Episode 2: Goddess Ren
The apostle offered a magical terminal as a tribute upon her command.
The terminal, lifted by the intangible touch of divine energy, floated into the hands of Goddess Ren.
“What manner of device is this?”
Normally, she wouldn’t even glance at the crude creations of mortals from the lower realm. However, the audacity of the game that had used her name without permission, combined with her curiosity, compelled her to take action.
Bang! Bang!
She pounded on the terminal with her fists, but it wouldn’t work.
“…Is it defective?”
Despite being designed with magical durability in mind, the screen of the terminal shattered into pieces.
Several hours later
Ren hurled the fifth broken terminal away and accepted a sixth one from her apostle.
After receiving a long and detailed lecture about how to use the terminal, she finally managed to operate it properly.
“…To think I’d be subjected to such humiliation.”
The game had done nothing wrong, and being scolded by her apostle was entirely her fault, yet she muttered a curse toward the game before launching the program she had downloaded onto the terminal.
Vwoom
[Presented by DreamStory]
White text scrolled across a black screen, followed by a logo.
Whoosh-!
Then, a flash of light engulfed her as the power of dreams enveloped her.
“This is…”
Startled by the sudden change in her vision, Ren glanced around.
360 degrees.
Her entire field of view, above and below, left and right, was consumed by pitch-black darkness.
“Virtual reality…”
To think that just by running a program on a magical terminal, it could deceive even a god’s senses so perfectly.
This wasn’t the sort of thing that could be achieved with mere illusions or illusion magic.
It was divine power—certainly the work of a constellation or their apostle.
“To think a fellow constellation would dare to use my name without permission…”
How insolent.
She’d have to give them a proper scolding.
Beyond the darkened field of vision, countless tiny points of light began to appear one by one.
A vast cosmos.
An astronomical number of stars emerged beyond the void.
Even as a constellation, she had never seen such a stunning view of the universe.
Mesmerized by the enchanting scenery that surpassed the beauty of any night sky, Ren found herself captivated.
“Perhaps I’ll watch for a little longer.”
If she unleashed her divinity, the power of dreams would shatter instantly, but she decided to stay quiet and observe for now.
[Please tell us your name.]
A sudden prompt.
Her name?
Ren opened her mouth to respond but quickly closed it again.
Using her true name in a game was out of the question.
No matter how well-known she was as a constellation, a god’s name carried inherent power and was not something to be used lightly.
“Wendy.”
She spoke the first name that came to mind, and the screen responded.
[Welcome, Wendy.]
[This is the Akashic Archive.]
[Where all heroic narratives of the world are recorded]
“Akashic Archive?”
Unconsciously, Ren repeated the words spoken by the narrator in white text.
[Within it lies the spirit and soul of countless heroes who have saved the world.]
[You are a candidate to succeed the previous administrator of the Archive.]
Whoosh-!
Suddenly, her surroundings rotated.
When her vision stabilized again, two hazy, barely visible figures—a man and a woman—floated in mid-air, naked with their eyes closed.
[Are you male or female?]
-Choose-
-Male -Female-
A holographic selection screen appeared in mid-air.
It seemed she was about to select the avatar for her character.
Without hesitation, Ren moved her hand toward the female character button.
But just as she was about to press it…
Did she really need to choose a female avatar just because she was female in reality?
The thought struck her suddenly, and her hand shifted to the side.
Ding!
[Wendy, you will now experience countless narratives recorded in the Akashic Archive.]
[May the light of the constellations guide you.]
[May your narratives reach the ideal.]
The moment she pressed the button labeled “Male,” Ren’s consciousness was pulled into the avatar.
The Darkened Screen
“Wendy.”
Someone called her name.
“Wendy. Wake up.”
“…Mmm.”
The avatar of the goddess, moving of its own accord, opened its eyes.
“You’re awake, Wendy.”
In the bright white light that filled her vision, she saw a young man with black hair, appearing to be in his late teens. His handsome features were striking.
The goddess turned her head and glanced around.
She was in a massive library composed of thousands of shelves filled with countless books.
The space was so vast that it could easily accommodate dozens of imperial capitals, and yet, there were only two people present: her and the man before her.
“Did you perhaps stay up all night in nervousness over the first day of your test?”
The man stretched his hand toward the air.
Whoosh-!
A book flew out from one of the shelves and landed in his hand.
“Still, I won’t go easy on you. This test is to determine whether you have the ability to succeed me as the administrator of the Akashic Archive.”
The man opened the book.
“Now, this is your first test. This book contains the story of a hero who once saved a nation from the monsters of the Abyss. The hero’s great narrative has been preserved as a symbol of the virtue of sacrifice, inspiring countless hearts.”
The man flipped through the book and then tossed it into the air. The pages began to turn rapidly as it floated.
“However, due to the power of the Abyss, which recently invaded the Archive, part of the story has been corrupted. Your task is to expel the Abyssal corruption from the narrative and restore it to its original form.”
The man’s gaze fell on the goddess.
“Well then, let’s begin the test.”
Thud-!
The man closed the book.
[Proceeding with viewing.]
