Isekai Online Game Developer

“So what’s going on, Hina? It feels like it’s been years, or rather, decades since you came here in person!”

“Ho, hoee…!”

A woman who was cuddling Hina and rubbing her cheek. With hair as clear and blue as flowing water, she was the Water Tower Master, Lina.

Lina was one of the few Tower Masters that Hina knew well.

“You’re still as cute as ever, Hina! Even after all these decades!”

“Th-that’s…”

Hina was being tousled by Lina in a frenzy.

Lina always acted this way when she met Hina.

The reason Hina came to the Water Tower was because Rai ordered her to.

In fact, Hina had never really listened to Rai’s orders until now.

Every day, she would shout, “I hate it!” and run away.

But this time, there was no escaping for Hina.

That was because Rai had suspended Hina’s ‘Maple Leaf Story’ account.

He declared that he wouldn’t lift the ban until she finished this task.

“Our Artifact… there’s this new thing coming out called ‘Championship of Legends’…”

“Oh, that? I was in favor of it. Everyone is so cold-hearted. Look at how adorable Hina is!”

“Ugh, that’s not—”

Hina managed to peel herself away from Lina, who had been pulling on her cheeks.

“I was wondering if we could have a competition between the Towers using that Artifact…”

“Competition?”

“Yeah. Just like the old Arcane War.”

The Arcane War.

That was a long-lost history of mages that had now vanished.

To talk about it, one would have to go back even before the Trinity was established—way back to the ancient times.

As civilization advanced, so did magic.

Naturally, mages with compatible attributes began to exchange knowledge, and they founded their own schools.

From the Fire School to the Space School—there were a total of 31 schools classified by their fundamental attributes.

Each school started to interact with others.

Then one arrogant mage disregarded the magic of another school, leading to a magical battle among the schools.

The winning side would declare, “Our magic is the best!” while the others would retort, “No, our magic is superior!” Each school began to compete over whose magic was the greatest.

Of course, due to elemental interactions, the best attribute could not be determined.

However, mages with a strong competitive spirit began to periodically battle to see which school was the best.

They established rules and periodically declared war among the schools.

This was called the Arcane War.

Whenever the Arcane War broke out, the surroundings would turn into total chaos.

As magic progressed, neighboring countries found it increasingly difficult to counter their power.

Then one day, the distant schools began to unite and formed the city of Trinity.

The surrounding nations, sensing an opportunity, proposed a pact to Trinity.

The pact stated that Trinity would receive massive support for city management and magical research in return for not attacking neighboring nations or turning the continent into chaos like before.

Mages didn’t particularly want destruction or political power.

They simply sought to satisfy their thirst for knowledge and to become the most superior beings.

Trinity accepted the pact and was allowed to conduct magical research freely.

However, after that, they could no longer unleash destruction and engage in the Arcane War as they had before.

Thus, the Arcane War gradually faded into history.

Yet even now, some mages still retained the competitive spirit of those times.

“Hmm… If you explain that boring world-building stuff, the viewers will get bored, Hina.”

“Really?”

“It’s nothing. Of course, the rivalry between the Towers still exists, but… will the other Tower Masters agree? It’s not like we’re fighting with magic or anything.”

“W-well… how about Lina? Will you do it?”

“Hmm… I suppose if Hina asks, I can’t say no, but…”

Lina contemplated.

If the Arcane War were to restart, there would indeed be plenty of Towers willing to join.

However, fighting with magic like in the past was impossible.

If each Tower went all out, half the continent would be wiped out.

That said, many Towers wouldn’t want to establish superiority through means other than magic.

It would be like a martial artist settling scores with a race.

“This requires strategy, so we could determine who’s smarter.”

“That’s true… but…”

Lina was deep in thought.

Hina recalled what Rai had said.

“Because it’s not a battle with magic, they might think it’s meaningless. But if we can get them to participate anyway, just say this.”

“B-but the Fire Tower Master says they can easily defeat the Water Tower…”

“…What did you say?”

“They said the Water Tower was below them even back then…”

Snap!

Lina’s eyes, which had been curved like a crescent moon, twisted.

The Fire Tower and Water Tower had been rivals since ancient times.

The Water Tower could not afford to lose to the Fire Tower, no matter what.

“Tell them to come at me.”

“Huh?”

“Tell them whoever wants a shot, whether it’s COL or LOL, to come! Even if the other Towers refuse, we’ll definitely take them on!”

With that, Hina successfully drew in several Tower Masters.

*

The interior of the Water Tower was a spiral staircase that climbed along the walls.

Rooms for mages lined the walls, and a central space was open thanks to holes in the roof.

And from the top floating stone, a clear, massive stream of water poured down to the first floor, resembling a gigantic waterfall.

Lina descended through this waterfall, looking like a goddess of water, and shouted at the Tower.

“Everyone, gather up!”

At Lina’s call, her disciples hurriedly assembled.

“Next month, we’re going to have the ‘Arcane War,’ everyone!”

When she gathered her disciples, she dropped the bombshell.

Her disciples looked up, surprised.

“Really? Aren’t we going to get wiped from the continent, Tower Master?”

“What about the pact?”

“Of course, it’s not like we’ll actually fight with magic like before; we’re using this!”

As Lina gestured, several artifacts came flowing down the waterfall.

“What’s that…?”

“This is an Artifact called ‘Championship of Legends,’ made by the Illusion Tower. It’s a game where two teams of five strategize to destroy the enemy’s castle! There are a lot of elements, and I’ll go through the details once we connect. Starting today, after our daily lessons, we’ll play this to select five representatives. And of course, I’ll participate fairly too! Am I not a very fair Tower Master?”

Hohohohoho!

Lina spread her arms wide and laughed uproariously.

