“Good afternoon, Fifi.” I nodded towards the computer after seeing the message. “This isn’t my first time getting one of Sarah’s game worlds, so I’d just like to ask if there is anything special that I need to know about this one.” Fifi hesitated for a moment at that, before a message appeared on the screen.
I see that my sister from Vision Expanse is here. I see, that will make this much easier. If you are familiar with Sarahlasting’s methods, then there will be some things that I need to tell you.
First and foremost, I need to explain about the artificial intelligence system used within the game world, as it differs greatly from games such as Vision Expanse.
When I saw that, my brow twitched in surprise. “Sarah hasn’t started using real souls, has she? I know that she was rather opposed to doing so when I last spoke with her.”
Yes and no. There are indeed beings in Fragments of Acidia that possess souls. Or rather, there are roles prepared for them. However, these roles are meant to be integrated with the new Keeper’s afterlife system, allowing the roles to be filled voluntarily. I presume that you have an afterlife which preserves souls in some way? The reincarnation cycle would also apply.
“Thankfully, my afterlife fits your needs quite well. Should I put you in touch with the goddess in charge of it, so that you can arrange the necessary procedures?” The more Fifi spoke, or rather typed, the more curious I became about this new game.
There is no need. I will make contact with her myself, after we have finished our discussion. The souls gathered from your afterlife will take the roles of special NPCs, characters of far greater power than normal, offering them a degree of protection against the players. Additionally, the story is shaped depending on their actions.
Most named NPCs are in command of a legion of generic NPCs. While these characters have their own backstory, they are largely irrelevant to the plot outside of making up the numbers in a combat scene. If players begin to interact and take a special interest in these characters, there is the possibility of them being promoted to a special NPC, integrating into the aforementioned system.
The NPCs that make up the bulk of combat, regardless of which faction they are in, will be these generic characters. This way, SarahLasting has preserved her stance of not needlessly torturing souls within her game worlds.
“That sounds more like her.” I said with a satisfied nod. “In that case, is there anything else that you need to discuss in order to get this game set up?”
Indeed. Before I begin filling in the roles of the special characters, I need to inform you about special systems that exist within the game. Due to the unpredictable nature of the Keeper system, there is the chance that some systems could negatively interact with the customer’s world. This is something that SarahLasting does not wish for, so I am required to go over any relevant systems before you connect the Fragments of Acidia world with the rest of your domain.
I lifted a brow at that, but merely nodded my head again. What systems would she be worried about affecting the world outside the game? “Go on…”
The first system is the magic system, Programmable Magic. This is a magic system in which a programming language is created that can cast magical effects. If you are using a non-standard method of connecting to the game world, this magic system may have implications on your ‘real world’.
“Define ‘non-standard’ in that context?” I muttered, before blinking and shaking my head. “Wait, you said Programmable Magic?” I asked, receiving a quick confirmation. Something about that name triggered a memory, so I opened up the market.
Sure enough, Programmable Magic was a system that I submitted to the market ages ago, back before I even had my first match as a Keeper. If I remembered correctly, that was a system that Ryone had written among a bulk of others as ideas to put up on the market. Checking through old message logs, I was able to confirm a royalty notice that SarahLasting had purchased this system only a few weeks after it went on the market.
“Sorry, that system came from my world, so I was a bit surprised. That said, I don’t actually use it myself. But go on, what did you mean by non-standard?” There was a brief delay after I asked that, before Fifi went on to elaborate.
For instance, if instead of having the game world as a game, you were to implement it as a world that people could simply travel to. If the steps are not taken for the world to remain in a digital environment, the magical law is likely to spill over.
I nodded my head at that. “I’m going to be making it purely digital. On that note, though, I do have a virtual network where a significant portion of the population have digital avatars that may connect from there. Will that cause any issues?”
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Now that I am aware of this, I will prepare countermeasures to ensure that it doesn’t. The second system that could influence the real world is the Trade system. From what you have explained, this will primarily be a concern for your virtual environment. There are cases when using non-standard entry methods that allow one to initiate a trade, leave the world, and have the trade remain valid to bring items in and out of the world. As with the above magic system, I will take steps to prevent this from occurring in your virtual environment.
The final system is a special ascension method that exists for the game, through which someone finds one of the titular Fragments of Acidia. Upon finding this fragment, they obtain the divine authority that comes with it. These fragments are locked behind systems that prevent NPCs from using them, ensuring that they only land in the hands of ‘adventurers’, or players.
