The very next day, an enormous amount of materials was delivered to the research room of the Irene School.
The materials were the internal and external affairs data of the Empire that I had requested, filling up three large carriages like they were stuffed to the brim.
“This is after we reduced it by half.”
Mineva, who was in charge of the transport, complained.
Given the urgency of the situation, I had made a quick request to the Minister’s Office, and all the staff had pulled an all-nighter to organize the materials before using a costly large-scale teleportation magic to transport them here in just one day.
To know that my taxes were being used for something worthwhile made me feel just a tiny bit less regretful about paying them.
However, despite the organization, the amount of data was the largest I’d ever encountered in gaming materials.
Looking at the mountain of paperwork and the crystal ball data, the disciples’ faces all turned grim.
“Hahaha! This must be what they mean when they say a person laughs helplessly in disbelief.”
“Yuren, when are we going to look at this?”
As everyone looked at the mountain of materials with despairing expressions, Jiren let out a hollow laugh and sat down.
There was no other option.
The ‘Three Kingdoms’ we were about to create would simply reference the original game’s form, but it was going to be a completely different game.
For that, these materials were necessary.
“I… I’m just an artist who knows nothing, so I’ll just go hide in there.”
Lauren, terrified by the volume of materials, used her artist privilege to dart into the research room.
As I contemplated where to start organizing, Mineva came over with a document in hand.
“All the requested materials have arrived. Please sign here, Yuren.”
The document contained the requested materials and a confirmation signature document for the provided support.
I took the document and signed it.
“Thanks to you, Yuren, I had to work extra on the weekend. I really need to go back to my place and get some proper sleep.”
Rubbing her dark-circled eyes, Mineva said to me.
I handed her the signed document, and she responded.
“Yes, then I’ve confirmed that. Good luck.”
After receiving the confirmation document, she seemed ready to leave.
I grabbed her shoulder.
“Where do you think you’re going, Mineva?”
“Huh? I’ve given you all the materials.”
“If you look at the documents we requested, there’s one more thing.”
I pointed to the document Mineva was holding.
What I had requested was the following:
[Three years’ worth of data on the Empire’s internal and external affairs], and [a specialist from the Minister’s Office who could explain this data to us]—two items in total.
Suddenly sweating coldly, Mineva said,
“I… I haven’t heard anything about that person yet. I’ll tell the Minister as soon as I get back.”
She seemed to sense bad news and hurriedly tried to escape my grip.
But I held on tighter, saying,
“The Minister specifically said that the person would come along with the materials.”
“…Really?”
Nods… nods…
This morning, via the crystal ball, Lord Herness had contacted me directly.
He said that Mineva would be coming along, so I should make good use of her.
At my words, Mineva’s expression changed as if she had lost her country, and she began to wail.
“No!!! I was working late until yesterday!!!”
“You worked late until yesterday, so you can do it again today.”
They say the way to overcome Monday blues is to work on Sundays.
It felt about the same.
Since she had worked late yesterday, she would surely do even better today.
I dragged Mineva toward the research room.
“No!! Minister!!! Big Brother!!!!! Save me!!!”
“Come on! Let’s all put our strength together for the Empire! Kids! Shut the door!!”
“Yes! Master!!!”
“No!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Mineva was pulled into our research room like the protagonist of Fullmetal Alchemist being sucked into the Gate of Truth.
At that moment, the heavy door of the Irene School research room closed.
The time for game development was upon us.
*
Three days had passed since we began development.
The ‘Three Kingdoms’ I envisioned retained the basic framework from the original but had several significant differences.
One of them was an extreme level of realism.
The original ‘Three Kingdoms’ simplified many things for gameplay purposes.
“Political pressure and internal power struggles”
“Complex diplomatic relations and the resulting butterfly effects”
“Food shortages caused by floods and natural disasters that occur at any time”
“Moral dilemmas arising within the military due to various factors”
Such issues, which occur countless times in reality, were absent in the original ‘Three Kingdoms.’
However, for the ‘Three Kingdoms’ I was making for the Emperor, those issues were necessary, and I intended to implement them very realistically.
But…
“There’s not enough time.”
