---Viktor's POV---

  No, I'm just overthinking things. I decisively dismissed the possibility from my mind and turned my warm, kind gaze toward Edgar.

  "Don't worry, it's nothing serious. I just came to share some good news with you."

  "Last night, our pn made a major breakthrough!"

  "The nerds, Edgar! They're practically divine power factories!" I expio him the discovery that pyers could provide rge amounts of divine power.

  As I spoke, I watched his face fill with shod disbelief, especially upon hearing how I had used the game sole to successfully elimihe side effects of divine faith from Luminaris' body.

  "Viktor, perhaps you really are right!"

  I could see the wheels turning in his head—if divine power could truly break free from the side effects of faith, it would undoubtedly bee the best solution to achieving The Watchers' ultimate goal.

  If that were the case, then even an increased workload was something he could endure.

  He closed his eyes iant acceptance. "Go on, keep expining."

  "Not bad for the wisest and most powerful padin of the Radiant Church after the Era of the Fallen Gods!" I didn't hold back my pliments but quickly shifted the topic.

  "I do have something I need your help with."

  Edgar immediately wore a "khis-was-ing" expression that made me want to ugh.

  I raised a bony finger. "Do you know what a trailer is?"

  "Think about it—these nerds, they need proof. They need spectacle!" I'd been keeping up with the information cirg online oh and was well aware of the biggest criticism surrounding icles of Aeltia—a ck of internal details and a general disbelief among pyers.

  A game trailer would go a long way in sileng these doubts.

  "And you want to use me for this... spectacle?" Edgar asked.

  Over the past few days, I had steadily fed magic power into the blue light orb, finally accumuting enough resources to upload a 10-minute video to the official website. The struggle to unlock a single video upload feature showed just how mu there was to improve my so-called "cheat powers."

  I carefully expihe cept of a game trailer to Edgar.

  After heari, he thought for two seds. "Hm... You want to make a rec of me for your pyers to watch? I don't mind."

  "So agreeable?" I was a little surprised. "I remember you used tly oppose leaving any sort of recorded image or traces behind?"

  "After seven hundred years of your schemes, what's one more rec?" Edgar's voice carried a hint of dry humor.

  I feel like I should be offended by that tone.

  After all, once a rec was out there, the user had no trol over how it might be used.

  Given the curreive reviews of icles of Aeltia, the first trailer we released could easily be picked up by trolls or rival panies. It wasn't impossible to imagine Edgar's likeness being turned into some meme-worthy material in fas.

  That's precisely why I came to ask for his sent first—what a siderate boss I was.

  Edgar calmly pced the rune fe by the bedside and turoward me with a peaceful gaze.

  "From the nerds you've brought here so far, their behavior is strange enough to make anyone uneasy. It's hard to predict how they'll treat a rec ohey have it. But don't fet, ever since I met you, I've already experienced everything you're describing."

  I khat in the past, Edgar had simply disliked leaving records behind. But as a member of the Radiant Church, such situations were unavoidable. Some recs from back then had eventually turned into evidehat supported his waatus after he defected from the church.

  By now, those records had likely passed through tless hands awisted in untold ways. What else could he do besides accept it, right?

  I coughed awkwardly and ged the subject. "Since you've agreed, let's find some open spad start filming. Just imagine—Dawn Judgment in all its glory! you still perform it?"

  Dawn Judgment was the signature skill Edgar created at age 14 and the in of his Knight of Dawn title. Regardless of its raw power, it certainly looked impressive.

  Ba the Radiant Church, this fshy skill, with its wide range and holy light effects, had pyed a major role in helping him gain the adoration of believers and rise to the rank of Knight ander as soon as he came of age.

  It was guarao be a major selling point for the game trailer.

  Edgar's expression grew plicated. "Viktor, I barely light a dle right now."

  "Wait—weren't you at 30% strength the st time I checked?"

  "... Something happened."

  "Oh."

  I didn't press further. At this stage, asking questions wouldn't yield anything useful.

  The room fell into silence for a moment.

  Have I been pushing him too hard? I sighed.

  Two injured individuals, ea worse shape thaher. My own power was even weaker than Edgar's, so I had no way of accurately assessing his dition, leading to some misuandings.

  Looking back, the amount of work I'd been assigning him might have been a little much.

  For a moment, my sce pricked at me—though as an undead, I teically had , so it only sted for a sed.

  "We work with what we have. Maybe a smaller light show?" I suggested brightly.

