Special Event!
A dinsional rift has appeared in the [Abyssal Assassin] weekly boss battleground.
Temporary non-aggressive monsters, lis, will spawn.
Defeating lis grants buffs that apply only during the weekly boss fight.
"It’s here!!!!"
"The Demon King is finally climbing the ranks!"
"Didn’t I tell you? Always pull new characters!"
To appease the Demon God’s request, a hastily implented temporary weekly boss event had begun.
There had already been plans for future content, but due to her insistence, this event was added ahead of schedule.
The design was simple: defeating the minor monsters would grant buffs that made it easier for area-of-effect (AoE) characters, like the Demon King, to clear the boss.
This approach not only aid to shift player perception of the Demon King but also served the secondary purpose of gathering more research data for the Magitech Engineer.
"[Demon King] cleared in 114 seconds."
"Wow, it’s faster than before."
"Praise be to Holy Lina!"
"This is the power of the [Ring of the Underworld]!"
"To the souls who skipped Lina—you’ll regret it!"
As the event kicked off, the buffs significantly boosted the Demon King’s performance compared to before.
Clear tis were improving, and player perception of the new character began to shift. Or at least, it almost did.
"Why is it taking longer to clear this?"
"The Lava Serpent’s attacks keep hitting the mobs instead of the boss."
The spotlight turned to one of [Demon King Lina]’s core chanics: her summon’s bounce damage.
"Stop hitting the mobs and focus on the boss already!"
"My damage output varies every ti I try this."
The issue was clear. While defeating one or two lis granted a buff, the buffs didn’t stack.
The lis also had just enough HP to make them inconvenient for the Demon King’s wide attacks, but not so much that single-target characters like [Knight Ren] couldn’t handle them faster.
"[Knight] clears in 104 seconds."
"Wait, isn’t the Knight faster?"
"Wasn’t this supposed to be a tailored buff for the Demon King? If the Knight’s better, then what’s the point of the Demon King existing?"
To make matters worse, videos surfaced showing [Knight Ren] taking advantage of his passive self-buff after defeating a lis to clear the boss even faster. The community exploded.
“Apostle of Dreams.”
“Yes, Demon God?”
“Did you deceive ?”
The Demon God lood over , her face inches from mine.
Even in the dream world where I held ultimate authority, the pressure she exerted was overwhelming.
Had I been lulled into a false sense of security by her recent childlike deanor?
“No, I did not.”
“Then why does our Lina’s reputation remain in such a state? Nay, it seems to have worsened!”
“I… can explain.”
“Then explain it.”
“Normally, in the weekly boss fight, defeating event mobs grants buffs, correct?”
“…Yes.”
The Demon God’s brows furrowed.
“Compared to [Knight Ren], who is purely single-target, [Demon King Lina] is an AoE damage dealer.”
“…That’s true.”
I could see her eyes darting around, trying to follow my explanation.
“So, I believed this event would highlight Lina’s strengths. And it did, to an extent. Her performance trics improved significantly. However… the bounce chanic of her summon’s attack caused her damage to spread out, reducing the focus on the boss.”
“Th-that bounce chanic… what is that?”
“In our ga, bounce refers to an attack that, after hitting its main target, ricochets to nearby enemies for additional hits.”
It was a chanic designed to handle hordes while still being sowhat effective in fights against fewer enemies.
It was also a balancing asure, ensuring Lina didn’t beco too overpowered.
“Then why does her damage scatter?”
“The nature of bounce ans that secondary hits aren’t controllable by the player. Even if you want all the damage to focus on the boss, it can spill over to the surrounding mobs.”
“...Didn’t you say Lina was an AoE damage dealer? Why does her damage scatter to mobs if she’s ant for AoE?”
“She is an AoE character. Both her basic attack and ultimate are pure AoE. It’s just her summon that uses bounce damage. She can handle both AoE and single-target situations.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. Since the event started, Lina’s overall damage output and clear tis have improved significantly. While the event is temporary, it’s a big step up from before.”
“Then why do they insult her?”
“It’s… complicated. So players can’t afford to pull for new characters and defend older ones by downplaying the new ones. Others compare her to [Knight Ren], whose single-target specialization and self-buff make him better for the weekly boss.”
“Ugh! Enough of this!”
The Demon God ruffled her hair in frustration.
“Just forget the buffs and make Lina stronger! That’s an order!”
So it had co to this, after all.
[Demon King Perlerina apologizes, laughing nervously, saying her patron can be a bit intense at tis.]
I glanced at the real Lina, who was watching with a satisfied grin.
"Why don’t you just reveal your identity already? The Demon God is obsessing over your ga avatar because she doesn’t know you’ve been resurrected."
[Demon King Perlerina replies, ‘I want to, but I’ve missed the right timing…’ and smiles awkwardly.]
What timing? She could just say it!
“Demon God, listen to for a mont.”
“…Are you going to confuse with more strange terms? Don’t try to deceive .”
“No, seriously. Just hear out.”
“...Fine.”
“Let’s say I buff [Demon King Perlerina] so much that her ultimate deals AoE damage several tis stronger than [Knight Ren]’s entire kit.”
“…That would be wonderful.”
“Sure, but what about players who love and invested in other characters?”
“If Lina is doing well, why should I care about the others—”
“No! They’d be furious! And who would they direct their anger toward?”
“…Toward you, the developer?”
Correct. The initial target would be .
“But it wouldn’t stop there. The character who disrupted the balance would also beco a target. Everyone would constantly criticize Lina, blaming her for ruining the ga.”
“…That cannot happen!”
“Exactly. And this doesn’t even account for future characters. If they’re weaker than Lina, players won’t pull for them. If they’re stronger, they’ll claim Lina was a waste. Either way, Lina becos a scapegoat.”
“What if we release alternate versions of Lina in the future? Like a [Swimsuit Lina], or perhaps a [Pajama Lina], or even a [Young Lina]?”
“Swimsuit? Pajamas? Young?”
The Demon God’s jaw dropped in shock.
[Demon King Perlerina protests, asking why I’m using her for profit like this.]
"Because you should’ve revealed yourself and stopped this ss!"
“Demon God.”
“…Yes?”
Still dazed, she looked at blankly.
“Don’t worry about her performance. The hospitality content is already prepared. Just trust on this one.”
What I needed now was a new tactic—sothing beyond performance.
Sothing that would really empty players’ wallets…
“Maybe exclusive weapons?”
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