Isekai Online Game Developer

Riji had been level-up crazily in ‘Maple Leaf Story’ when she suddenly quit the game.

“This isn’t the time for this…”

This ‘game’ was something terrifying.

It took over her brain to the point where she forgot she needed to find the egg.

A truly realistic fantasy.

A game that made one fully escape reality and immerse entirely in fantasy was the very essence of illusion magic.

Riji put down ‘Maple Leaf Story’ and stood up.

Even if Rai had only spoken the truth, the anxiety began to bubble up as she waited idly.

In reality, a dragon’s egg shouldn’t get a single scratch unless a goddess descended.

There was still a little time left until the egg would awaken.

It meant that except for the fact it was lost, the egg wasn’t really in danger.

And dragonkin didn’t have maternal instincts as strong as humans.

It was merely to the level one would expect from a living being.

After all, they were a race born to be rulers, so they had no need to rely on anyone.

Riji felt a bit more uneasy because she had human blood mixed in her.

“Uh, where are you going…?”

Just as Riji was about to fly out the window, a voice that seemed to crawl into her back grabbed her.

A timid-looking wizard clothed in a robe much larger than her small figure.

However, the mana emanating from her was immense, almost overwhelming for Riji.

“Did you say you’re the owner of this tower?”

“Uh, uh-huh… Yes…!”

Hina flapped her sleeves while answering.

In case she hadn’t heard, she raised her voice once more.

“Rai is going to help find the egg. So, s-so you should just play the game…!”

“Even if that human is reliable, does it really feel right just sitting here? I’m going to look for it myself.”

“N-no, you can’t do that…”

Hina said, flapping her arms even more.

But Riji was too scared to approach closely.

‘You understand, right? Make sure that dragon doesn’t get out. If that dragon roams around, several villages will burn.’

‘W-why should I… Dragons are scary…’

‘What if the Tower Master gets scared! The strongest person in our tower is the Tower Master. Anyway, I’ll find the egg, so you just keep the dragon busy. It’s only a half-dragon, so it’s not that strong.’

Rai had earnestly instructed before leaving.

To somehow keep the dragon in the tower.

Just as humans don’t think much of an ant’s life, dragons often don’t consider human lives much either.

If Riji were to rampage across the continent looking for the egg, the damage would be immense.

That’s why Rai went to find the egg personally.

“T-this…!”

Hina urgently pulled out another artifact.

It was a developer version of ‘Maple Leaf Story’ that Rai used.

With this, one could do everything that was possible in ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

“If this is here, you can become the strongest in ‘Maple Leaf Story’…!”

“Huh?”

“You can pick any class freely… and defeat bosses like Zatume or Hong Taeil all by yourself…”

Hina suddenly fell silent mid-sentence.

Hong Taeil was a game boss but was also a dragon like Riji.

It wasn’t likely that a fellow kin would enjoy raiding each other.

“If it’s Hong Taeil… that dragon?”

“Uh, uh-huh…”

“Let me see that.”

Surprisingly, Riji took the developer’s artifact from Hina.

“Uh, okay, eek.”

Hina also hurriedly got her artifact and logged into ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

“Y-yeah! Power is… surging up!”

Riji, who had maxed her level with Eban, dashed toward Hong Taeil.

Hina hurriedly followed behind her, “Whoa!”

“With this power, I can definitely be stronger than him…!”

Muttering something confusing, Riji and Hina reached Hong Taeil’s nest in a clamor.

“Wait a minute…! Party…”

Just as Riji was about to challenge Hong Taeil right away, Hina hurriedly formed a party with her.

Thus began their Hong Taeil raid.

With Hong Taeil’s dialogue, the battle commenced.

“Your belly sticking out is just like an Ash Dragon! Disgusting lizard b*stards…!”

Rumble, rumble, rumble-

Riji mumbled some words as she joyfully pounded Hong Taeil.

Even though she was killing a kin, she seemed bizarrely delighted.

Hong Taeil was a powerful boss monster that Hina alone couldn’t hope to capture.

But with developer mode, Riji could take him down all by herself.

