Absolutely Not the Open Source!
Anything but the open source! What kind of company torpedoes itself on purpose?!
5555's pushback was only natural.
But at that very moment, Ragna's mind caught fire from Ryu Hwi's words open source — and a brand-new idea sparked to life.
"Um... what if we made it into a system instead?"
The discussion was in full swing inside Jucheongwang's development room, and at Ragna's remark, everyone turned to stare at her, wondering what on earth she meant.
"I don't know the reason why, but the CEO wants to develop and spread game labyrinths built on Yggdrasil 2.0 as fast as possible, right?"
Ryu Hwi nodded.
"And 5555, obviously, thinks open source is insane if you care about the company's profits."
This time 5555 nodded.
"So what if we built a way to spread the source *and* keep a reasonable margin? For example..."
Bisque and Noir, meanwhile, wore the expressions of people watching a familiar show begin again. Bisque heaved a sigh and addressed Ryu Hwi and 5555.
"Both of you, take it from me — Ragna says stuff that makes zero sense sometimes. It also sounds weirdly plausible, which is the problem."
Noir followed up with a wry smile.
"To put it kindly, she comes up with brilliant ideas. To put it less kindly, they're brilliant — but are they actually doable?"
What kind of idea could possibly earn that kind of reaction? Ryu Hwi and 5555 waited for Ragna to continue.
"What if we modularized the source code and the development environment we use here at Jucheongwang, and sold it as some kind of game labyrinth creation tool?"
A game labyrinth creation tool.
Noir and Bisque exchanged the same tired, knowing smirk — here we go again.
"If we sold that to game development studios for a set fee, wouldn't that generate profit while spreading the system?"
"Uh, Ragna? Every studio has a completely different dev environment and tooling. How exactly do you plan to sell that?"
It was true that Jucheongwang's development environment and toolset were on another level entirely. The fact that 5555 had built all of it alone was frankly staggering.
But applying that system to other studios was a different matter. It would be like the languages were all different, and you were claiming you'd merge them into one.
"Sounds fine to me."
Ryu Hwi's eyes gleamed.
"Wait, wait — this isn't something you can just wave through! How are we supposed to develop a tool like that?! 5555, say something, come on—"
"Idea approved!"
Bisque's mouth snapped shut. 5555, her mask flipped back on, pumped her fist in excitement.
"I asked if it was even possible..."
Bisque buried her face in both hands.
Work here long enough, and it seemed every ounce of common sense simply stopped mattering.
"If it stayed a pipe dream, who knows. But if it actually works? That could be a lot of fun."
The moment it became clear that Ragna's idea was genuinely possible, Noir's interest sharpened too.
"Leave the sales pitch to me. I'll show you the power of a Gold rank!"
"Weren't you the one usually telling me to slow down? Why are you suddenly so fired up?"
Bisque's head was starting to ache again. Nobody at Jucheongwang ever listened to her.
And so Jucheongwang shelved its own game development and built JYS first.
The base source was encrypted so no one could pick it apart, while the design allowed every module to be used instantly on the fly — no decryption required. With a unified production environment and cross-compatible labyrinth creation as its goal, the game labyrinth development tool JYS was complete.
Noir mobilized her connections and pitched JYS to studio after studio. Such was the sheer power of Noir's 'network' that studios who would normally have been suspicious from the first word instead took a genuine interest in Jucheongwang's system.
Once they released a sample version letting developers test a portion of it firsthand, inquiries came flooding in. Most studios were still sweating blood just trying to lay a foundation worthy of 'Yggdrasil 2.0' — and they'd realized that with JYS, that effort could be slashed to a fraction.
"Whew. I gave it my all."
Noir sprawled across the sofa, kneading her own shoulders, and Bisque clicked her tongue.
This is why connections are terrifying.
That day, the president of 763 Soft came calling at Jucheongwang. Ryu Hwi met him in the reception room alongside Wolya — and couldn't help feeling a flicker of puzzlement. The face looked familiar. Where had he seen it before?
"Hello. I'm Seoju, president of 763. I used to game as well, back then — under the name 'Jangsanbeom.' Feel free to call me whatever's comfortable."
Jangsanbeom?
[Have you already forgotten, Master? The gamer you saved on the 10th floor of the Tower of the Demon God?]
"Oh."
"Thank you. Truly — for that day."
