In a room constructed of ice and snow, so cold that even a single breath exhaled a thick cloud of white mist, a petite girl sitting in a coffin revealed a pair of dead fish eyes.
“Where the hell did this take me? Is this still the office?”
The girl scanned the room, which looked no different from a morgue. Perhaps it was the chill, or perhaps it was the memory of the looming deadline for her game development work, but her entire body shuddered.
As a rising star in the world of game development, Ai Yue was an all-rounder. She was proficient in everything from programming and design to writing, but that expertise came with endless work.
Recently, she had been working herself to death to prepare for the open beta of Unreal Garden — a blockbuster game that integrated various elements like growth-based RPGs, dating sim mechanics, and an open world, boasting a massive amount of gameplay, depth, and a high-fidelity simulation of reality across multiple worldviews. After staying awake for forty-eight consecutive hours, she had been performing a live test using a brain-computer interface… then her vision had gone black, and she had woken up in this place.
“If I died from overwork and this is a morgue, that would actually explain things… as if!!”
Ai Yue kicked the coffin. The returning sensation of cold and pain made her want to cry… no, she was already crying.
Waking up in some unknown place was one thing, but why had she turned into a little girl?
‘By the way, what do I look like now…?’
Since she had transformed, she had to confirm her appearance. If her beauty was high enough, even if things didn’t go smoothly, she would at least feel much better looking at herself.
Ai Yue leaned her face toward the polished, mirror-like ice nearby to catch a glimpse of her current appearance.
Her height was just over 140 centimeters; she looked more like a loli than a young girl. She had white hair that almost dragged on the floor, with a thin layer of pink gradient at the ends. Her blue-and-white eyes emitted a transcendent aura as if she looked down upon all creation. Even the faint smile on her subconsciously curled lips carried a sense of indifference and inhumanity. Yet, despite that, she possessed a mysterious charm, as if her very soul was being drawn in.
It definitely wasn’t because she was attracted to that gaze which looked at everyone like they were trash. Though calling it “trash” wasn’t quite right; it was more of an emotionless gaze that simply didn’t care about anything else.
Speaking of which, she hadn’t realized it until now, but her voice was heavenly — light, yet possessing an aged maturity that seemed to see through all things in the world. It was as if it carried a certain magic, just like a Succubus.
“Wait… this looks familiar. Is this…!?”
Looking at herself like this, Ai Yue recalled information related to this appearance.
This appearance was clearly the final boss, the Great Demon King, who ruled the Demon Realm with absolute power in the game Unreal Garden. Her level was even higher than the Level 100 cap for ordinary players. Not only did she have several powerful Demon Kings as subordinates, but because this was the alt account Ai Yue used for testing, she even had developer privileges.
“Isn’t this just easy mode?”
Ai Yue almost grinned. With this kind of setting, she was a powerhouse who could single-handedly topple the entire world. She could perform “I don’t eat beef” routines whenever she wanted. Whether it was the Demon Realm, the Human Realm, the Dragon Race, or anything else, everything would be crushed under her feet!
Thinking this, she happily opened her status panel.
[Status Window]
Name: Ai Yue
Race: Succubus (Level 120)
Status: Severely Weakened
HP: 188 / 9,900,000 (Weakened)
MP:396 / 20,100,000 (Weakened)
Skills: Polymorph, Charm, Somersault, Curse Magic, Holy Magic (Sealed: Elemental Magic, Mental Magic…)
…
“…Wea… Weakened? What’s the difference between this and a normal person?”
Ai Yue, who was about to pop the champagne, felt her mood plummet like a roller coaster. It fell, then rose, then fell again.
This was the panel of the final boss! Why had it become a panel no different from a Level 2 slime on the side of the road?
If others found out, wouldn’t her horde of brutal Demon King subordinates slice her into mincemeat and eat her? Especially those insane players; they would either treat her as a mobile trophy or… something much more lewd. If her identity as a Succubus was exposed, it would be even worse.
When the time came, the high-and-mighty Great Demon King would be forced into a “defeat CG,” mocked with lines like “Do you still think you aren’t just a woman?”, and then become a roadside attraction that anyone could step on…
Ding-dong.
“Hmm, what’s this?”
Just then, a pop-up window appeared next to her panel.
Clicking into it, she saw the words [Quest List] written in large letters at the top. Below was a suddenly added Main Quest:
[To prevent the destruction of the world, you must use different identities to go on dates with several characters who will have a major impact on the development of the world and make them blush…]
“…What the hell?”
Setting aside how strange this quest description was for a system, she was a shut-in who had spent years sitting in front of a computer. Not only did she have zero experience communicating with women, but her social skills were basically zero. And now the system wanted her to be a time-management master and a player in this game world — which had lewd elements but focused on being a combat RPG — and seduce the very characters she had created using different identities?
But before Ai Yue could finish complaining in her head, a new description appeared in the quest summary:
[I specifically assigned this task to you. I believe that with the addition of your Succubus traits, you definitely won’t be unable to complete the task, right? You wouldn’t, would you? Well, provided you can avoid being overthrown by your subordinates or suppressed by other players, that is. Do your best and struggle to survive in this world. Put on a good show for me, Descender! Ciallo～(∠・ω<)⌒★]
[—Management God Tasojia]
Compared to that pile of mocking, bratty remarks, Ai Yue’s attention was entirely on the signature at the end.
Management God Tasojia was the tutorial AI of Unreal Garden, and the setting was that she was the highest deity responsible for managing this game world.
However, Ai Yue had never set her to have this kind of personality. And judging by the use of the term “Descender,” which was aimed at ordinary players, instead of “Creator,” which was for developers, Tasojia might not know that Ai Yue was the developer of this game in her previous life.
‘No, no, that’s not the point right now.’
This message also made her realize the most urgent matter at hand.
Seducing characters could wait; survival was the priority. She had to hide her severely weakened state. Furthermore, the message mentioned that there might be other players. She had to find a way to fix her weakened status before the players came running to suppress her…
Ding-dong.
Right then, another clear system notification sound rang out, followed by another message appearing next to her panel.
[Server Announcement: Unreal Garden has officially launched its open beta today at 10:00 AM. Descenders, please enjoy your game life to the fullest.]
“…Fuck.”