Chapter 43: Be friends with me.

The chaotic Chuseok holiday had passed, and a few days had gone by.

“…Why am I here again?”

“Isn’t it normal for an employee to come to the office?”

“It’s the weekend.”

“Welcome to Black Märchen.”

Spending my weekend at the company felt truly pitiful. Beyond pitiful—it was downright depressing.

The world needed to know the truth: that Märchen, despite its fairy tale-like name, exploited its employees mercilessly.

I frowned as Tsupi handed me a paper cup.

A rich aroma I had never encountered before filled the air.

“Oh, thanks.”

“It’s my job, after all. But really, I should be the one thanking you for coming in today.”

“You practically forced me…”

Technically, I came of my own free will.

A glance at my smartphone reminded me why I was here.

[Tsupi: Hey, about The Märchen of the Hero, Yuwol.]

[Yuwol: Hm? Yeah?]

[Tsupi: We added a bunch of new updates.]

[Tsupi: Story, interface, and various other improvements.]

[Tsupi: It’s way cleaner than before.]

[Tsupi: UI and… well, a lot of things have been refined. I wanted to talk to you about it in person.]

[Yuwol: That was fast.]

[Tsupi: You think so? Anyway, can you come to the office? I want to run a test session.]

[Tsupi: If you do, I’ll give you some Kopi Luwak.]

[Tsupi: Someone from ID Märchen is here on a business trip.]

[Tsupi: I’ll give you three 16-ounce cups.]

[Yuwol: You think I’m some coffee addict?]

Well. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be here, would I?

My weekend had been sold for a mere cup of coffee.

I glared at the coffee in my hand, but the scent alone softened my resentment.

What did the coffee do wrong? Like a stray cat finding a fallen can of food, I had been drawn to it helplessly.

‘Then again, I probably would’ve come anyway.’

I sipped my coffee, pondering. After all, I was a Märchen employee too. If the company called, I would come—albeit with a very foul mood.

Who enjoys being summoned to work on a weekend? Märchen was a black company. A black Märchen indeed.

But, well… I wasn’t feeling that bad. Free Luwak coffee. Score.

My eyes drifted to the table, where three packets of coffee sat.

Espresso would taste even better.

Tsupi didn’t seem to understand my joy. Instead, she looked at me like I was some kind of oddity.

“Are you a cat? A hero? Or a baby?”

“What do you mean?”

I tilted my head at her bizarre expression.

“So, what did you want to talk about? And what’s this test session?”

“One thing at a time, one thing at a time.”

With a groan, Tsupi handed me a thick stack of papers.

Holding my paper cup in my mouth, I skimmed through the documents.

The Märchen of the Hero 0.2.1 Beta Update Notes?

I had contributed to The Märchen of the Hero before. I still did, in small ways.

But my involvement was minor—a drop in the ocean compared to the Märchen developers’ work.

So there were plenty of things I wasn’t aware of.

“I just figured you should be updated on this.”

“Huh? Do I need to be?”

“…Why are you holding the cup like that?”

To savor the aroma of this coffee forever, obviously. But I couldn’t say that.

With a sigh, I reluctantly set the cup down.

Then, I turned to Tsupi and asked, “Do I really need to know? I handed over the server code ages ago.”

“You’re still the original creator. If there’s anything in the update that doesn’t sit right with you, let me know so we can adjust it.”

“That world’s long out of my hands…”

“Ugh, just let me explain. Reading all that would take hours. It’s faster if I just tell you.”

Whether it was for my sake or just efficiency, I didn’t mind listening.

Tsupi began explaining the latest The Märchen of the Hero updates.

They had successfully set up the servers, fully transitioning into an MMORPG format. The story was now structured into four chapters.

The UI and interface had been improved for a sleeker experience.

“As an MMORPG, we now have an open world. Players can party up for hunting and boss raids.”

“And the story unfolds in a visual novel format with full voice acting.”

“And the most important change…”

Tsupi hesitated, stealing a glance at me before clearing her throat.

“Uh…”

“What? What is it?”

“Well… there’s going to be a monetization system.”

“…?”

Monetization? Did she mean what I thought she meant?

Most games had some form of in-game purchases. Whether it was for convenience or cosmetics, microtransactions were standard.

But among them, gacha was king.

Gacha—the bane of gamblers, the siren call that drained wallets. I had seen too many people sink their savings into the abyss of randomized loot boxes.

“…Can you handle that?”

I stared at her, dumbfounded. You sure about this?

Tsupi let out a deep sigh.

“I think we can. The monetization won’t affect gameplay balance.”

“So, purely cosmetics?”

“Yeah. No pay-to-win elements.”

I frowned, rolling the thought around in my head.

“If it’s just cosmetics… well, I guess it’s not too bad.”

“Exactly. Players can customize their characters, buy costumes, accessories—purely aesthetic things.”

