I Became the Goddess of a New World

I really felt like a crazy woman, even to myself.

I called Master Kim, who had seen that cutscene, and said,

“What? Did you enjoy the beta test?”

Sometimes I brushed off Akachan calling me a villain, but right now, at this moment, I couldn’t deny it.

‘Ah. I shouldn’t be laughing.’

The corners of my mouth kept curling up.

It felt like the emotion-regulating function in my brain had gone haywire.

“Was it… fun? Was it really fun?”

Master Kim was clearly not in a normal state.

Hands trembling, eyes flickering, voice agitated.

Master Kim, gritting his teeth, erupted the frustration he’d been holding back.

“Why, why on earth should Raven suffer like that!?”

After unleashing his emotions, Master Kim let out a rough breath.

“Why are you angry at me?”

“…What?”

When I asked as if I truly didn’t understand, Master Kim glared at me like he wanted to kill me.

Oh gosh, how terrifying.

“Master Kim, you shouldn’t be angry at me.”

Snap.

I snapped my fingers, recalling a scene from that cutscene Master Kim had just seen.

I enlarged the image of the Elder Lich from that scene and showed it to Master Kim.

“I didn’t do anything to Raven.”

I was spouting an absurd argument disguised as a fact.

I recited lines from a play that no one would fall for.

“The one who destroyed Raven’s kingdom? It’s the Elder Lich.”

“The one who tried to do the same in the Empire? It’s the Elder Lich.”

“The reason Raven had to sacrifice herself to stop it? It’s the Elder Lich.”

The root of all these troubles was the Elder Lich.

The source of all evil was the Elder Lich.

“I’m not an enemy of the players.”

The Elder Lich is the enemy of all players.

“I genuinely hope that you all defeat the Elder Lich and save Raven.”

I was sincere. I preferred healing over despair and happy endings over bad endings.

“So, there’s no reason for you to be angry at me.”

Taking out your frustration on some innocent person wouldn’t do any good.

“Haha…”

Master Kim let out a hollow laugh at my ridiculousness.

I could feel the flames of his overwhelming emotions cooling down somewhat.

“What the Director wishes for, I will absolutely make it happen.”

But it didn’t feel like the fire in his heart had completely extinguished.

The provocative gaze and the resolute tone in his voice indicated as much.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Nothing is good in excess.

After all, there’s a saying, ‘too much of a good thing is bad,’ right?

I just wanted Master Kim to enjoy Akare for a long time.

So I stirred things up like this and spouted absurd words.

…Of course, I had a bit of a personal motive to tease Master Kim too.

“Ah, I’ll put off answering the Director’s question for later.”

“Pardon?”

The corners of Master Kim’s mouth twitched upward slightly.

“I still don’t know if Akare is a fun game or not.”

What the…

Before I could even ask if he really thought so, Master Kim logged out right then and there.

“I’ve been had.”

To calm down, to toss it back in this way.

But I didn’t feel bad about it, so a laugh escaped.

“Seems like I did a good job creating Akare.”

I was looking forward to what kind of fun things would happen next.

***

[Indie Minor Game Gallery]

The last day of the beta test.

The flow of traffic in the in-game gallery was unprecedented.

So many posts were rising to become iconic.

