Isekai Online Game Developer

The mansion of Count Pofos, located somewhere in the realm.

One day, a discreet package was delivered there.

A box small enough to be held in one hand.

It was sent from the Illusion Tower.

Count Pofos brought it into his room and began to unwrap it very carefully.

“Oooooh… Uh-woooah…!!!”

Inside was a tiny statue crafted in the likeness of Zebit as a cute character.

At first glance, it merely seemed like a Zebit merchandise.

However, that tiny statue was made from a considerable amount of high-grade mana stones and was an ‘Artifact’ covered in illusion magic.

The design was decided upon at the request of Count Pofos.

Initially, Rai wanted to create a stone-like appearance.

That way, others would not recognize it when they saw it.

But that went against Count Pofos’ beliefs.

At the very least, he wanted to include the face of one of the heroines.

After much contemplation, the design ultimately became the current Zebit statue.

If thought to be Zebit merchandise, others wouldn’t find it strange.

And since it was a heroine statue, it was a design he was pleased with.

Count Pofos was also a fan of Zebit.

“Z-Zebit-chan… Hoo… Hoo…”

Of course, Count Pofos was aware of Zebit’s true identity.

But Zebit and Rikal were distinctly different beings.

It was akin to how people may become fans of the characters portrayed by actors.

Rai and Rikal could never agree with that mentality, but nevertheless, Count Pofos was that way.

“W-well then, let’s get this started…! Hoo, hoo… I-I’m excited…”

With a highly animated face, Count Pofos lay down on the bed.

He tightly gripped the Zebit statue artifact with both hands and laid it over his heart.

He was sweating—no, a flood of anxious moisture poured from his body.

For some reason, there was tension in his lower half.

“I-I’m coming…! This-chan…!”

Count Pofos was sucked into the illusionary world.

He used the artifact to enter the world of the visual novel, ‘Thumping Academy!’

*

One day, Baron Persig visited Count Pofos’s house.

Baron Persig was a relative of Count Pofos and one of the few people he interacted with.

“The Count says he will only be a minute more. Please wait a moment.”

“Alright. That’s fine. I’ll be in the Count’s room.”

“But the Count’s room is…”

“It’s fine. It’s not like this is my first time here.”

Recently, Count Pofos had been strictly managing who entered his room.

The butler tried to guide Baron Persig to the reception room, but the baron headed straight for the Count’s room.

The Count and the baron were quite close, and until now, they had always talked in the Count’s room.

Knowing this, the butler simply nodded.

“Haa… No wonder you can’t get married.”

The baron sighed as he looked at the disorganized, messy Count’s room.

A strange odor he couldn’t identify.

The room was filled with Zebit merchandise and cute girl illustrations. Secret novels.

The reason he hadn’t married or dated was none other than this.

“This is a new piece of merchandise I haven’t seen before.”

While looking around the Count’s room, the baron spotted a corner filled with Zebit goods.

Among them was a Zebit statue that looked out of the ordinary.

“An Artifact?”

It wasn’t just a statue but an Artifact.

The baron, out of curiosity, activated the artifact.

And was instantly sucked into the illusionary world.

About thirty minutes later.

“W-what, what, what are you doing!”

Returning after finishing his work, Count Pofos shouted upon seeing the baron lying on the floor, his cheeks jiggling.

He hastily ended the connection, but the baron was already in the midst of ‘Thumping Academy!’

“C-Count, this is… Just a moment ago, Zebit was…”

“A-uh, t-this—!”

Count Pofos had promised never to reveal this to anyone, even for the sake of the Illusion Tower.

He pleaded with the baron to keep it a secret.

However, not long after.

Rumors began to spread that “there is a game where you can simulate dating Zebit” around the imperial palace.

The rumors quickly gained attention from the world.

The owner behind the game, Count Pofos, took a long vacation and vanished.

*

“Hoo, hoo… Hoo… Today, I should finally be able to see the first ending…!”

Count Pofos, who had gone on vacation and disappeared.

He had been hiding with the buzzworthy “Zebit dating simulation game.”

“I-I know nothing about this…!” he declared as he ran away.

Unaware of the situation, he focused intently on the ‘Thumping Academy!’ strategy.

After playing all day, he found himself nearing the end of the Miko route.

Today, he would witness the ending.

Count Pofos logged into ‘Thumping Academy!’

[Today is finally the day to confess to Miko. After class, they agreed to meet behind the building.]

The narration echoed in his ears.

After class, the Count headed to the back of the building.

Between the main building with various storage and the gymnasium.

Count Pofos and Miko had arranged to meet in front of the sports equipment storage somewhere over there.

“Hoo, hoo… Miko-chan… I’m waiting.”

With excited breaths, the Count arrived in front of the storage.

Miko had not yet arrived.

“W-when is she coming… Hoo…! Did I make a mistake in the game…!”

Miko didn’t show up as time passed.

Slightly irritated, Count Pofos muttered as he paced back and forth.

-…Hmm… Ahh…

Then, he heard a faint voice from somewhere.

It vaguely sounded like Miko’s voice.

“Miko-chan?”

Count Pofos looked around, but Miko was still nowhere to be seen.

While wandering about, he heard her moan once more.

It was from the sports storage.

-…Aah… Renton…

“…Renton?”

Renton was the name of a scummy villain character from the game.

Feeling uneasy, Count Pofos hurriedly pulled at the door of the sports storage.

Clang-clang—

“W-why won’t it open?!” he shouted in confusion!

