Six hours seemed to pass in the blink of an eye for Tsubaki and Dana. During this time, the two captured numerous lower level monsters to conduct fusion experiments so that they could learn the basic aspects of the new system. At the same time, they had managed to find the most common of elemental seeds, granting them access to the basic magic system of the world.

At the end of the six hours, the glasses that they were wearing shattered into specks of golden light, fading into nothingness. Meanwhile, their consciousness was restored to their bodies, causing them to jerk upright. My apologies for the rude return. However, the test this time was even more taxing than I had imagined. If possible, I would like your feedback on the experience as soon as you can provide it.

Tsubaki’s response didn’t take long at all to summarize. I believe that this game will need to be monitored rather carefully. It would be fairly easy for a small group to get high level monsters and set up a tree to dominate a beginner zone.

Additionally, due to the fact that an ancestor tree can spread across such a large area, there is bound to be conflict when delegating space among the players. Having a large number of starting worlds is one option, but also limits their ability to play with their friends.

For the first problem, you can resolve it by making the more advanced trees require materials from higher level zones. This will cause the players to move their bases when they can no longer satisfy their needs.

As for the second problem, it is far more complex. My advice would be a brief tutorial to introduce the various game mechanics, taking the place of a ‘beginner zone’. In this tutorial, players can get a basic fusion monster and a low level elemental seed like the ones we found. Once they exit, they will be allowed to join a world with no more than fifty ancestor trees active, or a total of ten thousand players. Finally, if they have a dire need to move from one world to another to join their friends, you can simulate the natural energy teleportation method of Sylvans, but in a more controlled method.

Ashley was both surprised and thankful for Tsubaki’s detailed input. While she wasn’t sure how they could handle the tutorial system at the moment, the worst case scenario was that they would need to buy a small system. If that was the case, it would likely not cost more than a couple hundred points. Dana’s response, on the other hand…

It was great! There were so many awesome new monsters! And the elemental seeds, it’s been so long since I played that game, I had almost forgotten about them! I wonder if Aurivy has an extra seed that I can get, I remember she used to create them for fun… Oh, but for feedback or suggestions… I couldn’t really get a good grasp of the full game with the limited scope of the test. From what I saw, it should be really popular. Unlike the others you guys released, this game lets you experience something completely ‘different’ from one’s own reality.

Dana seemed to be looking at the game more as a player, rather than a tester. Though, hearing how much she enjoyed it did bring a smile to Ashley’s face. I’m glad that you both had fun. I’ll try to keep your comments in mind.

After she said that, she let out a long breath, bringing both of her hands up to cover her eyes. “Ugh… finally over and done with.” She groaned deeply, almost grabbing her horns in frustration. Even as a Companion, her head was throbbing. “That’s it… I need some sort of server to test this on. Whether it’s done through the system or divine abilities, I need this before we start the next project.”

That said, Ashley abruptly closed her eyes, sending out another message. Ryone, do you have a minute? I need you to check something for me on the market.

Oh? Go on, what can I help you with? Ryone asked back curiously, surprised to have been called up by Ashley like this.

I need you to search the market and look for a special item. Think of it as a Beta Test Server for Game Worlds, somewhere that the worlds can be worked on prior to completion. It might be called a Development Environment, Alpha Server, anything like that.

Functionally, what I want it to do is… complicated. I want it to allow us to make adjustments to the world, let us bring in players to test it, but also have an option to convert the world to its ‘base state’ without an official reset. Like… think of it like having two instances, or two branches of time. One has the world in a pristine state, the other is where we test things out. Try to find me something like that if you can.

There was a long pause before Ryone answered. Sure… I’ll take a look. That sounds expensive, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you can’t afford it with your budget.

I don’t expect to get it with my budget for World Seed. Ashley commented, turning on her terminal to message Fifi, asking her to run a search for server-type divine artifacts in Fragments of Acidia. I remember Aurivy saying that you and her did a test run in one of Sarah’s games way back. That means that a system like this should exist, and she should have it. If I can convince Dale that it’s an investment, it will make future development far smoother.

….Right, I had blocked that out of my memory. Ryone’s response stunned Ashley for a moment, causing her to fire back.

Why? I thought you really enjoyed that game?

Oh, the game was great. Being eaten alive by a mimic to be sent to Sarah’s place was far less enjoyable. Yeah, that would explain it.

Sorry… Aurivy conveniently omitted that detail. Anyways, if you can tell me how much the price is for that system, I will forward it to Dale. If it is too expensive, I plan to substitute a divine artifact from Fragments of Acidia. According to what Fifi is telling me, there are about twenty different types that would suit my needs. They will all be rather expensive to use in terms of divinity, but I can make do if I make people pay for the early access.

