Isekai Online Game Developer

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Mili is the daughter of an ordinary rural farmer.

Of course, she was living a life that couldn’t be described as ordinary, but rather impoverished.

Her parents were practically serfs, farming on land owned by the nobility without any personal estate.

In that household, she helped with farming tasks, and after she got a bit older, she worked as a maid in the lord’s castle.

She had nothing special about her.

The daughter of a serf in a territory located in a corner of the Empire. A psionic ability with a rank of E.

The circumstances were absurdly lacking for her to enjoy a glamorous life.

Psionics itself is evaluated quite positively as an ability.

While it might be too low-ranking to become a wizard, depending on how it’s used, it can still be applied in various ways.

In fact, one of the members of the past Hero Party, the thief Lesit, was said to have psionics ranked S.

However, Mili’s rank was E.

With psionics at a nearly lowest E rank, lifting even a heavy book was difficult.

Moreover, it couldn’t be sustained for long, and it was obviously hard to manipulate the invisible.

It had a bit of utility in daily life, but that was about it.

For proper utilization, E rank was woefully insufficient.

“Ugh…”

Then, one day, it happened.

At that moment, she was wiping the corridors of the lord’s castle.

– …With this, you can completely change your life. Isn’t it exciting?

The blue-haired Merchant Lord who visited the lord’s castle.

From what she overheard, he was promoting a strange artifact created recently at the Illusion Tower to the nobility.

Of course, that had nothing to do with Mili at all.

The artifact was enormously expensive, far beyond what a commoner like Mili could afford.

It was priced as much as a cherished ring belonging to the Baroness.

“…A new life.”

Even knowing that, it was hard to ignore the enticing story.

Unlike the nobleman who owned this castle, she had nothing at all.

Her reality was not at all abundant compared to theirs.

And her reality was not at all the life she had wished for.

The tale of the Merchant Lord, where one can walk the path one desires through hard work, sounded hopeful to Mili, just like a Cinderella story.

Mili stopped wiping the corridor and pressed her ear against the door of the audience room.

The Merchant Lord’s story to the lord.

A vast and mystical world sprawled out. Ships flying across the sky and between continents.

Many monsters and the idea that anyone could become a hero against them.

Listening to the Merchant Lord’s tale, Mili imagined that fantastic world he called ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

Just that thought made her heart race.

– Ugh! It’s all just fantasy anyway. You’ve really died many times, haven’t you? Just dealing with artifacts made at that Illusion Tower.

However, it seemed the lord did not share her doubts.

He was already living with enough to be satisfied.

At the lord’s reprimand, the Merchant Lord was heard rising, and Mili hurriedly pretended to wipe the corridor again.

“…I will be staying in the village of this territory until tomorrow, so if you change your mind, please let me know, my lord. You won’t regret it.”

Having left those words, the blue-haired Merchant Lord departed from the castle.

The lord did not care at all.

However, Mili, who had eavesdropped on the conversation, couldn’t forget the world of that ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

An enchanting world different from this filthy reality.

Even if it was just a fantasy, she desperately wanted to experience such a life.

She dreamed of living in that world.

And only those who dream can make those dreams come true.

“Mili! Once you finish cleaning the corridor, replace the sheets in the lady’s room and head to the laundry!”

“Yes!”

A moment later, the head maid came to Mili to give her the next task.

It was the same chore as usual.

At this time each day, the bedding had to be changed.

But unlike usual, Mili was lost in her thoughts and dreams.

Mili finished cleaning the corridor and went to the Baroness’s room.

The Baroness had gone out for a party at the neighboring territory in the afternoon.

With the jewel box and dressing table in disarray, it seemed she had been frantically preparing until the last moment before leaving.

Cosmetics were scattered all over, and the jewel box was half open.

‘Come to think of it, the lady hurriedly jumped into the carriage saying she was running late.’

It takes quite a while by carriage to the neighboring territory.

To avoid being late, she had to leave on time.

So perhaps she hadn’t had time to tidy up properly.

Though it could also be that she didn’t care since the maids would clean it.

Swish—swish—

Mili removed the old bedding and replaced it with new ones.

Amidst that, her gaze constantly drifted toward the jewel box on the dressing table.

