Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Identity
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I didn't know much about the incident that erupted during the awards ceremony.
The reason being I lacked the courage to look into it and simply ignored it.
The most I knew came from the community reactions Han Seo-rim had scraped together, and that alone was enough to plunge me into terror.
『[Analysis] Hellic3Fan: No way Yeon-ho did it alone... This proves he isn't gay...!
[Analysis] FlawlesslyClear: He probably did it alone lol. Isn't that better than sucking face in front of a mic?
[Analysis] zGodHand: It has to be alone. It must be. Please...
[Analysis] BangbaeBloodlord: No way...』
I had no idea why they all started with "[Analysis]," but one thing was certain: the users were fighting.
They were split into two camps: those who claimed I made the sounds for Chapter 2 by myself, and those who claimed Jo A-yun and I made them together.
Neither option was a socially acceptable answer.
However, trying to argue that I made those mouth sounds all by myself would be nothing short of social suicide.
In the end, my choice was silence.
I could only hope this scandal would die down as quickly as possible.
As for Jo A-yun, she belatedly realized what she'd done wrong and came to apologize.
While sobbing her eyes out.
“I-I'm so sorry...!”
“It's okay. It was a mistake.”
“I-I'll take responsib—!”
“Just be more careful next time...”
“N-now that it's come to this... I-I-I have no choice but to take responsibility for life...!”
“Calm down, A-yun.”
She cried so sorrowfully that I had to pat her on the back for a long time before she finally calmed down.
Right, it wasn't like Jo A-yun did it with malicious intent.
The host asked a question, and she answered without thinking.
After all, Jo A-yun was the type who couldn't lie.
And there was another reason I forgave her.
“Sales have jumped.”
I don't know why.
I really don't know, and I don't want to know, but sales, which had been on a slow decline, showed an upward trend for three days starting from the day of that interview.
I suddenly wondered why my public image and sales were so inversely proportional.
I couldn't find an answer.
I just concluded... well, it sold, so that's what matters, right?
Anyway, beyond that ridiculous incident, the year came to an end.
There were no surprises.
The award at The Game Awards went to Russo, and *Road to Harsin* swept three of the top five game awards, proving Russo was still going strong.
*Hellic 3*'s journey concluded by winning one of the top five game awards.
I returned to Korea, recovered from the trip, and welcomed the new year.
The office was still quiet upon my return, the silence broken only by the intermittent noise coming from Development Team 2 on the floor below.
Sitting quietly at my desk, taking it all in, I took some time for reflection.
‘A partial success.’
They say humans learn from failure.
From that perspective, it was certainly a journey where I learned a great deal.
With *Hellic 1* and *2*, I had ridden a one-sided upward trend.
Because of that, I hadn't really noticed my games' shortcomings.
But this time, that momentum had faltered, allowing me to recognize those flaws.
It was a good thing.
For a failure, I hadn't paid much of a price.
Wasn't it true? It was hard to call it a failure when sales and reviews were good, and it had even won one of the top five game awards.
I had Russo to thank for that.
The excuse 'we lost because our opponent was Valhalla' made it easier to maintain our reputation.
But I couldn't make the same mistake twice.
I began to seriously re-examine what had been lacking.
‘I was greedy.’
I was too buried in the idea of a series.
The thought that I had to leverage the power of the IP prevented the package from being whole and complete on its own.
A decline in mass appeal.
‘What if I had only used one protagonist from the start?’
The more subjects for immersion, the more scattered the focus becomes.
Knowing this, I tried to heighten the focus by using the form of a single body, doing my best to bring what I had seen to life.
Despite that, the fact that other options still lingered in my mind showed a lack of decisiveness.
‘Above all...’
A lack of experience.
All the problems I've mentioned stem from immaturity.
I am a director.
Someone who plans, oversees, and ensures that the work of numerous people comes together as a single, complete whole.
Therefore, if any shortcomings are visible in the final product, the responsibility is mine.
I needed to clearly recognize that and improve upon it.
First, there was something that needed to be settled before I could do that.
‘I need to step away from the *Hellic* series.’
There were still so many stories of Hell I hadn't told.
I would probably spend my entire life unraveling those tales.
But if I continued like this, my objectivity would be compromised.
I might fail to treat each game as a separate package and make the same mistake again.
The method of completing a game as a single package.
I needed to try a different title to master it.
‘I'll use the experience I've gained.’
I clattered away on my keyboard, organizing my thoughts in a blank Word document.
Using the data accumulated from development so far, I was outlining the strengths and weaknesses of Studio Rewind's games.
There's a big difference between vaguely understanding something and organizing it into language and documenting it.
It meant elevating my knowledge to a level where I could at least explain it to others.
Just as I was finishing this process.
‘This should be it.’
I leaned back in my chair.
I fell into thought as I scanned the document on the screen.
Having decided it was time to try a different title, I reviewed the elements to adopt and those to discard, and something shimmered in my mind.
I idly fiddled with my fingertips.
‘...Come to think of it, I haven't made it yet.’
The game I had only just managed to complete at the very end of my previous life.
The one that served as the systemic origin for all the *Hellic* games I'd made in this life.
After regressing to the past, I had just buried it somewhere deep inside.
I had decided to remake that game someday but had never acted on it.
But seeing this organized file brought it to mind.
Considering the strengths and weaknesses I'd just listed, there seemed to be no better choice for creating a new title.
