Chapter 30: An AoE Attack That Bounces

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath declares that this being absolutely cannot originate from this world.]

"...Is that so?"

Analysis results for the Sludge Creature trapped in the Weekly Boss.

The Magi-Engineer stated with certainty that this being came from another dimension.

If a Constellation of the Magi-Engineer's caliber made that judgment, then the chances of it originating from the Leypania Continent are essentially zero.

"Then, can you tell where it came from?"

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath says they're analyzing it but... it's composed of substances and powers they've never encountered before, so it will take time.]

"Well, can't be helped. Our players are doing their best in the Weekly Boss Battles, so we'll just have to gather more data for analysis."

That Sludge Creature said 'we' back then.

Clearly meaning it came from some kind of group, like comrades or subordinates.

Though not a God or Constellation, it possesses power rivaling divine beings and the ability to neutralize Constellations' powers.

Lady Constellation's power was immediately neutralized, and even the Demon God's power was nearly depleted by the time they defeated it.

If that thing had been stronger, or if the Demon God had been slightly weaker, or if the enraged Demon God hadn't recklessly poured out both Divinity and Demonic Energy without a care, it could have been dangerous.

And then there's the seed it mentioned.

I can't be certain, but given the circumstances, the seed it referred to must be the Sin of [Pride] that was planted in the Demon God.

The Magi-Engineer raised the possibility that they were the ones who planted Sins in Ren, himself, and the Demon God.

It's the most plausible explanation at this point, but... they can not only neutralize divine powers but even twist the very essence of gods to this extent?

And these three might not be all of them?

Wait, wasn't this supposed to be a happy-go-lucky otherworld life?

Why's it suddenly turning into cosmic horror?

From my perspective as someone who only knew how to create a few illusions with Dream Power and was just trying to make a living developing games, this was absolutely not something I wanted to get involved with.

...Though I suppose I already am involved.

"Can't we get help from other gods by letting them know?"

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath hums... in contemplation.]

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath says it would probably be difficult.]

"Even though Extra-Dimensional beings are trying to corrupt and manipulate the gods as they please?"

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath laments that the gods are all too full of themselves to unite.]

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath sighs deeply, saying that from the Demon God to that stupid Knight, to himself, they're all recluses who've lived in isolation, so they lack connections - or rather, divine connections - making it hard to convince others.]

...Ah, right.

Ren was originally shut in due to Sloth. Though she has Hans and the others now, they can't freely move about revealing their identities in the current situation, so we can't get their help.

The Magi-Engineer is a god who just kept researching to save the woman he loved, occasionally going out to vent his Wrath. Other gods probably think of him as the angry department head god. ...Which he actually was.

And finally, the Demon God... she's the most hopeless. She's the goddess who beat up Ren and the Magi-Engineer and threatened them to create game episodes. There's no way such an unruly goddess would have any friends.

"...So what do we do about this? It could be really dangerous if another one attacks while we still haven't gathered enough information about them."

The Sludge Creature attacked me after determining I was carrying out [Pride] removal operations, calling me an interferer.

That must be their sore spot. Whether it's part of a long-term operation or some grand mission.

Having unintentionally erased three Sins already, I'm in no position to suggest we try to get along.

Setting aside the question of whether we could get along with beings that corrupt gods in the first place.

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath asks if we can't just enlighten other ones about their Sins like we did with us.]

"How am I supposed to know how to do that?"

Both Ren and the Magi-Engineer were products of chance.

The Demon God was somewhat intentional, but in the end, she made the crucial choice herself to shed her Sin.

How am I supposed to find others infected with Sin and create customized stories for them when I don't even know who they are?

There's no guarantee it would work either.

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath says we could search through all the Constellation Names to find them.]

"Even if we find them, there's no guarantee we can cure their Sins. I'm just a lucky game director, nothing more."

If we could cure them, they might regain their sanity like the Demon God and become allies, but if we fail, it would be catastrophic.

Just thinking about how the Demon God went berserk still makes my knees weak.

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath asks if you think a mere game could possibly alter the core concept that forms a god.]