‘If only I had just one of those, I could live!’

The Baroness’s jewels presumably fetched a high price.

Although the artifact from the Illusion Tower was expensive, she thought that if she sold just one of those jewels and added a little money, she could afford it.

‘Ah, no…! If I get caught, I’ll definitely face severe punishment.’

Mili shook her head.

No matter how much she wanted to take an artifact that the blue-haired Merchant Lord had mentioned, she could not afford to steal it.

If she got caught, it would surely mean certain death.

‘Even so…’

Memories of the past flashed through her mind.

Meals of dry bread and milk on the verge of spoiling every day.

A cold, leaking old house.

The despair from the results of her ability test at the age of ten when she had hoped for something promising.

Days spent as a maid, dismissed by noble ladies younger than herself.

She wanted a free and happy life, but the gods had given her nothing.

And now, right in front of her was an opportunity to seize her freedom, something she had never been granted before.

It was a bad choice she shouldn’t make.

But at the same time, it was a chance for a free choice to escape the things tying her down.

‘If I just take the ring without touching the dressing table… I might not get caught for a while. If I pick something from a hidden, unused place… and then quit being a maid and move to another territory…’

Even so, it was not an easy choice to make without fear.

Mili had to hypnotize herself.

That she could steal the ring and still be safe.

Repeating that to herself, Mili looked into the jewel box and used her psionics.

Typically, her psionics were weak to the point that she could hardly wring out a wet cloth.

But it was enough strength to lift a little ring.

‘I got… it…!’

In the end, Mili used her psionics to pull a ring from the corner of the jewel box and slipped it into her pocket.

Her heart felt like it would burst.

But now that she had already done it, she felt brave.

The dressing table looked just as it had before.

Thus, Mili finished the day with the ring tucked in her pocket.

And she returned home to sleep, waking before dawn to head to the nearby city.

She ran to the place which was quite a distance away for walking. With worn-out shoes, her feet and legs were in agony from the long trek.

Upon arriving in the city, she sold the ring to a jeweler and received money in exchange.

Before the pain in her feet had even faded, she returned to the village.

“Wait a moment!”

She panted as she dashed toward the blue-haired Merchant’s carriage.

Blisters had burst on her feet, oozing with blood, and her thin legs were trembling.

The Merchant had just finished loading his things and was about to leave the village.

“…Do you have something to sell? We’ve already loaded everything onto the carriage.”

One of the Merchant’s people spoke with annoyance.

To take something out now would mean messing up the carefully organized carriage all over again.

“I want to buy the artifact from the Illusion Tower…”

“Huh? I don’t know where you heard that, but that’s just an artifact from the Illusion Tower, and it’s dirty expensive.”

“Here, here! I brought the money.”

Mili showed off her money pouch.

The Merchant’s person looked at her with a confused expression, stroking his goatee.

At that moment, the blue-haired Merchant Lord Lepert appeared.

“What are you doing? Why haven’t you left?”

“Ah, Lord Merchant. This person wants to buy the artifact from the Illusion Tower. But that’s not money a commoner can easily have…”

The Merchant’s person said, alternating between the money pouch and Mili with a dubious glance.

That was indeed a significant sum for a commoner in this rural area.

Lepert fell silent for a moment before speaking.

“Well, when have we ever been picky about who we sell to? We were quite full indeed.”

“Ah— I understand, Lord Merchant!”

Lepert’s subordinate found himself getting his ear pulled.

Lepert opened the carriage himself and brought out the ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

“It should be fun.”

“Thank you…!”

“Hey, let’s leave quickly.”

Lepert climbed aboard the carriage, leaving a delighted Mili behind.

Mili clutched the Maple Leaf Story to her chest, bowing her head repeatedly toward Lepert.

“…Well. It should be alright.”

The carriage pulled away from the village.

Lepert watched her looking forward with excitement as she held the ‘Maple Leaf Story,’ recalling his conversation with the Illusion Mage Rai.

‘…Right now, there are 500 of them, but later we’ll mass-produce them so everyone can play. Commoners or nobles alike. I want to share with everyone a world where, instead of being unfairly marked the moment they are born, they can enjoy everything fairly based on their own efforts and what they do well.’

