Isekai Online Game Developer

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“Hmm. I see.”

One day, after sending the completed visual novel to Count Pofos…

I was having coffee and chatting with the Second Princess Elia.

Recently, she had been visiting Illusion Tower even more frequently than Rikal.

I didn’t know why, but she would come and chat about various things.

Just moments ago, we were talking about Rikal.

“He’s that kind of kid. Still, lately, he’s been focusing on the game, so he’s been less reckless, right?”

“Well, Princess, you two are siblings after all.”

I suppose I heard some stories about Rikal’s childhood.

It was a bit unfortunate, but considering what he had put me through, I couldn’t muster any sympathy.

“…So, did you come to talk about that today?”

As our conversation wrapped up, I hinted to Elia.

Though she was a COL user, she didn’t go as crazy about it as Rikal or Leo.

Still, she often came to visit Illusion Tower for some casual chat.

To be honest, it was hard to entertain her with my work piling up.

“Um, no! Well…”

She looked like she was racking her brain for conversation topics.

I just wanted her to go back.

“Ah! Have you heard the recent rumors circulating in the royal castle?”

“Rumors in the royal castle?”

“Yes. There’s a rumor that Count Pofos is dating Zebit, the character from a fantasy game? The only place that could create something like that is Illusion Tower, right?”

“…!!”

I froze at that.

Had that been discovered? Surely she didn’t hear it straight from me.

“Is it true?”

“Huh? That’s what I want to ask! Is it true?”

“N-no way! There’s no way I made something like that.”

“Right? Then why on earth are there rumors about it?”

“Haha, haha…”

“Recently, Count Pofos has taken a long vacation, and I can’t confirm anything. Thanks to that, the royal castle is quite noisy.”

I forced a chuckle.

Even after Elia left, I wandered around the tower, filled with unease.

“I said to keep it a secret…!”

Of course, for some enthusiastic fans, it might be good news.

But with COL and ‘Maple Leaf Story’ receiving much attention right now…

If it became known that I had created a visual novel, I would undoubtedly attract even more scrutiny.

It’s not that visual novels are bad, but… I didn’t want to be treated as Count Pofos.

But my worries turned into reality.

…

…

…

[The rumor about the ‘Zebit Dating Simulation Game’ that started in the royal castle. Is it real?]

[Count Pofos continues to refuse interview requests. Currently ‘on vacation’ in the royal castle.]

[Investigating the source of the rumor. Close-up interview.]

[On one side, there are passionate supporters of the ‘Zebit Dating Simulation Game’. Zebit fans hope it turns out to be real.]

[Is Illusion Tower the only place where the ‘Zebit Dating Simulation Game’ can be created? Recent activities surrounding illusion magic.]

[Zebit, who isn’t responding to interviews. How will she react if she finds out about this situation?]

[Criticism arises about whether she is merely using Zebit to fulfill sexual desires… negative views pouring in from some quarters.]

…

…

…

As time passed, articles began to fill the newspapers more and more.

I closed my eyes tightly while reading them.

And recently, requests for interviews from reporters had started pouring in.

“W-what does this mean, Rai…? A dating simulation…?”

Even the people in the tower started asking me.

Some of them had very displeased expressions.

“N-no! It’s definitely not like that! I mean… sort of!”

“Then hurry up and clarify! It’s exhausting with reporters coming every day.”

I evaded the tower members’ questions and wrote a letter to Rikal.

I had added Zebit as a heroine just in case for situations like this.

*

“…So I should say I asked you to make it?”

“Yes. Right now, I’m being bombarded with all sorts of attacks for making a game that treats Zebit as a sexual object.”

“Then I should have just killed it… ugh…”

“By now, the Count is probably on the verge of dying while barfing.”

In the end, Rikal decided to clarify by taking on the role of Zebit.

He would say he agreed to the project and made up some excuses.

“I put Zebit as a character from the start thinking of this kind of situation. Ugh…”

Ultimately, Rikal accepted it with a half-hearted resignation.

Soon after, reporters and a large crowd flocked to Illusion Tower.

‘…What am I doing?’

Rai held a press conference to explain the incident.

‘How did it come to this…’

Outside the tower, I could hear the chatter of the crowd.

Rikal, in the form of Zebit, stared blankly at the wall.

Initially, I had started this in ‘Maple Leaf Story’ to tease people.

It was funny watching the Reckless Prince fawn over people with a smile.

But since Rikal appeared in real life as Zebit, things changed a bit.

It was a new kind of attention. Warmth.

At first, Rikal felt very strange about it.

It was the first time in his life he received such love.

And it was also the first time he was noticed without doing something bad.

He thought of himself as foolish.

Standing before people, pretending to be a cute girl was laughable.

While he acted like he hated it in front of Rai, it might not have been that way at all.

It’s just that the feeling felt good.

“Zebit!”

As Rai dealt with the reporters outside, he called for Zebit.

Zebit slowly rose from the chair.

Rikal now realized something had gone wrong.

He had deceived the world, thinking it was nice to receive attention while wearing a cute girl’s form.

Inevitably, he knew it wouldn’t end well, yet he still continued this charade.

Seeing himself in the cute girl form made him feel pathetic.

Squeak…

As Rikal stepped out of Illusion Tower, a multitude of people awaited Zebit.

The crowd cheered for Zebit.

In a corner of the crowd, he saw a familiar silhouette wearing a hood.

It seemed others didn’t recognize it, but Zebit knew just by looking at the body shape that it was Leo.

He began to dislike himself even more.

“Is it true, Zebit! Did you agree to make this dating simulation game?”