“Uh…?”

Hina blankly observed the scene of kin slaughter.

“Whew!”

About twenty minutes later.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Riji stood over Hong Taeil’s defeated body with a refreshed expression.

“Wow, wow…”

“Let’s do this one more time!”

Thus, Riji defeated Hong Taeil about five more times before logging out.

“Phew… that feels great.”

The thrill in ‘Maple Leaf Story’ was something even half-dragons like Riji had never experienced before.

In terms of sensations, it felt even more powerful than a dragon.

One couldn’t help but wonder how such a level of strength was realized with mere human imagination.

“B-but still…”

“Huh?”

“Y-you’re a dragon…”

Hina asked Riji, whose expression was still jovial.

Unlike Hina’s worries, Riji’s act of killing her kin was somewhat shocking.

“Ah-”

Reading Hina’s expression, Riji awkwardly scratched her horns.

It wasn’t something to hide, so she lightly explained.

“As you can see, I’m a half-dragon. Because of that, I often get overlooked by dragons…”

With a slightly gloomy expression, Riji recounted the things she experienced with dragons.

Most of it was minor incidents like catching bugs or cleaning rare items.

Like a bully bothering a weak child.

It wasn’t serious bullying, but it didn’t match the dragons’ reputation either.

“Honestly, I’ve resented my mother for it. But now, I’m simply living my life.”

“I-I see…”

And then there was a moment of silence.

Hina was lost in thought about what to say to comfort her, and a slight lull followed.

“…This isn’t the time for that. No matter what, the egg is gone right now.”

Suddenly regaining her focus, Riji tried to fly out the window again.

Talking about reality snapped her back.

“Ah, no…!”

Once again, Hina caught Riji.

She timidly grabbed Riji’s wing and clinged to her.

“T-t-t-this…!”

Hina desperately pulled something out of her pocket.

It was COL.

“Just try this once…!”

“…What’s this?”

“It’s COL… there’s a character named Shivana here…”

Hina managed to successfully hold onto Riji again, as she was a half-dragon champion similar to her.

‘P-please come back quickly, Rai…!’

*

Between two massive cliffs.

Every so often, waves rolled into the pebble-strewn beach below.

The air was thick with the smell of fish and the unique bugs that lived on the shore.

Our party arrived at a place suspected to be where Hetz was hiding.

According to Leah, there’s a dragon’s lair nearby.

“Where exactly is it? The Tower Master wouldn’t be wrong…”

The spatial mage commented in the unremarkable scenery.

Though the Tower Masters had indicated a location, they couldn’t provide precise details about the hideout.

According to them, one couldn’t accurately say anything without going there themselves.

They also mentioned that something unreadable existed in this space.

It was likely because of being near the dragon lair, but one could only guess.

Since the Tower Masters couldn’t move directly, I had to be satisfied with this much help.

“Let’s search. There must be something here.”

Rikal picked up his sword and started surveying the surroundings first.

We followed suit and began our search.

“I can definitely feel weak mana…”

Leah and the spatial mage exchanged glances, looking puzzled.

Unlike the two who couldn’t grasp it, I quickly realized the nature of this space.

“…It’s an illusion.”

Tiny illusion magic was cast in a corner.

It was subtle enough that only beings like Hina or I could notice it.

Just because it was small didn’t mean it was a low-level spell.

It meant it was intricately crafted to the point of being indistinguishable.

The mana flowing out was minimal as well.

Most importantly, it was a form of illusion magic I had never seen before.

“…Illusion magic? This?”

Rikal said as he watched me analyze the magic.

It would be natural for him to be surprised.

After all, even I struggled to discern its level.

Perhaps I had discovered something remarkable.

Of course, it was still just an illusion.

How did that Hetz fellow create such absurd illusion magic for his hideout?

Pushing aside the rising questions, I immersed myself in interpreting the magic.

“Phew…”

About five minutes passed.

Finally, as I unraveled the magic, a hidden entrance became visible.

It was a tiny hole barely large enough for an adult male to squeeze through.

“I think this was an artifact.”