Those were Rai’s words when they first made the contract with the Illusion Tower.

Surprisingly, he had spoken about concepts like ‘equality’ then.

At the time, Lepert had wondered if those words could arise simply because he was a mage, but that wasn’t it.

In the first place, the status of being a mage was also determined by one’s origin.

It was just that he seemed to see a world that was different from what they perceived.

Normally, he wouldn’t have sold to a commoner. But remembering Rai’s words, Lepert sold the ‘Maple Leaf Story’ to a common girl.

It must have been money with a certain background, but he didn’t bother to ask.

She reminded him of a child excited to go watch a play.

Seeing her skip along with excitement made him feel good.

And thus was born the tale of the only common member of the ‘Zatume Expedition,’ known as [Gaidore Sit].

*

Mili spent every night immersed in the ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

She immediately quit her maid job at the lord’s castle and moved alone to a nearby city to start working at an inn.

Fortunately, there were no traces of her being sought after from the castle.

Perhaps the Baroness hadn’t noticed and let it go… she thought, considering the Baroness had many adornments.

In this way, Mili steadily leveled up.

The reason she chose the nickname [Gaidore Sit] was for no other reason than that.

It was derived from the name of Lesit, the thief, who had been a member of the past Hero Party.

Lesit’s story was famous, just like those of other Hero Parties.

He lived as a thief and assassin before joining the Hero Party as a commoner.

Naturally, his past was not one that was virtuous enough to join the Hero Party.

The people of the past were averse when they heard about him joining the Hero Party.

However, Galleard insisted on his joining.

Galleard had been stubborn since his days as a hero.

Lesit was only recognized after he died.

In the final battle with the Demon King, he sacrificed himself to bind the Demon King’s feet.

He eventually died, but thanks to his sacrifice, they were able to defeat the Demon King.

And after all the battles were done, it was revealed that Lesit had used the money he earned from being an assassin and thief to set up an orphanage and give donations.

He had lived, albeit through radical means, for the sake of the marginalized.

From then on, he was called ‘Great Thief Lesit’ and was recognized as a hero only after his death.

Especially among commoners, his heroic tales were well known.

Mili wasn’t a ‘great thief’ like Lesit.

In a way, she was just a petty thief.

That’s why she chose the name [Gaidore Sit].

She also chose the profession of dagger thief for similar reasons.

Though she was rather insignificant at present, she hoped to become someone like Lesit someday.

As some time passed, the ‘Zatume Expedition’ incident occurred.

Mili was invited to join the expedition as well.

It was naturally a burden for her, a commoner, to participate in an offline strategy meeting.

It was to be held not just anywhere, but at the Imperial Palace.

However, Galleard had already obtained permission.

Upon consideration, he was also a commoner and had asked her to come and grace the event.

Thus, with the invitation in hand, Mili made her way to the Imperial Palace.

Following Galleard’s words, she entered the banquet, but everyone whispered as they looked at her.

She felt nervous and couldn’t say a word during the strategy meeting.

Her job was the most underappreciated class, the Shadower.

Her confidence seemed to diminish.

Although she was an impressive user who achieved the highest level as a Shadower, her status in reality had nothing to do with the skills she had in the ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

Yet she felt like a fool.

In that timid state, the ‘Zatume Quest’ began.

Though she lacked confidence, her skills were extraordinary.

As a Shadower who had a difficult time managing health, she exhibited splendid movements and dealt steadily.

Near the end of the Zatume quest.

Most members had died, caught off guard by the boss’s attack patterns.

Hope for success seemed dim, and most had already given up.

Finally, Zatume’s last health gauge appeared, but far too many members had already perished.

‘Given the rate at which the health gauge is depleting, Zatume’s remaining health should be roughly…’

Mili, [Gaidore Sit], observed the very slowly dwindling health bar of Zatume in her mind and predicted its total health.

Though it might be a futile action, knowing it roughly would help next time.

Having concluded her calculations, she arrived at the conclusion that clearing was impossible this time.

Until she spotted the floor littered with meso dropped by the minions.

‘…Huh?’

In a moment, a certain skill flicked through her mind.

