I Became the Goddess of a New World

The beta test of Akare that I envisioned was like an appetizer.

Before tasting the main course, the official release dish, something light to enjoy.

So I set the beta test period quite short.

To make the lovingly prepared main dish stand out even more.

“After today, the beta test will be over.”

With just five hours left until the beta test ended.

I checked which party had made the most progress in the main story.

A major corporation party consisting of a Warrior, a Mage, and a Priest.

Master Kim, Sweet, and Suzuka, the VTuber.

This trio had progressed to the very end of the prepared story.

And with just a bit more progress, I could witness the highlight of the appetizer I had prepared.

‘I never imagined that those three would form a party.’

The three were major corporation streamers representing the streaming community.

While there were times when major corporations would collaborate,

most preferred to focus on solo streams, which was the nature of the streaming scene.

Especially since Master Kim and Sweet were cam streamers, while Suzuka was a VTuber.

‘That makes it even more amazing.’

Who would have thought such a party would be formed with those three?

I recalled Suzuka’s stream from not long ago.

Suzuka kept failing the Litania quest.

Because of this, Raven (the prince) got dragged by the Salvation Church’s disciple multiple times.

After several attempts, Suzuka finally completed the quest and burst into tears right there.

Master Kim, who was casually gaming while being a backseat gamer, found her and comforted her.

Suzuka knew Master Kim, and he remembered who she was too.

As they talked, Master Kim was the first to suggest recruiting Suzuka.

For Suzuka, this was an opportunity, and naturally, she seized it without hesitation.

In the process, despite Master Kim having committed a serious offense due to his backseat gaming,

thanks to his sacrifice(?), the party formed a balanced composition of tank, damage, and healing.

Of course, since Suzuka’s level was lower than the other two, they had to grind hard in party hunts.

[*Heretic Purification (9/10)*]

– You learned from Raven that there are heretic hideouts throughout the Empire. Eliminate all heretic hideouts in the Empire to uproot the evil.

– *Upon quest completion, you can proceed with the “Coming Destruction” quest.

Thus formed, the major corporation party destroyed nine hideouts.

Now, only the last heretic hideout remained to be destroyed to complete the quest.

As of the current story progression, the player had earned the Emperor’s trust.

Having located and destroyed heretic hideouts that no one else could find,

the player merely collected map fragments, one of the boss drop items,

and used one of the quest functions to guide their destination.

―――

[Title] Breaking News) Major Corporation Party Enters Last Hideout

Will they be able to clear it before the beta test ends?

There’s only about five hours left, you know? ㅇㅅㅇ

Recommended 2, Not Recommended 0

―――

[Comment 3]

Tank, damage, heal, it’s the fundamental combo so they should be able to clear it.

ㄴBut it’s the last hideout, after all?

ㄴWhat if they end with 1% HP left when the beta ends? ㄹㅈㄷ

―――

The community’s opinion was leaning towards the major corporation party being unable to clear the final hideout.

Considering the average clear times for the other hideouts they tackled, there seemed to be a time crunch.

“That’s cutting it close.”

The last heretic hideout, ‘Call of the Undying’, was a dungeon where only one boss monster appeared.

It might seem that the absence of minions would shorten the clear time significantly, but

the boss of Call of the Undying, ‘Victim of Howling’, was a very tricky boss.

It utilized all the patterns of the previous hideout bosses

and had the structure that made those patterns stronger over time, making it a raid that relied heavily on pure skill.

Moreover, it was the first boss to introduce an instant-death pattern, making it all the more challenging.

“Here we go.”

I logged into Master Kim’s channel to view from his perspective.

***

[You have entered the dungeon ‘Call of the Undying.’]

Upon entering the dungeon, Master Kim immediately surveyed his surroundings.

An empty chamber, mysterious pillars surrounding it.

In the center of the chamber was a structure resembling an altar,

and unlike the dungeons previously experienced, it was eerily quiet—no monster waves, no traps.