―――

Aurora Director << This is one crazy woman [519] “Why are you angry at me?” LOL [601] A compilation of Master Kim's facial expressions during the interview with the Director.jpg [498] “Did you enjoy the beta test?” HAHAHA [515] Today, Master Kim drew fan art of Raven after watching the broadcast [584] ――― [Title] Aurora Director << This is one crazy woman (The clip of "Did you enjoy the beta test?") (Clip of "Why are you angry at me?") During the first live broadcast, she was just wearing a mask, that crazy woman, haha. When she was trying not to laugh, it really felt like a demon had arrived. Likes 1010 Dislikes 1 ――― [Comment 519] I’ll take her as my bride and isolate her from society. ㄴI’m confident I can isolate her for 10 months. ㄴDid those guys up there go crazy together? LOL ㄴEveryone is being bold in their home battles, huh, yeah. Is it normal to find someone like that cute instead? ㄴNormal. ㄴDoes that even make sense? ㄴWhat the hell are you trying to say? ――― [Title] Today, I drew fan art of Raven after watching Master Kim's broadcast (Clip of Raven brainwashed by the Elder Lich) Actually, it’s not really fan art. I just trained AI and generated this. The quality turned out pretty good, huh? Likes 100 Dislikes 1950 ――― [Comment 584] These crazy AI should be annihilated. ㄴHonestly, I was stunned when I saw the clip. ㄴRaven getting NTR’d is just a disaster. ㄴ(Unicorn vomiting a cone) Let's use '할' here. ㄴUh oh. ㄴWhy are you venting your anger in the gallery, damn it? ㄴThis is all the moderator's fault for not managing it. ――― The in-game gallery was cluttered with all sorts of stories about me. They called me crazy, scandalous, and a delusional woman, etc... There seemed to be many who weren't afraid of lawsuits, but I didn’t mind. I was a man originally, after all. ...Of course, now I’m a woman. Anyway, it was a good thing that stories about me kept circulating. At least it was proof that the actions I took yesterday felt entertaining to them. ――― [Title] So when's the official release? Is there no official announcement? It should be released soon, right? Likes 0 Dislikes 0 ――― [Comment 4] They said they’d do it shortly after the beta ends. ㄴIs that official? ㄴIf I think so, then it’s official, right? ㄴDamn it, that’s just your assumption! ――― Questions about the official release date also popped up from time to time. Indeed, there hadn’t been any specific date set for the official release. Since nothing had been set, there hadn’t been any discussions on it either. “Communication… is necessary.” I wanted to turn on an official broadcast to communicate, but the face of the Director, the game's banner, shouldn’t appear too often either. “Recently, I did a lottery live stream.” And even though it wasn’t official, I had shown up on Master Kim’s broadcast as well. My ultimate goal was the success of the game, so the official broadcast had to be approached with caution. ‘Should I just organize it and post an announcement?’ As I examined the collected records, one thing stood out: the normalization of jobs. And additional content developed during the beta test. The first raid boss, Elder Lich trailer upload. If I were to compile and organize all of this and put it in an announcement, it would definitely be more convenient. “Hmm…” But I couldn’t shake the thought that during the first live, I had been too tense and stiff in my delivery. I could have done better. I’m confident I can do better now. That thought kept muddling my judgment. “Ah, should I do both?” While I was pondering, a brilliant idea struck my mind. After posting the announcement, I would deliver the announcement content in the form of a review on the official broadcast. After all, many people can’t read more than three lines in an announcement. So a 'preview' broadcast for such people wouldn’t be too much and wouldn’t hurt anyone. “I’ll proceed with it that way…” There was still one problem left to solve. Balance patches. Which jobs need normalization? The data from the past week had been revealing the truth. Two jobs stood out notably. “Warrior. Mage.” For the Warrior, the Forward Leap had issues. The stack system of the Forward Leap discovered by Master Kim. This stack system was, in fact, a mechanism I had intended. Naturally, I designed it to allow a maximum of three stacks for balance purposes. But Master Kim had raised the bonus to use Forward Leap up to six stacks. This was completely contrary to my intentions. It’s already abnormal for a punch to change the terrain. This part, which was blatantly 'abnormal,' was promptly nerfed. Limited the number of directional changes in Forward Leap to a maximum of three. “The Mage is serious too.” To give an example of a normal Mage, Sweet comes to mind. Rolling the cooldown of her first awakening skill, while dealing minor damage with her basic attack, Energy Bolt. This was the kind of early-game play I had intended for Mages. However, other Mage beta testers played differently than Sweet. There are various methods to cast magic. Incantation, breath, action, imagination. Four methods refined over numerous histories. These methods contained information that a Mage player would learn when conversing with Raven in the Dark Devouring Forest. Among the beta testers who chose Mage, one used this information to rewrite 'Energy Bolt.' Normally, Energy Bolt is cast with a 'motion' of swinging a staff, but that Mage went further to use incantation as well to cast Energy Bolt. Thus, two Energy Bolts were unleashed. While this consumed double the mana, the issue was that it wasn't limited to Energy Bolt. Fire Ball, Frostbite, and even Blink could all be used in this manner. “Double Casting.” A Mage’s technique for using one spell twice simultaneously. Naturally, this was one of the mechanisms I had intended, but did it really stand out this much with just Double Casting? In the future, there would be Triple Casting, Quad Casting, and even Multi Casting, where multiple different spells are cast at the same time. I had to normalize the Mage for the future too. They’d be weak in the early game and powerhouses in the late game. “It pains me.” To have to personally nerf my second life, the Mage. That brutal truth troubled my heart, but someone had to do it. After organizing the update content, I posted it on the official site. *** Since the end of the beta test, Sweet had not broadcast on schedule the next day. Her viewers took it as a typical WWE situation. But to be honest, Sweet didn’t not want to broadcast; she simply couldn’t. “Raven said she was waiting.” That scene was still vivid in her mind. Standing on the magic circle, bidding a final farewell, Raven looked as though she was pleading for help with a sad smile. That image still flickered in her mind and refused to fade. Every time Raven came to mind, the memory of that cutscene inevitably followed. A tightness— Powerlessness. Anger. Regret. All kinds of negative emotions. In the end, what followed was blaming oneself for one's own incompetence. Sweet looked at her reflection in the mirror. Probably due to not having slept properly for days, dark circles had formed under her eyes. Her complexion didn’t look good, and her skin appeared pale. Huff— A laugh escaped her involuntarily. "What on earth am I doing?” What a pitiful sight. Truly. Life returned to Sweet's eyes. “Preview official broadcast. Did I say I'd do it later?” The beta test was already over. When the official release came, she’d start all over again. It was time to prepare to move forward, leaving precious memories behind. Sweet, who usually had a playful nature and was friendly, now had a look of determination on the face reflected in the mirror. “I will definitely kill it.” The Elder Lich. Swallowing the unfinished aftertales, Sweet sat down in front of the computer, which now felt unfamiliar. [Sweet's broadcast has started. - Talk 1 second later]