After making my decision, *click*, I opened a new document.
I brought up a design document template and typed in the title.
[Identity]
‘...This will be the next title.’
It was a remnant of the past, a symbol of my old stubbornness and foolishness, the very thing that had made me a director.
Not a single design element had been forgotten; they all remained vivid within me.
I would reforge it.
It goes without saying, but even with the same material and the same design document, the final product can't be identical.
Even if the same director makes it, the outcome can vary depending on their environment and experience.
This was especially true for this type of game.
It would probably serve as a kind of test.
‘Have I grown, or have I regressed?’
The scale would be AAA.
An *Identity* to be created not by me alone, but by all of Studio Rewind.
With this, I intend to find out.
How much I've changed since my past life, and how much I've grown.
Slowly, and without hesitation.
I began to fill out the design document.
* * *
Face Hunter E-40.
He was a knight of the great Oltor Empire and the terror of all who disturbed the order.
His role was singular: to wear the 'Expressionless Face' bestowed by the empire and punish those who wore unpermitted faces.
The Oltor Empire collected the faces of its people for the sake of universal equality.
And upon them, it placed faces befitting their roles.
A farmer received a face squinting in the sun; a merchant, a solemn face that inspired trust; a child, a face with eyes wide with curiosity; and an elder, a wrinkled face that signified wisdom.
The empire enforced behavior that matched the bestowed faces.
And so, the empire was peaceful.
E-40 was proud of himself for being at the forefront of such order and peace.
Until today.
"E-40, you are to be decommissioned."
It was the decision of the imperial consuls.
E-40 was bewildered.
He protested with his body, demanding to know why.
For the Face Hunters had been deprived of speech.
In response, the representative, 'the Dignified Face,' spoke.
"You are too strong, and so you have developed an individuality. Are you aware? The world calls you not a knight of Oltor, but 'Face Hunter E-40.' Your unique name has tarnished the meaning of 'the Expressionless Face.'"
A jolt went through him. E-40 couldn't help but tremble.
For it was an entirely valid point.
What was the reason the empire bestowed faces upon its people?
It was to prevent discrimination born from individuality.
The knights were no exception.
A knight's Expressionless Face signified silent judgment, and so a knight was to possess nothing else.
E-40 despaired at the realization that he had unknowingly broken such a rule.
His shoulders slumped, and an unprecedented sorrow filled his being.
The Dignified Face cried out in alarm.
"Look at that! E-40 is wearing the Expressionless Face, yet he expresses emotion with his gestures! That is a heinous crime!"
"He must be executed!"
"Tear off his face! Brand him with the face of a prisoner!"
"But what of his contributions to the empire?"
E-40 could say nothing before the consuls.
The consuls began to debate the course of E-40's decommissioning.
And so, the final verdict was delivered.
"You are a sinner who has violated the empire's equality and order, but until today, you have rendered great service and brought glory to the empire's name. The empire is strict in its rewards and punishments! Though death would be fitting, we will consider your service and sentence you to 'face confiscation and exile.'"
He said it as if granting a favor, but it was a horrific punishment.
In the empire, a face represented one's status and position. To be without one meant wandering for life, branded as an outlaw.
But E-40 accepted it willingly.
"Tear off his face and banish him from the capital!"
"Waaaaah!!!"
At the consuls' command, knights wearing 'the Expressionless Face' charged.
E-40 flailed, his body trembling in agony.
And with a sickening tear, his face was ripped away.
The knights loaded his fallen form onto a cart, took him to a cliff, and cast him down into the endless abyss.
After sinking through the darkness for a long time, E-40 finally hit the bottom with a thud! and lost consciousness.
He awoke later, but he did not move.
He merely trembled, lost in despair.
How much time passed like that?
*Rustle, rustle.*
The sound of footsteps approached.
E-40 raised his head, his blank face turning toward the sound.
And he couldn't help but be horrified.
"Wow! You don't have a face?"
It was because of the woman who had approached him.
She wore clothes like rags, and her hair was dirty and matted.
Her arms were full of herbs and fruits, seemingly gathered from somewhere at the bottom of this cliff.
E-40 shot to his feet and pointed a finger at the woman.
"What's wrong?"
He even stomped his foot at her question.
He had no other choice.
"Ah, is it because of my face?"
The face she touched with her hand.
It was a 'Smile,' a face permitted only to the rulers of the empire.
For such a wretched woman to possess a Smile, there could be only one reason.
She was a criminal of the highest order.
A terrible villain who used an unpermitted Smile as she pleased.
E-40 glanced around, grabbed a fist-sized stone, and charged at the woman.
Though he was a sinner whose face had been torn away, his loyalty remained intact.
*Th-thump!*
E-40 leaped.
But his attack failed.
*Thud!*
Having taken no measures to treat his body after falling from the high cliff, E-40's body was already a wreck.
E-40 writhed on the ground, twitching in pain.
The woman, startled, dropped the fruit she was holding and rushed over.
"Oh my! Are you alright? Lean on me! I'll take you to my home!"
As if forgetting she had just been attacked, the woman helped E-40 up and headed for her home.
She laid him on a bed, brewed medicinal herbs to treat his body, and nursed him by the light of a single candle.
Only then did she introduce herself.
"My name is Smile. I'm the happiest person in the world!"
And so, for the first time in his life, E-40 came face-to-face with someone who had created their own expression.
Identity (2)