Trapped in a Game That Flopped

Chapter 2

Episode 2

This game was, surprisingly, an MMORPG with the best-built rendering system among existing virtual reality games.

Anyone, just by wearing a VR device, could see and experience a fantastical fantasy world, kill realistic monsters, and become a hero embarking on a great adventure.

On top of that, most characters and monsters were equipped with AI.

Because of this, you couldn't just simply clear quests and level up; you had to follow the story while reacting to numerous variables one by one.

Even I, who had played my fair share of RPGs, was shocked when I first did the trial play.

'This... there are going to be quite a lot of people who live and breathe this game.'

The game's story, well, was nothing special from the usual hero's narrative.

The user, dropped into this world, helps the protagonist, kills monsters, and gathers comrades to save a world on the brink of ruin.

Although, the fact that there was a separate in-game protagonist was a bit unique.

Whether the user was the protagonist or not, they fell into an endless quest hell all the same, so it wasn't that special.

The reason this game got attention was purely thanks to its virtual reality implementation system.

The world unfolding before my eyes was so elaborate and distinct.

The still lifes forming the game's background, the people, the monsters to be defeated, even a single passing bird...

It was so incredible, it was indistinguishable from reality.

Furthermore, the fact that in-game time flowed much faster than real time also played a part in the users' enthusiasm.

You could live to your heart's content in the game for half a year and come out, and only six hours would have passed in reality. How efficient is that?

'It feels like just yesterday I was raising a Tamago...'

I was amazed at how much the game industry had developed and admired it constantly.

But perhaps applying AI to all characters, on top of the virtual reality system, was overreaching.

Immense production costs and massive advertising.

Mocking the fact that it had launched its beta version while receiving everyone's high expectations, the servers crashed daily and bugs piled up.

It wasn't even distributed to everyone, but only to 'n' hundred users selected by fairly strict standards, and it was still like that.

On top of that, the difficulty was hell-level, so even among those carefully selected people, no one had seen the ending.

That's why 'Save The Earth 308' was a flopped game, full of rumors, that still hadn't been officially released.

Emergency! Error occurred. Access for 308 beta version users is restricted for an emergency system check.

The person in charge of the relevant sector is requested to check the details and correct the issue.

"Seriously, how can another error occur less than 12 hours after the new version opened!"

I, who had been freed from overtime for a change, turned on the god-awful game with no choice, annoyed by an emergency summons from the main office.

That's right. I was an employee on the 'Save The Earth' game's operations team.

Being on the operations team didn't mean I did anything amazing.

I just checked the scenarios, quests, or characters where bugs occurred and handled the users' complaint-filled CS inquiries.

Most bugs occurred in the damn AI characters.

We were flooded with complaints every time because of one unimportant extra preventing progress to the next scenario or just dying.

"Sigh... It was in the 200s when I joined, but it's already past 300..."

The number attached to the game's title was the number of bug fixes.

This crazy game had already passed 307 upgraded versions and reached the 308 mark.

'Persistent bastards.'

Marveling at the main office people who didn't give up and kept pouring money in despite the repeated bugs, I listlessly picked up the VR device.

'If a low-level employee is told to do something, they just have to do it. What choice is there.'

I put the device, its clasp worn and frayed from so much use, on my head, and the familiar start screen immediately appeared with a message.

Operations Helper sari_sss ID confirmed.

Entering Save The Earth.

I've seen the same scene so many times since joining the company that I'm sick of it, but maybe I've grown attached.

Every time I saw the afterimage of the world appearing with the grand BGM, my heart would flutter anew.

Although I often laughed at users who lived and breathed the virtual world.

The thought suddenly crossed my mind that maybe I was the one most engrossed, forgetting reality.

Welcome back to the Zenith Continent, sari_sss.

You have one new message. Would you like to check it?

As I waited to connect to the server, a system alert popped up as if it had been waiting.

It was obvious it would be about a bug, even without looking.

To others, it might just be a game, but to me, it was reality, so I checked the message without delay.

Error Report: Bug occurred with the Apothecary NPC in Dover Village, located in the northern Count Hailey's domain.

Error Details: Infinite distribution of potions and items.

Please check and correct the code.