“Still. You know how people react to monetization in games. Even if it’s cosmetic, they’ll complain.”

Tsupi nodded in understanding.

“I get it. That’s why we’re being careful about implementation. The last thing we want is to ruin the game’s image.”

“…Well. If you’re sure.”

I still wasn’t fully convinced, but I trusted Tsupi’s judgment.

Besides, at the end of the day, I was just the original creator. The game had grown far beyond me.

“I’ll trust you with it.”

Tsupi smiled, relieved.

“Thanks. We’ll make sure it’s fair.”

With that, I reached for my coffee again.

At least I got something out of this weekend.

“Oh, really? So it’s only for cosmetics and things like that?”

“For now… yeah, that’s the plan.”

How am I supposed to react to that vague answer?

I spoke bluntly, and Tsupi awkwardly avoided my gaze.

Well, for now, she says that’s the plan.

If they ever start selling stats or anything that affects player strength, it would completely ruin the game balance.

I could already picture what would happen when The Märchen of the Hero officially launched.

Even though it’s an MMORPG, there aren’t any ranking systems yet. But if they ever add one, it’s inevitable that the wealthiest players would dominate the top spots.

So, avoiding pay-to-win mechanics would be the best decision.

“Hmm. I don’t mind. If it’s just for cosmetics, there’s nothing wrong with that, right?”

“I’m glad you think so, Yuwol.”

“But it’s a VR game. Does cosmetic customization even matter?”

“Oh, it’s not exactly cosmetics… it’s more like, uh, illustrations?”

Illustrations? I tilted my head.

As Tsupi continued explaining, I started to understand.

She was talking about visual novel-style story illustrations.

In The Märchen of the Hero, there were multiple illustrations used to enhance the storytelling.

And then there were side stories—separate from the main plot.

The idea was to implement a gacha system for obtaining these side stories.

Apparently, there were already four main chapters, and an additional twenty side stories.

“…You guys managed all this in just two or three months?”

Are they literally grinding people into dust to keep this company running?

Anyway, as long as the gacha system only affected side stories and not character stats, there shouldn’t be an issue.

And since it was a visual novel format, players could view the stories in a fixed camera mode within the VR world.

This update added a lot more content than I expected.

“Sounds fun, actually.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

Tsupi chuckled and stretched her arms.

Then, she peeked into my paper cup and spoke.

“You’re done with your coffee, right? Then let’s start the test session.”

I nodded at her words.

Of course, a test session was just another way of saying beta testing.

“Oh, and you’re not the only one testing today, Yuwol.”

“…Who else is here?”

“A few of the other gens? There’s a lot to test.”

Well, that was fine.

As long as I wasn’t stuck with complete strangers, I had no problem with it.

With that, I stood up and followed Tsupi out of the break room.

A set stage. A massive set stage.

It was even bigger than the one used in the 1st-gen’s collab stream. Just how much money does this company have?

I was still staring at the sheer scale of the space when I noticed a group of people who had already arrived.

Seven in total.

A perfect number for a boss raid.

Including me, we’d be an eight-person party.

But that was for later.

For now, I focused on the people in front of me.

Among them, two were familiar faces.

Anna and Imari—1st-gen and 3rd-gen members, respectively.

When they spotted me, they both waved and approached.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Yuwol!”

“The main character of the game is the last one to arrive!”

Imari greeted me casually, while Anna was as cheerful as ever.

I let out a small smile.

After that, I turned to the other five and greeted them as well.

“I’ve seen you around Menol, but we never really talked much! I was looking forward to meeting you!”

That was 7th-gen Yuna.

“U-um. H-hi…”

That hesitant greeting came from 7th-gen Sera.

“Nice to meet you. I think this is our first proper introduction?”

4th-gen Becky.

“I feel like we’ve run into each other a lot on Menol, haven’t we?”

10th-gen Onuri.

“……”

And lastly, 5th-gen Kanu, who simply waved without saying a word.

Out of all the KR members, Kanu was the one I paid the most attention to.

Not for any complicated reason.

She just felt similar to me.

Kanu had the classic shut-in vibe.

An oversized hoodie, an aura of laziness, barely speaking, and zero interest in the people around her.

She was the definition of a slothful catgirl character.

‘She even looks just like her avatar in real life.’

Her clothes, her atmosphere—everything about her matched her virtual persona.

As I stared at Kanu in fascination, she tilted her head slightly.

“…What?”

“Let’s be friends.”

“…?”

Kanu’s face twisted in genuine confusion at my sudden declaration.

But that didn’t erase the smile on my face.

I could hear the shocked murmurs from the others around us, but so what?

As long as I was happy, that was all that mattered.

Kanu averted her gaze and gave a small, reluctant nod. That was a bit sad.

I really just wanted to be friends.

The hero, having met a fellow kindred spirit, had no hesitation in reaching out.