Ch.25[Chapter 25] My Own Little Epilogue

    “So, you helped create a game for an expansion item?”

    V.a.l.l.o.c. snickered as he ate a donut.

    “You certainly chose a troublesome task, didn’t you?”

    Sir Dominic fiddled with the smartphone he bought with the advance payment after signing the contract.

    He bought it after seeing others using it and thinking it might be useful, but Sir Dominic, originally from Feralant, was struggling with how to operate this small glass panel.

    Eventually, Sir Dominic took out the manual from the box and began reading it.

    “By the way, a contract? Did you say it was a character incentive contract?”

    V.a.l.l.o.c. had already gulped down his fifth donut.

    Even by his own standards, he felt he might be eating too much, but he consoled himself that this donut was gluten-free so he wouldn’t gain weight.

    “Yes. Character incentive.”

    Don Castello of Greed was flawless when it came to money.

    After explaining the character incentive in detail to Sir Dominic, he mentioned that if desired, the contract could be changed to something more flexible.

    “I almost got scammed. I should be thankful I met a good person, I suppose.”

    Character incentive. It was a contract that paid a fee for using the character.

    Unlike character exclusivity, the advantage was that the contract remained valid even if one joined other games, but the disadvantage was that one couldn’t demand additional shares if the game grew bigger.

    However, for Sir Dominic, a Newbie in Gacharland, it was quite an excellent contract.

    “By the way, what was the name of the game your junior appears in? I want to check it out when it’s released.”

    “It’s called UNCHANT. Something about science being the antithesis of faith.”

    In truth, Sir Dominic already knew the game’s content, but having signed a separate confidentiality agreement, he packaged his response appropriately.

    He now showed signs of having adapted to Gacharland to some extent.

    Sir Dominic finally succeeded in operating the smartphone according to the manual and accessed GachaTube.

    This was because Super Deluxe had sent a message saying he would be promoting the game through the Star today.

    I should mention now that Gacharland, where Sir Dominic belongs, is just a tiny part compared to the universe.

    With so many games in the world, how could there only be a world of collection gacha games?

    “That’s the setting, you know.”

    “Don’t use the word ‘setting.’ The mortals might hear.”

    Where is this place? And who are these beings?

    In a space where light and darkness coexist, there was a massive being emitting a cosmic glow, and another wrapped in vines, appearing like a pillar.

    “I told you to change the interior. This mysticism is so outdated.”

    “Right? This isn’t the trend these days.”

    Other beings appeared in this beautiful and mysterious place.

    One looked human but with beauty beyond human comprehension.

    And another, an amorphous, writhing being made of impossible geometric shapes.

    “By the way, why isn’t the youngest here? Didn’t we tell them about today’s meeting?”

    “I’m here! Right here! Say you can’t see me and you’re banned!”

    And sitting on a tiny chair at the edge of their table was a child.

    Some might have guessed by now.

    Yes, these were the Stars.

    And the place they gathered was their Nebula, their headquarters.

    “Now that everyone’s here, let’s begin the meeting.”

    The Star whose body was made of the cosmos solemnly announced the start of the meeting.

    He interlocked his fingers, with nebulae swirling around his hands, and looked at the other Stars.

    “The 8888577th Content Meeting is now in session.”

    What is a Star? They are gods, or beings equivalent to gods.

    Naturally, without faith, gods are merely figures from old stories.

    Therefore, efforts to reach people in various ways for faith were essential.

    Modern Stars were no different.

    However, they had to work harder than the Stars of the past.

    Each Nebula had symbolic and distinctive missionary methods.

    And such missionary methods were always patented to make it difficult for latecomers to use them.

    Obviously, newer Stars had to think of new methods instead of these old-fashioned missionary approaches.

    Being a Star was a tough profession to make a living from.

    “The content of this meeting is about broadcast content.”

    Yes, the Stars of this Nebula chose broadcasting as a method to gather faith.

    Broadcasting was not much different from past religious activities.

    Just as they would set rules for people and gather at set times for worship, they set chat rules for broadcasts and turned on streams at set times.

    It was quite an attractive profession for Stars who had lived by enchanting people.

    “Ah, I’ll skip this. I still have points left.”

    “Hey, sit down right now. My regressor got ruined because of your interference last time. What did you say back then?”

    It varied depending on the Star’s personality, but generally, Stars enjoyed playing with people.

    The only difference was whether they preferred happy endings or bad endings.

    Recently, with the emergence of point gambling, they could have both.

    While the Stars were bickering with each other, there was one bored Star.

    This smallest child, sitting in the smallest chair, began texting with others on their smartphone.

    [This meeting is so boring : I’m Not Little]

    [I feel like I’m dying. : I’m Not Little]

    [Attention seeker : lolololol]

    [Attention seeker : Oh]

    [Attention seeker : Weren’t you supposed to promote today?]

