Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: The Holiday (2)
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Varying the ending based on the user's playstyle wasn't exactly a new challenge.
Plenty of released games already followed that format, and many upcoming titles were set to use similar variations.
I didn't have to look far; even GTV5, scheduled for release at the end of this year, employed multiple endings based on player actions.
Compared to those, the multiple endings *Hellic 3* was aiming for were quite simple in their execution.
Only the final boss's form would change.
“Three different boss fights? Are they split into phases?”
“No, I mean we'll use three entirely different boss fights.”
I answered Han Seo-rim's question, adding an explanation.
“We're using the Stigma system as a combat evaluation element. The moment you enter the final boss fight, the battle will change depending on the Stigmas you've collected up to that point.”
The maps in *Hellic 3* were fundamentally structured with three routes organically connected at each junction.
Players could choose any of the three routes, and if they didn't like their choice, they could switch at the next junction.
The chapter evaluation would simply be based on ‘which route was used the most’ in that chapter.
The normal route was ‘Blind Man's Footsteps,’ the short route was ‘Fleeing Breath,’ and the sub route was ‘Ascetic's Grasp.’ The structure emphasized intuitiveness.
The final boss fight would also follow the Stigma type that the player had collected the most of.
It wasn't complicated.
“Honestly, the art team won't have much to worry about besides rigging and cinematics. Regardless of the route, the final boss is confirmed to be War History.”
“Ah.”
Myeong-gyu nodded in understanding.
“So the attack patterns and combat style change?”
“Yes, that's exactly right.”
Myeong-gyu, who had played the most games among us (excluding online ones), seemed to catch on quickly.
In that case, there was no need for a long-winded explanation.
Putting the combat style aside and getting straight to the point, the ending I had actually seen was ‘Blind Man's Footsteps.’
It leads to the normal ending.
The fight would be a struggle to somehow hold back the overwhelmingly powerful Warden.
As such, the boss fight would be mechanic-focused, much like in *Hellic 2*, and its ending would follow what I already knew.
The short route, ‘Fleeing Breath,’ would be the happy ending.
In truth, the combat wouldn't be very long.
Finally, the sub route, Ascetic's Grasp, which had the most elite monsters.
“The hardest path is the true ending, for all intents and purposes.”
Separate from what I had observed, that route was destined to be this game's true ending.
It was an IP-driven approach.
The goal was to portray the conflict between the Warden and the demon sword, which had already been foreshadowed in *Hellic 2*.
With one more addition,
‘A hidden boss.’
A boss that would complete the organic link, allowing 1, 2, and 3 to truly become a single story.
Needless to say, it would include a fight with the Warden, leading into the post-credits scene of *Hellic 2*.
The specific methods and concepts would require more thought, but for now, that's where we'd cap it off.
The presentation of the rough concept was over.
“I'll send detailed instructions to each department. That's all for today's meeting.”
*Clap!* I clapped my hands once and spoke, feeling all eyes on me.
“It's been a year and a half since we started development. We've made good progress so far. But as you know, there's no room for complacency. We have more chapters ahead of us than behind us, right?”
We'd only finished two out of seven.
Considering that even then, the first six months were spent solely on creating the combat system, we hadn't been working on the actual production for very long.
Amidst all this, there was one encouraging fact.
“We're aiming for a late 2014 release. That's about a year and three months from now.”
Since progress was moving along quite quickly, a release around that time seemed possible if we just stuck to the schedule.
At the very least, the modeling would be done a little after the six-month mark, before next March. The time after would be spent on programming, debugging, and refining the final product specifications.
Of course, this was just a rough schedule, so there was no telling how it might change.
“Let's just push a little harder. That is all.”
The meeting ended just like that.
***
A developer's time flows quickly.
Not in a physical sense, but in a perceived one.
It was creative work, not repetitive labor, and for every task you finished, two more would pop up. In the process of handling them, a year or two could fly by in a flash.
People unfamiliar with game development might think that since it takes years to make a single game, the process must be tedious, but that wasn't the case.
So why am I talking about this?
What other reason could there be? I'm saying this because time has, once again, flown by.
