Episode 2
This ga was, surprisingly, an MMORPG with the best-built rendering system among existing virtual reality gas.
Anyone, just by wearing a VR device, could see and experience a fantastical fantasy world, kill realistic monsters, and beco a hero embarking on a great adventure.
On top of that, most characters and monsters were equipped with AI.
Because of this, you couldn't just simply clear quests and level up; you had to follow the story while reacting to nurous variables one by one.
Even I, who had played my fair share of RPGs, was shocked when I first did the trial play.
'This... there are going to be quite a lot of people who live and breathe this ga.'
The ga's story, well, was nothing special from the usual hero's narrative.
The user, dropped into this world, helps the protagonist, kills monsters, and gathers comrades to save a world on the brink of ruin.
Although, the fact that there was a separate in-ga protagonist was a bit unique.
Whether the user was the protagonist or not, they fell into an endless quest hell all the sa, so it wasn't that special.
The reason this ga got attention was purely thanks to its virtual reality implentation system.
The world unfolding before my eyes was so elaborate and distinct.
The still lifes forming the ga's background, the people, the monsters to be defeated, even a single passing bird...
It was so incredible, it was indistinguishable from reality.
Furthermore, the fact that in-ga ti flowed much faster than real ti also played a part in the users' enthusiasm.
You could live to your heart's content in the ga for half a year and co out, and only six hours would have passed in reality. How efficient is that?
'It feels like just yesterday I was raising a Tamago...'
I was amazed at how much the ga industry had developed and admired it constantly.
But perhaps applying AI to all characters, on top of the virtual reality system, was overreaching.
Imnse production costs and massive advertising.
Mocking the fact that it had launched its beta version while receiving everyone's high expectations, the servers crashed daily and bugs piled up.
It wasn't even distributed to everyone, but only to 'n' hundred users selected by fairly strict standards, and it was still like that.
On top of that, the difficulty was hell-level, so even among those carefully selected people, no one had seen the ending.
That's why 'Save The Earth 308' was a flopped ga, full of rumors, that still hadn't been officially released.
Ergency! Error occurred. Access for 308 beta version users is restricted for an ergency system check.
The person in charge of the relevant sector is requested to check the details and correct the issue.
"Seriously, how can another error occur less than 12 hours after the new version opened!"
I, who had been freed from overti for a change, turned on the god-awful ga with no choice, annoyed by an ergency summons from the main office.
That's right. I was an employee on the 'Save The Earth' ga's operations team.
Being on the operations team didn't an I did anything amazing.
I just checked the scenarios, quests, or characters where bugs occurred and handled the users' complaint-filled CS inquiries.
Most bugs occurred in the damn AI characters.
We were flooded with complaints every ti because of one unimportant extra preventing progress to the next scenario or just dying.
"Sigh... It was in the 200s when I joined, but it's already past 300..."
The number attached to the ga's title was the number of bug fixes.
This crazy ga had already passed 307 upgraded versions and reached the 308 mark.
'Persistent bastards.'
Marveling at the main office people who didn't give up and kept pouring money in despite the repeated bugs, I listlessly picked up the VR device.
'If a low-level employee is told to do sothing, they just have to do it. What choice is there.'
I put the device, its clasp worn and frayed from so much use, on my head, and the familiar start screen imdiately appeared with a ssage.
Operations Helper sari_sss ID confird.
Entering Save The Earth.
I've seen the sa scene so many tis since joining the company that I'm sick of it, but maybe I've grown attached.
Every ti I saw the afterimage of the world appearing with the grand BGM, my heart would flutter anew.
Although I often laughed at users who lived and breathed the virtual world.
The thought suddenly crossed my mind that maybe I was the one most engrossed, forgetting reality.
Welco back to the Zenith Continent, sari_sss.
You have one new ssage. Would you like to check it?
As I waited to connect to the server, a system alert popped up as if it had been waiting.
It was obvious it would be about a bug, even without looking.
To others, it might just be a ga, but to , it was reality, so I checked the ssage without delay.
Error Report: Bug occurred with the Apothecary NPC in Dover Village, located in the northern Count Hailey's domain.
Error Details: Infinite distribution of potions and items.
Please check and correct the code.
