Chapter 7 - Great News

[Hikari POV]

Finally, the day has arrived...

Today is June 20, 2136, the day Early Access will finally end, and the official game will be available for anyone to play...

I was looking forward to this, not only because I wanted to see more players walking the streets, but because today I was going to do an interview with the Developers, as we had agreed in May. This interview would be watched in-game, but the live-stream would be connected to my website, YtD, so views from people watching on the website and within YGGDRASIL would be added together.

Yesterday, Great-o Doll and I talked through a private group, where there was him and 4 other Devs, who decided to remain anonymous and not say anything, just to see how things were going. This conversation was about what they would get in exchange for letting me be an official miscellaneous news website regarding their game.

Taking advantage of my father being the current owner of Kobayashi.inc, I asked him to help with these details, and I managed to make a deal that he himself was interested in and offered to the Devs. The deal would be that in exchange for them allowing me to do these things, they would gain basic sponsorship from the company, with the idea of ​​being a virtual world without pollution of our sad reality, in addition to receiving lifetime and anonymous cards in which they could buy items with 70% discount. These cards were very interesting, as they were connected to the ID of the person who received it, even though it is an anonymous ID, there is no way to copy it, especially when connected to a Neural-Link.

I still find it hilarious how people can't understand this kind of thing, I mean, even Great-o Doll was confused when I explained, because he never had something like this. An anonymous card that can only be used by one person... Wasn't there anything like that in the past at least? Well... who cares?

At the time I was in Alfheim, inside a Tavern and waiting for the interview time. I already had some notes of things I was going to ask, in addition to having already noticed a floating television next to me.

The Devs made a very small update, installing these floating screens in several taverns and in the central squares of all the main cities of the 9 realms. No one thought it was strange, especially since today was the end of Early Access, everyone was imagining that there would actually be something "new year" style with a counter and fireworks.

In that simple tavern I was at, there were only 3 other players and an NPC who worked as a waitress. The NPC was a [Dark Elf] with a lovely and simple uniform, her appearance was of a young woman in her 20s, with nothing exaggerated about her body, red hair and red eyes. It was my first time seeing something of this race, it was very different from what I imagined, the skin wasn't that dark, the tone of it seemed a perfect tan, something between light brown and caramel.

"Here are your orders." The NPC spoke while putting on the table 3 mugs of butterbeer, 1 glass of mead-based whiskey, and a plate full of dry leaves that gave an appearance of potato chips.

I grabbed one of the butterbeers and take a long drink, already drinking half the mug. "I will never stop loving this drink here at YGGDRASIL." I said as I caught my breath, slamming the mug down on the table in the classic style of someone from Nordic times.

"I noticed, that's the only alcoholic drink you have. Are you sure you don't want a whiskey like mine?" Said one of the players next to me.

This player used a dwarf as a character, the appearance made everyone see him as a human child, until they saw the race he belonged to. His IGN is [Samblok], but we just called him "Sam", he was one of the players I met in the incident that happened against that fox-girl player... what was her name again? Son... Sun...? I didn't even remember anymore, I never saw her or that elf again.

"All you guys think about is drink af, eh? I ordered a Butterbeer too, but only because I don't like to be the different." Said another player with us.

This one used a female human character, with a great and attractive body, she wore a leather rogue outfit, even though this wasn't her JobClass, her hair was quite long and blonde, and her IGN is [Lanrha_Turn3]. She was also an acquaintance of mine, from the same event where I met Samblok, in fact, she was the waitress at that tavern in Midgard, but she ended up giving up her job to explore Midgard, Alfheim and Nidavellir a little, the main realms for humans, elves, and dwarves, respectively.

"You say that because you don't know that we spend most of our time battling various monsters and leveling-up as citizens of this huge world tree!!" Touch_Me was the third player with me, and he was talking in a expressive way, roleplaying.

"So you two really fight too much? That explains your levels." Samblock commented by taking more sips of his whiskey.

He was right about that, although Touch_Me explored more than I did, we were both at pretty advanced levels considering that we only played in our spare time. I had reached Lv.25 not even a week ago, while my half-insect companion had reached Lv.32. Impressive how, even though he spent more time in battles than I did, we had gained the same amount of levels. Meanwhile, Samblock was only Lv.12 and Lanrha was Lv.6, not very impressive but understandable considering what they do normally.

"Don't think it's too much, we just go to an area with enemies within our level and attack them." I said while looking at the time on the system screen.

[In Game Time: 03:50 pm]

[In Real Time: 9:30 pm (Japan - GMT+9)]

"It's almost time..." I said finishing my butterbeer and going to the NPC over there.

"Hm? Going somewhere, cutie?" Lanrha said teasingly.

"Good luck, Hikari. You'll need it." Touch_Me commented waving at me as I paid for what we ordered.