Only then did Ryu Hwi place him.
"If you hadn't stepped in, I'd be dead. I've been wanting to thank you properly ever since."
"Forget it. I wasn't trying to save anyone in particular."
"Hahaha. Then allow me to thank you properly some other time. Today I'm here strictly as the president of a business partner."
For once, Wolya — in her unremarkable boy-prosthetic frame — jabbed him in the ribs.
"This is when you sell the favor, lad. Why are you just letting it slide? A chance to start negotiations from a winning position, squandered."
"What, am I supposed to say 'I saved your life, so hand over your spleen and your liver'?"
"It's a manner of speaking, tsk."
Truthfully, if Ryu Hwi were the type to keep score like that, he'd have demanded payment up front before ever saving Jangsanbeom at all.
Jangsanbeom watched the two of them whispering back and forth with a baffled look on his face. Wolya cleared her throat a couple of times and got straight to business.
"So — 763 is interested in our JYS, was it?"
"Yes. As you know, 763 succeeded in producing a 2.0-based game labyrinth, but 2.0 demands an enormous amount of work, doesn't it? Ah — this is the labyrinth we just finished."
Jangsanbeom transmitted data to both of their SEEDs.
The Druid's Tower. A small-scale labyrinth built around exploring a tower. The inspiration was probably the Demon God's Tower from World of Phantasm.
'So no skills or items worth pulling here.'
The Druid's Tower was a labyrinth that relied not on skills or gear, but on a gamer's raw physical play and split-second judgment. It was without question a fun game — but from Ryu Hwi's perspective, it was just 'a labyrinth with nothing worth drawing from a Random Box.'
[Classifying game labyrinths by their gacha value. Tsk tsk. Master really is a trash heap of desire... a human, after all.]
'And whose fault is that?!'
He didn't want to be judging games by standards like these.
"763 is still small, so building 2.0-compatible source takes us ages, and we can't express everything we want to. So..."
"You mean if you use our Jucheongwang Yggdrasil system — JYS — you cut development time by that much, and use the time you save to build what you actually wanted to build in the first place."
At Wolya's words, Jangsanbeom nodded.
"Honestly, I was floored. Modularizing all the source needed for labyrinth production and packaging it into a creation tool — who even does that? Truly fitting for Jucheongwang, the ones leading the era."
"I'd call that flattery, but... well, hearing praise for our product does honestly feel nice. So am I to take it that you intend to sign a contract with Jucheongwang?"
Wolya had chosen 763 as JYS's first trade partner. A studio that had only just opened its doors — and had already produced a 2.0-based labyrinth. She'd judged that the potential there was exactly that deep.
"Yes — but first, please take a look at this. The reason we want a contract with Jucheongwang is that we lack the technical power to build this labyrinth."
Jangsanbeom sent over more data. Ryu Hwi and Wolya received it through their SEEDs and checked the contents.
"A space combat flight simulator?"
Soaring through the vastness of space, trading furious, blood-pounding dogfights with waves upon waves of enemy ships. A spectacular sight. Properly realized, it would make a magnificent game labyrinth.
The problem was...
Could that even be pulled from a Random Box?
[SSR could render it, sure. But to properly control an environment like that, you'd need a 'system' skill as well, eight times out of ten. Plus separate functional skills to handle the ships themselves. Please prepare to draw exactly two SSRs and one SR, Master.]
Let's shelve that one for now.
[Judging yet another labyrinth by its Random Box value. Tsk tsk.]
'Whose fault is that, I ask!'
While Ryu Hwi spiraled into self-loathing, Wolya and Jangsanbeom kept discussing JYS.
"JYS ships with commonly-used source already modularized inside. The modules themselves are encrypted, but you can apply whatever you need on the spot. It'll serve your next project well too. Ah — and have you considered becoming Jucheongwang's third-party studio?"
"If you mean folding us under your banner like Ratia does with its subsidiaries... that's a bit..."
"No, no, nothing of the sort. What I have in mind is a web of cooperative relationships among many game studios, with Jucheongwang at the center."
"Cooperation, you say?"
"Not subordination like Ratia's — equals. Business partners. Promise that you'll keep using our JYS to build labyrinths and work with us on an ongoing basis, and I'm willing to provide you with a 'development room' as well."
