The Grey Consortium is headquartered in a castle near Zephia.
Originally one of the fortresses defending Zephia, the castle fell into disrepair and was abandoned as other fortresses were built. The former head of the Grey Consortium purchased it and has been using it as their headquarters.
The atmosphere of the castle was dark, as if vampires might emerge from the shadows.
The reason for the darkness of Grey’s headquarters was magic.
Magic is a world of imagery.
To better use the stronger ‘Berya (Dark Magic)’, the wizards needed to become accustomed to the darkness, resulting in this gloomy ambiance.
A meeting was being held in the castle’s underground conference room.
The executives of the Grey Consortium were reporting to Grey about the results of the recent National Founding Day festival.
These results were far from bright, fitting the somber environment.
“This year, our consortium suffered a 12% loss at the National Founding Day festival. The reason is…”
“I already know without you saying. It must be due to that kid Yuren’s toy.”
This loss was an unfathomable result for the Grey Consortium.
Their core products were magical tools for war, entirely distinct from game magic.
So, why had sales dropped?
The positive atmosphere created by games had negatively impacted the profits of weapons dealers.
Normally, VIPs from neighboring countries would have purchased excessive amounts of war magical tools to analyze the Zers Empire.
However, this festival turned into one overflowing with dreams and hopes, much like a Disney festival.
With that vibe, did neighboring VIPs feel the need to purchase more than the minimum required for analysis?
Thus, they bought just the bare minimum before heading back.
Thoughts of the Grey Consortium’s declining sales and other companies venturing into game magic started to circulate among the executives.
“Grey, shouldn’t we also dive into game magic like other consortiums?”
As one of the executives mentioned, Grey slowly looked around at them.
In her eyes, they looked like peace-blurred pigs.
Pigs that wouldn’t resist and would simply be consumed if slaughtered right now.
“What is it that we do best?”
She spoke.
A terrifying air filled the subterranean room, causing the executives to break out in goosebumps.
“It’s war.”
The executives answered like puppets.
But dissatisfied, she asked once more.
“And what was this country doing until thirty years ago?”
The executives sweated profusely while thinking about her question.
Thirty years ago, this country was sweeping across the world.
That too…
“It was war.”
Yes, war.
Thirty years ago, the world was engulfed in conflict.
Finally, she glared at the executives and asked.
“What had this country been doing for a thousand years before thirty years ago?”
“Likewise… war.”
And not just any war.
A war that lasted a full thousand years.
Which seems more out of place, the thirty years of peace amidst a millennium of warfare?
She felt uncomfortable with the current peace.
“That’s right. War it is.”
Those pigs before her, utterly engulfed in peace, felt terribly uncomfortable.
But at the same time, she knew.
It was her duty as a descendant of the Bell family to lead these pigs to do what they do best.
“This country has been doing its best for the longest time, and that is war.”
She held up the Super Thomas crystal ball that an executive had brought.
A crystal ball of red hues, inside which a comically mustached man could be seen bouncing around.
“Do you think something like this toy can change human nature? Do you think this country’s essence, having been at war for a millennium, can change due to just thirty years of peace?”
With Berya (Dark Magic), she created shadows around the Super Thomas crystal ball.
And in an instant…
Crack!
She crushed it to pieces.
As shards fell before the executives, she said.
“We just need to prepare what we do best. Everyone, don’t forget what we excel at.”
Those who saw the message understood well how those who strayed into strange endeavors would end up.
The executives hurriedly left the conference room, terror-stricken.
Left alone in the meeting room, she gazed at the shattered game crystal ball, thinking of Yuren.
She remembered how she had lost to Yuren in the first-grade wizard exam, which she joined just for fun.
To be exact, she almost died.
Yuren, deciding that she wouldn’t win unless she killed her, had zero hesitation about trying to kill her.
That day, her survival was pure luck.
But she didn’t hold a grudge against Yuren.
Rather, she felt touched by that day.
The eyes she saw in Yuren, the eyes that wouldn’t hesitate to do anything for a goal, were the eyes of a living human, unlike those pigs.
So, if he were to help her again, she felt a strong conviction that she could open that era once more.
Though he hadn’t been cooperative up until now, it was okay.
Even if she didn’t have to open that era herself, it was definitely approaching again.
The darkness of this world was unimaginably deep.
It wouldn’t be solved with mere entertainment.
Now that the little Yuren had grown up to interfere in the world’s affairs, he would now inevitably find out.
“Welcome to the world of adults, little Yuren.”
She looked forward to the day they would meet again.
Whether as enemies or allies, she thought it would be quite enjoyable, no matter the outcome.
*
It had been four months since the release of Super Thomas.
It was truly a dreamlike time.
She had built a new structure, expanded the space, held exchange meetings to learn various magics, and made friends.
But not everything was so rosy.
First off, inquiries came flooding in that were beyond imagination.
“Excuse me? You want to buy a height-increasing mushroom!?”
Inquiries about the height-increasing mushroom from Super Thomas endlessly flowed into their school.
No way! If such a thing existed, they wouldn’t have made the game but sold that mushroom instead!
Even in this other world filled with diverse magic, issues like height and baldness were unresolved enigmas, and some people seemed to think their school, which created this game, could procure those.
And that was not the only problem.
“Excuse me? You say your child got hurt while running after eating an invincible star cookie!?”
News spread that children who played Super Thomas were getting hurt while imitating it.
They got hurt while running after thinking they became invincible after eating a star cookie,
got hurt while trying to crawl through sewage pipes,
and got hurt while slipping trying to step on turtles.
In the end, they had to issue warnings not to imitate things in the game and carry out campaigns through the Bard Guild that children dislike Super Thomas.
It made her think that human places were all the same.
With the onslaught of incidents and accidents, she couldn’t focus on game development, but good news soon came.
“Yuren! Take a look at this! Karen and I created something together!!”
One day, Jiren brought a game he created with Karen.
But the game emitted a familiar scent.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
“This… this is!?”
“It’s fun, Jiren, my disciple!”
The game itself was simple.
Players become wizards riding on brooms, flying in the sky to shoot fireballs and catch numerous approaching dragons.
Yes, this game was very similar to a shooting game from her past life called ‘Galaxy.’
Creating a game like this with Karen was quite impressive.
The game was enjoyable, but there was just one thing missing.
“Jiren, everything is great, but let’s add this one more thing.”
“Add what?”
One of the most enjoyable elements from ‘Galaxy’—the ability to combine spaceships after defeating alien abductors—was missing.
She passionately explained this system to Jiren.
“Two dragons will become one? Hmm… would that really be fun?”
“Jiren, trust me. Just try adding it. It will genuinely be fun.”
“Okay. Since you said so, I’ll give it a shot.”
Thus, that element was incorporated into the game created by Jiren, and of course, the reaction was explosive.
Even though it was odd that wizards became two instead of spaceships, it was okay.
They could just set it up as if twins or clone magic was used.
Thus, Jiren’s game ‘Sky Dragon’ was promptly released through the Edward Consortium and began contributing even more to the Irene School’s account.
Many wizards, not just her, started creating games too.
Though nothing yet compared to Tetric or Super Thomas, seeing various games trying to emulate them reminded her of the gaming boom of the ’90s, being both enjoyable and incredible.
Ah! But that wasn’t the only strange occurrence.
With a variety of games being released, people wanted to enjoy many games.
But as they couldn’t afford to buy every game, naturally, arcades began to spring up in every town.
“Hey! Jump! Jump!”
“Tetric really plays like -beep-!!”
Game stores began to pop up, the places where ’90s kids learned manners and got scammed for cash, nostalgia-filled arcades burst into existence.