    [Attention seeker : Isn’t it almost broadcast time?]

    “Ah.”

    The exclamation of the smallest Star echoed in the meeting room.

    It was so sharp that the Stars who had started fighting before the main meeting even began stopped what they were doing and turned around.

    The smallest Star, embarrassed by the attention, blushed and said,

    “Um, can I leave in a bit? I have an advertisement to do.”

    “Advertisement?”

    The amorphous, writhing Star made of impossible geometric shapes spoke.

    Triangle, square, dodecagon, decahedron, octahedron.

    The amorphous Star violently contorted its body.

    Sharp edges appeared as if in anger.

    “Advertisement!”

    Finally, the amorphous Star, now completely red, bellowed.

    The sound reverberated throughout the universe.

    A wicked sound that would surely have driven mortals insane.

    Just as it seemed the end of the world might come—

    “Our youngest has finally grown enough to receive advertisements!”

    Yes, in fact, the amorphous Star wasn’t angry but moved with emotion.

    Being a Star that far transcended human cognition, it merely appeared angry to mortal eyes.

    “Oh, come on.”

    The Star with beauty beyond human comprehension shook their head.

    “Is there any Star here who hasn’t received advertisements? Mediocre Stars tend to get more ads anyway.”

    The Star who was the embodiment of beauty expressed irritation.

    However, the cosmic Star conducting the meeting keenly caught the smallest Star’s reaction.

    “It’s a game, isn’t it?”

    The smallest Star flinched.

    It was true.

    A game sent by a close friend they met on social media.

    It looked quite fun, and the cosmic Star had figured out that they were considering promoting it as their main content.

    “Why not share if you have something like that?”

    The vine-covered Star said.

    “We’ve all been short on content for our variety game broadcasts lately, right? Is cooperative play possible in that game?”

    “No, it’s not.”

    The smallest Star shook their head.

    The promotional game received from an acquaintance was a roguelike game that only supported single-player, and it wasn’t even completed yet.

    “Then for today, let’s all skip our broadcasts and gather at the youngest’s stream.”

    The cosmic Star declared.

    This was a supreme command, and for the smallest Star, it was an irrefusable proposition.

    After all, they were the only one scheduled to broadcast today.

    “…But if you break the rules, you’re banned. You know that, right?”

    That was the only resistance the smallest Star could offer.

    “Come to think of it, the first thing you do after buying a smartphone is watching videos?”

    V.a.l.l.o.c. drank coffee from a paper cup, perhaps feeling a dryness in his mouth.

    “Don’t people usually exchange numbers? For v.a.l.l.o.c., who was somewhat a person of the past, a phone was truly just for making calls.

    “What kind of video are you watching…?”

    A GachaTuber with 130,000 subscribers, I’m Not Little.

    That was the identity of the GachaTuber Sir Dominic was watching.

    [“No! What do you mean ‘who’s inside’? I’m not virtual!”]

    [“Anyway, the first part of today’s broadcast is sponsored. I should have written it in the announcement.”]

    [“Today we’ll be playing an indie game called UNCHANT, registered in early access in the steampunk session.”]

    [“First, let’s watch the video they’ve prepared.”]

    Sir Dominic couldn’t take his eyes off the moving images on this rectangular glass panel.

    If he hadn’t become accustomed to Gacharland, he might have considered it a demon’s trick.

    That’s how stimulating the video was for Sir Dominic.

    “Oh, I subscribe to this GachaTuber too.”

    V.a.l.l.o.c. was seized by a strange sense of kinship.

    “By the way, isn’t UNCHANT the game you said you appeared in? Wow, looks like they’re seriously promoting it?”

    For Sir Dominic, it had just been an experience of appearing in a game video, but seeing it like this gave him a fresh perspective.

    [“So there are three characters. A pirate… a ninja, and an android? What kind of combination is this? I’ll start with the pirate, who seems like the most basic option. Oh, his name is Sir Dominic. A pirate and knight concept? Looking at his sword and shield, he seems like a melee tank, right? His skill is a flag. A flag? That’s an interesting combination. Let’s try it out!”]

    While Sir Dominic was immersed in watching the video with emotion.

    “Oh?”

    “Well, well, a very interesting person has appeared.”

    In a distant wasteland, beyond unknown lands, there were those watching this video.

    “This person would be good in my party.”

    “Kuk! Should I pull? Yes, as the master wishes.”

    “A tank. The tank position is vacant, isn’t it?”

    “This… is worth collecting.”

    “After raising him more? No, who will comfort me if someone takes him away?”

    Beings with bizarre appearances and equipment uttered collective monologues.

    It was truly a strange sight.


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