Isekai Online Game Developer

After the Arcane War finale wrapped up.

The excitement from the final match swept across the world, and COL started garnering immense attention.

“What if we hold a tournament in the Empire similar to the Arcane War once COL is officially released, Galleard? It would be quite the spectacle if nations and factions participated in the battles,”

“I was thinking the same, Your Majesty. If it happens, I’d definitely want to join in!”

The Emperor, greatly impressed by COL, was having such conversations with Galleard.

Other nobles shared similar thoughts.

In the Illusion Tower, inquiries about the official release date flooded in.

Watching the Arcane War was only permitted for a select few invited guests.

Those nobles not invited scoured parties to hear gossip about COL.

Nobles who had witnessed the Arcane War quickly became the life of the party.

“Have you heard? The Second Princess is also said to be interested in COL!”

“Ah… So the Arcane War was that extraordinary? If the Second Princess—who didn’t even show interest in the ‘Maple Leaf Story’—is now intrigued, just how fun must it be!”

Interest in COL was high even among the royal family.

The royals occasionally discussed it among themselves.

“Rikal, how do we buy COL?”

“Why are you asking me? It’s not even released yet.”

“Don’t tell me you think I won’t notice you sneaking in and out of the Illusion Tower? I might want to join you next time.”

“The Illusion Tower? Seriously, just scram, please.”

“Wha…!”

Though Rikal and the Second Princess Elia hadn’t gotten along before, lately, Elia had been bombarding Rikal with questions about the Illusion Tower.

“Will you try COL when it comes out, big brother? You seemed quite entertained by the Arcane War.”

“If I have the time, I plan to. Actually… I promised Zebit-nim I’d try it out with him.”

“With Zebit-nim? When did you make that promise…? Don’t tell me it was back then?”

“Yep. On the first day of the Arcane War, I exchanged a brief greeting with Lord Riot, you see.”

Rikal’s expression soured sharply as he overheard Elia and Leo’s conversation.

‘When did you make that promise? Damn it…’

No promise like that had ever been made!

What kind of delusion was brewing that created a nonexistent promise?

Rikal wanted to punch his brother for his unpleasant imagination, but he couldn’t.

“Zebit wanted to play a game together?”

“Yeah. He suggested it to me.”

“Ugh, seriously?! Please don’t! You should be working instead; the state affairs are a mess right now! How is gaming even on your mind?!”

“What… do you think you’re in a position to say that, Rikal? If you reduced your accidents by even half, there’d be a lot less work!”

“Nah, seriously, just don’t. I’m saying I won’t screw up, so don’t play games! Ugh, just please don’t do it, big brother! I hate it!”

“Ha, what nonsense… what’s there not to like? You’re the one who talks about the ‘Maple Leaf Story’ every day, Rikal!”

“No, that’s… damn it… ugh, I just don’t want to! I’m serious when I say Zebit-nim really hates you! Just don’t do it! Aaaahhhhh!”

“This brat…!”

Rikal and Leo were fighting a lot more than usual.

Only Rikal knew the reason behind it.

Anyway, amidst all the immense interest in COL, there was another kind of attention brewing.

“Humans… they’re up to something interesting.”

A certain pale-skinned nobleman flitted through high society, gathering information about fantasy games.

Although he refrained from going to Trinity as it posed a risk of exposure,

there was more than enough information about COL and the ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

It meant it was something at the center of human interest.

“I should inform the Demon King about this.”

The man was Malpas of the demon race,

tasked with gathering information from the Human World while hiding his identity.

He returned to the demon realm with information about the Illusion Tower’s artifact, which was sweeping all conversations.

“This, this, this… if this is true… my d-dream is… huff, huff…”

Meanwhile, there was another man interested in the Illusion Tower’s game for entirely different reasons.

He was Count Pofos, a central noble of the royal family.

Naturally unattractive with a protruding belly,

he was over 30 and had never even held a woman’s hand, let alone married.

His disposition was also decidedly not manly, and he had a stuttering habit.

“Hee hee hee, hee hee…”

With a rather perverted smile, he penned a lengthy letter to the Illusion Tower.

So, after the Arcane War,

more events began to unfold before the Illusion Tower, which was about to start the mass production of artifacts and release COL.

*

“31 in favor, 0 against. It passes.”

Finally, mass production was approved for ‘Maple Leaf Story’ and COL.

