Haru: Apprentice 10/Acolyte 5
Optifex: Legionnaire 10/Initiate 5
Haru walked beside Opti on their trek back to Fairbank, morbidly curious and willing to break the ice.
“So, what was my encounter originally supposed to be?” Haru craned her neck to look at Opti.
“Well, think about the rest of the dungeon,” Opti started. “Who’s the first boss?”
“The Beast Master.” Haru replied promptly.
“Right, and what about the other bosses?”
“The next after him is the Blood Hunter Bat, and then the Fulmen Rana.” Haru nodded confidently.
“Correct. Now think back to the rest of the main quest. What was the first enemy you fight?” Opti looked at her.
“Boars.” Haru said.
“And then, the next quest?” Opti said.
“Dragonlings.” Haru stared straight ahead, trying to think of where this was going.
“And after that?” Opti started to speak more insistently.
“Gogo…?” Haru squinted.
“Do you see a pattern yet? They’re all either beasts or beastmen.” Opti nodded.
“I do, but are you trying to say that the Beast Master was supposed to be the final boss?” Haru looked to Opti.
Opti shook his head. “No, everyone in the dungeon is where they’re supposed to be. Except for you and Vernal.”
“Then who was supposed to be in my place?” Haru said.
“More like what.” Opti looked ahead. “The last fight wasn’t supposed to be the solo ordeal that it is now. The story of the starter area and the dungeon was that the Beast Master had taken up residence in the tower to experiment with taming various creatures. But as he grew bolder and more daring with what he tamed, specifically dragons, the less control he had over his pets. Eventually, he had to retreat into the tower’s stables because the bosses that you fight throughout the dungeon ran rampant because he lost control of them. The last boss was supposed to be the next growth stage of a dragon, the Rampaging Young Wyrm.”
“That makes a lot more sense than having a witch at the end of that, yeah.” Haru nodded.
The two walked in silence for a while as Haru wondered what the wyrm fight would entail. There certainly was room in her old encounter’s arena for five people. Then her mind wandered to what Opti said just before going into the encounter. “So, if I wasn’t supposed to be down there, where should I be?” Haru placed her hands behind her back.
Opti looked at her for a second, then stared out ahead. “Do you find it strange how much of a conflict there is with Fairbank’s architecture? I mean, there’s this futuristic, sleek pillar that stretches into the sky, but also castles and stone construction.”
Haru hummed. “I suppose it is a bit odd. I never really thought about it, Fairbank was always like that. Why do you ask?”
“In the original design,” Opti started, “the central needle wasn’t there. Everything underground and at the very top of the elevator was once in the castle.”
“Like you could go inside?” Haru looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.
Ahead of them, a party of players appeared over the next hill. They ran and jumped down the road. Both Opti and Haru stopped talking and looked away from each other. Haru swallowed hard, suddenly anxious about being discovered as a surrogate. Opti whistled innocently. The party passed them by and both Haru and Opti smiled and waved in silence. In tandem, the two looked over their shoulders and waited until the party disappeared into the woods behind them.
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“Yes,” Opti took one more glance over his shoulder, then lowered his voice, “players could go inside the castle at one point.”
Haru hummed. “That’s interesting. I didn’t know that. Now there’s a—” she glanced over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed by that group, “gate that lets you pass into the admin area.”
“If that wasn’t there, you could still go inside. The devs can’t remove content because of how the game is designed. It can only be added to.” Opti shrugged.
“So, what does the castle have to do with me being an encounter in the starter area?” Haru tilted her head.
“Well, you were the princess there.” Opti spoke with a cheerful tone.
Haru’s eyes widened. “Me? A princess?” She skipped ahead and pantomimed as if she were wearing long dress. “Did I attend royal court and have a crown?”
Opti laughed. “Something like that. A tiara, yes. A long dress, yes. Attending royal court, no.”
“Aw.” Haru couldn’t hold back her disappointment. “I wanted to be able to address my subjects.”
“In a way, you did. You were the original quest-giver for the line that got you to the end game.” Opti nodded.