Because of this, Master Kim was even more on edge.

“Master, there’s something here.”

“…I feel it too.”

Their stats were over 20, and while Sweet didn’t boost it much,

they could sense the ominous feeling coming from the altar, but

left clueless, Suzuka just questioned with a floating question mark above her head.

-!

“It’s coming.”

With a rumble,

Something arose from the altar as the ground shook.

The altar was destroyed, and a cloud of dust stirred up, obstructing their view.

“Suzuka!”

“Yes!”

Holding a cross, Suzuka used the priest’s first awakening skill, Radiant Light.

The light shot from the cross cleared the smoke, hitting the boss beyond it.

―!!!

[BOSS Victim of Howling Lv.35]

The boss revealed itself in a horrific form.

If you mixed all the bosses from the previously destroyed hideouts together,

you might end up with something like this.

It was so ugly, disgusting, and grotesque.

“Sweet! Blessing activated!”

At Suzuka’s shout, Sweet raised her staff.

“Burn it all, Fireball.”

With a whoosh—!

A fireball larger than before shot towards the boss.

It could be believed to be a meteor, the size of the fireball was massive.

Surely, it would deal at least meaningful damage, right?

All three shared the same thought, and the result came back.

“Zero damage?!”

Sweet muttered, incredulous.

“We did damage, but it healed right after.”

“That’s tough.”

Master Kim’s gaze swept over the pillars in the chamber.

“No, it should be easier than we thought.”

“Easier, you say?”

“Yeah. I figured out what’s happening.”

Before Sweet’s fireball struck, Master Kim saw

a blue line momentarily connecting between the boss and the closest pillar.

“Break the pillars. That’s the countermeasure.”

“Breaking them is my specialty.”

I’ll handle the ones on the other side and to the right.

Sweet finished, and Master Kim used Leap Forward to quickly escape his previous position.

The Warrior’s Leap Forward directly influenced his stats.

This was something Master Kim learned from playing the game directly,

and due to this, he invested in stats and spent a fortune on enhancing gear that boosted these stats.

Proving its worth, Master Kim was hopping between the pillars, stacking his Leap Forward.

Leap Forward 6 stack combo, Total Assault.

Boom—!!!

A tremendous roar echoed throughout the chamber, reminiscent of a cannon’s fire.

Like the Warrior’s strike seen in the Hall of Heroes,

that blow left more than half the pillars with fist-sized holes, breaking them apart.

“Seriously, Master, if you land a real punch, it’ll be over, right? Move, Blink.”

Sweet, impressed, used Blink to move across.

Northerners’ spell engulfed and shattered every pillar in the area.

“Wow… isn’t that really cool?”

Suzuka, who was watching Master Kim and Sweet’s rampage, decided she wouldn’t lose, using her skill.

The Priest’s first awakening skill, Judgment’s Mace.

The small cross held by Suzuka transformed into a heavy mace.

Feeling the weight, Suzuka swung the mace with all her might.

Boom—!

Thanks to the teamwork of the three, the pillars supporting the chamber were all shattered.

Crash—

As the supporting pillars all collapsed, cracks began to form in the ceiling.

Sensing the abnormality, Master Kim quickly launched his attacks, landing consistent hits.

“It’s taking proper damage!”

They only added a little bit of damage, yet 10% of the boss’s total health was shaved off.

Just as that thought crossed their minds, the previously still boss slammed both hands down onto the ground.

Crash—!

The ceiling cracked completely apart, collapsing down.

[Dungeon Clear Failed!]

Before they knew it, the three were back at the entrance of the hideout, looking at each other.

“What kind of pattern was that?”

“Master, can we actually clear this?”

“Uh… I think we might be able to if we try hard enough?”

They were perplexed by the previously unseen instant-death pattern, but

reignited their motivation as the major corporation party re-entered the dungeon.

“Let’s not break the pillars all at once; let’s run our skill cooldowns properly.”

