Isekai Online Game Developer

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“W-What are you doing, Rai…?”

At the top of the Illusion Tower, Hina approached me and spoke.

I was currently busy manipulating a part of the World where Dark Elves and Elves were having a wager.

“Sekeunna and Riana are trapped in a Piglin fortress in the Nether. Wanna take a look?”

I showed her the illusion I had extracted from the main server.

Hina made a little ‘oof’ sound and sat down beside me.

“Trapped…? Do Piglins do stuff like this?”

“Of course not. I set it up that way on purpose. I made it so that crossing the Nether portal directly connects to the Piglin fortress, and led them to be chased and trapped by a bunch of Piglins.”

“W-Why? Isn’t it usually easy to obtain Ender Pearls from Piglins?”

“I thought maybe they’d have a conversation if they were trapped. If I just leave them to compete, it feels like they might start a war inside, right? Of course, I didn’t think Sekeunna and Riana would end up trapped together.”

I initially thought many would rush into the Nether.

I had set up multiple prisons with the plan that everyone would get trapped as soon as they entered.

The goal was to create a situation where they would have to band together to escape.

Now that those two were inside, I was adjusting the difficulty so they had to cooperate to escape.

“Then, why do something like that? If you do, the competition won’t happen, right?”

“Anyway, what would change if there was a competition? If the Elves win, things go back to normal. If the Dark Elves win, the Elves won’t say something like ‘the World Tree is just a big tree.’”

“Y-Yeah, that’s true…”

“Galleard said it, right? Elves are……”

I recalled my conversation with Galleard before the second wager.

*

“Elves are rigid and particular. They believe they were born from the source of the world and bear a grand destiny. And Dark Elves are prickly and poor with words. Just like any other craftsmen.”

“Is that why conflicts arose between the two races because of their differences in character?”

“Exactly. Both races have lived in closed environments for a long time, so it’s no surprise they couldn’t communicate well. They’re all social misfits, you see. It’s typical for Kanffs.”

“Hm. It’s true that Elves are particular.”

Galleard shared stories about the past war between Elves and Dark Elves at my request.

Meanwhile, Hina nodded along, occasionally adding to the conversation.

She claimed she had been alive during the time of the war.

Galleard hadn’t lived through it, but had heard stories from Riana during the Hero Party.

Learning that Hina was older than Galleard was a bit shocking.

“It doesn’t seem like something to fight about. Just arguing feels possible.”

“It’s because they never received proper upbringing. The only thing Elves revere as parents is that enormous tree. Do you really think the World Tree taught Elves any manners? It didn’t just happen for no reason.”

“W-Wait a second, Galleard. Criticizing parents is a bit…”

Galleard had become increasingly unrestrained.

He had always been a bit rough with words, but he hadn’t used terms like ‘improper upbringing’ before.

It seemed he had been doing a lot of COL recently…

“Actually, it’s not even parents! It’s just a big tree! It is true that it is the foundation of the world and purifies mana, but it’s still just a big tree! Treating it like a parent is what’s led to this situation. Can trees even speak or do anything?”

“W-Well, that’s true…”

“It was a problem that was bound to happen. Personality is shaped through experiencing various relationships and breaking them down. But Elves interpret the will of the silent World Tree in their own way and act accordingly. Naturally, their social skills would be terrible.”

“…That’s a pretty plausible explanation. Especially since Elf society is so isolated.”

The World Tree doesn’t have a personality.

It doesn’t provide any information like a parent, and Elves have minimal interaction with other races.

Essentially, they are trapped in the thoughts formed in their society.

That’s why calling Elves Kanffs might just be natural for humans.

Their social skills might drive humans crazy with frustration.

At least the Dark Elves, who interacted quite a bit with humans, were somewhat better off.

“Those guys are old but like kids. Age doesn’t define a person; it’s experience that shapes them.”

“G-Grandpa, are you angry…?”

“Why are you so mad? It’s true, but…”

I couldn’t help but suspect that there had been some conflict with Elves in the COL before coming here.

Elves are skilled in COL but are fundamentally too stubborn.

“That Ashi guy couldn’t even contribute to the deal yet keeps blaming me…”

As expected, Galleard muttered.