  "Your optimism would be inspiring if it wasn't so ing," Edgar muttered.

  "No worries! Just use the fa skill you manage right now, and we'll make it work. Let's go!"

  "Wait!" Edgar stopped me.

  "What now? I'll say this upfront—I'm not accepting as or backtrag!"

  Edgar shook his head. "It's not that. Earlier, you said the trailer is meant to showcase Aeltia's ndscape and attract more pyers to join us. You want to use this rec to recruit more pyers, right?"

  I nodded.

  I had 164 points of divine power left and was indeed pnning to recruit new pyers. Three pyers simply weren't enough. At our current pace, who knew how long it would take just to leave Honeyvale Town?

  The sooner we could recruit more pyers, the better.

  I po release the game trailer alongside an annou for the round of closed beta recruitment, hoping t in a few more new pyers.

  Edgar uood my reasoning but felt it necessary to remind me. "We're running low on equipment for the nerds."

  I knew what he meant—recruiting new pyers not only required divine power but also demanded a signifit amount of beginner gear and tools for their tasks. As our de fainister of General Affairs and Finance, Edgar had to make me aware of our current resource straints.

  We were especially short on beginner gear.

  Edgar had only brought back tes of clothing initially. After the pyers got caught in the raierday, six sets had been used up in one go.

  Who knew if there would be further losses? If we didn't address this issue, any new pyers who arrived iia would have no choice but to run around in their underwear!

  The situation was far from ideal.

  I rubbed my temples. "'t you raid another wealthy town like Nary Town? ht, your strength isn't enough for that."

  "Some of us still have moral standards," Edgar replied dryly.

  "Morals are expehese days, aren't they?"

  Initially, I had thought he had looted the warehouse of some well-off farmer in Nary Town. But now it seemed he had only mao trade for clothes and tools from abandoned farms oskirts, far from the reach of the militia.

  No wohe items didn't fit properly.

  The underpowered Edgar said nothing, pretending not to hear my final ent.

  Instead, he expined, "These farmers barely survive wihemselves. The farmers' lives aren't much better than ours. Tes of clothihe most I could exge for using Altari s."

  "The church's currency still holds that mufluence?" I asked, genuinely curious.

  "Some things don't ge, even after seven hundred years."

  Of course I knew Altari s were still a widely accepted currency minted uhe influence of the God of Light and trolled by the Radiant Church.

  "If I asked for more, it would have impacted their survival, and no amount of money would have vihem to trade."

  It went without saying that the money Edgar had couldn't be used carelessly. The farmers, at the very least, o hide their Altari s for a year before they even thought of leaving the area to spend them in neighb towns.

  And if the supplies provided to Edgar were to affect their livelihood for the six months, the farmers would definitely not be happy.

  I rubbed my thoughtfully. "That is indeed a problem..."

  Even if the new pyers' clothing issue was resolved, the recurring scarcity of supplies would still be a problem before their strength was restored.

  So aside from architects to build houses and bcksmiths to make tools, we also ck tailors to sew beginner outfits.

  In addition to pyers, I o find some locals to take on crafting tasks in the game, being NPC guides for the pyers.

  I made a firm decision. "Let's record the trailer first. I'll figure out a way to solve this problem as quickly as I ."

  The game trailer was filmed quickly.

  After all, the "camera" was my eyes, and the magic used by Edgar wasn't just special effects.

  To make the final result eveer, I dragged out the soundly sleeping Luminaris.

  "What's happening?" he mumbled groggily.

  "Rise and shine! You're about to be a star!"

  "I don't like the way yrinning..."

  My initial pn to "film against thin air" was repced with heading outside town to find an unlucky monster.

  The real battle, with its sense of danger and blood, packed a much stronger visual punch!

  By the time we finished filming, the m dew had just evaporated.

  The three pyers still hadn't woken up.

  I checked on their dition and discovered that the aftereffects of their maion were severe. They were still unscious and likely wouldn't fully recover until the day.

  In other words, Aeltia would be without any pyers for aire day. Luminaris successfully got a day off!

  Edgar tried venturing out to see if he could buy some unwanted clothing from other farmers. Regardless of whether I could find a tailor, the immediate problem had to be dealt with first.

  Meanwhile, I stayed in the chapel, fog on issues reted to the Earth work.

  After some effort, I successfully edited and pressed the ten-minute video down to six minutes. I reviewed it several times and, after firming there were no issues, set it aside for the moment and began w on the game annou.

