[Akashic Archive] One Week After Release

Central Temple of Sacrifice

“Ha…”

Melissa, the First Apostle of the Church of Sacrifice, twitched her long elf ears and let out a deep sigh.

The Star Lord had changed too much from before.

The title containing “fallen into sloth” in the name of the Star Lord.

It was exhausting for her to take care of her little sister, who, despite wielding such immense power, just holed up in her room and lazed around.

So, she hoped her sister would leave the room, but…

She never wished for her to change this much.

Asking for a monument and statue of the 10 Heroes to be erected in every temple that worships her?

Did she even realize how many temples there were across the continent?

Her tale of sacrifice to protect humanity has been passed down as a legend across the land, teaching the virtue of sacrifice, regardless of race.

Thanks to that, the Star Lord’s temples could be found throughout the continent.

As the First Apostle overseeing all the temples, Melissa had to add monuments and statues to honor the 10 Heroes in all those temples.

What on earth were these 10 Heroes, anyway?

After more than 200 years of being the Star Lord’s Apostle, she was hearing about them for the first time.

There was no trace of it anywhere in the records of the Star Lord’s saga…

Sigh.

She flopped onto her bed and picked up the magic terminal.

“Well, she’s still our Star Lord, after all.”

She could fulfill her beloved Star Lord’s requests, no matter how demanding they were.

Woom.

As she operated the terminal, the game [Akashic Archive] booted up.

Normally, she wouldn’t even glance at a game, but this was different.

It was virtual reality and allowed her to control and interact with a character based on the Star Lord herself.

“Hehehe… Here I come!”

Entering the game, Melissa chuckled as she embraced the character [Knight Ren].

The sight of the Star Lord in her prime.

As a fan since childhood, it was hard for Melissa to contain her excitement.

Full Breakthrough.

This means achieving the maximum breakthrough by pulling the same character multiple times and leveling them up significantly.

Melissa drew, drew, and drew again to reach the highest level of breakthrough for the [Knight Ren] character.

Using all the gacha currency earned from gameplay, which was [Sage’s Stone], and even spending real money, it was worth it.

After enjoying a blissful time snugging and rubbing against Ren for quite a while, she checked the character status window of [Knight Ren].

As an Apostle, she would create a [Knight Ren] closer to perfection than any player.

She aimed to level up all the skills to their max level.

“Where on earth do I get this material?”

She had gathered all the other materials, but the item called [Heart of the Demon Queen] was completely unknown to her.

No matter how much she searched, she couldn’t figure out what it was or where to obtain it.

“I need to level you up quickly.”

To leave the character of the Star Lord in a weakened state was agonizing in her heart.

Ding!

At that moment, a system notification appeared.

[New content: Weekly Boss has been released.]

[You can challenge once a week, and upon clearing it, acquire character development currency and sage stones.]

[Experience the real past untouched by the Abyss Corruption.]

“…Weekly Boss?”

It was a notification announcing the first update and the release of the first new content of [Akashic Archive].

Pah!

To try out the newly released content, she pressed the button that had appeared in midair, and a book suddenly leaped out and engulfed her.

– Kieeek!

– Kick!

When she opened her eyes again, she realized she was in the very underground cave she had previously encountered during the tutorial episode—home of the Demon Queen.

“Leader! What are you standing around for? We need to break through fast!”

Her companions, the 10 comrades, were assisting her as they broke through the defenses of the monsters.

And…

“I’m… the Star Lord?!”

She found herself possessed by [Knight Ren].

“Leader! We don’t have time to waste!”

She was guided forward by what looked like her comrades toward the deepest part of the underground cave.

Many monsters charged toward them, throwing themselves in an attempt to block their advance, while she and her companions pushed steadily forward.

Having already breached the cave of the Demon Queen once in story mode.

However, lacking the ability to absorb the protagonist’s essence and not being able to handle Knight Ren’s body properly, the difficulty felt much higher than that tutorial episode.

Eventually, they found themselves surrounded by monsters on all sides.

“Damn it! I see no way out. Don’t stop me. I’ll take the first shot.”

A menacing-looking high-level mercenary stepped forward, wielding a large axe.

“Leader. It has been a pleasure fighting alongside you. Please make sure to take down their chief.”

He shouted loudly, unleashing his magic and leaping into the mass of monsters.

“Damn it, Hans. Always trying to show off.”

“I can’t waste the time he bought us! Let’s go, leader!”

Each of them swallowed their grief as they pressed forward.

Melissa followed silently behind them.

Sacrifice…

The 10 Special Operators.

It felt like the scattered pieces of a puzzle were fitting together to form a single picture.

Could it be that the 10 Heroes the Star Lord commanded… were referring to them?!

It suddenly dawned on Melissa, recalling the system message that had informed her about the weekly boss, mentioning “real past.”

The past she experienced in story mode was a distorted false past twisted by the Abyss.

This was the true past.

They were the real heroes who fought alongside the Star Lord long ago.

“Ha! Now it’s my turn! I’m going first, you morons!”

Great Swordmaster Colin.

“It was an honor to fight alongside you, General.”

Mage Christine.

“Hurry up! This is so tough!”

Elementalist Darin.

“Please take care of humanity…”

Paladin Dave.

“Alright, let’s mess with these bugs!”

Priest Gregory.

“I am the Kingdom’s Sword Master, Florence!”

Knight Florence.

“General…! Please…!”

Spearman Ingrid.

“I won’t let you pass here, you monsters!”

Dark Sorcerer Jeffrey.