Right… well, I don’t know if this is the same system that Sarah uses, but I found one that meets your description. I’ll forward the details to your terminal. As soon as Ryone sent that thought, Ashley was pinged with an incoming message.

Beta Reality

This system is designed with the intention of aiding Game Developers, allowing them to produce their own game worlds within a safe environment. The primary feature of this system is that various game systems can be tested without first purchasing them individually. However, non-purchased systems will be hidden during the testing process. Systems available to use in this way are those that are tagged with ‘Game System Required’ or similar tags. The game content is only available to those in the Administration Room.

50,000 Points

Ashley stared at the screen for several long moments, her brow slowly starting to twitch. There was a rather large restriction that it could only be used by people in the Admin Room. However… was that a problem for them? No! Not at all! If she wanted Tsubaki or Dana to test it, they could easily return to the Admin Room. She could have Dale create a team of professional testers to run beta tests of future games.

Admittedly, fifty thousand points was a sizable sum. Though not as much as she had been prepared for, thinking that it would allow mortal access as well. She had estimated that a system like that would run for about five times that cost. And that was without the ability to test systems before purchasing. As for it only working for systems that required the ‘Game System’ to be added? That wasn’t a problem, as all of the systems that they wanted followed that theme.

If this was the system that Sarah used for her game development, everything would make much more sense. After all, she wasn’t creating the game all at once to send out like Ashley had been planning. Rather, she was building it in a safe environment, and only sending it out once it was done.

Dale… I know it’s outside of my budget… this isn’t strictly for World Seed. What do I have to do to get this system? As she asked that, she focused on sending Dale the system description that Ryone had sent her.

Dale had some spare points, but it was hard to say that he had fifty thousand that he could just spend on a whim. A lot of the points could be considered an ‘emergency fund’. And while this game was an important part of their future plans, the need for this system didn’t really constitute an emergency.

That’s why she wasn’t surprised when Dale didn’t immediately agree to buy it for her, as much as she would have liked him to do so. Ten thousand points. You earned three thousand, six hundred points in the last Keeper meeting. If you can earn the other six thousand, four hundred points in this upcoming meeting, I will get the system for you. Additionally, I’ll allow you to take your development team along with you to increase your earnings. Or, you can ask one of the others to pitch in their points. Once you’ve covered a fifth of the cost, I’ll handle the rest.

Ashley’s eyes widened. Even if she took her entire team to the meeting, it was debatable if she would be able to get fifty thousand points. Ten thousand, on the other hand… that was entirely doable. In fact, she already knew just who to invite as the investor. Hey, Aurivy…

Really, just what type of system did they manage to find? Fifty thousand points was a huge sum. If not for our more recent victory in the games, I doubted that I would be able to afford something like this. Granted, I could see where it would be useful, but still. That was why I gave Ashley the chance to pay for a part of it herself, while I would handle the bulk of the fees.

Given that the primary group using this system would be Ashley’s team, it was only right to have her pay a part. As I was thinking that, I saw Ashley walking into the living room with a confident smile on her face. Did she manage to convince someone, or was she just here to try to convince me to lower the cost? Or, maybe there was some other news that she wanted to report in person?

Accalia’s ears perked up when she saw Ashley enter the living room, as it wasn’t often that she came to Olympus. “Yo, Ash. Everything going well?”

“It’s great, actually!” Ashley said with a bright smile. “I’m just here to complete a transaction with Dale.”

“You already got someone to agree?” I asked in surprise, as it had been less than five minutes since the end of our conversation. Ashley cleared her throat, pointing behind her.

Upon turning around, I was met with pink, fierce eyes staring at me from just inches away, small hands clutching at the back of the couch that I was sitting on. Ahh… Aurivy.

Aurivy brought her hands up from the couch, only to place them on my shoulders. “Shut up and take my points!” She cried out, shaking my shoulders.

To be fair, I should have guessed that Aurivy would be the one to go for something like this, out of all of them. More importantly, Aurivy did… quite well in the last meeting. From memory, she earned nearly ten thousand points all on her own.

My head was left shaking from how she shook my shoulders, Accalia snickering over at the side. Tsubaki watched the whole affair with a slightly confused gaze, having missed out on a good deal of context. “G-Give me a second.” I held up a hand to stop Aurivy. “I’ve got to head to the Admin Room to take care of it.” Really, even though I assumed she’d be interested, I didn’t think it would be to this degree.