Isekai Online Game Developer

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Many revolutions occurred in a chain reaction, like bombs exploding.

At first, there were tremendous improvements in mining efficiency.

But it didn’t stop there; with the increased coal output, something new was happening.

It all began when a mining supervisor wanted to make it easier to pull carts, so he sought out the Dark Elves.

Recently, the Dark Elves were all excited about the rapid advancement of technology.

They were already thrilled just at the idea of making guns, and when orders started pouring in, they were overjoyed.

With the discovery of gunpowder, people’s imaginations began to diversify.

And to realize those fantasies, they turned to the Dark Elves.

The Dark Elves were collaborating with Alken and were technically bringing those ideas to life through research.

Now, a year has passed since gunpowder was created.

The Dark Elves were still madly advancing their technology, and humans were beginning to learn and adopt it too.

Alken was also gaining ground in the Academy, claiming to create a new major.

The development of foundational studies was also important.

“I hear they’re making something called a train.”

“Really?”

“I didn’t know until recently, but these days, there’s a kind of murky smell in the air.”

During breakfast, the inhabitants of the tower were chatting as they read the fast-rising news.

I was surprisingly taken aback by the rapid development.

Of course, from the perspective of a modern person, it still seemed quite primitive.

In my past life, science had developed slowly over a long history.

And when the Industrial Revolution finally hit, civilization could grow explosively because of that foundation.

But in this world, such a thing didn’t exist.

For now, they were managing to create something temporarily using gunpowder and coal.

However, the lack of basic academic foundations would clearly surface.

The use of coal may have been a coincidence.

For sure, there had been nothing beyond that in the past year.

Instead, Alken was diligently researching at the Academy.

A world developing something other than magic.

I knew it was science, but I couldn’t do anything to help.

I wasn’t an academic to begin with.

By the way, I was curious if the physical laws from my past life also applied in this world.

With magic existing, there might be some undiscovered laws on top of that.

Wouldn’t the scholars at the Academy eventually figure it out?

“That’s true, but it doesn’t seem like life has changed much yet. To be honest, magic is just more convenient.”

“Right? But I do think it’s a necessary thing. After all, magic isn’t equal for everyone.”

“Explosions are equal for everyone.”

Galleard, reading the newspaper next to me, said.

He was currently intensely into ‘Hidden Attack’ as well.

Of course, he wasn’t into shooting games.

He was indulging himself in comedic play with daggers in ‘Hidden Attack.’

His viewers loved his unique gameplay.

He was just a madman.

“Galleard, do you use grenades in ‘Hidden Attack’ too?”

“I made a compromise up to that point. But trying to slice a grenade mid-air with a dagger? That didn’t work out well.”

“Of course not. They didn’t implement that.”

“Why not!? And why is the only blade-type weapon a dagger? I want other swords too!”

“That game was made for gunfights! You madman, aah!”

Still, the world hasn’t changed drastically.

Magic remains convenient, and entering the early-modern level doesn’t shake the world’s rules.

Naturally, firearms were fully utilized in the militaries of each nation.

At least there was clear progress in the military field.

“But what if guns evolve and wizards get shot?”

“Sure, wizards like us might face that, but other towers won’t, right?”

“That’s true. Defensive magic can’t be pierced by guns.”

It wasn’t a threat to the place of magic.

After all, high-level Space Mages could remain safe even if a nuclear bomb came flying.

And wind mages could evade bullets too.

The magical prowess of mages is greater than I remember in modern military levels.

“By the way, we’re releasing the next game.”

“Huh? It’s only been a little over a year since ‘Hidden Attack’ came out.”

“What? What’s going on, Rai?”

“Oh! Are you finally making Mai’s great adventure into a game?”

But more importantly was the release of the next game.

In fact, this was a game that had been slowly developed for a long time.

After all, it was the foundation, history, and fond memory of all online games.

Games like ‘Hidden Attack’ had been well received, and changes had occurred on the continent, so I think this game would also be embraced and enjoyed by everyone.

“I’m not planning to release a game like Mai’s adventure. Galleard might not like that too much anyway.”

“Ugh! What the hell!@$%^”

I ignored Galleard’s fury and pulled out an artifact from my pocket.

“Galaxy Craft.”

“Galaxy Craft?”

“It’s a type of strategy game. It’s a bit different from Auto Chess.”

Galaxy Craft.

That game, which dominated PC cafés far ahead of COL and Maple Leaf Story.

There’s probably no one who doesn’t know this game.

It spawned many famous professional gamers and became part of gaming history.

“I’ll show you.”

The gameplay is similar to Auto Chess.

In other words, unlike COL or Maple Leaf Story, it doesn’t directly pull you into the fantasy reality.

Instead, the map is much larger than Auto Chess.

It’s not just a large chessboard; it’s a size you can witness the entire battle map if you desire.

In my previous life, ‘Galaxy Craft’ had a fixed screen size. This time, however, it allows for zooming in and out.

“Three races exist.”

‘Galaxy Craft’ is a game where you choose to fight as one of three races.

It starts with nothing but workers.

Gathering resources and building various things with those workers to upgrade them.

From the buildings made, diverse units emerge, and you aim to develop faster than your opponent to conquer their base.

It’s a game that requires immense hand control and strategy.

Additionally, each race has distinct characteristics, providing a delightful visual experience exploring them.

“It, it looks fun!”

Hina looked at ‘Galaxy Craft’ with eyes full of anticipation.

The others seemed a bit overwhelmed.

Even a mad old sword master like Galleard might struggle.

