I Made a Game Featuring Constellations

Chapter 14

“Bweeeng!”

“Bring Orpheus oppa back to life!”

“Oh, oh, hyung!!”

“Ugh, Abung is crying because it’s so sad!”

I monitored the community’s reactions after players cleared the story.

It seemed my intentions had worked. Despite being a villain, the players empathized with Orpheus.

The Constellation [Wrathful Magitech Engineer], true name Ian Carlyuga.

In reality, he had been childhood friends with Saintess Cartecia when she was still Kate.

However, the conflict between their families drove them apart, and due to the magitech engineer’s mistakes, Kate lost her life.

Driven by a singular obsession to save her, the magitech engineer devoted himself to his craft, eventually transcending mortality and ascending to godhood.

The execution event, the rampage of the magitech engineer’s father, and Orpheus’s atrocities were fictional elements I added to make the story more dramatic.

Unlike [Sacrifice Overcoming Indolence], I didn’t have to faithfully recreate historical events, so I took liberties with the narrative.

As a result, players were able to fully immerse themselves in Orpheus’s tragic tale.

Of course, not everyone felt the same way.

There were a few who didn’t enjoy the story and criticized it harshly.

“But isn’t he ultimately just a villain who killed countless people? Good riddance, I say.”

“This isn’t right. It could instill the wrong idea that you can do anything for someone you love.”

“Regardless of the process, isn’t this just glorifying his evil deeds because he saved Kate in the end?”

Perhaps because I’d set Orpheus up as a villain to deliver a shock, many hated him for the atrocities he committed.

And they weren’t wrong.

Orpheus truly was a villain who didn’t hesitate to sacrifice others for Kate’s sake.

Even so, there was a reason I decided to make the Constellation [Wrathful Magitech Engineer] the villain in this story.

Shock and impact are more effective when delivered through a villain rather than a hero.

Just as a bad guy sacrificing himself once at the end leaves a stronger impression than a good guy sacrificing himself a hundred times, it’s more memorable to have a villain, who’s been at odds with everyone throughout the story, complete their redemption through a final act of sacrifice.

In fact, players’ resentment toward Orpheus, after being tormented by him throughout Act 1, made his story in the mental world even more impactful.

“Glorifying villains and their misdeeds, huh...”

I hadn’t considered that.@@@@

Given the nature of a morally ambiguous story, it was a tricky issue to address.

You can’t please everyone.

Some will naturally feel uncomfortable with a story where the villain takes center stage.

That’s to be expected.

It’s criticism I have to accept and bear as the one who chose to depict Orpheus as a villain.

But from that criticism, I could pave the way to an even better story next time.

“Not even that sad. What’s all the fuss about?”

“I found it boring. Why do I have to watch some villain’s backstory?”

“Am I playing a game or watching a movie?”

“Is this [Akashic Archive] or [Orpheus Archive]?”

Others found the villain-centric narrative tedious.

I could empathize with their feelings to some extent.

In this world, where even primitive games barely existed, the concept of gacha was unheard of.

But suddenly, players were deleting accounts and starting over until they got their desired characters.

The term for it? Derived from Orpheus’s narrative, it was called [Ostinato].

Players repeated resets like Orpheus’s countless regressions until they obtained their beloved characters.

I wanted to clamp down on it since it was essentially lost revenue, but to block their Ostinato would mean outright denying the narrative of Orpheus.

Ruining the story I’d painstakingly created?

Unthinkable.

[Dreamteller tilts her head, wondering if it’s really that big of a deal.]

The Constellation whispered to me as I agonized over the decision.

For now, I decided to allow their behavior.

At least for those doing resets under their own names.

“Now left alone, the Saintess is caressed by a blonde, tanned dark elf...?”

“Ugh, get out of here, Apheraio.”

“Orpheus seemed quite proper. Any erotic illustrations?”

“Orpheus is a man.”

“...I’m aware.”

“???”

“The chemistry between Orpheus and the Curator is real. TT_TT”

“Did you see the love in the Curator’s gaze when he glared at Orpheus? TT_TT So heartbreaking.”

“....”

The community’s mix of bizarre desires and interpretations was far beyond what I’d anticipated.

Yet, many still shed tears over the story of the Saintess and Orpheus.

It wasn’t just among the young; even older couples had started role-playing as Ian and Kate. It seemed the Earth-born narrative resonated deeply.

“I hope things go well for the magitech engineer too.”

The reason the magitech engineer helped me create this game was to save Kate.

Now, with the entire continent moved by their love story, it would be a tragedy if reality failed him.

I hoped their tale wouldn’t end as just a dream.

That the tragic love left unfulfilled in the game would reach a happy ending in reality.

***

In a secluded corner of the divine realm...

[Hello? What’s your name?]

[Let’s play again like we did today.]

[You’re like a frog, so cute.]

[I am a Saintess, someone who protects people and guides them down the right path.]

[I’m sorry, Ian.]

[Goodbye... my frog prince.]

A divine power, born from the collective recognition of countless beings, began to coalesce.

The faith, the belief, came together, shaping into reality through sheer force of will.

It was a resurrection beyond the impossible, for the soul itself had been erased, utterly destroyed, unable to return unless time itself was reversed.

And yet, that unwavering faith had made it manifest.

Bwooang.

From within the swirling energy, a woman opened her eyes—a being newly born of divinity.