I picked up the artifact that had cast the illusion.

By its design and state, it seemed to be quite an ancient artifact.

“…That dragon’s place must have a lot of strange things.”

“But such artifacts shouldn’t be made in an illusion tower… Let’s go inside.”

Leaving my doubts behind, we squished our bodies into the hole.

The space inside was larger than expected.

The walls and ceiling were made of bricks, resembling a tunnel.

“There’s nothing much inside.”

The spatial mage led the way as he cast a search magic.

Since it was hard to see ahead, Leah created sparks to light the way.

“Ow, that hurts!”

However, since it was light created with electricity rather than fire, sparks kept flying around.

It would’ve been ideal if a fire mage was here.

“Well then, you do it. It’s useless being an illusion.”

“Th-that’s a bit harsh.”

With no alternative, I kept my mouth shut.

Just a few steps in, I felt very weak mana once more.

It was that of illusion magic.

“Everyone halt…!”

If there’s illusion magic in this tunnel, we couldn’t walk carelessly.

There’s a path before our eyes, but it could actually be an endless cliff.

Or perhaps a thorny path could be stretched out ahead.

Normally, a magician at my level would detect such illusions immediately.

But this illusion was so refined that I wouldn’t understand it without tremendous focus.

“Hehe… if this magic is here, the fourth-ranking position in the tower is guaranteed…”

But it seemed my colleagues had already fallen for the illusion.

The spatial mage, standing at the front, was staring into the void, muttering to himself.

“Ugh…”

I quickly blocked the mana surging toward me.

Upon inspection, I found illusion artifacts hidden all around the corners.

Some were illusions that deceived space itself, while others were forms that showed illusions to people.

“Everyone, I’m grateful… I’ll dedicate this honor to the illusion tower and all of you who loved me…”

It seemed like he was showing some sort of illusion residing in his mind.

Rikal appeared to be doing something as if he were turning into Zebit in the illusion…

“Hmm, hmm… If you say it like that, I might agree to meet you…”

Leah also seemed to have fallen for some illusion but I refrained from making guesses.

Illusions alone didn’t pose a physical danger.

For that reason, I decided to deactivate all the illusion artifacts in front of me and wake my companions.

Waking them up unthinkingly again might lead to them falling into an illusion, which would be troublesome.

I first moved the companions who were safely entranced by the illusion toward the entrance.

Then, I began my work using the light filtering in through the small opening at the entrance as guidance.

Some were, as expected, things that completely distorted the space.

If I had taken even a few more steps forward, I would’ve fallen into a trap and been hurt.

It seemed the designer of this space intended to kill intruders while they were trapped in an illusion.

Had I fallen into the illusion as well, we would have all struggled and perished.

“This is too dark to continue.”

It took nearly two hours just to remove the ones within five meters of me.

Even interpreting the first-time forms of illusion magic like those at the entrance proved challenging.

“Who on earth could have created this…?”

I still couldn’t imagine a magician capable of such a feat.

So, I decided to wake my companions.

From here on out, I felt like Leah’s light would be necessary to progress.

My companions were still caught in the illusion, floundering.

Yet still, they all had expressions filled with happiness.

“Ugh…? Where am I all of a sudden?”

I first woke Rikal.

Rikal sounded like he was still caught in the illusion, speaking in Zebit’s tone.

Having him speak like Zebit with his gruff voice felt somewhat disgusting.

“…That was all an illusion, so wake up. You’ll have to manage on your own when the others wake up.”

“What are you talking about?”

I left the dazed Rikal and woke the other two.

The spatial mage had somehow become very haughty.

And Leah…

“What, what is this place?”

“Does it matter? Wake up quickly, that was all magic.”

“Magic? Are you joking again, darling? For real, stop! I’m scared! Ugh!”

“…Darling?”

As she clung to me, displaying some strange aegyo.

“Is it because I didn’t do it earlier? I’ll do it tonight. Hmph, you’re hopeless… Wait, handle this to get by. I really can’t deal with this…”

Saying things I couldn’t comprehend, she slipped her hand between my thighs.