I Made a Game Featuring Constellations-Chapter 115

Goddess Ren Booted Up the [Akashic Archive] After a Long Time

Recently, she had been too busy dealing with the Abyss alongside her comrades to properly enjoy the game.

Even when everyone else was immersed in dissecting and savoring the final arc of the Pantheon Saga, she hadn’t been able to join them.

She had missed her chance.

Even playing it late would have left a lasting impression—it was a story profound enough to do so—but she couldn’t shake off the regret of not experiencing it firsthand at the right time.

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So, she made up her mind. The next time a new story update dropped, she would play it immediately.

That moment was now.

The continuation of the Pantheon storyline, which had concluded with Queen Thystina, was finally here.

As soon as she entered the game, the familiar lobby screen unfolded before her.

Since she had no particular favorite character, the ever-reliable [Knight Ren] stood proudly in his pose, welcoming her.

Ren immediately opened the summon screen.

There, a young boy appeared.

The new character, [Curator].

Until now, the Curator had been a guiding figure in the Akashic Archive's story, assisting the protagonist.

According to player speculation, this wasn’t the true Curator who had appeared in the final moments of the Pantheon story, but rather a lower-tier entity connected to him.

But to Ren, it didn’t matter.

He was her absolute favorite character.

She had to summon him.

Because he was, in a way, her own avatar.

Beep!

A system window popped up in front of her.

Warning!

Summoning a character before experiencing the story may impact your immersion.

Are you sure you want to proceed?

It was a cautionary notice related to the narrative experience.

Ren had never encountered such a warning before.

“...Hmmm.”

She hesitated.

[Curator], the one she had admired so much, had finally been released as a playable character.

He was her favorite. She had prepared everything in advance—planning to max out his stats, equip him with the best gear, and raise his affinity to the highest level.

All her resources had been saved for this moment.

She wanted to ignore the warning and summon him immediately.

But...

“Immersion, huh.”

She didn’t want anything to interfere with her first experience of the story.

And this wasn’t just any story—it was his story.

There was no need to rush.

She had deliberately avoided asking Rian for spoilers just so she could enjoy this narrative to its fullest.

She wouldn’t let anything ruin it.

With a heavy heart, Ren restrained herself and backed out of the summon screen.

Instead, she entered the story mode.

"It’s been a while."

A familiar space within the Archive.

The [Curator] greeted her.

"It’s been a long time since that day, Wendy."

Ren’s eyes quickly scanned his outfit.

The familiar attire.

Not the true form revealed in the final moments of the Pantheon Saga—just a lesser version, as the players had speculated.

"You're not appearing as your true self today?"

"...How did you know?"

The Curator chuckled and shrugged.

"I guess I really shouldn’t have shown you last time."

"Am I still unworthy to stand beside your true self, even as your successor?"

Of course, Ren hadn’t figured out the truth about the Curator’s real form on her own.

While she hadn’t been able to play the game, she had spent her time browsing the community forums, piecing together details from other players’ discussions.

"No... that’s not the issue..."

The Curator placed a hand on his forehead, thinking for a moment.

"Well, I was planning to tell you today anyway, so I suppose it doesn’t matter."

He rose from his seat.

"There’s somewhere we need to go. Follow me."

Walking alongside him, Ren followed the long rows of bookshelves.

They walked for what felt like ages.

Until suddenly, she realized—

The space around her had shifted.

She was no longer in the familiar Archive.

This place was something entirely different.

"This place is..."

"The hidden space of the [Akashic Archive]—the final destination of stories that have been eroded and destroyed."

Once, these were books. Now, they were nothing more than scattered remnants, torn beyond recognition, drifting through the air.

"Stories that have been damaged beyond repair, either by the Abyss or for some other reason, unable to sustain themselves any longer."

Ren understood the meaning behind the Curator’s words.

"Why... here?"

"Because this is our secret."

The Curator took a step forward and continued.

"The Curator, the administrator of the [Akashic Archive], must not belong to any single story. That’s why we can only exist within stories that have already ceased to be. You and I both."

'...So that's why the backstory of the player, the successor Curator, was never revealed!'

