A device for magic obtained through a command to a servant.

The device, now raised into the hands of Goddess Ren by the touch of the divine, intangible forces, entered her grasp.

“What is this item supposed to do?”

Normally, she wouldn’t even glance at the crude belongings of mortals, but her annoyance and curiosity about a game that carelessly used her name compelled her to take action.

Bang! Bang!

No matter how hard she struck it with her fist, the device remained unresponsive.

“…Is it defective?”

Designed with magical functions in mind, the screen of the device shattered into pieces.

Hours later,

Goddess Ren picked up the sixth device after throwing away the fifth one, which had been wrecked.

After receiving a long lecture on how to use the device from the servant, she finally managed to operate it correctly.

“…How dare you make me feel such humiliation.”

While the game was blameless, and she had brought the lecture upon herself, the Goddess muttered a curse at the game and activated the downloaded game program on the device.

Whirr!

[Dream Story present]

The logo scrolled across a black screen with white text.

Pow!

The power of dreams enveloped her.

“This is….”

Startled by the sudden change in her surroundings, the Goddess glanced around.

360 degrees.

All directions were drenched in thick darkness.

“Virtual reality…”

With merely the activation of a program inside a magical device, a mystery that perfectly deceived the senses of a god emerged.

This wasn’t something achievable by mere illusions or magical tricks.

Divine power.

It was obvious that the touch of either a Star Lord or a servant was involved.

“How dare they use my name without permission….”

It was infuriating.

If she didn’t land a solid hit to express her discontent…

Beyond the darkened field of vision, numerous points of light began to appear one by one.

An expansive universe.

Countless stars with astronomical numbers manifested beyond it.

As a Star Lord, she was witnessing a beautiful view of the cosmos for the first time.

Mesmerized by the enchanting scenery that surpassed the night sky, the Goddess wondered,

“Shall I watch a little longer?”

If she chose to release her divine power, the dream would instantly shatter, but she decided to silently observe.

[Please tell us your name.]

A sudden question popped up.

A name?

Goddess Ren opened her mouth to respond, then shut it again.

She couldn’t use her true name in a game.

No matter how famous she was as a Star Lord, the word itself carried power, and a god’s name could never be used lightly.

“Wendy.”

As one name popped into her head, the screen shifted.

[Welcome, Wendy.]

[This is the Akashic Archive.]

[Where all heroic narratives of the world are recorded.]

“Akashic Archive?”

Unconsciously echoing the narration flowing in with white text, the Goddess asked back.

[Here lie the essences and souls of many heroes who have saved the world.]

[You are the new candidate to succeed the former Archive Manager.]

Whirr!

In an instant, her surroundings spun around her.

As her blurred vision returned, she saw a pair of indistinctly foggy figures, a man and a woman, eyes closed as they floated, completely nude.

[Are you male or female?]

-Choose

-Male -Female

Along with the question, a holographic selection screen appeared in the air.

It seemed she was to select the avatar of the protagonist character she would play.

Naturally, Ren directed her hand toward the female character’s button.

Just as she was about to press it, she thought,

“It’s virtual anyway, do I really need to look exactly like a woman in reality?”

Prompted by the sudden thought, her hand moved sideways.

Ding!

[Wendy will experience numerous narratives recorded in the Akashic Archive.]

[May the light of the Star Lords shine upon you.]

[May your narrative reach its ideals.]

The moment she pressed the button marked “Male,” the Goddess’s consciousness was sucked into the character.

The screen turned black.

“Wendy.”

Someone called her name.

“Wendy. Wake up.”

“……Ugh.”

Against her will, the avatar of the Goddess opened her eyes.

“Ah, you’re awake, Wendy.”

In her vision filled with white light stood a young man with black hair, appearing to be in his late teens.

The Goddess turned her head to look around.

A massive library filled with thousands of shelves stacked with books.

In a space that could fit several capital cities of the Empire, there were only two people: her and the young man before her.

“Is it because it’s the first day of testing that you couldn’t sleep last night?”

The young man reached out his hand to the air.

Whoosh!

A book floated out from a shelf and landed on his hand.

“However, don’t think I’ll go easy on you. This test is to see if you possess the ability to succeed me as the manager of the Akashic Archive.”

The young man opened the book.

“Now, for the first test. This book contains the story of a hero who protected the nation from the monsters of the Abyss in the past. This great narrative of the hero has endured through time, symbolizing the virtue of sacrifice deep within many hearts.”

As the young man opened the book, its pages began flipping in the air.

“However, some parts of the story have been eroded by the Abyssal Power that recently invaded the Archive. Your test is to purge the Abyss that has invaded this story and restore it to normal.”

His gaze fell upon the Goddess.

“Well then. Let the test begin.”

Thud!

The young man closed the book.

[Beginning access.]

And at the same time, the burst of light colored the Goddess’s vision.

Boom! Boom!

