Chapter 110
Chapter 110
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Final Touches
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It goes without saying, but QA isn't just the QA department's job.
The developers who created the game, or the people from each department, absolutely need to play and check what they've implemented themselves.
That's why I'm playing the game with my headset on.
With all of *Identity*'s sound implemented, I tapped at the controller to play through the main story and let out a small gasp of admiration.
‘Nice.’
It's good, plain and simple.
Especially listening to the sound in the final chapter, I'm reminded every moment of just how crude the *Identity* of my past life was.
‘Should I have asked A-yun back then too?’
I had actually turned her down when she offered to work on *Identity*'s sound.
It was because of my stubborn belief that a game was only meaningful if I completed it myself from start to finish.
…Well, that's all in the past now.
Let's just focus on the present.
Since I comforted her that day, Jo A-yun has started to blend in well with the team members.
Of course, she's having team dinners almost every other day, or dragging team members into the recording booth for hours on end, earning her the nickname 'Psycho'... but since it's not happening to me, I figure it's none of my business.
I cleared my thoughts and focused on the game again.
It was then that Myeong-gyu appeared.
“Oh? Testing a mod?”
“Ah, yes.”
After clearing the story, I was running the experimental 'Soulslike Mode'.
It's exactly what it sounds like.
A mode that removes all the life-sim content, concentrates all the in-game currency on the monsters, and cranks up the difficulty, forcing you to play with pure skill and analysis.
“We're planning to release some mods along with the official launch.”
We've named them Official Mods.
At that, Myeong-gyu couldn't hide his anxiety and tentatively asked.
“…Are we going to have to update those separately later on?”
“No way.”
If we were going to periodically add new content to an already finished game, it would make more sense to release DLC.
But *Identity* can't have DLC.
Due to the mod-friendly nature of the game, messing with it through DLC would cause mods from previous versions to conflict with the game.
Of course, I don't plan on abandoning the official mods either.
“We'll just have to kidnap the manpower.”
Myeong-gyu froze.
He seemed to know exactly what I meant.
“…Hiring modders?”
“There's plenty of precedent for it.”
Take Steam, the platform we're launching the PC version of *Identity* on, for example.
Think of all the profit that company made by officially releasing games created by modders.
It's not just about hiring mod developers.
If we handle it well, we could even turn some of the more groundbreaking mods into their own games, expanding them into a full-fledged IP business.
One thing we shouldn't forget is that the AOS genre of LoL, a game that dominates the era, also started as a user-created map in an RTS game.
It's worth exploring the possibilities.
Of course,
“it's all something that can only happen after our modding scene becomes active enough.”
Even though I said that, I wasn't getting my hopes up.
A more realistic goal would be extending the game's lifespan through mods.
There are so many games that support mods, but you have to remember that only a handful have ever caused such a huge stir.
The groundwork has been laid.
I fell silent and started the game.
Crack! Crack!
The Soulslike Mode was Myeong-gyu's creation.
In his spare time, with help from Yu-mi and Hye-ji, he'd added several monster models not found in the main game. Some of their attack patterns were scrapped ideas that came from researching and refining Miso's patterns for the final chapter.
“You brought them to life well. The fire play, the destruction beam, the thorny claws.”
“It was fun to make. Especially the destruction beam.”
“Yes, it's pretty vicious.”
[YOU DIED]
It's a pattern where a monstrous bird in the sky shudders and then carves up the ground with a beam.
Just a graze is instant death. To dodge it, you have no choice but to memorize the beam's path and roll in time with the rhythm.
Amidst it all, one thought stood out: beast-type boss monsters are definitely fun to fight.
It was then.
“Yeon-ho, you're not very good at games, are you.”
I flinched, my fingertips trembling.
In a daze, I looked up at Myeong-gyu.
There wasn't a hint of malice in his chuckling face.
‘How?’
‘How can he call me a gaming noob and feel no guilt?’
As I questioned him internally, I noticed another change.
“Hm? What's wrong?”
“……”
His brightly smiling face had a strange glow to it.
Is he getting skincare treatments these days?
Two faces flashed through my mind in an instant.