Galleard complaining about his experiences in the COL was nothing new, so I brushed it off.

“But then, it’s a dilemma. If the Dark Elves and Elves keep wagering like this, their relationship will only worsen.”

“…Yeah. What they need is not fighting but conversation and cooperation. Can’t you do something about that?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. It might be enough if you just keep them locked up together.”

“Wouldn’t they just kill each other?”

“It’s just a game after all, what’s the harm? Besides, kids naturally grow up fighting. They fight one day, cooperate the next. They might fight again tomorrow. And that’s how they gradually become adults.”

“Aren’t Elves a couple of centuries old at least?”

“Don’t you know the saying? ‘Age is nothing but a number!’ That saying was created based on looking at Elves!”

Listening to Galleard, I made modifications to the map where the Elves would wager.

If I could bring peace through my game, that’s what I truly wanted.

Of course, this conflict might not be resolved so easily.

But I decided to trust Galleard, who has lived longer than I have.

*

“S-So you’re forcing them to be on the same team?”

“Exactly. If they end up cooperating while fighting, they might get closer, just like Galleard said.”

“E-Even if that works for kids.”

Elves seem to be no different than kids, according to Galleard.

At that moment, I saw two Elves discovering a lever in the game.

“Oh, oh?”

Kilia was trying different things to secure the lever in the game.

In the meantime, Riana was holding onto the lever.

“That thing isn’t going to stay fixed no matter what you do. One person needs to hold it, and the other needs to go out and find the key.”

“Uh, yeah. But, um, they ran away.”

As it turns out, Kilia had tricked Riana into escaping alone.

Riana was banging on the wall.

“W-What do we do now?”

“I thought this could happen. But even if you get out from there, to escape the fortress, both of you need to cooperate. They probably plan to check the next room and come back…”

That was the anticipated scenario.

So I had designed it so that they couldn’t escape from the next room without both of them present.

But Kilia acted contrary to my expectations.

Instead of planning to come back, they directly opened the prison door and freed Riana.

“Wow, maybe they’re kinder than I thought.”

“Right?”

“Dark Elves have less Kanff power than Elves… Note that down…”

Had they been planning to escape together from the start?

Kilia stepped out of the prison, taking Riana with her.

We couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

“But, can’t they just commit suicide?”

“If they do, I’ve set it up so they would return to the original prison room.”

“Ugh, eww, that’s…”

“It’s like an escape room or something. Let’s just keep watching.”

We started to observe the escapades of the two Elves.

*

Kilia pondered over the bundle of keys lying on the floor.

Should I take that annoying Kanff along to escape together? Or just go alone?

Honestly, it didn’t matter much. It was all just a game in the end.

‘…It might be useful if I take it.’

After some thinking, Kilia decided to take Riana with her.

In a critical situation, she could sacrifice her and escape.

Clank—

“…Huh?”

“Come on. You Kanff girl.”

Kilia opened the prison door and walked away without looking back.

Riana, who hadn’t expected her to save her, looked surprised.

Feeling a strange guilt for misunderstanding her, she thought she should’ve said thanks, but could not find the words.

Holding back the words swirling in her mouth, she followed Kilia.

“This is…”

As they passed through the prison corridor, they came upon a strangely structured room.

The floor was filled with lava, with two paths leading above it.

Each path connected to doors on opposite ends, and beside each door was a button.

“It seems we have to press both buttons at the same time.”

“…Yeah. You go to the one on your side.”

Kilia and Riana crossed to opposite sides.

And when they pressed the buttons simultaneously, only Kilia’s door opened.

“W-What?!”

Suddenly, monsters started approaching Riana’s side instead.

“W-What’s going on? Wait, Sekeunna!”

Kilia had already crossed through the door.

Riana desperately began hitting the monsters pouring over the edge.

But no matter how many she struck, their numbers just kept increasing.

It felt wasteful to lose items, but at that moment, she thought she might have to die.

Whoosh—

Someone suddenly pulled Riana back from behind.

It was Sekeunna, Kilia.

“It was designed for one to come back and open the door.”

