—
“This…”
Even though it was just a small fragnt, the unnaturally green color of the stone was glaringly obvious. It didn’t look anything like a naturally mined mineral…
Instead, it resembled…
The kind of cheap material you’d find in a low-budget online ga.
“…Why is this thing here?!”
Holding up the fragnt, Will noticed sothing even more despair-inducing within it…
Perhaps because the fragnt had broken perfectly in half, he could clearly see a large Chinese character etched in the center—
“下” (“Lower”).
“Uh… I can’t believe I still… rember the language I used in my past life…”
Sitting in his chair, wearing only shorts and holding the pants he had just changed out of, Will stared at the stone fragnt, lost in thought.
He recognized this thing.
Not just its finished form—he rembered its uncolored version, its draft version, and even its database placeholder version!
“No way…”
That’s right!
This fragnt…
Was…
A piece of the enhancent stone he had designed as a cash-grab item for a pay-to-win ga!
“…There’s no mistake… It’s definitely this!”
If his mory served him correctly…
At least before his death, this thing was still in the testing phase and hadn’t been implented in the ga.
It was strange.
While Will’s mories of how he died were frustratingly hazy, his recollection of this little stone was crystal clear—even after living in this world for over a decade. Perhaps it was because he had argued about it so many tis.
The biggest debate surrounding it was whether it should even be implented and, if so, how much revenue it would generate.
“…Why did you get implented?!”
This item had originally been sothing Will created to appease his boss’s “I need to hit my monthly revenue target” demands.
But…
Will himself had been against its implentation.
As a purist and advocate for aningful character developnt, Will believed that players should experience growth through their own ti and effort, rather than simply paying money to beco stronger outside the ga.
It was about…
When players invested ti, the characters they nurtured grew alongside them. The process might be long, but overcoming a previously insurmountable challenge after carefully strategizing and equipping your team brought genuine joy.
Not only would the players feel a sense of accomplishnt…
But seeing their characters on the results screen would make it feel like the characters were responding to them, improving together.
That was the true charm of a “developnt ga”!
What’s more…
While the novel Kicked Out of the Party and Adopted by a Dungeon Queen wasn’t exactly well-written and was riddled with plot holes…
Its main storyline was a classic tale of “redemption” and “growth.”
The protagonist, Hugh, who was emotionally scarred after being kicked out of his team, gradually healed his heart by transforming quirky dungeon monster girls into powerful bosses and bidding farewell to those who had hurt him in the past.
The “losers” in the story were essential—not just as sources of catharsis but as symbols of moving on.
Fans of the original story weren’t looking to scan a QR code, pay for an enhancent stone, and suddenly beco overpowered and unbeatable.
—At least, that’s what Will had believed at the ti.
—And yet, he had consistently lost every argunt about it in the planning etings.
The final compromise was to divide the enhancent stones into three tiers—low, dium, and high. By embedding these stones, players could strengthen their characters and unlock greater abilities.
The only concession Will had managed to secure was the acquisition thod—players had to purchase a monthly pass and grind to max level to earn just one stone.
This way, even paying players wouldn’t significantly accelerate their progress.
“…30%. Fine, you got implented, but why is it 30%?!”
Before his death, the exact stats for the enhancent stones hadn’t been finalized.
Will had feared that inflating the numbers too much would disrupt the ga’s balance, overshadowing the satisfaction of character developnt with the thrill of spending money, ultimately creating dependency.
At the ti, he had argued, “Classic 10% is enough! No need for more!”
And yet…
Now, staring at the letter from S, which estimated the stat increase at “30%”—the highest value proposed during developnt—Will felt a wave of despair.
“Sigh.”
“In the end, I couldn’t stop it.”
“The ga must’ve been heavily criticized after launch.”
“But the boss probably made a fortune…”
Will slumped in his chair, staring at the pants he had just changed out of.
Hmm…
These pants really did resemble the ones commonly worn by adventurers.
Wait…
Wait, wait, wait…
No, sothing’s wrong.
His occupational habits were kicking in!
Or rather, his habits from his past life were resurfacing!
Thud. The pants slipped from his hands and fell to the floor.
Seeing the enhancent stone fragnt had triggered a reflexive thought about how it had been implented in the ga.
But…
The bigger question remained—
“Why is this thing here?!”
He wasn’t an idiot.
Seeing this stone, the simplest conclusion ca to mind—
This world wasn’t the “sacred, pure, perfect original” world he had thought it was. Instead, it was the “cheap, dirty, broken adaptation” ga world…
Hmm, it sounded like a straightforward and logical answer.
But…
So far, the plot and world-building had deviated significantly from the ga’s design—aligning much more closely with the original story.
Most importantly!
The biggest deviation lay in himself, “Young Master Will”!
In the original story, Hugh was kicked out of the team almost imdiately. Starting the ga with such a frustrating experience would’ve been a terrible way to hook players. But creating an original player character and assigning the story’s roles to them would’ve caused even more confusion.
So…
In the ga…
At least in the early drafts by the junior scriptwriter…
“Young Master Will” didn’t form “Morning Star.” Instead, he was turned into a comic relief character who might die during an event after being crushed by a sli.
Players would then take on the role of an amnesiac character who resembled the original protagonist, with the default na “Hugh.” They’d progress through levels, collect cards, and piece together their mories through interactions with characters drawn from the gacha pool, completely skipping the original story’s frustrating team-kicking arc.
Other differences included the three “losers” in the story. To avoid unnecessary complications, the ga’s default setting was that they didn’t know Will at all.
“At least I’ve ford a team, and my relationships with the three of them are good—that proves this isn’t the ga.”
There were other clues too—
The map didn’t feature any of the fictional locations added for the ga, sticking to the original story’s geography.
The dungeons didn’t include any of the ga-exclusive designs ant to enhance gaplay.
And the enhancent stones, originally intended for allies, were now being found on enemies.
“This is definitely… the original world…”
But as Will stared at the enhancent stone with the character “下” etched on it…
“Alright, it’s closer to the original world.”
However…
The stone S had sent him sparked a new train of thought.
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