Fantasy of Galicia Is... Shutting Down... (1)
A full week had already passed since the start of the closed beta.
Se-rin could not suppress the satisfied smile that spread across her face as she held the report card for the world she had created — Fantasy of Galicia.
"……."
Aside from that last article, which grated on her just a little, the coverage was nothing short of glowing praise across the board.
Still, a lingering regret remained.
How on earth had the abbreviation become FoG?
Why did the continent have to be named Galicia, of all things — leaving behind that faintly awkward aftertaste no matter how you said it.
Should she rename it to something like Galicia Saga even now? But then GalSaga made her think of Split Sky and want to murder Matthew, and so on went the spiral of idle thoughts.
Se-rin basked in her satisfaction as she monitored the articles — an act that could, in so many words, be called ego-surfing.
Then something caught her eye.
"Hmm……."
She had found a name she was not particularly fond of.
Park Hyun-woo, game critic.
An industry veteran who had once worked at the same company as her — and someone who primarily left… negative reviews.
But his critiques cut like a blade. His evaluations were as merciless as they were substantive, and he had a habit of objectively pinpointing genuine flaws.
The problem was that being on the receiving end of those pinches hurt like hell.
— Ji-hyun, have you seriously thrown away every last scrap of your pride?
"……Hah."
Se-rin let out a sigh as she recalled their last meeting at a bar — the way he had seized her by the collar and unleashed his fury.
Perhaps his influence had played some small part in her decision to quit a perfectly good company job and start preparing Project A.
Se-rin took a deep breath and opened the article.
We have long borne witness to the death of the MMORPG. A genre that once promised "another world" and kept gamers awake through the night had, at some point, degenerated into little more than a massive homework-checking machine.
Log in every day, mechanically clear your daily quests, submit to the unreasonable collective punishment known as cyber guerrilla warfare, and blindly chase a predetermined meta under the banner of efficiency.
Criticism of the genre right from the opening line.
But then…
Yet in July of 2026, the closed beta test of Fantasy of Galicia (hereafter FoG), presented by Team Galicia, shattered every last scrap of the industry's arrogance and prejudice in a mere two days.
……
……
This horizontal growth structure eliminates the concept of the "discarded player" within the game. Not everyone needs to engage in a gear race to fight bosses on the front lines.
A player lacking combat physicality can abandon combat entirely and devote themselves solely to lifestyle content — and still contribute a full share, or even more.
Rather than forcing players to "become stronger than everyone else," the game asks them: "In this world, what kind of person do you want to live as?"
……
……
NPCs remember the faces of players who have shown them kindness and greet them warmly; they even understand the context of conversations between players and interject of their own accord.
Through such interactions, players can no longer treat NPCs as mere vending machines or punching bags. They begin to mind their own conduct and respect the morals and norms of this virtual society.
This becomes the single most powerful mechanism drawing players into deeper immersion in the world of Galicia.
The very fact that they have implemented dialogue algorithms so meticulously crafted as to feel like speaking with a living person — is that not evidence that humanity has taken one more step toward the singularity?
……
……
"Heheh."
A bright smile bloomed across Se-rin's lips before she even realized it.
Rare praise. The kind of rave review that, out of ten games, only a single one could ever hope to receive.
Of course, some of the compliments — like the ones about "NPC AI" — were a bit of free credit she hadn't entirely earned…
But Se-rin decided, with a touch of shamelessness, to think of it as the fruits of raising my children well.
It wasn't entirely wrong, after all.
In thoroughly excellent spirits, Goddess Se-rin ceased her article monitoring and cast her gaze down upon the mortal realm.
The heroes' range of activity was steadily expanding.
Through about day three, the aftershocks of the world event had still been lingering, and most of them had remained clustered around Pradera, the City of Adventure.
But beyond the routes laid out by the main quest — in search of stronger enemies, better rewards, more beautiful scenery — the heroes had begun to set out on journeys of their own.
Some walked until hunger and thirst overcame them, collapsed on the ground, and died with a pathetic whimper. Others befriended wandering merchant NPCs and traveled the world in relative safety by accompanying their caravans.
The dots that had been concentrated at the center began to spread into lines, and those lines gradually formed a vast surface.