"...What. This is the NPC I set up, isn't it?"

I widened my eyes after checking the details.

It was because the character that had the error was one I had made a while ago.

Operations Helpers couldn't interfere with the main scenario, but they could modify minor quests or reset NPC characters depending on the bug.

This was only possible because it was still the beta version.

The gloomy-looking NPC wearing a shabby robe, an NPC-exclusive costume, was a character I had made a while ago.

For reference, this game also had an incredibly well-made character customization system to encourage microtransactions.

On top of that, since I was an operator, I could test-apply things freely.

'And what does test-apply mean?'

It means free!

As one of the users who was crazier about customization than gameplay, I excitedly decorated my avatar.

And I created an incredible character.

'Fucking beautiful.'

When I finished creating the character, I stared at the woman's ecstatic, realistic face, as if she were alive somewhere.

Dainty features, lovely light pink hair.

Clear violet eyes, as if transparent amethysts had been set in them.

'This is a masterpiece. Guaranteed 1st place if a contest opens. I can't let it just rot in my inventory!'

To spread this crazy beauty far and wide, I set her as a main scenario NPC that all users had to pass through at the beginning.

As an operator, I could enjoy the game moderately, earn money on the side, and show off my custom character to everyone.

In other words, it was killing three birds with one stone.

But before long, annoying things started to happen.

The users who saw my character, or the stupid AI bastards, kept hitting on her.

On top of that, since it wasn't officially released, people couldn't use real money, but some would copy my custom character using the 'limited-time plastic surgery vouchers' given as occasional quest rewards.

'There's a person behind the NPC, you xx bastards!'

After banning the eighth user who made sexually harassing comments toward my character, I had no choice but to move the character to a place with few users.

Even so, I couldn't give up the NPC setting.

In preparation for the official launch, I decided to illicitly accumulate everything I could.

So, even if the NPC was replaced, my goal was to live the easy life without paying real money, using the game money I had scraped together.

Dover Village was the perfect place for that.

It was a village that only appeared briefly in the tutorial, and since it had no main quests, there was nominally only one NPC.

But I couldn't just ban the stupid AIs or the occasional users who crawled into this corner every time.

I had no choice but to swallow my tears and put the NPC-exclusive costume, the shabby robe, on my precious baby.

Her name, the world's number one unparalleled beauty, living in seclusion in a countryside village due to unavoidable, sad circumstances...

'The backstory is perfect, too.'

Having settled in Dover Village, I crafted high-grade items to my heart's content and sold them at prices higher than the market rate, playing house.

It would have been a big problem if users found out and complained about operator privileges, but...

'It's not like I'm actually embezzling company money, so what's the big deal? And it's not like I'm using this to beat bosses...'

Like that, I secretly accumulated quite a lot of game money.

Thankfully, almost no users revisited the village that just flashed by in the tutorial, and since it wasn't a place where the main scenario progressed, I was able to avoid getting caught by anyone.

Just in case, I had set it up firmly so the NPC would fulfill its role when I was away.

Which means...

"Infinite distribution? Crazy! My money!"

For me, who was crazy about secretly gathering game money, it was an impossible bug.

'I'm sure I checked and it was fine just yesterday, so why?'

I couldn't understand.

But the only important thing was the fact that my hard-earned potions were probably pouring out like water even at this very moment.

Would you like to connect to the server as Shari Azrael?

In any case, to fix the bug, I had to grasp the exact situation.

I hurriedly logged in as the character in question.

Warning. Prolonged game use can harm mental health and negatively affect daily life...

Along with the usual warning message, a dizziness that felt like my consciousness was being sucked somewhere consumed my vision.

It's a phenomenon that occurs as brainwaves synchronize with the VR device so the user accepts the virtual reality as real, and it disappears as soon as the connection is complete.

This strange feeling, as if my mind was moving somewhere while my body stayed put, was a bit scary at first.

But it's not something I've only experienced once or twice.

I relaxed and let myself sink into the virtual reality.

And.

"Log out!"

Cannot log out at this time due to an unknown error.

"...Fuck."

When I came to my senses, I had become the Dover Village apothecary, Shari Azrael, and had been living in the game for two years.