No matter how much I calculated, the development time was insufficient.
Even with everyone in our school contributing and burning their souls, we’d need at least double the development time.
The atmosphere in the meeting room grew dark with the grim news, but Mineva’s face lit up with hope as she thought that she might soon get to go home.
“Well then, since this project seems to be failing, can I go home now?”
If the project was failing, Mineva wouldn’t have to be here anymore.
I felt sorry for her, but I clearly stated.
It wasn’t that the project was failing; it was that we were short on time.
Understanding what I meant, Jiren spoke with a grim expression.
“Master, are you going to use that method?”
“Yeah, I’ll have to use that method.”
“What… what is it!? You two are scaring me! Can someone explain in a way I can understand?!”
Everyone except Mineva seemed to grasp the meaning of my words.
Mineva, who had never experienced it, was trembling in fear, and I gazed steadily out the window.
At the sight of my gaze, Mineva looked toward the window, and there was someone whose face Mineva recognized.
“That person is… Alicia, one of the Three Sages, isn’t she? What is she doing here?”
Why, because I called her.
I contacted Alicia to create some lost time.
And I successfully obtained her help on the condition of borrowing the Dragon Heart Stone for a month.
“’Croderis (Time Acceleration Magic)’”
As we spoke, the magic circle set up by Alicia activated.
Alicia’s Croderis, enhanced by the Dragon Heart Stone, could maintain time acceleration for up to a month, going beyond two weeks.
This meant that during that month, we could effectively use two months’ worth of time.
“Wow!!! The sky outside is turning red!?”
“I guess it turns red with the help of the Dragon Heart Stone.”
“True, that’s quite an interesting phenomenon.”
The research facility was enveloped in a red protective barrier, and time began to slow.
With this, we could extend one day to 48 hours for a month.
“Alright! Then let’s all run for it!”
“Yes!!”
“Let’s go, disciples!!!”
As time sped up in the research facility, while people casually cast their popcorn drink magic and rushed to develop the game, Mineva found herself longing for the Minister’s Office, where she only had to work extra three days a week.
“What sin did I commit… it’s so scary here. Lord Herness…”
She reflected on her past self, who had recently complained about staying up late too often.
Compared to this place, the Minister’s Office truly felt like heaven.
*
Inside the red research room, we created the ‘Three Kingdoms.’
By squeezing out the data prepared by the Minister’s Office and Mineva’s practical skills, we steadily proceeded with the strategy simulation game adaptation.
Unlike the original, new systems were added such as:
– Political pressure and internal conflict
– Internal factions and power struggles
– Loyalty and betrayal
– Multinational diplomacy and alliances
– Diplomatic messaging and negotiations
– Limited management of economy and resources
– Problems arising from limited resources and choices
– Climate and environmental impacts
– Social impacts of policy decisions
– Public sentiment and rebellions
– Complexity of social classes
– Military strategy and psychological warfare
– Psychological elements in warfare (morale, fatigue, hunger)
– Supply and logistics management
– Personal relations and ruler’s image management
– Family and close aides management
– Reputation and perception management
– Enhancements in generals’ and ministers’ personalities
– Growth and personal stories of generals
– Psychological burdens of the ruler (stress and health)
– Legitimacy issues and succession crises
– Succession management
– Maintenance of legitimacy
And so forth, we implemented incredibly realistic elements that made the early stages so fun that you couldn’t stop playing.
Fun was important.
No matter how realistic the game was, if it wasn’t fun in the beginning, the Emperor might lose interest and the entire purpose of creating it would be lost.
So, I decided to design the early parts to be a bit unrealistic yet enjoyable, balancing them out, and starting from the middle to proceed very realistically, with the latter part structured to be starkly unfortunate.
Of course, that didn’t mean I would implement absurd events.
There wouldn’t be randomly falling meteors killing generals or anything outrageous.
Just from that, I think I could claim that I was making it more logically coherent than a scenario writer on Earth.
Anyway, that month, which felt like two, passed in a blink, and as everyone’s eyes grew dark-circled and resembling Batman,
The strategy simulation game for the Emperor of this other world was completed.
‘Three Kingdoms’ was born.
