30 Years After Reincarnating, It Turns Out This World Was A Rofan?! novel Chapter 273

Derrick, the gray-haired boy, tousled his hair as he shook his head, groaning like a whimpering puppy.

“Mordred, hmm... Wasn't that assigned to the second team lead...?”

Derrick looked awkward.

He was pretty sure he'd once boasted to his instructor that there was nothing in this world he didn't know.

‘Guess humility is a virtue for a reason.’

He had to admit, without hesitation, that there was far too much he didn’t know.

‘Making the worldbuilding this vast really is a problem...’

That was just how game development worked.

Even in the same project, different teams handled different parts, and even within the planning department, the work was divided so that each person had their own area of focus.

Especially in a large-scale AAA game, the number of side stories branching off from the main setting had to be staggering.

Dozens—no, hundreds of developers were needed just to keep up with that workload.

So, considering he was merely one of the countless planners on the team, it was only natural that his knowledge had limits. Berating himself over it was meaningless.

If anything, it was impressive that he knew as much as he did.

And yet...

‘It still feels pathetic not being able to help at all.’

He considered this person his benefactor, and yet he couldn't offer any meaningful assistance.

There was no avoiding the self-loathing creeping in.

He wanted to get up and help directly, but—

‘I can't just leave right now...’

Derrick was in the middle of a quest—or rather, an incredibly important operation.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

‘There won’t be a second chance to obtain a Unique-grade item, the Grail Fragment.’

The grand side story, Memories of the Autumn Fairy.

To complete it, he had to entertain the fairy’s avatar to its satisfaction.

If successful, he would receive the Grail Fragment, which the avatar carried like an ornamental hairpin.

However, fulfilling the item acquisition conditions required an absurd sacrifice—

For a total of 24 days, he had to ‘entertain’ the avatar without letting it grow bored.

As a result, Derrick had already spent the past 15 days getting only two or three hours of sleep per night, forced to play the role of a clown.

...It was an absolute nightmare, all because fairies—avatars or not—never slept.

A truly extreme situation.

He had already invested so much effort into this quest that abandoning it now wasn’t an option.

So, the only thing he could do to help was—

‘Maybe I should send over what little info I do have?’

Specifically, information on the second team lead who had handled Mordred’s side story.

Derrick didn’t know the details of the story itself, but he did know how most of the team lead’s projects had ended.

And if Mordred’s storyline followed the same pattern...

‘That guy was kind of twisted... No, actually—’

To put it bluntly, a pervert.

Not in a socially deviant way, but in game development terms.

...Although, anyone who had played one of his games would probably want to murder him.

‘He's undeniably skilled, and I do respect him as a senior, but that guy...’

The endings of the games he worked on were always—

‘...Either a Massacre Ending or a Tragic Ruin Ending.’

Hmm, what was it he used to say?

Something like—

“Isn’t this the best?! The players expect some satisfying catharsis, but no matter what they do, everyone either dies or ends up utterly ruined! Seeing them groan and rage... Wow, just imagining it gives me a dopamine rush! I can’t stop making games because of this, hahaha!!”

“...Yeah, he’s just a pervert.”

Looking back on it now, Derrick realized that the second team lead wasn’t someone worthy of respect at all.

***

[Woo. Woooo, wooooo.]

“...?”

[Woooo. Wooooong, woo.]

“...What’s with these things?”

Ihan furrowed his brows, his expression sour.

It was like listening to a ghostly ASMR sleep recording up close.

The sound had a strange, glassy quality—like someone playing a wine glass with wet fingers. It wasn’t unpleasant in itself, but...

[Wooo, wooong.]

“...Don’t cling to me.”

The presence of the creatures was unpleasant.

Wraiths.

The ones he had beaten, along with those that had been subdued elsewhere, were now lingering around him.

‘And what the hell happened to their appearance?’

One of the most irritating aspects was how they looked now.

During their first encounter, they had blood-red eyes, their entire bodies radiating ominous, thorn-like energy.

Now? Now, they seemed infinitely docile—and strangely... cute.

It was like something straight out of a horror game had suddenly been deformed into a mascot from a cozy indie game.

“...You guys didn’t use to look like this, did you?”

[Woorooo?]

“Even your voices used to sound like nails on a chalkboard...”

[Wooroo, woo.]

“...Why is this pissing me off so much?”

These were monsters that had once tried to kill him—there was no way he could look at them favorably.

But now, their entire demeanor had shifted 180 degrees, and they looked like something that could represent a local festival as a cute mascot.

Still, cute or not, Ihan had never once spared a monster that had threatened his life.

He had every reason to wipe them out immediately—

“I-I like them because they’re c-cute!” ƒreewebɳovel.com

“...Excuse me?”

“Yeah! They’re cool and sleek, and touching them feels refreshing! They’re so nice....”

“...I see. I’m... glad you like them.”

“Uh-huh! I love them! Santa, thank you!”

“......”

—Ihan could only let out a sigh.

Because of her, he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of them.

‘She’s really taken a liking to them.’

They weren’t cats or dogs, so what part of these creatures was she finding so endearing?

“They’re adorable.”

“I kind of want one for myself.”

“Right? ...Yeah.”

...Wait.

‘Am I the only one who isn’t okay with this?’

Ihan heard the murmurs around him, and an involuntary laugh escaped.

It was just so absurd.