Chapter 3, the Coffin of Delusion, a chapter where you face an army of madness that once lived as the pawns of a commander, had passed QA.
Following that, programming for Chapter 4, the Plateau of Penance, had just finished, and it was now in the debugging phase.
For Chapter 5, the Citadel of Ambition, the basic level design was complete, and the map's modeling and texturing were in full swing. Everything was proceeding smoothly.
However, life is never always so smooth.
Hardship and adversity have a way of striking unexpectedly, right when you start to feel like things are getting better.
I was no exception.
It was now September.
What did that mean?
“Good work, everyone.”
“Not at all. The team members worked harder than I did.”
“Seo-rim, Seo-rim!”
“I'm so moved!”
“H-have a great Chuseok...!”
It was now Chuseok.
Han Seo-rim suddenly spoke up.
“Oh, right. What's everyone doing for Chuseok?”
“I-I'm doing the event...! What about you...?”
“I'm going home. I was just wondering if anyone was working.”
“Nah, no way...”
“Yeon-ho, you said you were taking this Chuseok off, right?”
I slowly nodded at Myeong-gyu's question.
I had skipped the last Lunar New Year, but I couldn't avoid showing my face to my relatives for a whole year, so I was heading down to my parents' house this time.
A strange sense of skepticism welled up inside me.
Isn't it true that most company presidents suffer during Chuseok because they have to arrange employee incentives and holiday gifts? I didn't have that worry.
That was because Yang Gil-sang, who had already left for the day, had taken care of everything three weeks ago.
My worries lay elsewhere.
—Yeon-ho, all the relatives are coming this holiday.
Relatives.
The more I thought about the word, the more dreadful it became.
***
Let's skip the story about the Cheon family history museum (the picture frame in front of the TV).
It was something done for business, just a little happening that my relatives would laugh off.
Even without that, there were more than enough reasons to fear my relatives.
There was a common joke that went around.
The top 5 things you hate hearing during the holidays, or something like that. Things like your studies, love life, diet, job search, and marriage.
In my past life, I couldn't escape those questions either.
I managed to get through the questions about school and work somehow, but my love life... especially after I came of age, the topic of marriage turned the holidays into a nightmare.
That's what came to mind now.
—Yeon-ho, isn't it about time you got married?
—Oh my, now that you mention it, that daughter of Seong-shim we used to know, she's so lovely and pretty...
—She's not the only one. They say Hyeong-jun's daughter is looking for a partner too. Yeon-ho, how about a blind date...
My relatives, for the most part, get along well.
On top of that, they were all social butterflies who loved to meddle, so they were more interested in the marriage of the eldest grandson than anyone.
But their interest didn't just end there; they'd go as far as to send me on blind dates.
I was pushed into about four of them.
The results were disastrous.
—Yeon-ho? I heard you took Seong-shim's daughter to a gukbap restaurant?
—Yeon-ho, did you go out for spicy fish stew with Hyeong-jun's daughter?
—Yeon-ho, why on earth would you go to a PC bang on a blind date...?
—Why...
I had done my best, but it seemed my relatives found my actions quite unsettling.
After that, the glares I received grew a little sharper, and when I remained unmarried through my thirties, all my relatives, including my parents, gave up on my marriage.
The holidays were like sitting on pins and needles.
That memory suddenly resurfaced, making me tremble with fear!
I lifted my head and looked at my parents' house.
A 30-pyeong apartment in Seoul—a family treasure that would make my parents smile in eight years due to soaring housing prices—was right in front of me, yet I felt nothing but discomfort.
I was gloomy.
I needed to pull myself together.
Fortunately, I had a way.
*Who am I?*
Cheon Yeon-ho, age 27, President, marriage is a long way off.
As I shouted this inwardly, my heart felt much lighter.
A smile crept onto my face at the thought of how much I'd changed.
That's right, I'm in my twenties.
I have a respectable company, I'm young, and talk of marriage is premature. I'm a fresh, vibrant youth.
Who in the world could possibly stop me!
“I'm home!”
...There was a time when I, too, thought that way.
“Yeon-ho, you're here? Come sit down.”
“Huh?”
“Oh my, to think our family has a president now. You have no idea how proud this aunt is.”