A reporter’s question.

Now, Rikal just had to follow what he had previously discussed with Rai.

Yet, Zebit couldn’t find the words.

While the situation could be settled immediately, the essence of the matter wouldn’t change.

He would still have to keep pretending to be Zebit. Zebit would be loved.

But Rikal would remain branded as the Reckless Prince and be pointed at.

No matter how much Zebit was loved, people wouldn’t like Rikal.

Someday, such circumstances could arise again.

And at that time, Rikal would have to transform into Zebit again and indulge in that disgusting love while putting on a cute act.

Then, he would return as Rikal and be hated once more.

‘Nothing would change anyway.’

The noise of the crowd gradually faded away.

It felt as if his vision was floating, like he was observing from a third-person perspective.

Thinking that this situation would be repetitive made him hate everything.

Ultimately, if being hated was the same, what was the point of doing this?

It was just an agonizing sense of loss on repeat.

“…Zebit?”

At Rai’s voice, Zebit’s eyes regained their focus.

Zebit began to move again.

Instead of speaking, Zebit brought a hand to the brooch on his chest.

“…Oh! Wait…!”

Zebit, or rather Rikal, manipulated the brooch and released the transformation.

In the impulsive moment, regret washed over him, but there was no turning back.

Rikal clenched his fists tightly, eyes shut.

Now, the people were about to be shocked by Rikal’s appearance.

He would reveal everything and explain the situation.

And inevitably, people would throw stones at Rikal, just as they always had.

Everything would return to how it was before.

‘Let’s just stop it now.’

Slowly, Rikal’s eyes dulled.

But the crowd’s reaction was different from Rikal’s expectations.

They were still enthusiastic.

“Uh…?”

Surprised, he turned to see Rai with a look of utter disbelief.

[What are you doing! Are you insane!]

And words appeared before Rikal’s eyes.

Rai used illusion magic to present the text only to him.

As soon as Rai realized that Rikal was dropping his transformation, he cast another illusion on him.

Thanks to Rai’s adept magic, the crowd remained unaware.

[Hurry up and transform back! It’s tough!]

Rikal shook his head.

To Rai, the expression on Rikal’s face was not an illusion.

Words kept appearing before Rikal’s eyes.

[I know how you feel, but for now, just do what you were doing. What’s the point of giving up and going back to being the Reckless Prince?]

Rikal wore a surprised expression.

Rai spoke as if reading Rikal’s thoughts.

[There’s no need to make yourself a target of hate. Whether as Zebit or Rikal, you can gain recognition. For now, help me out a bit.]

As Zebit hesitated for a long time, people began to buzz.

Still in shock, Rikal stared blankly at Rai.

The illusion of Zebit created by Rai smiled at the crowd.

[You can definitely earn recognition as the Prince. That’s what I see.]

Could Rikal be recognized simply as he is?

The question that had tormented him repeated in his mind.

However, Rai’s gaze, watching him, held not a shred of doubt.

It was a feeling he had never experienced.

Feeling flustered, Rikal finally turned to the people.

Rikal’s and Zebit’s lips curved into a smile.

*

“Haa… I was almost branded a national pervert.”

After the press conference, I could finally shake off the stigma.

And soon, Count Pofos’s vacation was reportedly coming to an end, and I was curious about his reaction.

He had probably seen at least one ending by now.

A lot had happened since the clarification press conference.

First, they decided to officially release ‘Thumping Academy!’.

However, it would be limited to 500 copies and sold at an exorbitantly high price.

There were several reasons for the limited sale.

First, the demands from Zebit fans were remarkably strong.

To exaggerate, they were willing to give up their entire fortune just to buy ‘Thumping Academy!’.

And this was an offline game.

It meant it couldn’t be built only on the main server like COL or Maple Leaf Story, with a magical linking system to the main server.

That is, making each unit would take much longer.

I had no plans to mass-produce it. The demand was concentrated only among true Zebit fans.

Lastly, I needed a lot of money.

Currently, the finances for COL and Maple Leaf Story were plentiful.

But I needed some funds for the next game.

The game was not complicated in itself, but the required server space had to be immensely large.

The next game would purely need a massive amount of mana stones.

“I should change the ending.”

I would change ‘Thumping Academy!’ to have a normal happy ending.

The NTR ending was added just to punish Count Pofos for his annoyance.

I wondered if the returned Count Pofos would complain or start spewing nonsense.

But I felt Rikal would manage to handle that part well.

Since that incident, it seemed Rikal’s standing in the royal palace was changing gradually.

His mindset might have changed, as he appeared to be participating more in politics.

He was managing to work while holding back his anger to some extent.

Of course, I also thought that Leo getting into COL may have caused some gaps in the administration.

Anyway, the release date for ‘Thumping Academy!’ was approaching.

I wished for a quiet affair, so I didn’t want to stir up a commotion.

…

…

…

[‘Thumping Academy!’ garners huge attention despite negative outlooks.]

[Zebit fans flocking to Trinity to buy ‘Thumping Academy!’ Standing in line a week before the release…]

[500 limited copies. Even with astronomical prices. Still Zebit fans willing to buy. “I sold my estate to get ‘Thumping Academy!’.”]

[Will there be issues like reselling for the limited 500 ‘Thumping Academy!’?]

[Changing Princes? Recent royal palace gossip.]

[‘Thumping Academy!’ waiting list. Smaller scale than during Maple Leaf Story, but still fervent. Are there celebrities among buyers?]

…

…

…

But contrary to my hopes, ‘Thumping Academy!’ sparked tremendous repercussions.