If you are in possession of a system or technology in which your people retain practical skills and experience from a virtual environment, this divinity will likewise be applied to their offline body. I have been told that it can be compared to finding fragments of the beginning of creation.
My eyes went wide when I heard that, surprised that Sarah had left a way for gods to be born within the game. “Yeah, my virtual technology is able to let people train, though it doesn’t let them get new systems or anything. Would that still apply, in that case?”
It is likely. Furthermore, the Fragments of Acidia are deeply rooted in the game’s lore. Regardless of my role, I cannot remove them from the world’s setting. If this situation is not preferable, I would suggest not connecting the game to any of your worlds. I have been told that you can reset a full world as a Keeper to recover its cost, and would advise you to do so if any of these cases pose a problem.
“So Sarah even took into consideration the refund policy?” I chuckled, shaking my head. “No, that will be fine. If people manage to become gods in this game, maybe it will spark more interest. If there’s nothing else, please check the capability of our world’s hardware to make sure that we are able to run your game world.”
I am already in the process of doing so. As part of the care package provided with this world, I come equipped with a schematic for a suitable virtual reality set if your world is not capable of running my system at a preferred level… Thankfully, it appears as if your level of hardware is capable of handling me.
“Good. In that case, you can connect with Irena, our Goddess of Death, and Ashley, who will be the one to publish the game in our world. Ashley can also handle any lore-related questions you need to ask, such as if you should incorporate our local gods into the game setting.”
Understood. I shall contact them.
After saying that, I finally stood up from my computer, preparing for my next step. I could not predict when Ashley’s team would be finished with the new update any more than I could predict how or when the world would apply the evolutions to the dungeons and Merkin. In the meantime, there was little for me to do but work on improving myself to prepare for what may come ahead. And now, thanks to Keliope, we had several different combat styles that I could browse through.
Getting Udona to create copies of the information spheres was easy enough, and so I had her transcribe all ten styles onto the terminals of the Sky Citadel. These were arts meant to be taught to the high-level masters of the world, so who better to act as the ones to test them than Tsubaki and the others?
Thinking that, I descended to the throne room of the Citadel, Tsubaki standing not far away. It felt almost weird for her to be standing there, as if simply welcoming home. She offered me a warm smile, letting me know that she was aware I wouldn’t be gone for long. “Welcome back, my Keeper.” She said with a short bow. “Were you able to finish your business?”
“More or less.” I chuckled, standing up from my throne. “Call the others, and have them gather at the library.” As I said that, I began walking to the door, only to hesitate a moment. “And make sure to call Gerard, as well. This could concern him.”
As Gerard was a living spell, the fighting style involving mana could draw his interest. It would be a waste not to get his opinion on it. After I added on that comment, I resumed my steps, heading for the Citadel’s library. By now, Udona would have finished setting up the manuals for the fighting styles.
By the time I arrived, I saw Dana, Lifre, and Gerard all ready and waiting for me to reveal what had happened. It was hard to tell who was more excited about the reveal between Dana and Lifre, while Gerard had a rather deadpan expression on his face.
I gestured for them to follow me inside, along with Tsubaki, and moved to one of the terminals off to the side of the library. “I’d like everyone to settle in at one of these terminals. In order to help facilitate the growth of our worlds, Keliope suggested I purchase some new fighting styles, similar in origin to the Thousand Arms, Ten Thousand Threads that I taught you all before. The manuals to train these styles will have been downloaded onto these terminals.”
As I said that, I sat down at a terminal myself, activating it by placing my hand on the spherical object and injecting a small amount of mana. Upon doing so, the holographic screen appeared, with a message displayed on it.
Hello, Keeper! The Goddess of Education decided that it would be prudent to create a more interactive learning environment after briefly reviewing these manuals. If you wish to learn the related material, please connect a virtual reality device, or grant permission for me to invite your Virtual self to this console.
“...Vivi?” I asked in shock, eyes wide as I saw the silver humanoid appearing below the message.
It is a pleasure to see you again! In accordance with the will of the Goddess of Education, I am creating a virtual environment based on the information within the ten programs given to me. I promise to provide the best learning experience possible!
“...Okay, so we need virtual reality gear to do this.” It was hard to hide my surprise at this revelation, though it was likely something that Udona had set up while I was talking to Fifi. I could already imagine how complicated this was, if Udona decided we couldn’t properly learn it through written manuals.