But still, everyone had an excited expression.

Just as I said, it’s genuinely fun with just a little exploration.

Perhaps during the next international tournament, ‘Galaxy Craft’ might be included in the events.

At that time, it would be like the Olympics of gaming.

“But isn’t it a bit too early to release a game? The impact of ‘Hidden Attack’ hasn’t settled yet.”

Rain said while reading the newspaper.

Indeed, the world was still bustling due to the discovery of gunpowder and fossil fuels.

Once ‘Galaxy Craft’ is released, there may be people claiming they will create spaceships.

Of course, that wouldn’t be possible without magic.

“Rather, now is the perfect time. If we delay it, things might get noisy again. If we launch it all at once, the chaos will settle quickly.”

‘Hidden Attack’ and ‘Galaxy Craft’ are new things for the people in this world.

Moreover, people here are quite prone to getting immersed.

Certainly, when ‘Galaxy Craft’ is launched, there will be quite the stir, so it might be better to have a single rapid upheaval now.

You never know, maybe someone like Alken will come visit the tower again.

“And I have something to do after ‘Galaxy Craft’ is released. There likely won’t be any major updates for the other games for a while.”

And soon, I was planning to leave the tower quite frequently.

With no more delays possible, I intended to launch the game at once and leave when the chaos subsided.

“What is it?”

“I can’t explain it either. I might be away from the tower for a while.”

“??”

Of course, not at the present moment.

With how over-invested the people in this world are, who knows what they might do.

It would probably take time for the heat from ‘Hidden Attack’ and ‘Galaxy Craft’ to cool down.

Not long after, ‘Galaxy Craft’ was released.

*

“Riot has really stepped up lately. He’s releasing games at one-year intervals.”

“Is that so? To me, it seems he’s fallen into some strange fantasy. Both ‘Hidden Attack’ and this ‘Galaxy Craft’—what kind of bizarre world is this? How could one even imagine such things?”

“Isn’t it still fun, though?”

“That’s true. Riot’s games are definitely entertaining. They’re strong enough to not need any sort of drugs.”

“I’ve heard that ‘Galaxy Craft’ is set against a backdrop of outer space above the skies. This setting book is very intriguing as well.”

“Isn’t there a heavenly realm above the skies?”

“Strictly speaking, that’s not the case. First of all, isn’t there a planet we live on? And there are other planets in space. Among them are various races.”

“Wow… how could one have such imagination? But then, where would the heavenly realm be?”

“Who knows? Somewhere in the universe, perhaps? We can’t know, since we can’t break free from our planet. That’s precisely why it’s called a heavenly realm.”

Among the royal ministers, the biggest topic lately was, of course, ‘Galaxy Craft’.

‘Galaxy Craft’ was a console game where you controlled your characters much like in ‘Auto Chess’.

For those who enjoyed ‘Auto Chess’ rather than stepping directly into the fantasy, ‘Galaxy Craft’ was a welcomed news.

“Though, it’s a bit disappointing. ‘Galaxy Craft’ doesn’t feel like a game you can play leisurely like ‘Auto Chess’.”

“Indeed. Surprisingly, you need to focus every moment.”

The slight disappointment was that it requires even more concentration than ‘Auto Chess’.

So recently, the royal ministers played ‘Auto Chess’ while working, and ‘Galaxy Craft’ during their break times.

Anyway, they played all the time.

“Hah…”

Two men ambled towards the chattering royal ministers.

The Knight Commander and the Military Minister.

“You’ve been busy lately, Military Minister.”

“Ugh… ughh…”

The Military Minister flopped about like an undead monster.

The somewhat intact Knight Commander spoke up.

“I feel like I might die. I’ve never been this exhausted even during wars.”

“It seems both the Knight Commander and Military Minister have been quite busy lately.”

“Well, since guns appeared, those smaller nations are arming themselves like crazy, we can’t do less than that. We’ve been revamping and expanding our military.”

“You’re working hard.”

The usually heavy Knight Commander was venting to the ministers in an uncharacteristic manner.

The sudden reforms of the military sparked by the gun’s emergence.

They needed to create units armed with guns and simultaneously train soldiers to use them.

But the Knight Commander had wielded a sword his whole life.

Not knowing how to use a gun, finding a firearms instructor was a problem from the start.

Now, thanks to practice in ‘Hidden Attack,’ he had successfully trained and recruited instructors.

But recent operational problems regarding expanding and managing the military became even more painful.

“I hardly have time to play ‘Auto Chess’!! In the middle of all that, His Majesty… no, wait. I misspoke.”

The Emperor, enamored with new-fangled games, simply commanded without understanding, leaving the Knight Commander feeling shaken in his life-long loyalty to the Empire.

“Most difficult of all is the new strategy. With various types of units, I can’t figure out how best to utilize them in war strategies.”

The somewhat cleared Military Minister added on.

The other ministers remained silent, as they had no clue about military matters.

“Then you haven’t tried ‘Galaxy Craft’ yet.”

“I’ve heard about it. But I didn’t have time.”

“How about trying it just to clear your head? We’ll teach you; lunchtime is still available.”

“Hmm… Let’s do that.”

Actually, they had to work during lunchtime as well.

But the Knight Commander and Military Minister turned their backs on those facts.

After all, they couldn’t resist the desire for the new game.

Thus, they played ‘Galaxy Craft’ together with the other ministers.

“Wait, with this…?”

A tremendous idea flashed through the Military Minister’s mind.

Simultaneously creating military strategies for the Empire while enjoying the game felt like a brilliant idea.