To send her forward, toward the Queen, nine members of the Special Operators sacrificed themselves.

– Kirek.

– Kerek.

And the three Elder Guardians guarding the Queen’s door.

“Cough…!”

One Guardian’s blade pierced the chest of the last remaining Special Operator.

It seemed to mock the Elder Guardian’s gaze.

The light of life extinguished in his eyes.

“Finally, it’s my turn…”

Yet a smile bloomed on his lips, not despair.

“You’re all going to die at the hands of our General…”

He pulled out a small magic orb from within his robe. A ferocious magic swirled within it.

“Our General… is the strongest…”

– Kirek!

Noticing the state of the magic orb, the Elder Guardian tried to withdraw, but…

Bang!

His self-destruct was quicker.

Amidst the storm of blood, the fragments of the Elder Guardian shattered.

Melissa slashed through the remaining two Elder Guardians, and the doorman fell.

“…Collins.”

The 10 Special Operators chose sacrifice without hesitation to send Ren to the Queen.

Now it was her turn to repay.

Creeeak!

Melissa moved Knight Ren’s body and opened the door to the Queen.

*

Title: Is this for real?

Content: (Gameplay video of the Akashic Archive Weekly Boss content)

(Names of the 10 heroes written in the credits after the boss battle)

[In honor of the 10 heroes who saved the world and have been forgotten.]

Comments:

– If it were fake, the Church of Sacrifice would have protested, and the followers would have turned the game company upside down, so it seems real.

– The temples of the Church of Sacrifice are instead building monuments and statues of the 10 Special Operators; the names on the monuments are just like in the weekly boss battle.

– So, these 10 heroes had their names unknown until now?

– They truly are heroes.

– Rest in peace, spirits.

– Everyone bows their heads in silence.

“…Are you alright?”

I asked the goddess while checking the responses of the continent’s people through the community.

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth thanks you deeply and realizes she can’t hold hands in the same space.]

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth says thanks to you, everyone’s able to know their sacrifice.]

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth offers to grant you anything you desire—just say it.]

“…It was only right to do so.”

Even though they sacrificed their lives to protect the world, these heroes’ names were forgotten and never passed down.

Knowing that even in my previous life there were unnamed heroes, and feeling the sorrow in that, I couldn’t allow it.

Even without the goddess’ request, I would have put them in the game to let everyone know.

“The reward is fine. Just having been allowed to use the story of the goddess is enough thanks.”

Astronomical profits from the successful game.

Thanks to her, we were now liberated from labor.

We had already received ample rewards due to her, so there was no reason to ask for more.

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth is moved.]

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth asks if I would consider becoming her Apostle.]

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth pinky promises that she will treat me well.]

[Dream Storyteller is astonished.]

[Dream Storyteller clings to Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth‘s leg, crying not to take away my Apostle.]

“Aha, thank you for the offer, but I am the Apostle of my Star Lord. I could never betray the grace I’ve received.”

The Church of Sacrifice, one segment of the ten major religions of the continent.

Positioned at the bottom of the ten religions, but still one of the greatest religions on the continent.

Just becoming an Apostle of the Church of Sacrifice would grant one power equivalent to high aristocracy.

[Dream Storyteller wiggles her fingers nervously.]

How could I leave someone who granted me so much?

Don’t worry, Star Lord. I will always remain your Apostle.

…Besides, without the Star Lord’s powers, I wouldn’t be able to create the game and would have a boring life.

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth expresses regret that such a valuable talent is going to waste.]

I felt the need to change the subject.

“More importantly, are you alright? About this?”

I pointed to the various comments I had seen throughout the community.

– So, Sacrifice, did she just erase the stories of her comrades and turn everything into her own achievements?

– For real, if they were her subordinates, she should’ve informed everyone beforehand, right? She’s hiding it to steal glory.

– At this point, building statues seems like a belated attempt to save face. It’s clearly rushed because the truth is coming out thanks to [Akashic Archive].

The previously highly favorable public sentiment toward Goddess Ren now had factions trying to vilify her.

They didn’t even realize that if the Goddess Ren hadn’t spoken up directly, the stories about the 10 Special Operators wouldn’t have surfaced.

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth is distressed, stating that those who commit wrongs will eventually face karma.]

[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth acknowledges her guilt for not properly informing others about her comrades for hundreds of years.]

Karma…

Certainly, for a deity of such a massive religion not to spread the tales of her comrades over centuries is strange.

Especially for her, a selfless hero, it was even more peculiar.

Was there something more to it?

I unconsciously stopped scrolling through community reactions.

– I want to deep kiss Renren.

– Ugh, Renren is so cute, I’m getting hard just thinking about her.

– What does it smell like when you poke around the cute girl’s behind?

– Our Ren licks her thighs.

…Maybe I should keep quiet about this?

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuung.

“What?”

At that moment, the magic artifact beside me vibrated and rang.

I picked up the artifact.

Afterward, the system was prepared to allow me to directly converse with the Star Lord through an advertisement board I set up in the Divine Realm to recruit her as the second pickup character, serving as the motif for Chapter 1.

The Star Lord insisted that since my identity must remain hidden, if another Lord were to abduct me once it was revealed, that would be a problem.

So, the Star Lord saw the advertisement and contacted me?

I wondered which Star Lord it could be.

With a racing heart, I opened the artifact.

When I checked the name on the chat window, meaning the name of the Star Lord, I could only stare in disbelief.

[Angry Mage Engineer]

A figure of unexpected stature appeared, one I presumed to have the least possibility of all the Star Lords.