Isekai Online Game Developer

---

Count Pofos attended the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet with a heavy heart.

Recently, his gloom couldn’t be lifted even by his favorite meat dishes or sweet desserts.

The source of his melancholy was none other than the ambitious letter he had sent to the Illusion Tower.

He had already sent the same letter over twenty times without receiving a reply.

“Crunch, sniff…”

Count Pofos chewed on meat alone in a corner of the banquet hall.

“My, my scenario wasn’t good enough… cough…”

The content of the letter was something he had been daydreaming about for a long time.

Count Pofos had been unable to enjoy his academy life due to his unattractive appearance during his boyhood.

Even at this age, he was a lifelong bachelor who had never experienced love, let alone marriage.

He enjoyed fantasizing about his academy days.

Surrounded by numerous beautiful female students, he envisioned strategizing to win their hearts.

After witnessing the Arcane War, he thought that if he could use that illusion magic, he could transform his fantasies into a game.

Count Pofos roughly outlined the game scenario and sent it to the Illusion Tower.

He said he would provide as much money as needed to implement that content into a fantasy world like COL or Maple Leaf Story.

“Oh, no, no—!”

Anyway, while he was gloomily eating alone and avoiding conversations with others,

Rikal shouted in frustration nearby.

It was due to a misunderstanding regarding a user known as the “Reckless Empire Prince,” who had been trending lately.

Count Pofos didn’t care much since he hadn’t really engaged with COL.

And Rikal causing a stir wasn’t anything new.

Soon, Leo approached to calm Rikal down.

Had that been all, Count Pofos would have continued to ignore it, but—

“Ha, Ha! Hahahahaha!”

A strange laughter floated through the chaos.

Count Pofos lifted his head to find the source of that laughter.

“It seems everyone has some misunderstanding. Prince Rikal is not the ‘Reckless Empire Prince.’ After all, we recently did a duo together.”

The one clearing the misunderstanding was none other than a wizard.

Yes, it was Riot, the Illusion Mage who created COL and Maple Leaf Story.

‘W-what? The Illusion Mage is also here at this banquet?!’

Riot clarified in place of Rikal and dragged him out of the banquet hall.

Count Pofos thought this was his chance.

It was the perfect opportunity to ask someone to actually make his fantasy into a game.

‘But this meat is too delicious to move… (pfft) What am I doing!? I need to get moving!’

Yet, the meat he held was too tasty, preventing him from acting.

After battling with himself for a moment, Count Pofos was finally able to move.

However, at that moment, there was someone else aiming to leave the banquet hall.

“Y-Your Highness Crown Prince. W-where are you going…?”

Count Pofos first spoke to Leo.

He was about to have an important conversation with Rai, and it would be problematic if Leo heard it.

“Oh, Count Pofos. I’m just worried about Rikal; I’m going to check on him.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, I, I can… go with you…”

“You, Count Pofos?”

“Er, um, I could say I have something personal to discuss…”

Yet, Leo’s destination was the same as Rai and Rikal.

It was a situation where they certainly shouldn’t leave together.

In the end, Count Pofos left Leo behind in the banquet hall and pursued Rai and Rikal alone.

Stepping out of the banquet hall revealed the expansive royal garden.

The royal garden was beautifully illuminated by extravagant lighting.

Count Pofos waddled through the garden, panting heavily.

–… So…

From a secluded corner of the garden, he heard voices between Rai and Rikal.

They seemed to be huddled close together, as if sharing a secret.

Count Pofos approached them, his breath ragged, and their indistinct voices began to clear up.

“… So why did you use the nickname ‘Empire’s Light’ again? You should’ve picked a different nickname for COL, right?”

Hearing Riot’s exasperated remark, Count Pofos froze.

*

I helped Rikal out and pulled him into the garden.

Then, I took him to a corner where no one would come.

“Huff… So I’ve helped once, right?”

“Argh! Those irritating bastards! They should all be killed…!!”

Rikal, furious, kicked at the ground.

Just a moment ago, he was panicking, not knowing what to do.

After all, personality doesn’t change that easily.

“Then why were you being so wishy-washy back there? If you act like that, people will be more convinced.”

“Am I supposed to just scream my nickname there? In front of all those nobles?”

“What, you could’ve just said it was out of fandom or something. Is there another way? The suspicion will keep following you unless you completely reveal your nickname. Or maybe just find the real ‘Reckless Empire Prince.'”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out! Don’t you know who it is?!”

“I don’t know, I swear!”

“Ughhhhhh!”

Rikal yanked at his hair.

For him, it must be a frustrating situation.

Being suspected of being the ‘Reckless Empire Prince’ was undoubtedly annoying.

But he couldn’t reveal his real nickname either.

I could understand why he was upset.

Of course, I had no intention of revealing the identity of the ‘Reckless Empire Prince.’

“Ugh… So why did you use the nickname ‘Empire’s Light’ again? You should’ve picked a different one for COL, right?”

“I didn’t think much when I created it. Who knew things would turn out like this?”

“Wasn’t there a desire to be an idol in COL too?”

“… Do you want to die?”

“If you kill me, the Crown Prince’s identity will be posted in the ‘Maple Leaf Story’ announcement, you know?”

Just like always, our conversation turned back to teasing Rikal.

Well, since there was no immediate solution, it was better to lighten the mood.

…Or at least that’s what I thought, but because we had that conversation, a big incident occurred.

Rustle—

“…!”

“…”

A rustling sound interrupted our talk.

Along with that, it seemed we could hear suspicious breathing.