‘Ah…’
‘So it was you two.’
‘Kim Hye-ji…! Jeon Yu-mi…!’
The Myeong-gyu I once knew was slowly disappearing.
Now, amidst all these changes, only his persistent turtle neck posture and T-shirt reminded me of the Myeong-gyu from my memories.
“Myeong-gyu, that's a nice T-shirt.”
“Right?”
“That style suits you.”
I said it coolly… but yes.
In truth, my heart ached.
* * *
Before I knew it, it was September.
*Identity* had entered the final inspection phase before packaging, and with the release drawing near, user anticipation was swelling.
Of course, voices of concern over the shorter-than-usual development period still lingered.
Some even claimed that 'mod-friendly' was just a ploy to package an unfinished game as 'freedom'.
It couldn't be helped.
Any unreleased game, no matter how anticipated, is bound to go through this phase of concern.
This was especially true if you didn't know about Rewind's policy of buying time by grinding its employees to the bone.
However, there was one thing that helped to quell those worries, at least a little: the second demo for *Demon's Relic*.
『King of the Hill: I worship you, GOAT…』
The second demo, which added a total of 12 new characters, caused a huge stir among users who had already played the first one.
It wasn't just the addition of content.
From an otaku's perspective, the amount of fan-worthy material had doubled compared to the first demo.
In the half-year since the first demo, *Demon's Relic*, backed by Rewind's policy of supporting derivative works, was carving out its own league in the subculture scene.
Of course, its fanbase wasn't as large as those of other subcultures.
Nevertheless, its roots ran deep, and with a considerable amount of fan fiction and fan art already released, the number of people who 'knew the character's face even if they didn't know the game' had grown significantly.
In other words, an environment for new players had been created.
The most popular characters from the first demo were the bratty Agares, the yandere Andras, and the shy Sitri.
This lineup, too, featured two outstanding characters who would fan the flames even higher.
『Guksinanayo: Saleos is great….
I love the alcoholic, washed-up pretty girl…』
The first was Saleos.
Since users considered contract termination to be the biggest draw of *Demon's Relic*, Saleos's high praise was largely due to her special gimmick.
What kind of gimmick, you ask?
The answer was delayed regret.
『When you terminate the contract, she leaves without a backward glance, but two in-game days later, she comes back looking like a beggar.
Then she apologizes and says she'll quit drinking.
Of course, the moment you re-sign the contract, she starts drinking again.』
This rather three-dimensional and short-sighted behavior captured the hearts of some users.
But the real star was someone else.
There's no need to explain the catharsis that a character's dramatic emotional change provides; it's a waste of breath.
In other words, a heroine with a tragic life who has become worn down and dependent is, more than anything, a tried-and-true formula for subculture consumers.
That was also why Agares from the first demo was so popular.
And the one to carry on that legacy was Bifrons from the second demo.
The one-line review for Bifrons went like this.
『King of the Hill: Money comes out when you hit her.』
A pretty girl who drops money when you hit her.
This, too, came from the contract termination gimmick.
『When you first ask to terminate the contract, her mind breaks and she starts trembling.
Then she grabs your arm and falls to her knees.
Here's the full dialogue transcript.
—Did I do something wrong? Huh? No, I-I'm sorry… You grew to hate a thoughtless girl like me, right? Yes! It's okay to hate me! Just please don't abandon me! I can be helpful! Y-Yes, I'll even give you money if you want!
She actually gives you money. A stream of notifications pops up, 1 gold, 3 gold, 5 gold, then 3 gold, and Bifrons's face turns pale.
—Ah, I-I don't have any right now… W-Wait! I'll go earn some! I'll even sell my soul to bring you money, so please don't abandon me! Please!!!
Then she clings to your leg, crying.
I felt like a host who'd squeezed a naive girl dry and then tossed her aside….
I felt too guilty to abandon her.』
The domains Bifrons presided over were folly, waste, and obsession.
That's right.
Bifrons was a character who coughed up money while begging for the protagonist's affection…!
『Lord of Blood Bangbae: What kind of life do you have to live to come up with a demon who sells her soul to bring you money?』
The public's opinion of *Demon's Relic*'s directors, Nishimura and Kobson, was being updated daily.