"...What. This is the NPC I set up, isn't it?"
I widened my eyes after checking the details.
It was because the character that had the error was one I had made a while ago.
Operations Helpers couldn't interfere with the main scenario, but they could modify minor quests or reset NPC characters depending on the bug.
This was only possible because it was still the beta version.
The gloomy-looking NPC wearing a shabby robe, an NPC-exclusive costu, was a character I had made a while ago.
For reference, this ga also had an incredibly well-made character customization system to encourage microtransactions.
On top of that, since I was an operator, I could test-apply things freely.
'And what does test-apply an?'
It ans free!
As one of the users who was crazier about customization than gaplay, I excitedly decorated my avatar.
And I created an incredible character.
'Fucking beautiful.'
When I finished creating the character, I stared at the woman's ecstatic, realistic face, as if she were alive sowhere.
Dainty features, lovely light pink hair.
Clear violet eyes, as if transparent athysts had been set in them.
'This is a masterpiece. Guaranteed 1st place if a contest opens. I can't let it just rot in my inventory!'
To spread this crazy beauty far and wide, I set her as a main scenario NPC that all users had to pass through at the beginning.
As an operator, I could enjoy the ga moderately, earn money on the side, and show off my custom character to everyone.
In other words, it was killing three birds with one stone.
But before long, annoying things started to happen.
The users who saw my character, or the stupid AI bastards, kept hitting on her.
On top of that, since it wasn't officially released, people couldn't use real money, but so would copy my custom character using the 'limited-ti plastic surgery vouchers' given as occasional quest rewards.
'There's a person behind the NPC, you xx bastards!'
After banning the eighth user who made sexually harassing comnts toward my character, I had no choice but to move the character to a place with few users.
Even so, I couldn't give up the NPC setting.
In preparation for the official launch, I decided to illicitly accumulate everything I could.
So, even if the NPC was replaced, my goal was to live the easy life without paying real money, using the ga money I had scraped together.
Dover Village was the perfect place for that.
It was a village that only appeared briefly in the tutorial, and since it had no main quests, there was nominally only one NPC.
But I couldn't just ban the stupid AIs or the occasional users who crawled into this corner every ti.
I had no choice but to swallow my tears and put the NPC-exclusive costu, the shabby robe, on my precious baby.
Her na, the world's number one unparalleled beauty, living in seclusion in a countryside village due to unavoidable, sad circumstances...
'The backstory is perfect, too.'
Having settled in Dover Village, I crafted high-grade items to my heart's content and sold them at prices higher than the market rate, playing house.
It would have been a big problem if users found out and complained about operator privileges, but...
'It's not like I'm actually embezzling company money, so what's the big deal? And it's not like I'm using this to beat bosses...'
Like that, I secretly accumulated quite a lot of ga money.
Thankfully, almost no users revisited the village that just flashed by in the tutorial, and since it wasn't a place where the main scenario progressed, I was able to avoid getting caught by anyone.
Just in case, I had set it up firmly so the NPC would fulfill its role when I was away.
Which ans...
"Infinite distribution? Crazy! My money!"
For , who was crazy about secretly gathering ga money, it was an impossible bug.
'I'm sure I checked and it was fine just yesterday, so why?'
I couldn't understand.
But the only important thing was the fact that my hard-earned potions were probably pouring out like water even at this very mont.
Would you like to connect to the server as Shari Azrael?
In any case, to fix the bug, I had to grasp the exact situation.
I hurriedly logged in as the character in question.
Warning. Prolonged ga use can harm ntal health and negatively affect daily life...
Along with the usual warning ssage, a dizziness that felt like my consciousness was being sucked sowhere consud my vision.
It's a phenonon that occurs as brainwaves synchronize with the VR device so the user accepts the virtual reality as real, and it disappears as soon as the connection is complete.
This strange feeling, as if my mind was moving sowhere while my body stayed put, was a bit scary at first.
But it's not sothing I've only experienced once or twice.
I relaxed and let myself sink into the virtual reality.
And.
"Log out!"
Cannot log out at this ti due to an unknown error.
"...Fuck."
When I ca to my senses, I had beco the Dover Village apothecary, Shari Azrael, and had been living in the ga for two years.
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