I Became the Goddess of a New World

Global service.

Negotiations about it were still ongoing.

Even though the Crown Prince was in charge of this part, the final decision-maker was still me.

I had to coordinate between Amazon, the publisher, and the Crown Prince.

Because of that, I could only stream my alternate character once or twice a week.

But hey, isn’t once or twice enough?

Of course, compared to the average streaming hours of the Major Corporation Party, it was like a drop in the bucket.

I wasn’t aiming to be a full-time streamer or anything.

Anyway, streaming was merely a hobby compared to the duties of a Director.

Especially considering my first broadcast and yesterday’s broadcast.

It seemed like the synergy between me and streaming was not very good.

Every time I did something, it ended up in controversy.

I would get weird nicknames.

I became a target of desires.

Sure, I was originally a guy, so I wasn’t completely clueless about it.

But as I said before, understanding doesn’t necessarily lead to acceptance.

“The server needs to be separated…”

Currently, there were love calls pouring in from Japan, China, and other countries.

Ah, well, it wasn’t love calls from the ‘country’ of China, but from its companies.

Unfortunately, we planned not to service Akare in China.

Shutdown regulations. Game restrictions. An unstable economy.

Putting all that aside, China had already crossed the line.

What line did they cross, you ask?

It’s simple really.

When Akare officially launched, there was a massive leak of capsules that had only been sold domestically.

When I stepped in to sanction the workshop, 64 capsules received permanent bans.

The owner of the workshop handed those capsules over to China.

And China attempted to steal virtual reality technology through those capsules.

Well, China’s economy and gaming industry was wobbling anyway.

Even without that incident, my choice wouldn’t have changed.

Of course, considering that, the Chinese market was quite attractive.

But why? There was no reason for me to cling to the Chinese market.

My purpose wasn’t to make money with Akare.

I had already made quite a bit of money.

“Regions in war as well…”

Russia and Ukraine. Naturally, they were also excluded from the service targets.

War.

I’ve actually experienced war.

Not on Earth, but in this other world.

In fact, because it was in another world, I felt the horrors of war even more deeply.

I didn’t want to experience a war sparked by human greed rather than a catastrophic event ever again.

“Is Earth a bit safer then?”

It had an abundance of catastrophic events.

So much so that they kept the catastrophic events in check from each other.

“Next is the agenda for the Twisted World Tree raid…”

Currently, all the levels in the Major Corporation Party were the same.

Level 78. We were almost at the admission level for the Twisted World Tree raid.

The Elf Guardian, Fowler, contracted with the Fallen Spirit King.

Celestia, the daughter of the World Tree and friend of the Spirit King.

When players reach level 75, they can receive sub-quests from these two NPCs.

These sub-quests would grant significant experience points.

From level 60 to 70, players could level up at a fairly rapid pace just through hunting and dungeons.

However, starting from level 70, due to the sharply increased experience points required,

the gap between level 70 and 75 became known as the “wall of lamentation” among the advance party.

Once you got over that wall of lamentation, you could progress quickly again through sub-quests.

“I should check out the Major Corporation Party.”

Having worked nearly all day,

it was finally time to take a break.

And this wasn’t just a simple break.

It was a kind of additional task (?) to see how the game I created looks from the perspective of the advance party, rather than from the developer or director’s viewpoint.

So, I changed to a comfortable position and watched Suzuka’s broadcast.

***

“The source of the Twistedness… was with our Elves.”

Suzuka looked at Fowler, who had his head bowed and was covering his face with one hand, with a sympathetic gaze.

To protect her kin from the Twisted World Tree,

she had attempted to kill the Creator with her own hands.

A terrible sin. It crushed Fowler’s entire being.

“Don’t be swayed by emotions. Elli might regain control of your body again.”

“…Understood.”

Taking a deep breath at Celestia’s advice, Fowler calmly responded.

The Fallen Spirit feeds off the corrupted emotions of sentient beings.

If Fowler, contracted with the Fallen Spirit King, felt guilt and sin,

the Fallen Spirit King could read those emotions and regain control of his body again.

“I hate dark, confined spaces. I’ll go out and wait instead.”

Currently, Fowler was in the temporary prison created by Celestia.

Even if Fowler’s state of mind changed,

he was still the one who tried to kill the World Tree and was an Elf contracted with the Fallen Spirit King.

“Look, I understand your choice.”

“…Is that a consolation? If it is, then that’s fine.”

Fowler shook his head lightly.

“It was certainly wrong to contract with the Fallen Spirit King. But the decision was to protect your kin, wasn’t it?”

“In the end, I couldn’t protect them. Unable to do anything, I’ve become nothing.”

Regret washed over Fowler’s face.

“I’m a fool. Nothing more and nothing less.”

The moment he decided to kill the Creator, the World Tree, he was disqualified as an Elf.

And yet, having made such a decision and still failing to protect the Elves, he was disqualified as an Elf Guardian as well.

As he said, Fowler, the Elf Guardian, was merely a fool who could protect no identity.

“Well then.”