[The value for all products purchased at this establishment was 40 gold coins. Will you pay for everything or will you share it among the people who consumed it?]

"Thanks, Touch... And you'll see, Lanrha, you just need to watch the television." I said with a smug in my face.

"Hm...? What do you mean??" She was quite confused while Samblok was quiet, just drinking his whiskey.

I smiled at their confused faces and left the tarven, walking a little through the main city of Alfheim until a message from the system appeared in front of me. I had a wide, amused smile on my face.

[Great-o Doll: I hope you're prepared boy. The show is about to start, but I have to take you in advance so that there is no problem.]

[Player Hikari, you are being called to an "event". Would you like to participate?]

I clicked on the "Accept" option and soon a door of a nearby house began to glow gold. Interesting to say the least, doing it that way so if there were people next to me, no one would find it strange? "Fine, I'll accept the way you work, Developers." I spoke low to myself as I walked towards that door.

When I opened the door, I saw a white and gold spiral, I was unable to see what was on the other side. I took a step, and when I was fully stepping inside and the door seemed to close automatically. On the other side was a room that one would expect from a wealthy family mansion, completely themed in a fantasy Viking way, with armchairs, a table with snacks and drinks and a single window in place. It was a huge glass window that showed a surreal landscape of floating islands with colorful waterfalls and a sky with purple and green as the main colors.

"Heya, Boy. How are you today?" I heard a familiar voice and turn around.

There he was, the goddamn awesome dev who had gotten me into big trouble over his little mistake. But I couldn't get mad, after all he gave me two amazing items as compensation for the trouble and for defeating the biggest creation he had at that moment. Great-o Doll was dressed in a kind of festive and clichéd outfit from any Nordic movie, with the collar of his uniform being quite fluffy, as if it were a whole fox wrapped around his neck. His characteristic elongated arms seemed to slightly match what he was wearing, and then he sat down in one of the armchairs, facing me with that white mask, which was so plain and simple, it didn't look special.

"I'm fine, but are you sure it was a good idea to do this today? I mean... It's Wednesday! Couldn't it be a Friday or Saturday?" At my questions, Great-o bursted out laughing as he used his long arms to pick up a large mug of orange drink from the table next to him.

"Boy... I don't make the rules... Hilariously, this was chosen by vote... and it was an 80% win!" He exclaimed as he was drinking what was in the mug.

"Got it... one more thing... why are there 3 seats here? I thought it would just be you and me." I asked as I walked over to the table, picking up something that reminded me of chocolate candy.

"That's because I decided to participate too... Is there a problem, little boy?" I heard a voice I didn't recognize and turned around, facing a character that was a humanoid feline with white fur, unlike common demi-humans, she was much more inclined towards a beastman.

"Oh! And would you be...?" I asked, popping the candy in my mouth.

"Trjegul Freyjaha... I'm one of the Devs who was in the chat yesterday in anonymity." She said with her feline tail wagging rhythmically.

"Oh, so it's Freyja's 'Golden Tree'...interesting name." I said approaching her.

Unlike Great-o, Trjegul was only wearing simple black shorts and a dark green top made of some hard fabric, in addition she had several accessories on both arms and legs, which looked like colorful bracelets. Her feline eyes were heterochromatic, with one being green and the other purple, like the sky in the landscape seen through the window.

"Oh! The little boy did his homework! Great to hear that!" Her voice suddenly became super excited and she jumped up and down happily.

I was surprised by her reaction until Great-o said. "She is just happy because you understood her reference... not so many people easily remember that the goddess Freya had two cats as a symbol."

"I see, sometimes people forget about these details... Anyway, shall we get started?" I said sitting in the farthest armchair while Trjegul sat in the armchair next to Great-o.

"We'll be starting in a few minutes." Said one of them while typing something on a floating keyboard, then a small fairy appeared, holding a camera that was facing us, and a large screen above the fairy.

"That fairy will be filming us, while that screen up there will be for us to see how we are appearing to the public. The fairy is not glowing now, but when it glows green, it means that people are listening to us, and when it isn't glowing, it's like we're mutated. Easy to understand?" I just agreed with what they said as I let my question notes float on my HUD.

"Oh! One more thing before we start!" Great-o exclaimed and pointed in my direction. "How is [Kowai-Muramasa] doing? Did it evolve during this little time?"

"Hm... It suddenly got the Lv.1 symbol while I was battling... Why is this question so out of the blue?" I said looking at him strangely.

"Great! It's just that I had forgotten to activate its level-up system." When he said that, I stared at him blankly, while Trjegul smacked him on the back of the head, using those big and fluffly paws.

