Chapter 140

The Unlimited Field was different from the sky right from the start.

A red aura swirled around, and it felt dangerous at first glance.

As soon as I entered the Unlimited Field, a Salamander popped out. According to the setting, it was supposed to protect endangered contractors as per the contract, but that was just a cover-up, and the truth was different.

This makes it easier to engage in unlimited PK, right? Yep.

May everyone have a happy [Evoke Order] life.

Thank you.

I looked around. I wanted to get to know the game better through actual experience, and something caught my eye.

A park bench. Something was stuck to it.

Actually, saying it was stuck isn’t quite accurate.

It was more like… yeah.

It was more like something was drawn on the park bench, like a painting.

But while I was thinking that, it moved—clearly an Evoker.

An Evoker roaming around in a 2D world? That looked cool.

At least it was better than a squirrel.

“Salamander, attack.”

Whoosh. The Salamander, with flames at its mouth, flew straight to the bench and swung its claws.

Crash. The bench shattered, and a winged fairy popped out from inside.

The fairy’s hair scattered like paint. Its wings, resembling stained glass, shimmered.

And then the fairy quickly fled.

—But I activated Contract Magic faster than that.

The Contract Magic flew and bound the fairy. It happened so fast that if I had been even a little slower, I might have missed.

An Evoker that runs away immediately after encountering you?

According to the rules of collection-type RPGs, this was a very good Evoker.

Of course, it could also be trash. It’s a long-standing tradition that things made carelessly are better than those made with effort.

But that’s only if the developer doesn’t know the game, right?

There’s no way I don’t know the game, so this Evoker is definitely good.

Entity Name: Paint Pixie

Name: None

Rank: Single Rank

[Strength 2] [Agility 9] [Stamina 3]

[Magic Power 9] [Health 5] [Soul Power 11]

[Traits]

Paint Bloodline: Can freely move across flat surfaces

Fairy Eye: Can see through lies

[Special Ability]

Fast Casting: Magic activation speed is increased

As soon as I saw the status window of the newly captured Evoker, I nodded.

This is a proper Evoker.

Comparing it to that tree squirrel would be downright disrespectful.

With this, I now have three Contract Evokers stacked on me.

The limit for Contract Magic stacks is six, so I have three—no, four more to go.

Once I capture four more Evokers, I can say goodbye to that tree squirrel.

I summoned the Paint Pixie instead of the Salamander.

I wanted to experience the power of this clearly strong-looking Paint Pixie.

Just then, I spotted a tree squirrel on a street tree. This guy. How dare a squirrel roam around the sacred Unlimited Field?

Time to teach it a lesson.

I ordered the Paint Pixie to attack. It wasn’t specific, just a vague command to attack.

This was the vicious part of [Evoke Order].

Even the player doesn’t know what attacks their Evokers can perform.

Since there are no predefined skills, players of [Evoke Order] have to test the limits of their Contract Evokers one by one.

Almost like testing the abilities of a real living being.

It was purely a device to increase immersion, but it also raised the difficulty, increasing fatigue.

It was something you couldn’t do unless you had the guts to say, “You’re going to play this game no matter how hard it is.”

Truly, I know how to make a proper game.

A Super Developer needs guts.

The Paint Pixie flew toward the squirrel Evoker, dropping paint droplets.

What kind of attack would it use? Given its Fast Casting trait, maybe a magic attack?

The squirrel Evoker bared its teeth.

I fixed my gaze on the Paint Pixie, filled with anticipation.

The squirrel Evoker charged. The Paint Pixie gracefully dodged the attack and circled in the air. The squirrel Evoker charged again. The Paint Pixie once again gracefully dodged.

……?

I commanded the Paint Pixie again. Attack.

The squirrel Evoker charged. The Paint Pixie gracefully dodged the attack and circled in the air. The squirrel Evoker charged again. The Paint Pixie once again gracefully dodged—.

What is this?

I recalled the Paint Pixie and summoned the Salamander to finish the enemy.

After that, I took out the Paint Pixie and stared at it.

…Could it be that this guy has no attack skills?

It’s a common trope.

“I thought it was a trash monster with no attack skills, but when I raised it, it turned out to be an incredibly strong monster?!” It’s a cliché to the point of being clichéd.

That would mean this is a late-game overpowered Evoker, but here’s the problem.

Sometimes, it’s just plain trash.

If all of them were late-game overpowered, the rarity would drop, so they throw in a bunch of dummies. But this is something you’d only do if you really know the game, which made me uneasy.

