used to it now."
The old man stood with a crack from his knees.
Figured the amount cooled him off.
"...Half a year. No more than that."
"Pardon?"
With that, the old man left the tower.
Back to square one on investors.
And the next morning.
As I was about to leave to search again.
Knock knock-
Someone knocked on the Illusion Tower's door.
First time since I arrived that someone knocked.
"...Huh?"
It was that old man from yesterday.
He held a single sheet of paper.
He placed it in my hand and said,
"That's the amount we discussed. Make Maple Leaf Tale in half a year. Take it to Trinity Central Bank—they'll give you the money. I'll come back in six months."
With that, the old man left.
"Guaranteed check... Guarantor: Galliard? What the heck."
Galliard seemed to be the old man's name.
But seriously, where would a grandpa have that much money?
Must be senile.
Still, it felt good for a second. I tossed the scrap paper in the trash and headed out again.
...If that was the end, none of this would've happened.
"What's this, Rye? One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... Hieeek!"
"Some old guy gave it to me as investment money. The one I mentioned yesterday. Name's Galliard—probably senile. A guaranteed check out of nowhere. Like a grandpa has that much cash... Probably a prank."
"Y-you mean Galliard?!"
Rain snatched the check I'd tossed to throw away.
Hearing the name Galliard, her hand trembled as she held it.
"G-Galliard is the hero! The one who saved the world back then! Of course he'd have this much money!"
"What?!"
That was the moment the Illusion Tower's future changed.