Naturally, the community forums saw an increase in related posts following this trend.
『King of the Hill: Gotta shake down Bifrons to buy snacks for Agares…』
『Guksinanayo: Gotta use Bifrons's money to buy drinks for my girl Saleos…』
『Lord of Blood Bangbae: Demon's Relic might not be a game. It's already art…』
The number of fanatics grew.
However, this trend wasn't positive for everyone.
Games are fundamentally a medium of personal preference.
This becomes even more pronounced when a game like *Demon's Relic*, which targets a specific demographic, becomes popular.
The louder the voices of praise, the greater the dissatisfaction among users who had no interest in *Demon's Relic*.
『JaheeWantsToQuit: I really hate this…』
『FutureIsntBright: Fucking weebs are disgusting;』
On the country's largest general gaming community, an unprecedented situation was unfolding.
The anti-*Demon's Relic* faction wished for the hype around this 'pretty girl game' to die down, and the more they wished for it, the more they sought something else.
『WaitingForYeonho: Yeon-ho!!! Please release Identity already!!!
King of the Hill: He's busy preparing his Lucifer cosplay ^^
Guksinanayo: He's currently playing the pre-release of the third Demon's Relic demo….
└ Lord of Blood Bangbae: What, why is he the only one playing it? lololol』
Yeon-ho and *Identity*.
The promised release window was between November and December.
However, it was now late September, and no exact date had been announced.
The thirst grew.
Just as the resulting screams filled the world,
『LetsWalkPoppy: Identity confirmed for November 11th release!』
A hero appeared.
* * *
One pale night in the Rewind office.
Unlike the darkness outside the window, the office was brightly lit.
Needless to say, it was the light of life generated by the programmers known as the Lighthouses of Pangyo.
Tap, tap.
There was no life in the eyes of those tapping away at their keyboards.
Like Native Americans performing an eternal rain dance, the programmers on the brink of final debugging could only repeat their mechanical motions.
Somewhere among them, Kim Cheol-su of the programming team was deep in thought, repeating a phrase to himself.
‘Cheon Yeon-ho, that bastard.’
The biggest son of a bitch of all time.
Cheol-su's gaze turned to Yeon-ho, who still hadn't left for the day.
His face, made more atmospheric by the shadows, was incredibly irksome.
Why did that man have to discover a new bug during the final packaging stage?
Why now, of all times?
Cheol-su's stomach churned, and he felt like he was about to retch.
But, since it was his job, he couldn't just quit.
‘It's hard to find a job that pays this well…’
The pay was almost excessive to compensate for the hard work, so he couldn't give it up.
In the end, all he could do was work overtime while cursing under his breath.
Cheol-su narrowed his strained eyes and glared at the monitor.
As he was debugging, filled with a mixture of resentment and despair,
“It's gotten late already. I'll be heading out first.”
Yeon-ho stood up from his seat.
He had dumped the work on them and fled alone!
And so, Yeon-ho disappeared from the office.
To somehow hold onto his frayed sanity, Cheol-su began his own unique method of stress relief.
It was a truly secret stress reliever that no one else knew about.
‘Let's see…’
The Imperial Capital map, a corner wall in a desolate back alley where no events had been placed.
Cheol-su planted a little mechanism there.
‘Rub against the wall ten times here, hit it twice with a club, use the cooking skill to make roasted wild boar, then rub against the wall twelve more times.’
…and if you performed those actions, the wall would crumble.
Fortunately, he had the related modeling resources.
He ran the cobbled-together code in the game.
Rumble.
Cheol-su grinned as he looked at the revealed space inside the wall.
Immediately after, he carved a message there.
[Zilch! Try again next time!]
This was the 7th message.
Among the messages scattered throughout the map, there was only one 'winner', and in truth, even finding that one yielded nothing.
Just the words 'Congratulations!' would appear.
It was an easter egg within Rewind that no one knew about except Kim Cheol-su.
Four days before the beta keys were to be distributed, no one yet knew if this would be discovered or remain buried forever.