“Hey! Don't pressure him as soon as he arrives! Yeon-ho, come over here and pour your uncle a drink! But what's with that picture? You're wearing a skirt again? And why are your boobs so big?”
“Big bro! Did you become a big sis?!”
“Anyway, Yeon-ho, you know, Seong-shim's daughter turned twenty-five this year...”
“...”
I was wrong.
Why didn't I realize that age and position didn't matter in the first place?
“I'm only twenty-seve...”
“Hm? Yeon-ho, you have to get to know your partner well before marrying. You should start dating now and be with them for a long time. That's how you'll know what kind of person they are.”
“That's right! What if some gold digger latches onto our President Yeon-ho!”
“...”
What on earth is marriage?
Faced with the gazes of my relatives, which bordered on madness, I could only shrink back, just as I had in my past life.
Meanwhile, my cousin's son, who was seven this year, had gone into my room and was rummaging through my game merchandise.
*Ah, that's a limited edition.*
“Yu-min, that's...”
“Yeon-ho, come here and talk with your uncle for a bit.”
I couldn't stop him.
My limited-edition figure of the Ruin Crusader, which I had cherished for over ten years, was being defiled by the hands of Cheon Yu-min (age 7), and there was nothing I could do.
*I'm sorry...!*
In that moment, I realized something.
Nietzsche was wrong.
What doesn't kill you only makes you suffer more.
It was a heartbreaking moment.
[A HIT!]
A live baseball game filled the TV screen.
It was a matchup between the Giants and the Eagles.
The last hit had come from an Eagles batter.
“Aish!”
“Brother-in-law, stop shaking your leg. It's not like the Giants losing is anything new.”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
“That habit of yours, slipping into a dialect when you get angry, is still the same. That's why I'm telling you to stop rooting for the Giants and cheer for the Eagles.”
A vein bulged on my father's forehead.
My uncle (my father's junior from high school, an Eagles fan) grinned.
*Ah...*
I squeezed my eyes shut at the petty confrontation.
My aunt, meanwhile, was relentless.
“Yeon-ho, is there anyone you're interested in these days?”
My decision was swift.
*I have to escape.*
I couldn't stay here any longer.
***
A detached house in Cheongdam-dong.
At the dining table, a large family of about a dozen people was eating quietly, seated before an elderly couple elegantly dressed in hanbok.
The atmosphere was restrained, and the conversation went something like this.
“Brother, the land over in Seocho District...”
“This redevelopment...”
Talk of money—or more precisely, talk of land that made money.
Somewhere among them, Seo-rim picked at her food while fiddling with her smartphone.
Her older brother, Jin-gyeong, was still suffering from a hangover and was continuously slurping down pufferfish soup.
It was then.
*Katalk!*
A message arrived for Seo-rim.
It was from Yeon-ho.
The relatives' gazes focused on Seo-rim.
“Seo-rim, who have you been messaging this whole time?”
“Does Seo-rim have a boyfriend?”
“Mmm...? Is our granddaughter getting married...?”
“It's nothing like that, Grandfather. It's a work notification.”
Seizing the opportunity, they tried to pry, but a single frown from Seo-rim was enough to make her relatives back down.
Seo-rim was the apple of the family's eye.
“You work even on Chuseok?”
“It's probably nothing major. Just a moment.”
Seo-rim immediately opened the messenger.
She hadn't been lying when she said it was about work.
Although she hadn't checked the message content, from what Seo-rim had observed over the years, Yeon-ho wasn't the type to contact her on a holiday for anything other than work.
Seo-rim, who had even been considering going into the office if it was urgent, soon tilted her head in confusion.
[Yeon-ho: Help]
The single, incomprehensible word amplified her suspicion.
At the same time, only one thought came to mind.
*'Guess it's not urgent.'*
Seeing as he hadn't stated his business, it seemed she could reply later.
And so, Seo-rim closed her smartphone and continued her meal.
She spent another moment vaguely answering her relatives' questions.
*Katalk!*
Another message arrived.
[Yeon-ho: ...you asleep?]
“?”
Seo-rim truly had no idea what was going on.
However, she instinctively shuddered at the unpleasantly sentimental words.
The Holiday (2)