"You gave a player a special item and forgot to activate the special part of it?... You really forget a lot of things, we'll need to give you a calendar and an alarm even to go get some water!" Trjegul spoke irritably to her colleague, who just sighed.

.---------.--------------.

[Touch_Me POV]

I was sitting there on the tarven, watching that floating screen in front of me and waiting for Keiko-kun to appear on it! I was still in disbelief over the events that had transpired this past month. By luck and unluck, we had found a dungeon that was still being prepared, and for that, we received compensation from a developer in flesh and blood!... Or should I say "In data and IDs"? Well... that detail doesn't matter so much.

What mattered now, was that he got in contact with the Devs and now would very possibly not only sky-rocket with the success of the game, but make the game much more famous right from the start, due to the sponsorships. Was I supposed to gain something from this too...? No! Better not.

I have to show everyone and everything that I can earn things with what I have! Be it money or willpower, I will only gain something from others if they want to give it to me as a gift, not if I ask for it. Yea! My pride would never allow that!

"So, Touch-senpai. Why did Hikari leave so early out of nowhere? He's going to miss the event!" Samblok, one of the humanoid race players Keiko-kun met and befriended, asked me with a curious tone.

"Don't worry, he has his reasons for doing that, but like he said before, you two will soon understand. I bet you'll clap your hands while standing up." I said grandly, standing up and bouncing the butterbeer mug in my hand a little.

"If you say so... but tell me, how did you two meet? You seem to be great friends." Lanrha commented while fixing her hair.

"We've met irl, to be more specific, I've worked with him in a way."

"Got it, so an old co-worker? Makes a lot of sense." Samblok commented and soon we saw the floating screen turn on.

Initially appearing the YGGDRASIL logo along with various details, it looked like an introductory video for something, during this, more elements were appearing on the screen, such as a number in the upper right corner, with an eye symbol on top and a kind of extra area on the side right. I saw 3 semi-transparent keyboards appearing above the table where we were eating, and then the name "Chat" appeared at the top of the right side of the screen.

"Don't tell me..." I started typing some things and they appeared there, shortly after that, several people started to appear there through messages.

"Holy Shiiit! It's like a livestream!?" Samblock commented excitedly.

[Ladies and gentlemen! Humanoids, Demi-humans and Heteromorphs... We're here today to celebrate the fact that the Early Access is at its end. And after that, our wonderful world will be accessible to anyone!]

[So both for new people coming in and for you current players, we found you a young man who can help!]

[He will bring essential information about how the world of YGGDRASIL works, in addition to being the person who will deliver first-hand news to all those who want more and more knowledge!]

[Everyone, please welcome our journalist, from YGGtreeDRASIL, Hikari!!!]

Seeing those messages popping up one after the other made me smile broadly under my helmet. Keiko-kun, you're managing to walk a path of fame, without having to be in the shadows of your family... You have my full respect.

"Wh-What?!?" Samblok and Lanrha exclaimed, but I decided to ignore it and watch the interview.

.-----.------.

Hikari: "Hello People! My name is Hikari, and I'm here with two YGGDRASIL's developers to talk and celebrate a lot! Many may not know their IGNs and appearance, but here I present you, Great-o_Doll and Trjegul_Freyjaha!!"

[Sounds of applause]

Great-oDoll: *Waving to the camera, which is approaching him.* "Good morning, good afternoon or good night to you, my dear players. My name is Great-o Doll, but everyone calls me Great or GoD. I am one of the developers responsible for creating dungeons in general."

TrjegulFreyjaha: *Waving when the camera zooms in on her, as well as doing a cute neko pose with her hands.* "And I'm Trjegul! The people within the development group call me NekoNeko, I'm one of the devs responsible for the idea of physical skills! It is an immense pleasure we are showing ourselves in this incredible and magnificent way, to start making our dear game public for everyone to enjoy!"

Hikari: *Looks at the camera as if he was speaking to the viewers* "Just don't think she is going to be easy, guys. Her nickname is adorable, but she even bites monsters at Lv.100!"

[Sounds of laughter and applause]

Hikari: "Okay, thank you again that our guests were able to be here today, and, of course, thank you for this immense opportunity to be here talking with everyone in this interview. But could you tell me what you expect from this public game start?"

Great-oDoll: "Hmmm. A simple but powerful question... I'd say I'm hoping our game gets a lot of people on an astronomical level! Yeah, we're working hard to give everyone a fun and realistic experience of what it would be like in a world like the one we have here in the game."

TrjegulFreyjaha: "Yes! We are doing our best to see these things, so much so that the Early Access served to let us know what was good to continue, what would be great to add, and what would be better to nerf or delete. So players will have a less intense experience when they start!"

Hikari: *Looks at a sheet of paper and turns the page a few times.* "Great, now let's talk about what you said. Do you already have a list of what will be nerfed?"