A burst of light exploded, filling the goddess’s vision.
Boom! Boom!
The deafening roar of explosions sent the goddess flying backward.
“What the—?”
As her vision, obscured by the bright light, returned, she found herself on a battlefield reeking of iron and blood.
The goddess was now a soldier standing in the midst of the chaos.
Screech!
“Die! Die!”
“Aargh, my arm!”
Crunch! Crunch!
The battlefield was filled with screams and monstrous roars.
All around her, grotesque and misshapen monsters clashed ferociously with soldiers.
“These monsters…”
The goddess’s eyes widened in shock.
The monsters surrounding her—she knew them.
No, she had to know them.
They were the very same monsters she had fought during her time as a human.
Screech!
!!!
Suddenly, a monster leapt at her from behind.
“Damn it! I was so distracted I didn’t even notice it approaching!”
In her current form, she wasn’t the powerful goddess armed with divine authority. She was merely a normal soldier.
She didn’t have the strength to throw off the massive monster pinning her to the ground.
As the monster’s sharp claws and teeth prepared to tear her avatar apart…
Slash!
A blade aura flew through the air, slicing the monster in half.
Thud!
“Are you alright?”
Beyond the green blood of the bisected monster splattered across her field of vision, she saw it.
A woman clad in radiant armor, shining even in the darkness of the battlefield.
The hero who had saved the kingdom through her sacrifice: the knight Ren.
The goddess recognized her.
It was her.
The very image of her past life, before her death and ascension to the ranks of the constellations.
***
Day Two of Release
The number of concurrent users, as tracked by the system, had already surpassed 100,000.
It seemed word of mouth had begun to spread, as the number of users was skyrocketing at an insane pace.
Along with it, the settlement balance was also shooting through the roof.
“I’m still hungry.”
Even in a fantasy world, thanks to the highly advanced magic engineering, even commoners had at least one magical terminal.
With most of the continent’s population being potential customers, there was still plenty of room for growth.
I scrolled through various community boards on the terminal to gauge public opinion.
\- How is this even possible? It’s not illusion magic, right?
\- Our Tower Master said this isn’t something any human could achieve!
\- Then what, was it made by a dragon?
\- Who knows, maybe it was done by a constellation.
\- Why doesn’t our constellation make something like this for us?
Perhaps because it was a virtual reality game, most of the reactions were expressions of amazement at the immersive experience.
What stood out was that the admiration wasn’t just directed at the game itself but also heavily focused on the protagonist of Act 0—the Knight Ren.
\- ã… ã… Ren-nim…
\- Why did Ren have to die at the end?! Bring Ren back, you devil!
\- Time for our regular Ren-worshipping session.
\- How can I marry Ren?
Even though Ren was just an NPC in the game, the players seemed deeply moved by their realistic and immersive experience, becoming highly attached to the character.
As a result, many players were spending a lot on drawing for the first limited character, [Knight Ren].
“Well, that’s good news.”
The driving forces that make people spend on characters in gacha games are the character’s performance and charm.
While performance couldn’t be touched carelessly due to inflation and value preservation issues, charm was different, making it very important to get people emotionally invested in characters through appeal.
Most importantly, using the alternate system allowed for creating variations like [Swimsuit Ren], [Christmas Ren], [Fallen Ren], and [constellation Ren], which could all be sold separately.
It was definitely the right choice to start the first story with [Hero Ren], a tale well-known across the continent.
It was a heroic story beloved by the people of this world, and its wide popularity as a biography made it resonate even better.
…But why is there no mention of the Akashic Archive’s Administrator?
The guiding character for players—the previous administrator of the Akashic Archive—was based on my own past self, with the design slightly enhanced to look better.
I had hoped to make the character a bit more impressive, yet there wasn’t a single comment about him.
Everyone was too focused on Knight Ren to spare any attention for the Administrator.
This was slightly annoying.
Should I increase the Administrator’s screen time?
As I fiddled with the draft for the Act One storyline, I shook my head.
No.
A developer’s self-insert character? A Mary Sue?
That’s one of the quickest ways to ruin a game.
Given that not just my life but also the constellation-nim’s future—or rather, the divine life—was at stake.
Ding.
At that moment, a message arrived from the constellation-nim.
[Emergency! Emergency! The Storyteller of Dreams cries out!]
Emergency?
[The Storyteller of Dreams urgently shouts: Constellation Ren has arrived!]
!!!
The real-life version of Knight Ren, constellation Ren.
She had appeared before the constellation-nim.
That couldn’t be.
Her? The constellation famous for sloth?
Constellation [The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth].
True Name: [Ren].
As one of the seven heroes embodying the continent’s cardinal virtues, the Hero of Sacrifice, she was elevated to a constellation after her death. She was infamous for her lack of action among the constellations.
Yet as the goddess representing the virtue of sacrifice, she was a major deity known across the continent, introduced to children through biographies from a young age.
That’s why her story was perfect to use—and why I had assumed she wouldn’t take action.
But to think she’d already seek out the constellation-nim…
A potential crisis had arrived, threatening the game’s servers just two days after launch.
Thank for the chapter
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