With the rough explosions, a shockwave sent the Goddess flying backward.

“What the?”

As her vision, once obscured by white light, returned, she found herself in a dark battlefield filled with the metallic scent and blood.

She had become a soldier standing in the midst of the battlefield.

–Kieeeek!

“Die! Die!”

“Ughhh, my arm!”

Crack! Crack!

The battlefield was filled with screams and terrifying howls.

Deformed monsters of grotesque proportions were engaged in a fierce battle with the soldiers all around.

“Those monsters…”

The Goddess’s eyes widened.

The abundance of monsters surrounding her was familiar.

No, it was only natural.

These were all monsters she had battled in the other world when she was human.

–Kieeeek!

!!!

At that moment, a monster leaped out from behind her and pounced on her.

‘Oh no! I didn’t notice the approaching monster because I was distracted!’

At present, she was not a god armed with immense power but a mere body of an ordinary soldier.

She had no strength to throw off the massive beast pressing down on her.

As the monster’s claws and teeth aimed to tear apart the Goddess’s avatar,

Bang!

A blade shot from somewhere and split the monster in half.

Crack!

“Are you alright there?”

Beyond the dark battlefield, doused in the green blood of the cleaved monster, the Goddess could see.

A woman in radiant armor shining brightly even in the dark battle.

The hero, Knight Ren, who had saved the kingdom through her sacrifice.

In her afterlife, this was the form she took as a Star Lord.

Her previous life appeared before her.

*

Two days after launch.

The concurrent user count, tallied by the system, had already surpassed 100,000.

Had rumors started flying? The number of users began to swell passionately.

Along with it, my account balance for settlements was soaring through the roof.

“I’m still hungry.”

Even in a fantasy world, due to the advancements in magical engineering, it was an era where even commoners owned at least one magical device.

With most of the continent’s population being potential customers, there was still much room to grow.

I roamed through various communities on the device to gauge public sentiment.

-How is this possible? It’s not just illusion magic, right?

-Our lord said so! This can’t possibly be a mystery within human reach!

No way, you’re saying a dragon did this?

No, no way, it was probably the Star Lord!

-Our Star Lord doesn’t create this kind of stuff, right?

As a so-called virtual reality game, most reactions were astonished by the experience.

Notably, it wasn’t just awe at the game but considerable admiration for Knight Ren, the leading character of the first episode, the zero episode.

-T_T Ren!

-Why does Ren have to die at the end! Save Ren, you demon!

-It’s Ren Time!

-How can I marry Ren?

Even as an NPC within a mere game, the experience was so lifelike that players seemed hugely inspired by Knight Ren.

Thanks to that, there were countless players splashing money on the limited first pickup character, [Knight Ren].

“This is good.”

What motivates people to spend on characters in these gacha games often boils down to the character’s performance and charm.

While performance may be a delicate issue of inflation and value preservation, charm isn’t quite an issue, making it vitally important for people to feel genuine affection for characters.

Most importantly, using the gap system, we could sell more characters beyond [Knight Ren], like [Swimsuit Ren], [Christmas Ren], [Corrupted Ren], and [Star Lord Ren] as separate entities.

It seemed we struck gold with our first story choosing the famous tale of [Hero Ren] across the continent.

It’s a heroic tale that would appeal to the people of this world and has spread widely as a heroic biography, making it even better received.

…But why is there no mention of the manager of the Akashic Archive?

The guide character instructing the players, former manager of the Akashic Archive.

He’s a character crafted to be slightly more handsome based on my previous life’s appearance.

I had hoped my previous look would seem somewhat palatable…but why hasn’t there been a hint about it?

It feels like everyone is utterly absorbed in the admiration for Knight Ren and completely disregarding the manager.

It’s a little disheartening.

Should I increase the character’s screen time?

As I fiddled with the first act story draft, I shook my head.

No way.

The developer’s Mary Sue, self-inserts.

One of the greatest pitfalls that could ruin a game.

In a context where people’s lives were literally held in the balance of this game, I could never do that.

Not when this game holds not only my life but also that of the Star Lord, no, the Divine.

Ding!

Just then, a message from the Star Lord appeared.

[Big trouble! Big trouble! The dream storyteller is shouting!]

Big trouble?

[Star Lord Ren has barged in, and the dream storyteller is in a panic!]

!!!!

The reality version of Knight Ren, Star Lord Ren.

She’s appeared before the Star Lord!

No way.

The one notorious for her sloth?

Star Lord [Sacrifice Lost in Sloth]

True name [Ren]

A hero representing the virtue of sacrifice among the Seven Virtues of the continent, she was posthumously elevated to a Star Lord but is known for her inaction among them.

Still, she’s a well-known figure that children growing up on stories of heroes encounter from an early age.

Thus, it made her tale ripe for utilization, yet I thought she wouldn’t take action…but to think she’d find the Star Lord this quickly.

We might be facing a crisis that could lead to closure just two days after launch.