Looking at the self-blaming Fowler, Suzuka spoke quietly.

“How about rising again, not as an Elf Guardian or an Elf, but as Fowler?”

Disqualified as an Elf and disqualified as an Elf Guardian.

If you give up moving forward because you couldn’t protect any identity,

wouldn’t you just remain stagnant?

“Ahaha… What am I even saying?”

“Anyway! Cheer up!”

After giving him a word of encouragement, Suzuka quickly escaped the temporary prison.

“…”

Fowler stared for a long time in the direction where Suzuka had disappeared.

***

[ Sub Story – Comforting ]

[ Sub Quest – ‘The Elf Guardian’s Atonement’ Completed ]

[Level Up!]

Master Kim made the choice in the temporary prison.

Since there was only one choice from the outset, it was a forced pick.

Nonetheless, after comforting Fowler according to the choice’s content,

Master Kim left the temporary prison.

[ Sub Quest – ‘The Elf Guardian’s Atonement’ Completed ]

[ Sub Quest – ‘Celestia’s Confession’ Accepted ]

[Level Up!]

As a result, the sub-quest was completed, and the level-up message appeared.

Master Kim’s level was now 79.

He was just one level away from the Twisted World Tree raid.

In the midst of it all, Master Kim’s gaze shifted to the side.

“I hated my kin.”

Softly said Celestia, who was waiting by the entrance of the temporary prison.

“That resentment deep inside hasn’t dissipated for a long time.”

“…Of course.”

Celestia’s gaze turned to Master Kim.

“Puff. What’s so obvious about that? Just now, you thought ‘unattractive woman,’ didn’t you?”

“Not at all.”

“Really?”

Celestia appeared skeptical,

but Master Kim was sincere.

Spirit and Elf.

No race had acknowledged Celestia.

She was rejected since childhood and ultimately became a target of witch hunts.

The Elf Guardian, Fowler.

When he learned of the ugly history hidden by the Elves,

he immediately apologized on behalf of the Elves to Celestia.

But of course, it wasn’t something that could just be forgiven with mere words.

“Do you know what I realized after wandering this world for many years?”

“I don’t know.”

“Tragedy is not special.”

Various stories flowed from Celestia’s mouth.

The young man from the countryside who moved to the city became a mercenary.

To kill the bandit who defiled his lifelong promised childhood friend.

In the process, the mercenary mistakenly killed an innocent merchant.

And witnessing this, the merchant’s son bore a grudge.

Eventually, the mercenary succeeded in his revenge but became the target of another vendetta and died.

A completely ordinary story, not special at all.

A chain of hatred. A vicious cycle of tragedy.

Watching the repeated tragic incidents unfold,

Celestia reflected on her own tragedies time and again.

And finally, Celestia realized.

“I thought I was special.”

“I could freely converse with the World Tree. I was the only friend of the Spirit King.”

“Was that the reason? I couldn’t understand my kin.”

“Both the World Tree and the Spirit King feel emotions like sorrow, joy, and loneliness. They are not perfect. They are merely beings a little more special than us.”

“But why do my kin consider it natural to devote themselves and submit to them? I couldn’t think in that way to understand.”

“No, to be precise, I didn’t even try to understand.”

“I think I believed that the tragedies that occurred to me were due to my being more special than my kin.”

“I couldn’t even save my mother or friends without someone’s help.”

“…Even one of my kin who is presently suffering from self-blame.”

The tragedies of Spirits and Elves repeat endlessly.

This has been proven throughout a thousand years of history and will continue to do so.

However, there was truly a special being who had momentarily ended such tragedies.

“I actually saw the hero’s figure that day.”

Upon hearing the news that something had happened to the World Tree and Spirit King,

Celestia overcame her fear toward her kin and headed briefly to Elderheim.

She witnessed her horribly transformed kin and a wizard confronting them.

The wizard who visited Elderheim subdued the “Twistedness” of the Twisted World Tree.

He also subdued the “Corruption,” which had ensnared the Fallen Spirit King.

Now, a thousand years have passed since then.

The Twistedness and the Corruption have awakened from their long slumber.

Nevertheless, hope still exists.

This time, there is hope to break the long-standing vicious cycle.

“When I first met you at Elderheim, I doubted you.”

“I doubted you too.”

“Aha! Really? We both doubted each other. Well, we had no choice but to doubt each other because of the Salvation Church.”

Celestia and Master Kim faced each other.

“But now, I don’t doubt you.”

Fowler shared the Player’s identity he heard from the Fallen Spirit King.

Celestia also heard that story.

It served as a basis for her to gain more confidence in her thoughts.

The outlander walking along the hero’s path.

The protagonist of the Akare story, the Player.

From the figure of the hero she saw a thousand years ago,

“Because you seemed familiar to me.”

The hero from a thousand years ago was a special being.

The hero, Aurora.

Even she couldn’t fully end this tragedy.

But now, it was different.

Celestia, having overcome the past and gathered her courage, made her resolution.

“So, I formally request this.”

“Help me.”