The door merely rattled, refusing to budge.

He grabbed everything he could find to bang on the door, yet it wouldn’t break or open.

“Miko-chan—!!”

He could still hear Miko’s voice, along with Renton’s voice.

Understanding the situation, Count Pofos frantically pounded on the door.

Did the game even implement pain? He felt a vivid ache in his hands.

“Ugh… Why…?”

As he lost strength in his hands and sank down, the door of the storage opened, and Miko and Renton emerged.

The air inside was thick with warmth, and Renton had his hand on Miko’s shoulder.

“Yo! Isn’t that Count Pofos? What are you doing here?”

“Ugh…!”

Miko’s face was flushed.

And Renton looked down at the Count with a sneaky grin.

Count Pofos felt immense pain even though he hadn’t been hit by Renton.

It felt as if his chest was being ripped apart; the agony was overwhelming.

“Uooohhhh—!”

Count Pofos lunged at Renton in fury.

But with a single kick, Renton knocked him away.

“W-why… why Miko-chan!!!”

“Miko. It seems Pofos has something to say, huh?”

“Ugh, let’s go, Renton.”

Miko glanced back at Count Pofos and cuddled up to Renton as they left.

Count Pofos watched their retreating figures, howling as if his throat would split.

“W-why… why are you doing this, Miko-chan!!!”

An incomprehensible situation. Just yesterday, everything was fine.

Why had it come to this?

Count Pofos, who had coughed up blood as he screamed, fainted and was expelled from the game.

“Cough… Cough…”

Count Pofos, who suffered tremendous internal injuries and had not eaten for days, was in immense pain.

After barely regaining consciousness, he tried to pursue the strategies of the other heroines, but the results were the same.

“Ugh… Ughhhh…!!! Cough…”

Thus, as he endlessly endured pain, Count Pofos’s vacation of disappearing drifted on.

*

Rikal was inherently nothing special.

Since childhood, he had been too restless to focus in class and showed no signs of being a ruler.

He wasn’t skilled in politics and wasn’t sly enough to survive in the imperial palace.

Furthermore, the year Rikal turned ten.

“Oh my…”

“C-class, and even in the illusion category…”

“He has no magical talent. How surprising…”

After undergoing an attribute condition test, Rikal found himself labeled a C-class in the illusion category.

No matter how one looked at it, it was a completely useless ability.

Had it been a C-class of any other attribute, there might have been some application.

But being in the illusion category made him even more looked down upon.

Nevertheless, he was born of noble lineage.

A truly noble birth as a member of the royal family.

Some might say that he was already born with a lot thanks to that.

However, Rikal didn’t possess anything other than that.

Thus, ironically, the title of royalty became a poison for him.

“The Third Prince has no hope.”

“Well, the First Prince is clever, so it shouldn’t be too bad, right?”

“Still, having such an incapable royal is… If he’s like this from childhood, it’s obvious he won’t be anything when he grows up.”

Whispers about his incompetence surrounded him.

As a child, Rikal was so innocent that he was unaware of such talk.

But as time passed year by year.

Rikal began to notice the gazes directed toward him as he grew older.

The incompetent prince.

At the realization of how he was being evaluated, Rikal’s innocence faded away.

The only thing he enjoyed was swinging a sword.

He practiced alone every day in a corner of the training ground.

Gradually, interest in Rikal faded away.

People didn’t care if he skipped meals.

The number of nobles who would go out of their way to strike up a conversation with Rikal dwindled. They flocked to the Crown Prince, Leo.

Instead, there were nobles pretending to be friendly with Rikal, known as the so-called reckless noble elite.

“Just give it a try, Your Highness. It’ll be super fun! Hehe.”

“Yeah! This is something that only you, Your Highness, can do!”

They urged Rikal to engage in naughty antics.

Initially, Rikal hesitated, but soon he ended up committing them.

“AAAAAH—!”

“The precious statue His Majesty cherishes…!”

“Who did this?!”

Rikal had smashed a statue displayed in a corner of the palace corridor.

Naturally, the Emperor was furious and scolded young Rikal.

“…Haa. Enough. Go on out.”

For others, such actions would have warranted execution.

However, Rikal was let off with mere scolding.

No matter what, he couldn’t kill his own son.

A typical person would have put a stop to such behavior after being scolded.

However, young Rikal did not stop.

Continuing to cause both big and small troubles, everyone in the palace—even among the royals—began to whisper about him.

Naturally, Rikal didn’t enjoy being treated that way.

Even so, he continued.

‘…No one will pay attention to me anyway.’

This way, he could get some attention.

In the vast, splendid palace.

The eerie and terrifying sensation of no one even glancing at him because of incompetence.

Thinking of that feeling, which made everyone forget him, this was preferable.

Humans are social creatures.

The most terrifying thing is indifference.

Thus, Rikal gradually became a complete reckless prince.

Initially, he didn’t even know why he started acting out senselessly.

He became the current Reckless Prince.

“Ha… That guy, seriously…!”

Rikal threw down the newspaper in frustration.

It was filled with articles about the Zebit dating simulation game.

“I told you to be careful! You got exposed? What on earth were you doing…?”

He never would have thought to trust that stupid pig Count.

Moreover, once the situation developed like this, Count Pofos had taken a long vacation and vanished.

“I should have just killed him…”

Rikal regretted not killing Count Pofos back then.

The next day, he received a letter from the Illusion Tower and headed to Trinity.