  ---

  [icles of Aeltia: Test Server Hotfix Update Annou]

  [Key Updates:

  Currency System Ehe Watcher will no longer provide free meals or starter clothing for newers. These will now require the use of the fa currency—Magis—to purchase. Magis be earned by pleting tasks and other means.

  The trade fun is now enabled. If needed, pyers purchase a variety of ems from Knight Edgar.

  Resurreeic Improved:Upoh, pyers will lose a certain amount of Magis.

  Resurre cooldown time:The fa leader, I am gravely injured. Each time I craft a new body to guide a pyer back to Aeltia, it requires a 12-hour cooldown period. Added save point funality. Upon revival, pyers' bodies will revert to the data from their st save point. Current save point: Honeyvale Town's initial chapel. The game is challenging—please cherish your character's life!

  Honeyvale Town Surrounding Creatures Updated:Added new creature entry: Red-Skinned Worm.

  Base Buildi Underway!After the update, housing stru tasks will grant bonus experience points and additional Magis! Land purchase options are now avaible—details be inquired from Knight Edgar. Build your dream home and work together to create a thriving and vibrant Honeyvale Town!

  Other Updates:- Visual style optimization- Physigine adjustments- Min fixes]

  I reviewed it to ehere were no issues a aside as well.

  up was the website update annou.

  [icles of Aeltia Official Website Update Annou]

  [Key Updates:

  The test server application el for icles of Aeltia is reopening! The application page now includes a "Pyer Skills" se to provide outstanding pyers with more ces to be selected.

  A railer for icles of Aeltia has been added.

  A new forum discussion module has been added for ih pyer exges.

  A new game pendium module has been added, which will periodically update with background lore and creature entries for icles of Aeltia.

  Website yout and design optimization.]

  "That should be enough."

  I hit the send button, posting the two annous and the trailer on the official website.

  Looking at the increasingly polished webpage, I grew more and more satisfied.

  "What do you mean, just because I haven't touched code in 682 years I'd fet it? Pig it back up was a breeze!" I said proudly.

  I also repced the game i with a picture of the sleeping Luminaris. The round, ball-shaped light cluster filled the entire image.

  With its stubby limbs and gaping mouth, its color scheme was not as pin as I initially imagined—just right.

  "As expected, this little thing is masaterial!"

  I once again reaffirmed my choice. Look at this—how could this not be the perfect game i?

  Just as I was about to close the webpage, a registration notification popped up in the background.

  "???"

  "istration? Already?"

  During the st beta test, I practically begged for pyers by spamming posts, and it took several days just to get three.

  How was it that this time, as soon as I posted it, someone signed up right away?

  Not only that...

  Ding!

  Ding! Ding!

  More and mistration notifications popped up in quick succession. "Two... three... six? What's happening?"

  In no time, I had information for six pyers in hand.

  I opehe application for one pyer named "GameLord420."

  In the ents se, I saw a message: "Reended by ShowMaster—hoping for some favoritism."

  "ShowMaster? Could it be that 'NeverShowOff' pyer?"

  My jaw dropped in surprise. "Did he reend icles of Aeltia?"

  I immediately searched the name online and indeed found a game blogger with the same username. As luck would have it, the blogger had just released a new video an ho.

  "Does Virtual Reality Gaming Really Have No Future? No, the Future is Already Here!"

  The title was too obvious. The only virtual reality games being discussed online were herworld Revolution and icles of Aeltia.

  I clicked on it without hesitation.

  "Hello everyone, I'm NeverShowOff!"

  "Virtual reality gaming has been a hot topic retly, huh? As it happens, my longtime viewers know that I'm an old fan ames!"

  "While everyone's debating whether herworld Revolution live up to the promise of true VR gaming, I secretly snagged a beta spot for aname of the same genre!"

  "By now, you've probably guessed the name of the new game. That's right, it's icles of Aeltia! Since rec footage isn't allowed for now, I'll use promotional images from the official website and other materials to illustrate."

  "Side he icles of Aeltia website is trash! A cat could walk across a keyboard and make a better page! Game pany, send me 50 and I'll find a college student to fix it!"

  "... Why does he have to get personal?" I muttered.

  What was wrong with the website? It had all the basis!

  Sure, the design might not be great, the loading times a bit slow, and the bugs... well, there were a few...

  But it was funal! More or less...

  Anyway, it was being optimized.

  It was being optimized!