TrjegulFreyjaha: "This being one of my main roles, I know that we have at least 20 skills to be nerfed and 40 items that should be deleted or categorized as rare, so would be more difficult to have as a monster's drop. Sorry, I can't say the exact number or what skills and items are those."

Hikari:"O-Oh... all of that... at the very least??"

Great-oDoll: "Exactly, but there's nothing to worry about. We'll also have new things that don't exist here in Early Access. And don't worry, journalist, from what I saw in your list of skills, none of them will be deleted, but some of them will only have a name change. Without influencing what they do."

Hikari:"Oh! So there will be skills and items that won't have anything changed, except the name? That's really good for our viewers to know, after all, we don't want anyone too confused."

[Sounds of laugh]

Hikari: "Well. And a question that a lot of other players maybe are asking themselves. And how about the levels? The Early Access Players will have something more than the new ones that will come up?"

Great-oDoll:"Another great question... About the Levels, they will stay the same, but we already created a new way to calculate how much EXP is needed to level up. I can't say now how it is calculated, just that.. Starting at Level 50, the EXP that people will need to level up will increasy exponentially, instead of the progressive way of players below this 'wall'... For this other thing... NekoNeko, do we have something for them?"

TrjegulFreyjaha:"I can say that... Hm... well, this is really a thing to think about. We had already given +6 points for your status. but yeah, we can also give to you all new titles or maybe we do a buff in this +status points..."

Hikari:"Good! This is great to see. But now I'm seeing that my time here is coming to an end. So I can ask one more thing?" *They both nod, so he continues* "We all know that items are separated in classes like Low, Medium, High, Top, Legacy, Relic, Legendary, and Divine... but. There is a way that you'll create more classes? Or maybe just fuse two or three of them as if they were in the same leve?"

Great-oDoll:"Hm... I dont know if we can talk about this.. but... in the future we are planning two whole new classes of itens... Actually.. no, they aren't classes.. they are more like new TYPE of items!"

TrjegulFreyjaha:"Yes. They will be unique and limited.. So yeah, they won't have copies or such."

Hikari: "T-This is crazy... you all can say another thing about this?"

Great-oDoll: "Just... one single thing... between those two new types of items... one can only be used for a specific JobClass... And this JobClass will be given... only for one single person of each realm!"

[Suspence Silence]

Hikari:"E-excuse.. what did you say?"

TrjegulFreyjaha:"Great-o.. I think you are talking more than we can."

Great-oDoll: "O-Oh!!! M-my bad guys!" *Cough cough* "Welp, I said that, but actually this is still a alpha plan... Ah, god.. this is hard to explain! But, yeah, we are still thinking about this or not."

[Sound of a cute alarm]

Hikari:"Geez! Our time is over! Welp, I think that now everyone is curious about this, even me! But we all will need to wait to see what our crazy devs are planning, right players?!"

[Sound of audience saying "That's right!!"]

Hikari: "Good! So, see y'all in another day or maybe in the website 'www.yggtreedrasil.com'! Bye bye and have a happy EarlyAccess' last day!!"

.-------.-------.

I can't believe this! Hikari, that was amazing!!

You not only showed yourself as someone who knows how to do your job, but you managed to make one of them say something he shouldn't have accidentally said! That's what I call a journalist!

But it was impressive to say the least... two new TYPES of special items... I hope someone like me gets one of this. I bet they must be powerful to say they were limited and unique... It would be seriously great to have some of those to be used to carry out true JUSTICE!

Yea! When these items are added to the game, I need to protect weak players, and prevent evil players from getting these items! BRILLIANT IDEA!

"I can't believe what I saw.." Samblock commented, dropping his whiskey glass.

"That Hikari... our Hikari... managed to reach the devs in such a hurry.." Lanrha said with several question mark emojis appearing above her head.

"Wait a minute, Touch_Me! Did you know that?!" The human player said and soon the dwarf turned to face me.

"I knew he got that contact, I just don't know how! But it's amazing, isn't it??" I lied, of course I knew, but it was better not to spoil the reputation of the devs, because they made that little mistake a month ago.

"W-Well... it's amazing indeed!" Samblock commented and Lanrha frantically nodded her head in agreement.

I gave a light chuckle and finished drinking my Butterbeer, when a message popped up for me.

[Hikari: Touch, We need to talk.]

I was a little confused by this. "Did something happen?" I thought as I got out of my chair and walked to the tavern door. "Guys, I have to go, my family seems to be calling me." I said so that nothing was suspicious.

"Oh! It's okay, Touch_Me. Maybe we'll see you around!" Samblock said saying goodbye.

"Yes maybe." I commented while activating my party teleport function. It took a few seconds, but I got a confirmation, and with that, I wasn't in the tavern anymore.