Haru hummed. “But what changed? Why did I get put down in the dungeon instead?” It wasn’t that she disliked her encounter, but it was certainly quite a jump.
“That…” Opti squinted, his face slowly revealing pain. “…I don’t know. It wasn’t my decision.”
Haru scrambled to think of something to change the subject. “D—did you design the castle too?”
“Huh?” Opti’s face stopped contorting. “Oh, yes. I did the layout and most of the story for the area.”
Haru gasped. “What was the story? Was I the benevolent ruler of all the land?”
Opti laughed. “That’s not what a princess does.” He cleared his throat. “But the story eventually led to the players discovering there was a plot against the kingdom. And that plot was executed by the Dread Queen.”
Haru tilted her head. “The Dread Queen? I’ve never heard of that NPC.”
Opti sighed. “She was a pre-alpha end game boss. Well, the end game boss. The one that when defeated, completed the storyline.”
“But Astra Starbreaker is the final boss now.” Haru thought out loud.
“Yes, as we moved into the alpha build, I was overruled, and the story was changed drastically. Much of my story designs were scrapped.”
The two stopped at the cliff overlooking Fairbank and observed the city from afar.
“So is that why you were so upset over me asking about my encounter? You didn’t like that the game was changed and that your story was removed?” Haru folded her hands in front of her.
Opti shook his head. “I liked my story but I can live with it being changed if it meant the game being more successful. I was the sole developer on the game for a long while and I’m certain my ideas weren’t all top quality.”
“Whoa, you made this whole game yourself?” Haru’s eyes widened.
Opti shook his head. “I made everything solo in the pre-alpha. It was a proof-of-concept so we could entice investors to help us fund the game.”
Haru blinked. “Did you get them?”
Opti nodded. “We found funding and were able to recruit a whole team.”
Haru hummed. “But if it was your team and your game, why did your decisions get overruled? It should have been built the way you designed it.”
Opti scratched his head. “With investors, it’s not quite so simple.” He sighed. “There were things they didn’t like and wanted changed. Mostly with the story and characters.”
“Well, you should have told them no. You made it that way for a reason.” Haru placed her hands on her hips.
“It’s not that simple, unfortunately.” Opti shook his head. “If they didn’t get the changes they wanted, the investors would’ve pulled funding, and that meant the end of the studio, and the game.”
“So, investors wanted me moved? And why did it upset you so much? I like my role.” Haru hoped to give him a bit more comfort that perhaps the change was for the best. Even if it meant she didn’t get loyal subjects.
Opti squinted and a look of discomfort fell upon his face once more. “I don’t—” He hummed. “As hard as I try, I can’t remember.” He shook his head. “Small details like that are hazy. I just remember that when the change was made, it made me so mad.”
Haru didn’t think he was angry now. The infection didn’t even stir a little.
“It’s just that you were important.” He looked at her, the squinting pain traded for a mild frown and sad eyes. “I’m trying my best, but the memory still escapes me.”
Haru shook her head. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it too much. Blight Witch Princess Haru doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well anyways.”
Opti turned and continued down the hill, the road winding down the mountain toward Fairbank.
Haru stood and stared at the city once more, wondering what could have been so long ago. She didn’t remember anything before alpha, and worrying about something she had no control over wouldn’t help anyone. She also didn’t know anything about how the game runs beyond what the devs told them via patch notes, so who could have been pulling the strings was as much a mystery to her as it was to Opti.
Turning to leave, Haru took a few steps and then practiced a curtsy and mouthed a very prim, and proper greeting to an imaginary caller who, in her mind, came to the throne room seeking relief or charity. She wondered what that made Vernal. Was he a knight, a duke or maybe a viscount? Viscount Vernal. That worked for her.
She had to figure out how to break it to her kitty companion that his lordship was revoked in alpha. Though she needed to do it tactfully, as if it wasn’t, he’d be demanding aristocratic treatment for all eternity.
Haru then rushed to catch up to Opti, ready to get back to the task at hand, taking down the demon.