…Of course, there were heroes like Yoo Seol who did nothing but furiously grind dungeons on repeat — but they were a minority by proportion.
"Well, everyone finds their fun in different places."
Either way, it was a rather pleasing sight. The heroes' Devotion stats, and the Faith required to operate the server, were both steadily filling up.
Next time, there would be no need to stick to a closed beta format — an open beta where anyone who wanted could connect would be perfectly fine.
If she felt like it, she could accommodate not a thousand people but ten thousand, or even more, right this moment.
But…
"It has to crash once anyway."
From the start, the closed beta had naturally been scheduled for a wipe. Without a reset, fairness controversies would erupt on a massive scale later on.
But even if they did wipe — what then?
Meeting the same NPCs in the same configurations all over again? Running the same quests along the same routes once more?
Granted, a thousand people was not such a large number in the grand scheme of future plans — but that still wouldn't do. It would feel tedious.
Of course, if she used her divine authority, erasing everything related to the heroes they had met from the NPCs' memories would hardly be difficult.
Even so, Se-rin found she didn't want to do that.
Memories only held meaning when they remained as cherished recollections.
"How shall I bring about the heroes' destruction……."
It was a dreadful mutter — the kind that would have prompted Elisha to ask, Do you not have a human heart…? — and yet Se-rin murmured it with perfect nonchalance. Then, suddenly, something caught her eye.
"……?"
Something strange. Something that should never have been discoverable within the reach of her own authority — only within the Domain of Shadows.
A place quite far from the heart of the continent.
It was not, of course, completely undeveloped land — scattered cities dotted the region, along with villages of modest scale.
One of them was Barugo, a village named after the vast lake that bordered it. Thanks to its distinctive scenery, word of mouth had spread quickly through the community, and it had become a hot spot that heroes sought out one by one.
Wherever people gather in numbers, something inevitably arises.
A market.
In a marketplace that was neither particularly humble nor especially grand — the sort of thing one might call a five-day market in Korean terms — a certain someone was thoroughly enjoying herself.
"Mmhmm…! Delicious! You — will you become my thrall?"
Asile was munching away with a look of pure bliss.
In the Land of Shadows at the continent's edge, neither plants nor animals could grow, and as a demon god she had no real need to eat or drink in the first place.
But her senses were very much alive.
After so long, the absurdly good flavors dancing across her tongue left Asile beaming from ear to ear.
"Oh my, what a peculiar way of speaking for a child. Would you like another?"
"This great one is not a child! I am… I am…!"
Asile bristled at being treated like a kid, ready to snap back — then trailed off mid-sentence.
There was no telling where that wicked bust-monster might extend her surveillance network.
She had deliberately constrained her own power and scrubbed every last residual echo of shadow from her body to maintain her disguise. So long as she did not actively unleash her demonic might, Asile was nothing more than a tiny little girl.
She could not afford to give herself away — not even before these insignificant mortals.
"…Give this great one another!"
"Sure, sure. I'll get you something especially tasty. But what's with those horns? Such a cute accessory."
"Muiii…."
She was simply a tiny little girl who happened to have horns growing from her head.
Fortunately, the person showing Asile kindness simply assumed they were a headband and moved on, pressing another pork skewer into her small hand.
At the words "especially tasty," Asile's head tilted in curiosity.
Then she took a big bite.
"……!"
As delicious as it was, it only measured about eleven to twelve times better than the chicken skewer she had eaten earlier.
"Delishuss…!"
As the juices burst juicily across her mouth, a look of pure happiness painted itself across her entire face of its own accord.
Then she scribbled a note in the mental memo pad of her heart.
The village by the lake… shall be spared….
The most wicked of evil dragons, the utterly ferocious Demon God of Shadows, had made an exceptionally rare decision to bestow her mercy.
Did the villagers know? That if the food had been even slightly less delicious, they never would have survived her demonic clutches…!
"Mmhhehe."
Asile flicked the finished skewer carelessly into the grass with a wicked little laugh.
And the moment she turned around…
"Whoa, is this for real?"
"Mui?!"
What filled Asile's vision were two colossal mounds of flesh.