"...Pardon?"

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath says you are far from ordinary.]

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath declares that if you were someone who could be dismissed with the word 'mere', I would still be trapped in Wrath.]

"I appreciate the kind words, but..."

Ding- Ding-

Just then, an alarm rang from another terminal.

It was the Demon God.

"I'm sorry."

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath chuckles, saying it's fine and we can continue this conversation later.]

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath says stabilizing her mental state is most important right now, as she's practically our strongest force at present.]

"Thank you for understanding."

A discussion about the continent's fate gets interrupted by talk about game character performance.

"Then we'll continue this later..."

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath tells you not to belittle yourself by saying 'mere' game character performance.]

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath strokes his chin, saying that perception of that performance might affect reality.]

[The Magi-Engineer Who Cast Off Wrath advises not to stress too much as the boss is doing well, and ends the conversation.]

...

Perception of the game affecting reality, huh.

I've been keeping that in mind to some extent.

Given how player perception contributed to the resurrection of Hans and the others, including Kate, there's a possibility that player perception could affect reality.

That's partly why I set the attack pattern of her AoE attack as bounce to somewhat suppress the peak performance of the [Demon King Perlereino] character.

I just hope the Demon God isn't going to demand we make the Demon King an overpowered character that just crushes everything...

*

The Free Server created for the Demon God

"You've come, Dream Apostle!"

As I entered, the Demon God, who had been fidgeting restlessly, jumped up to welcome me.

"I'm so glad you came!"

She grabbed both my hands and shook them.

This was definitely the King of All Demons who had just beaten down an Extra-Dimensional monster, now acting like an excited puppy.

I glanced at Demon King Reino beside the Demon God.

She gave a slightly apologetic bow with a smile.

Why are you revealing your identity to me right away but not to the Demon God?

Maybe I should just tell her.

"Dream Apostle! Th-These irreverent ones dare to disparage our Perlereino's performance."

The Demon God showed me the community screen while ranting passionately.

"I'm fine with it, Lady Demon God."

Reino waved her hands, saying not to worry about it, but...

"Unacceptable! Even if she's just an avatar in the game, I cannot allow any disparagement of my Reino! This absolutely cannot be tolerated!"

The Demon God, unaware that the current Reino had merged with her resurrected master, was adamant.

"...Oh my."

And there was Reino, blushing at the Demon God's words.

...I just want to scrap everything.

How did someone who didn't even know how to make in-game purchases end up finding the community?

Did she stumble upon it while looking for ways to enjoy playing with Reino after pulling her?

Wait a minute.

Isn't this actually fortunate?

If instead of performance discussions, she had seen the 'mature' praise scattered throughout the community, she might have threatened to destroy the continent.

"I'll handle this part."

"Will you make Reino's abilities stronger?"

"No. While that would be the simplest solution, it would create other problems. If we buff her beyond balance, people who dislike excessive pushing might criticize her as broken or game-ruining."

"Th-That cannot happen! Then what should we do?!"

I scrolled through the community responses.

Originally, I had planned to add content requiring AoE damage to get players to pull on the gacha.

The plan was to add it or announce it just before the Demon King pickup ended.

While I can't add content to change perception of the Demon King right now since it would disrupt existing plans...

"I'll add something called a hospitality buff."

"...A hospitality buff?"

What if we add a temporary hospitality buff to the currently hot [Assassin of the Abyss] that could sufficiently change perception of that character?

Like having mobs periodically spawn that give an attack power buff when defeated.

This should be enough to change player perception.

But I had overlooked one crucial fact:

-Why does the [Knight] clear the mob spawns faster than the [Demon King]?

-That's because the [Demon King]'s attacks bounce

-Isn't it AoE?

-Yeah but since it's an AoE that bounces, damage is inconsistent

-Are you saying we can't have a Demon King who can't even do proper AoE damage when that's all she can do? Huh? Huh?

-No that's not what I meant

The fact that the new character's AoE attack mechanism, which I had hastily designed to suppress performance in the previous timeline, would conflict with the hospitality buff.