No longer would they need to pull all-nighters for a few months just to meet demand.

They could also finally proceed with the delayed updates.

The people at the tower cheered at the news.

Especially the new recruits, who were thrilled not to have to work late anymore.

“We should be able to officially launch in about two weeks. By then, I expect we’ll have as much stock as I imagined. The number of ‘Maple Leaf Story’ users will also increase.”

The release date for COL was set for two weeks later.

During that time, access to COL was disabled.

This was necessary to maintain the system and complete the features that hadn’t yet been added.

This led to various complaints from wizards who wouldn’t be able to play for two weeks.

Every day, people at the tower were clamoring to know when it would open.

Especially Hina, who was particularly insistent. Given how much she played games, it seemed her aggression had increased.

“P-please open it soon…!

Pofopofopok-

Hina delivered punches to my back like fluffy cotton.

I ignored her and continued explaining.

“And soon, a council will come to discuss the expansion of the tower. On that day, you are not allowed to go to the top floor.”

“Wow! Are we finally going to have a taller tower?”

“Finally… it’s emotional, Master Tower…!”

“Ugh, ugh…!”

The tower’s staff were moved.

The expansion of the tower was, of course, something completely new for them.

I had heard that it would be done with an ancient artifact known as the Babel Tower Builder held by the council.

That ancient artifact calculates the merit value of the tower in some way.

And based on that merit value, it’s said to raise the height of the tower.

I wasn’t sure what the criteria were, but apparently, all the master towers agreed on how that artifact calculates merit value.

“What’s the method for calculating merit value, Master Tower?”

“W-well, I don’t know, it was decided during the time of the previous Master Tower…”

I asked Hina, but she wasn’t knowledgeable about it either.

Regardless, the Master Tower wasn’t much help.

“Anyway, since it’s come to this… I think it’s time to organize the interiors to look more like a proper tower. For the next two weeks, let’s focus on arranging the interior and tower structure.”

With some money earned,

it seemed like it was time to make our tower resemble a real tower.

I planned to entrust that task to others while I finalized COL during the two weeks.

Thus, our tower finally found its time to grow.

“By the way, Rai, this letter came again, what should we do?”

“…Just throw it away, please.”

With our tower’s status rising, we began to attract new interests, one of which was that letter arriving daily.

At first, I politely refused, but it continued to arrive every day.

“What kind of letter is it? Count Pofos? It comes every day.”

“…He’s asking us to create a fantasy world where he can flirt with cute girls. To be precise, it’s a letter about making a game where he can charm those cute girls…”

“Eww, that sounds perverted. Count Pofos must look incredibly off-putting. Eww…”

“Having such prejudice is bad, Medeia.”

Medeia shuddered.

While it is indeed prejudice to judge based only on the letter’s contents,

the specifics of the letter were certainly quite unsettling.

Describing the appearances of those cute girls… detailing the backgrounds… you get the idea…

In short, it was a letter asking us to create the ultimate visual novel.

I never thought someone would actually come up with such an idea.

But then again, there were people like that in my previous life, so it makes sense visual novels came to be.

Anyway, since I didn’t have time to create such a thing right now, I ignored Count Pofos’s letter.

“Well then, let’s get started.”

“Ne, okay!”

Thus, the Illusion Tower began to finally gear up.

I replaced all the shabby robes with new ones.

The interior was also decked out with various artifacts.

With more space came more room for interior design.

All the props were swapped out for illusions; after all, since it was an illusion, we constructed an expansive world that would leave them in awe.

However, it was within the bounds of safety to avoid the risk of injury due to the illusions.

Before long, the Illusion Tower began to resemble a real tower.

“I’ve never seen someone accumulate this much merit at once. Of course, it could be because it’s the first expansion.”

The tower expansion could also go quite high.

Yet, compared to other towers, it was still far from lofty heights.

Even so, just that alone brought smiles to our faces.

“Our tower is getting this tall…”

“Even with illusion magic, we’ve been recognized for our merit.”

“Doesn’t that mean we’ve influenced the world that much?”

Once the tower expansion was completed,

we moved the massive artifact containing the main servers for the Maple Leaf Story and COL to the rooftop.

Just like the mana stones, which shine with properties atop other towers,

our tower, too, began to light up the streets of Trinity.

And just like that, the chaotic two weeks flew by.

As soon as COL officially launched, it caused a massive stir in the world.