Personally, I know the developers of [Fantasy Life], [Excel Busters], [Resurrected Students Also Need Love], [Tower of Transcendence], [Cosmic Osuary], [Cosmic Origin], [RE: Snowball Garden], [Haunted Building], and [Evoke Order] very well, and I can tell you, they definitely stuffed a bunch of dummy Evokers in there.

Because it’s more fun that way.

But it’s actually more fun, isn’t it?

Exactly.

What’s the fun if you don’t win?

Right?

Sharak. The Paint Pixie hovers in empty space. I didn’t look at its pitiful gestures… but rather, I made a decision after recalling its status window.

Its stats were high, and its constitution and traits were fully loaded. It was likely a late-game powerhouse.

I’ll take you all the way.

So, how do I raise this one?

This unfriendly game didn’t even have an EXP bar, so I couldn’t check the growth level of my Evokers.

Based on my long gaming experience, I figured they’d grow through combat, so I kept repeating battles, but I had no idea how much EXP I was gaining.

But shouldn’t they at least give us an EXP bar?

How far are you pushing this, Han○○? You’ll pay the price someday.

Hmm. The most common method is to just send it out and let other monsters finish it off, repeating this to gain EXP.

If this method didn’t work, there’d be no way to raise a late-game Evoker, so it was probably correct.

While seriously looking for enemies to raise the Paint Pixie, I paused at the appearance of an avatar that felt disconnected from reality.

It was another player.

I lifted the AR device above my forehead. Then, only the real world was visible to me.

At the same time, the avatar and the player disappeared. They existed in the game but not in reality. It meant they were remotely connected.

[Evoke Order] was an AR-based game, but you didn’t necessarily have to be at the location to enjoy it. At least in the Unlimited Field, as I just saw, you could enjoy the content from home.

Of course, there were some restrictions on remote access, but they weren’t significant. At most, remote access just limited the number of players.

Even this was resolved by creating multiple remote access channels, so there was no inconvenience in playing the game.

Admittedly, this reduced the advantages of AR games. What’s the point of AR games? Isn’t it about sharing the same fantasy in real life?

So, to maximize the advantages of AR games, remote access should’ve been blocked, but after much deliberation, I settled on the current form.

Why?

Because otherwise, unlimited PK wouldn’t thrive.

The arcade proved the timeless rule that meeting in person instills manners.

Even when meeting face-to-face, there were occasional instances of tea-bagging followed by “Hey, what are you doing?” but compared to online, it happened less frequently.

Unlimited PK toxicity is truly an online-exclusive culture.

Let’s embrace this fine culture.

Still, only the Unlimited Field allowed remote access, while other areas required visiting the location, so the advantages of AR were maximized.

The player’s avatar looked at me. I looked back at the avatar.

Under my gaze, the player nodded slightly and headed elsewhere.

Seems like they don’t want to fight me.

Well, the game’s only been out for less than an hour.

Even I don’t have a proper Evoker yet, so others probably aren’t much different.

Even if I wanted to fight, the environment isn’t right for it.

Guess I’ll just farm for now.

Word about the AR device is spreading, and the number of buyers is exploding. If not now, it’d be hard to roam the Unlimited Field so leisurely.

Let’s see. Where’s the squirrel?

Found it.

I provoked the squirrel Evoker with the Paint Pixie and then switched to the Salamander.

The Salamander swung its claws, but the squirrel Evoker grew plants to block it.

What? Was the squirrel Evoker a druid?

That one looks pretty good. Should I catch it and replace the squirrel Evoker I have now?

Not a bad idea.

“Salamander, attack without holding back.”

At my command, the Salamander gathered flames in its mouth.

Then, flames shot out in a straight line.

Huh?

Wait, when did it learn that attack?

But if it suddenly does that—

I tried to stop the Salamander, but there was no way to halt the already fired flames.

The squirrel Evoker was engulfed in flames, turning to ash and disappearing.

I sighed, having missed the chance to replace my Evoker.

Oh well. A squirrel’s just a squirrel, no matter how strong.

That one probably wasn’t anything special either.

I carefully petted the Salamander that had approached me.

You’re all I have. We’ll stick together, okay?

“Wow.”

Suddenly, I turned at the sound of a voice.

A kid was looking at me while eating a lollipop.

I cautiously pushed the AR device up to my forehead.

The kid was still there, staring at me intently.

The kid spoke.

“Miss, are you hurt somewhere?”

“I’m in the middle of a game.”

“Is that the setting?”

“I’m in the middle of a game.”