Rikal and I hurriedly lowered our voices.

“Is someone there? Surely…”

“… It’s too dark to see. You think they didn’t hear us…?”

Rikal, usually so confident, looked genuinely scared.

He seemed to be entering a near-panic state.

If that sound belonged to someone who heard our conversation… Rikal would definitely want to die right then and there.

I could feel Rikal’s trembling eyes revealing his thoughts.

“No way. It can’t be. There’s no one.”

Usually, in such situations, it would turn out to be a passing cat. That’s the usual pattern.

Creating the tension, expecting something to happen, only for nothing to come of it is a cliché.

“Oh, Crown Prince…”

But tragically, that cliché didn’t occur.

Instead, an intense twist played out.

From the bushes emerged an ugly nobleman.

“Count Pofos…?”

Rikal muttered in surprise upon recognizing him.

It seemed Rikal knew this nobleman.

By his attire, he appeared to be a central noble.

Count Pofos? For some reason, he seemed familiar.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t have heard us, right?

“I-I said ‘Empire’s Light’… What does that mean…?”

Oh no. He heard us.

A sudden wave of dread washed over me, and I smacked my forehead.

Meanwhile, Rikal was trembling, beads of cold sweat pouring from him.

“Y-You don’t mean… you’re the Third Prince, ‘Empire’s Light’…?!”

“Oh, ah, yes? Hahahaha! I don’t know what you’re talking about! The Third Prince being ‘Empire’s Light’? There’s no way this reckless person could be ‘Empire’s Light’, right? Hahahahaha!”

I tried to hastily defuse the situation for the dazed Rikal.

Despite openly insulting him, Rikal was so out of it that he didn’t even respond.

Since being exposed, he was practically socially dead already.

I could sense the weight of despair on Rikal’s shoulders.

I desperately hoped that this Count Pofos hadn’t fully understood the situation as I forced a smile.

“D-Don’t make things up! I heard everything about nicknames and idol nonsense…”

“Ah…”

Thud—

In the end, Rikal plopped down.

Count Pofos, despite his looks, somehow seemed to have a knack for being astute.

He seemed annoyingly stubborn in a way too.

“What do you mean the Crown Prince is ‘Empire’s Light’? Then has the ‘Empire’s Light’ that appeared until now been a decoy?”

Neither Rikal nor I responded.

Rikal seemed to have lost his mind, and I certainly couldn’t answer correctly, fearing what I’d unleash upon Rikal’s future.

By the way, why did Count Pofos speak so oddly?

Is it acceptable to speak to a prince like that?

After a moment, Rikal began to regain his composure and opened his mouth.

“… Count Pofos.”

“W-Whoooo?!”

He jumped up and placed a hand on Count Pofos’s shoulder.

Then he gripped Count Pofos’s shoulder tightly, almost crushing it.

Count Pofos appeared to be in pain, making strange sounds.

“… I guess I should kill you here.”

And then Rikal drew a knife.

I hurriedly grabbed Rikal’s arm.

“W-Wait a moment, Your Highness! Even so, this isn’t right! And if you kill him here, it’ll definitely get out!”

“If it gets out, then what? Count Pofos has no wife, no children, so nobody will come looking for him.”

“That remark stings a bit, but…”

“No, that doesn’t mean it’s okay to kill someone! For now, put the knife away!”

After considerable effort, I finally succeeded in calming Rikal down.

In the end, we decided to explain the situation and ask Count Pofos to keep it a secret.

Rikal still seemed to think that just killing him would be better.

But even so, I didn’t want to see an innocent person die in front of me.

After all, it was Rikal who was truly at fault, and it would make no sense for Count Pofos to die.

“So, that’s how it is… Your Highness, it’s a bit off-putting to say this…”

“… I don’t want to hear that from a Count.”

“But why is your speech like that? Is it okay to speak to a prince like that?”

“Count Pofos is like this. The King has given up. He keeps every rule but that one. If he doesn’t talk like this, he keeps chewing on his cheek, saying it hurts or something…”

“Weight loss isn’t… I mean, never mind.”

I had plenty of things I wanted to point out, but given the already abnormal situation, I just kept my mouth shut.

“I, I can keep it secret. But I won’t do it for free!”

“Do you have something you want?”

“Riot the Illusion Mage. Why haven’t you replied to the letter I sent?!”

“A letter?”

A letter?

I paused, digging through my memory of the most recent letters I had received.

There wasn’t much special…

“Ah! Count Pofos!”

I finally remembered.

It was that lengthy letter I had tossed aside after reading it without any hesitation.

It was so detailed it was annoying—asking me to create a visual novel based on his scenario and character setting.

The name of the person who sent that letter was Count Pofos.

“So you were the one asking for a visual novel… no, asking me to make that game?”

“That’s right…! Why haven’t you replied?!”

“I initially told you it was impossible.”

“B-but…! Please make it…! I thought my scenario was flawed, so I’ve already written a revised scenario for the 28th time…!”

“It’s not that it’s a problem, but…”

How could someone so obsessed become born in this world?

Was the person who invented the first visual novel in their previous life like this?

Thinking that comparing him to Count Pofos was an insult, I internally apologized to the first visual novel developer.

“Ah, anyway, if you make that, I’ll keep it a secret…!”

“No, I’m an online game developer…!”

Nevertheless, Count Pofos’s condition was this.

If I made the visual novel, he would keep it a secret.

I contemplated, switching my gaze between the hopeful Rikal and Count Pofos, waiting for my answer.