Ren was impressed by the lore.

In truth, the reason the successor Curator’s story had never been fleshed out was that the game's creator, Rian, had simply forgotten about it and hastily patched it into the latest update.

But from Ren’s perspective as a player, it felt like it had been designed this way from the beginning.

'So does that mean the Curator was once the protagonist of a story that was consumed by the Abyss and lost forever, leading him to become the Curator?'

Little by little, the Curator’s secret was being unveiled.

"The battle against the Abyss showed that you've completed your role. As a Curator, your ability to wield the power of stories and resist the Abyss is perfect. You're ready for the final step."

The early stages of the story had tested the Curator’s abilities.

Trials where the player had to restore Abyss-tainted stories and prove their conviction to preserve the original narratives.

The training that followed was now over.

And now... it was time for the next step.

...Wait a second.

If the real Curator had survived an attack from the Abyss that should have reset his memories, then did that mean he had always been aware of what happened?

Did that mean he still remembered when she had made a bad choice and angered him?

Then why...

As Ren was lost in her thoughts, the Curator moved ahead toward the center of the hidden space.

She followed closely behind him.

"What we’re about to do is going to be different from anything you’ve experienced before. This won't be like any story you've entered before."

Snap!

The Curator snapped his fingers, and the fragmented stories scattered around them gathered toward him, forming a chaotic swirl of words and pages.

"Think of it as stepping into a scrambled, patchwork version of a story. Like someone took different tales, chopped them up, and stitched them together in a mess."

The fragments coalesced in his hands, forming the shape of a book.

"You’re going to enter this story now. Don’t worry—it will feel unfamiliar at first, but the more you grow accustomed to the hidden space, the more power it will grant you. To become a true Curator, you will have to experience this space over and over again. At the end of it, you’ll find your answer."

The Curator extended the book toward her.

"...So you're saying the answer I seek is inside this book?"

"Of course. Everything you're curious about is within the hidden space. Though... which iteration of it you'll end up in, I can't say."

Ren took the book from him.

The moment her hands touched it, her surroundings warped, and her consciousness was pulled into the book.

Meanwhile...

- "Curator summon, LET'S GOOO!"

- "Has anyone actually cleared the hidden space yet?"

- "Isn’t the Curator’s performance completely broken?"

With the release of new story content, a new gameplay mode, and the latest character—[Curator]—player reactions were divided into two major camps.

The first group was those immersing themselves in the story and pushing through the newly added roguelike Hidden Space Tower.

The second group? Players who immediately pulled for the Curator, focusing on maxing out his stats and exploring his abilities.

While some players were drawn to the Curator’s character and lore, a significant portion was focused on his performance.

Unlike other characters, the Curator didn’t belong to any specific story. And, as a character introduced from the very beginning, he was absurdly powerful.

Absolutely not because I had any personal bias when designing him.

It was simply to meet player expectations.

All he did was provide buffs to critical rate, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) critical damage, attack power, defense, health, movement speed, attack speed, effect resistance, effect accuracy, damage output, and armor penetration.

Oh, and he also reset skill cooldowns, resurrected dead allies, removed debuffs, granted shields, reduced enemy defense, and still managed to deal competitive DPS.

That was bare minimum for someone holding the title of Curator of the [Akashic Archive].

Absolutely no favoritism involved.

And as balance compensation, he had abysmally low health and defense—basically a glass cannon.

A perfect design that even honored the game’s lore.

Naturally, the playerbase was obsessed with him.

As for the roguelike Hidden Space Tower, reactions were also positive.

Since the Curator’s personal story couldn’t be told conventionally, the mode had been created by piecing together fragments of dreams from the existing Constellations into a roguelike experience.

Here, players repeatedly ventured through randomly generated story fragments, gathering Hidden Space Points to upgrade their skill trees.

And with each cycle, they slowly unraveled the mysteries surrounding the Curator.

It was designed so that players could gradually collect the lore while enjoying the roguelike mechanics.

It was meant to be an everlasting content mode—something players could take their time with.

Surely, the content consumption rate wouldn’t be too fast.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Back then.