“R-Right…”

After that, the two continued to cooperate and escape the Piglin fortress.

‘Since I received help, I can’t just ignore it.’

Having already received help at the start, Riana also helped Kilia when she was in danger.

Before long, it became a given that they would save each other as they passed through together.

“We’ve gathered almost all the materials.”

“Yeah.”

As they progressed with the escape, they naturally collected the materials needed to make Ender Eyes.

Kilia obtained 5, Riana 6.

“We needed a total of 11, right?”

With both of them combined, they managed to gather 11 together.

But nothing more dropped beyond that.

“Huh?”

“Is that it?”

Eventually, the two Elves escaped the fortress.

Outside, other Elves were waiting for them.

“Hey? What happened, Riana?”

“What’s going on, Kilia?!”

The two were met with Elves running up to them upon emerging.

They briefly explained the situation to their kin.

“So, that means those were Dark Elves? As expected…”

“But we couldn’t obtain the mentioned materials.”

Upon hearing this, they learned that the materials for the Ender Eyes had not dropped outside.

Ultimately, Riana and Kilia had to use the materials they gathered to open the door.

Both were rather tired, so after some time, they logged out for the day.

The next day, rumors spread that they were going to take down the Ender Dragon.

“Did you hear? Sekeunna and the crew were Dark Elves!”

“Does that mean another war between the Elves is about to happen?”

“That makes sense! Unless it was a Dark Elf, they wouldn’t be able to create such structures! These buildings all look identical these days…”

The world where the wager was taking place allowed for up to 1000 spectators, who could not affect the World.

Thus, as soon as the news spread, the area quickly filled with onlookers.

“Hmm? Looks like they’re opening the portal together.”

“Yeah. So the key point is who takes it down first?”

“Whatever happens, it will surely be entertaining!”

Sekeunna and Riana inserted the Ender Eyes.

With that, the portal opened.

The Elves and Dark Elves all crossed into the End World together.

“Is that it?”

“Attack!”

As soon as they crossed through the portal, the Ender Dragon became visible.

The Ender Dragon immediately began attacking the Elves.

It was a far stronger offense than what was described in the books in the End Ruins.

“Let’s attack too!”

“Let’s do it!”

Without regard for who would go first, the Dark Elves and Elves began to attack.

They had no time to hold back against each other; it felt like if they didn’t fight with all their might, both Elf races would face annihilation.

“Ugh, ah—!”

In the midst of the chaotic battle, one Elf tripped while their armor’s durability wore down, and an attack from the Ender Dragon flew towards them.

Clang—

However, just before the Elf was hit, a Dark Elf defended the blow with a shield.

The Dark Elf glanced at the Elf before resuming their attack.

“W-Why…?”

In truth, the characters in Minecraft all looked so similar that the situation was confusing.

That type of incident continued to happen throughout the battle.

At some point, they didn’t even know who was an enemy or who was an ally.

“W-Who knows who’s a Dark Elf or an Elf?”

“But this battle… is really incredible! Was this what the legendary fight between heroes and Demon Kings was like?”

“To think I could witness such an epic battle firsthand… it truly is a lucky moment!”

The spectators were more thrilled by the battle itself than who was who.

Ignoring who was an Elf or a Dark Elf, they all shared a unified resolve and competitive spirit against the colossal foe.

After some time passed, the Ender Dragon’s health was nearly depleted.

Kyeeeek—!

With a grand conclusion to the battle, the Ender Dragon plummeted to the ground.

“I-It’s over…”

“It’s really taken down. Haa…”

“It’s finally finished.”

Waaahhhhhh—!

Exhausted Elves collapsed to the ground.

In response, spectators began cheering for them.

They were cheering not just for the Elves or the Dark Elves, but for the remarkable moment itself.

And only after the battle had ended did the Elves ponder.

So, who would be the victor from this?

And at the same time, everyone knew.

That the Ender Dragon had been defeated thanks to the combined strength of the two races.

If either had been absent, they likely wouldn’t have succeeded.

In that realization, the Elves and Dark Elves exchanged glances, being cautious of one another.

At that moment, the Elven Queen stood up and spoke first.

“This wager…”