The skill she learned at her third job advancement, ‘Meso Explosion.’

A skill that explodes dropped meso on the map to inflict damage.

The more meso there were, the greater the damage dealt.

When she first learned that skill, she wondered what kind of skill that was.

One of the reasons why Shadowers were undervalued was that skill.

Exploding money to deal damage?

It was an absurdly unconventional method when you compared it to attack skills of other classes.

So [Gaidore Sit] had also dismissed that skill without a second thought.

But now, she felt she was starting to understand the true value of ‘Meso Explosion.’

If she spread her currency around enough, she could deal tremendous damage.

And upon calculating, it seemed that if she scattered all the meso she had, she could nearly drain Zatume’s remaining health.

Of course, normally, there would be no reason to attempt that.

The amount lost from the explosion would be far greater than the money earned from defeating monsters.

But the current situation was different.

It was a Zatume strategy that the entire world was watching.

For that, spending this amount of meso would surely be worthwhile.

Just like how the true hero ‘Lesit’ had acted.

Even under terrible scrutiny, he had spent money for the sake of those in need.

That skill suited a ‘Great Thief.’

In that way, [Gaidore Sit] began to spill meso across the floor.

When she had just one meso left in her hand.

“Meso Explosion—”

Ping—

A single coin bounced from [Gaidore Sit]‘s fingertip.

As the coin spun, the maple leaf depicted on it flickered between sight.

It was then that several comrades finally caught on to her intention.

And moments later, with a massive explosion, Zatume’s health would vanish in an instant.

“What was that all of a sudden…?”

“W-What kind of damage is this?!”

“Let’s end this!”

The members who hadn’t seen the situation properly were startled by the sudden explosion.

But they soon collected themselves and focused on their damage output.

At last, the thin thread of Zatume’s remaining life faded away completely.

Crash— Crash—

– GoooooOOOOOOO!!!

With a bizarre scream, Zatume’s main body began to split apart.

“I-It worked…”

“W-We really defeated him!”

“Whoaaaa!”

“Really… we did it!”

“W-How could we…?”

As Zatume was completely destroyed, an overwhelming number of items and meso poured down.

It was like a scene of jewels falling from the sky.

“Ah, ah…”

[Gaidore Sit] felt an emotion she had never experienced before while witnessing that spectacle.

Born without anything, she had only lived in poverty.

Days spent scrubbing floors at rock bottom.

Looking back, no one would have imagined that she could create such a miracle.

This miracle was possible because this was the world of ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

A world where everyone started equally and achieved all based on their efforts.

And [Gaidore Sit] was able to achieve this because she had worked quietly in that world.

[Gaidore Sit]. Before the achievement of creating a miracle with her own hands.

For the first time in her life, she could gift herself a happy smile.

Not long after the success of the Zatume quest.

A recording of the Zatume expedition process, filmed by Hina, was released to the world, causing an enormous uproar.

[‘Zatume’ expedition interview. Heroes who illuminated the history of ‘Maple Leaf Story’, interview with 24 heroes.]

[A 4-hour recording of the ‘Zatume expedition’. Increasing requests for reproducing and selling the recording. Illusion Tower claims, “It’s in production.”]

[Shocking! The true identity of [Gaidore Sit], the number one contributor to the Zatume expedition. The only common member of the expedition?]

[The ‘Meso Explosion craze’ sparked by [Gaidore Sit]‘s actions. Some are questioning how she was able to purchase ‘Maple Leaf Story.’]

[Rapid rise in popularity of the dagger thief class due to [Gaidore Sit]’s achievements. ‘Mom, I’m going to become a Shadower when I grow up!’]

[The best drop item from ‘Zatume’, ‘Zatume Helm’. Detailed specs and the first member to obtain ‘Zatume Helm’?]

[The unyielding popularity of [Empire's Light]. Nobles demand the ‘Zatume expedition Zebit cam’ from Illusion Tower.]

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“Let’s go, Meso Explosion!”

“Hey! The more money, the better the explosion!”

With the immense popularity of the ‘Zatume Expedition.’

As the final moments of the Zatume quest drew near, everyone who had witnessed the greatest scene began flicking coins with their fingers.