There were a lot of aspects that could be criticized, but her disciples remained silent.

Just by looking at the waterfall pouring from the roof to the first floor, it was clear how vertical the Water Tower was.

“Ah… she’s doing something strange again.”

“Hey, shut up. If they hear you, you’re dead meat.”

“But if it’s an Illusion Tower artifact, is it like ‘Maple Leaf Story’? I’d love to try!”

The disciples whispered among themselves with familiarity.

However, among those who had played ‘Maple Leaf Story,’ some were filled with anticipation.

Of course, there were very few mages who had actually played ‘Maple Leaf Story.’

While it had gained popularity among the masses, there was a perception among mages that using an artifact from the Illusion Tower was undermining their status.

So the mages who enjoyed it would secretly play in their rooms to avoid getting caught.

“Alright, let’s work hard to win! Oh, and remember, we can’t lose to the Fire Tower folks, right? If we lose, it’ll be the end~!”

The disciples answered, albeit reluctantly.

Thus began the preparations for the Arcane War.

The disciples logged in every evening, playing 5v5 matches repeatedly.

At first, they had no choice but to do it.

Since the Tower Master ordered it, they had to comply.

“What the… This is too weak?”

“No, supports can’t do anything! You just have to nurture and protect the ADC. They said that in the tutorial.”

“Then it’s no fun for me!”

“Who’s doing it for fun? Just do it!”

As they played, a few with a knack for it began to grasp the overall mechanics.

Thanks to Rai creating a detailed tutorial, the learning curve sped up.

Before long, the mages became used to the gameplay process.

They developed an understanding of the lanes and champions.

(Team) Hans: Ah, uh—! What the heck! No! Ah!

(Team) Hols: Why, why, why? What’s wrong?

However, just because they understood didn’t mean their skills developed at the same pace.

They were still unfamiliar with minion farming, fighting, and map vision.

(Team) Charles: Hey, the enemy jungler keeps coming! What’s our jungler doing!? Hey! Hols, where are you!?

(Team) Hols: I went bot! Stay by the tower!

(Team) Charles: Are you kidding me? It’s the jungler’s fault…!

Because of that, the laners began to blame the jungler first.

Inexperienced laners often found themselves dying helplessly, outnumbered whenever the jungler showed up.

Of course, our jungler would do something too.

But they hadn’t played enough to understand what that was.

Maybe even if they played a lot, they still wouldn’t grasp it.

(Overall) Charles: No! I died again! I seriously can’t deal with this!

(Overall) Hans: Nice~ Hey Charles, you really suck!

(Overall) Charles: Aaaah—!

When one side is having a rough time, the other side is bound to enjoy themselves.

The side continuing to score kills started having fun in the game.

Unable to tolerate seeing Hans’ successful moments, Charles devised a plan to win by hook or by crook.

Since our jungler wasn’t coming, he had to survive even on his own.

‘Warding?’

At first, Charles thought buying a ward item was a waste of money.

He began to purchase it and place wards in the bushes.

As he gained vision, he could see the enemy jungler’s movements, preventing ganks.

(Overall) Charles: Hahaha! I can see everything! You can’t catch me! You messed up! You suck, Hans!

(Overall) Hans: Ugh, that’s frustrating…

Despite the jungler showing up, Hans had just barely missed the chance.

With health like a thread, he clung to a turret, farming minions.

Seeing this, Hans’ opponent was determined.

‘Just one auto-attack will finish him off. If I strike quickly and run away, I can survive! I think I can take one hit from the turret.’

Instinctively attempting a ‘dive,’ Hans couldn’t afford to miss the chance to finish off Charles with just one hit.

Approaching the turret alongside the minions, Hans quickly struck Charles with an auto-attack.

(Overall) Hans: Huh?!

But Charles didn’t die.

He had consumed a potion, so his health was just enough to keep him alive.

Boom!

Hans took a hit from the turret. He could still afford to take one more shot.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Hans cast his spell toward Charles.

Boom!

Charles dodged the spell with his Flash.

(Overall) Hans: Ah, damn it!

A curse muted by filtering.

Hans’ health was nearly depleted.

Just one more turret shot would finish him.

‘In that case, I’ll grab him and die together…!’

Thus, Hans moved in to attack.

But before he could land a hit, Charles used his spell first.

Boom!

Slowed down, Hans was hit by the turret and went down.

(Overall) Charles: Hahahahahaha!

(Overall) Hans: Uuaaaaaaah!

Charles laughed out loud at seeing Hans die.

(Team) Hans: Hey, jungler, where are you!?

(Team) Yas: …? I just went earlier, didn’t I?

(Team) Hans: No, just…! What’s with the jungler difference!?

(Team) Yas: What do you mean,

Suddenly shouting about jungler differences, Hans found himself in a dilemma.

After that, the mess continued, and Hans ended up losing the lane.

Once he let a valuable opportunity slip, maintaining his composure and playing rationally became tough.

Defeat—

Eventually, Hans’ team lost.

“Hey, Hans, what are you doing? You could’ve just stood there and won!”

“Seriously, I tanked all the ganks down bot for you, and what did you do?!”

“Well, at least we won mid.”

“Don’t give me that jungler difference. If you’d just grabbed it and gone, I could’ve handled it!”

“? What are you talking about? I went down there repeatedly. Their jungler only focused the bot side.”

“Ugh, damn it! No, just…! Let’s play again! Hurry up and come back! Shift the teams! We need better balance!”

“Don’t be blaming balance when you’re the one who can’t play…”

“The champions are the problem. It’s all about wielding swords… We need mages as champions.”

“Dude, why would a mage go top? Just go Tank.”

A month before the Arcane War through COL.

The mages of each Tower were gradually discovering the fun of COL as they played it daily.