After the third failure, Master Kim suggested this.

Once all the pillars were destroyed, the boss’s instant-death pattern was guaranteed to trigger.

“Oh, if we bring it down to 70% health, it won’t use the instant-death pattern.”

On the sixth attempt, they figured out the countermeasure for the instant-death pattern.

Leave one pillar standing, run all skill cooldowns,

and break the remaining pillar with basic attacks before bursting was the strategy they came up with.

“Another instant-death pattern comes out when it reaches 50% health. It seems like a channeled skill?”

As the boss’s health dropped below half, the usual patterns vanished, and it entered a focused state.

Within that state, the boss shed its flesh, causing damage, and flesh-like minions spawned.

The major corporation party got stuck for a considerable time, unable to progress due to this pattern.

“This is the bastard’s pattern, just like the Salvation Church disciple.”

On the twelfth failure, Master Kim accurately identified the pattern and erased the previous strategies.

Ignoring the minions and attacking the boss was useless,

as all attacks were blocked by an invisible shield like the Salvation Church’s disciple’s pattern.

The strategy reverted back to square one. The three banged their heads together to uncover a countermeasure.

“Taking down the minions helped chip away at the shield.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The viewers noticed too.”

On the twentieth failure, they revealed the exact countermeasure for the second instant-death pattern.

Controlling the minions and avoiding the patterns while taking down the shield was quite tricky.

Was there no other way? While pondering different methods, Suzuka’s keen observations shone through.

With renewed motivation, the major corporation party re-entered the dungeon.

“Wow, that’s seriously frustrating.”

“Only 5% left and they pulled off that enraging berserk pattern.”

“But it feels like we could clear it soon.”

On the fortieth try, the now-familiar major corporation party almost lost hope right before their eyes.

“Remaining time… We can probably try two more times.”

With just 53 minutes left until the beta test ended,

it meant that they had only two more chances remaining.

“Should we play together even after Akare launches officially?”

Before entering the dungeon, Suzuka cautiously made the suggestion.

Sweet shrugged it off,

while Master Kim looked at Sweet and broke into laughter.

“Of course, let’s.”

“I agree completely with Master.”

“Really? That’s a promise!”

In the cheerful atmosphere, what could be the last try began.

The usual patterns they had faced dozens of times were now easily avoidable,

and they skillfully dodged the instant-death patterns that appeared at certain health percentages.

Now, the only pattern they had to watch out for was the berserk pattern.

The three, forgetting they were live, focused intensely on the raid.

As the boss’s health dropped below 5%, the berserk pattern activated.

Fireballs exploded, searing the boss’s hide.

Using icy breath on the burned areas, they soothed the wounds.

It was enough to finish it off, but it was in a berserk state.

The boss’s berserk effect reduced damage dealt by 80%.

Because of that, even if attacks that could have killed connected, the boss wouldn’t fall.

At that point, the boss’s remaining health was now below 3%.

With the radiant light poured from the small cross, the boss’s corruption was purified.

Suzuka unleashed the Judgment’s Mace she had saved for this moment, throwing it with all her strength.

Using heals and blessings, Suzuka poured all her holy power into the attack, praying with her hands together.

Now, the boss’s remaining health was below 2%.

“Enough already, I’m sick of this.”

You damned pile of flesh.

Master Kim swallowed his words and used Leap Forward.

Despite the boss’s patterns having accelerated due to the berserk state,

it was still slower than Master Kim.

Using the direction change of Leap Forward, he evaded the boss’s patterns.

It was a truly godlike movement, a physical feat that surpassed human limits.

Leap Forward 6 stack combo, Total Assault.

In that moment, the imprint of the Warrior’s strike engraved on the Cliffs of the Gods flashed through Master Kim’s mind.

――!!!!

The boss, Victim of Howling, let out a silent scream.

***

Finally, that moment had come.

Watching the stream, I immediately logged into Akare.