Using JYS meant the mandatory inclusion of the Jucheongwang logo and a percentage cut of the profits. Considering what JYS would earn them, it was by no means a steep price. The logo placement even worked as advertising for Jucheongwang — no downside for 763 there.
But the day would come when 763's own skills grew and they no longer needed JYS. He was mid-thought — would we even need to keep the contract then? — when one word from Wolya snagged in his mind.
Development room.
Every studio had a development room. Was there something special about hers?
"What exactly do you mean by 'providing a development room'?"
"What would it mean if I told you we built a development room inside a game labyrinth?"
"...!"
Jangsanbeom shot to his feet.
"That's actually possible?!"
"Of course it is. We use one ourselves. We'll be putting out a brand-new title this very month. You understand what that means, yes?"
"Already?!"
Super Gemini hadn't even been out that long. He'd heard Jucheongwang didn't exactly have an army of developers — a pace like this made no sense.
"When you build labyrinths with JYS, you get access to the development room. Deal?"
A tool for building game labyrinths. And a development room that slashed production time. No studio on earth, Jangsanbeom was certain, would turn down those terms.
"We look forward to working with you."
763 pledged itself as an active third-party partner of Jucheongwang.
Before Jangsanbeom left, Ryu Hwi asked him one thing.
"Still want to become someone like me?"
Jangsanbeom's eyes went wide.
"Of course. If I could, I'd want that more than anything. You're my hero, after all."
"Say creepy things that casually, why don't you."
"The truth is the truth. But right now, I want to try doing what I can do. Game development has been my dream since forever. And..."
In that instant, a dark light kindled in Jangsanbeom's eyes.
"Watching Agos rack up losing streak lately is pretty entertaining too, you know."
[A kindred spirit to you, Master.]
Once Jangsanbeom was gone, Wolya stretched with a long groan. She'd been pushing herself far too hard lately, and it had left her mentally worn down.
"And so it begins. Once the third-party system is properly up and running, things will start going your way. You do want as many game labyrinths out there as possible, don't you?"
Power was what he needed to stand against S.E.N. And Wolya already knew full well that S.E.N had set its sights on him.
"5555 won't be sitting idle either. She's not making a 'masterpiece' right now — she's banking experience. But she's preparing a proper one for the next generation too, you know."
"Ah, I heard. Ragna's been cooking up some fun new concept?"
Ragna had revealed a new talent: the makings of a true planner. The ideas she brought to the table were all firmly within reach, given 5555's technical power.
"I asked around since nothing compelling had come to mind, and look — she brings me something interesting. Well, sit back and be patient. The great renaissance of game labyrinths, with Jucheongwang at its heart, is about to begin."
The Jucheongwang Yggdrasil System — JYS.
Following Super Gemini, Jucheongwang had detonated yet another bomb: a clean, ordered system for a development landscape that had been nothing but chaos. Better still, sign a formal contract with Jucheongwang, and you could even borrow a development room running at ten times the speed of the Human Realm.
The game labyrinth industry had been lying low since the Rider-On incident — but once JYS hit the market, new labyrinths began springing up like bamboo shoots after rain. A stable development environment plus ten-fold acceleration: no such thing had ever existed in labyrinth production before.
On that new foundation, the hidden masters who had been holding their breath until now began to stick their heads out, one by one.
And beyond them, a flood of new game labyrinths kept pouring out. Every one of them shared a telltale feature: the Jucheongwang logo appeared on screen each time a player connected. All of them built on JYS.
As Yggdrasil 2.0 labyrinths came alive, ordinary people began challenging the labyrinths themselves — as Gamers. No special license required. Man, woman, young or old, anyone could jump straight into a labyrinth. A far cry from the days when all they could do was watch through Yggtube.
In this brief span of time, society had careened through a radical transformation. The media covered the constant stream of new labyrinths — and, naturally, Jucheongwang, sitting at the very front of the pack.
[Everything is proceeding exactly as you intended, Master.]
"No. I never even imagined something like JYS."
Ragna had proposed the idea, 5555 and Bisque had carried it out, and Noir had steamrolled it into circulation through the sheer force of her connections. Every piece of it was something Jucheongwang had built.
He had badly misjudged Jucheongwang's potential.
[Then I take it the preparations are roughly complete?]
"Yeah."
Labyrinths were erupting into existence like bamboo after the rain. All of it — all of it — for this one moment.
"Random Box!"
[Random Box!]
It was time to pull.