Alice in the Land of Steam

The games Alice made cannot be said to be unentertaining, but they are slightly inferior to similar works from Earth. After all, the latter is a mature system. Even the goddess has been deeply impressed by the fantasy of Earthlings and learned the skills of creating the world from masters who are proficient in this field. Although Alice loves the art of games as much as her creator and has also been on Earth for a period of time, she seems to have only learned how to play games. As for game development, she is a complete novice.

Looking back at Alice's works, except for "Orbit: Type-0 Behemoth", which was rushed out to deal with a crisis, the gameplay is really lacking, and even the developer himself disdainfully calls it a shitty work, the other games have some shortcomings in various aspects. Among them, the most playable one is "Dark Castle: Dawn Waltz", which at least has a clear idea of ​​how to pass the level (fight all the way to the end), clever level design (all the forks are textures), a rich variety of monsters (skin-changing), a sophisticated numerical system (BOSS kills people in seconds) and a variety of weapon mechanisms (but Alice can only use the holy sword), and is the work that the designer is most proud of.

Even after clearing the game, Alice still often reminisces about this work, and even asks Metien, Olvera, and Ieta to play with her. Of course, the game itself is a single-player game, and you can't challenge it in a team like Mario or Contra, so their specific way of playing is actually that everyone challenges it once to see who can clear the game in the shortest time. According to Olvera's private disclosure, the despicable Alice often uses various means to distract others when they challenge, including but not limited to reminding the pink-haired little girl that she hasn't finished her homework, reading Miss Angel's diary in public, or trying to modify Princess Berman's manuscript, etc. When questioned, she shamelessly said something like "I must win", which made everyone not get much fun from the game, and gradually they were unwilling to play with her.

This also indirectly led to Medien's not very good impression of the game. Until now, after coming into contact with classic works from the earth world and meeting friends who are willing to play games with her seriously, she finally realized that it was not her fault, but Alice's.

Of course, Alice herself does not accept this statement.

It's all slander! How can a group of people who have no appreciation for games understand the good intentions of the designer?

She took a sip of the juice depressedly, but did not swallow it. Instead, she held it in her mouth and started to play with it, which made Medien, who was sitting next to her, very disgusted. He moved his chair away from her without saying a word.

After hearing this conversation, Kadora looked at the game consoles with curiosity and awe, and asked, "So, Miss Alice has made games before? But I heard from Mr. Ling that these game consoles should be the sacred objects of the goddess. Can mortals really create the sacred objects of the gods?"

Only believers who are closest to God can do this, right? According to Metien's description of the goddess, the god who created the world, the master of all magic, and the mother of thousands of creatures, what a great and incredible power this is? In this case, as the messenger of the goddess of creation, Miss Alice should at least have the power of a demigod, or even more powerful?
For a moment, the girl looked at the talented player with admiration.

Love guidance, it turns out you really have the ability to guide us?

I guess he was just pretending to be bad at the game, just to match the level of beginners like us. He was able to pretend so realistically, he is worthy of being a love guide!

Alice seemed to enjoy the look. She swallowed the juice in one gulp, coughed twice in a pretentious manner, and said modestly, "It's okay. I'm just a game developer who has made only five or six games."

"Five or six games?" Kadora opened his eyes wide, with a gleam of curiosity in them. "That's amazing! Are they all as fun as the games in these game consoles? Like Mario and Tetris?"

"Well," Alice said with a vacant look in her eyes, "it's a little inferior, but not much worse."

“It’s really amazing!”

Kadora exclaimed, she hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but make a request: "Well, I know this is presumptuous, but Miss Alice, can we also play the games you made? I think it will be very interesting, right?"

Not only Katara, but other children also showed expectant expressions. Even Mitch, who seemed to be dismissive on the surface, had actually pricked up his ears, waiting for Alice's answer.

However, including Lingge, the first reaction of all those who knew the situation was to be stunned, not knowing how to answer this question.

After all, Alice's cassette was broken.

Even the cartridge was broken, so the game... naturally couldn't be played.

Linger wanted Alice to get out of the shadow of this incident, so he asked her to come to Tianxin Church and teach Metien to play games with the children. The effect was really good. At least on the surface, Alice was no longer so autistic, and even learned to joke again, vaguely recovering some of her past. The young man firmly believed that as long as she continued like this, her spirit would return to normal one day, and those deep scars would eventually melt away under the subtle influence of time.

But Kadora's question opened the wound again, and exposed it nakedly in front of the genius player, as if reminding her that your game is no longer a game, and have you learned to face reality? The girl herself had no ill intentions, after all, she had no idea how complicated the story behind this matter was, but sometimes, it is precisely this kind of harmless statement that makes people more sad.

Metien secretly said in his heart that it was not good, and Linger also frowned slightly. He was about to find a reason to divert the topic, but he was worried that if he did so, his intention would be too obvious and he would not be able to hide it from Alice. For a moment, he was in a dilemma. However, after being stunned for a while, Alice gradually came to her senses. She did not fall into loss and sadness as everyone worried. She just smiled and said to Kadora, "Of course, but not now."

Is this a promise or a refusal? Katara was confused: "Not now...what do you mean?"

"It means that the game is under maintenance!"

"maintain?"

This term is not unfamiliar to Kadora. After all, the magic firearms she is using now, which were captured from the 17th Legion, need to be carefully maintained by her on weekdays in order to play their due role on the battlefield. But, does the so-called game also need maintenance?
"Of course!"

In response to her question, Alice put her hands on her hips and replied confidently, "We need to fix bugs, adjust the balance, add new gameplay, in short, there are many areas that need maintenance! Just wait patiently, and when I'm done, I'll let you all experience the masterpiece of a genius player!"

It was another series of meaningless terms, but Kadora was already somewhat immune to them. She nodded as if she understood, "Well... well, I'm looking forward to your game, Miss Alice."

"hey-hey."

Alice touched her nose and actually looked a little embarrassed.

Lingge looked at this scene, thoughtful.

Did Alice finally cheer up? It seemed so. After all, she could come up with a reasonable excuse to comfort Kadora, and she did not show any abnormal emotions in her communication with the girl. But on the other hand, wasn't she sinking deeper? After all, she still thought that her game cartridge just needed "maintenance", but she turned a blind eye to the essence of the game console and the cartridge and avoided talking about it. This idea is a bit like an ostrich burying itself in the sand and ignoring the dangers of the outside world. Is it possible that there is no such thing as avoidable?

It seems that there is still a long way to go before the day when she can truly cheer up.

Lingge thought helplessly.

On the other side, Metien quickly changed the topic and attracted everyone's attention: "Well, that! I say, it's almost time to rest, why don't I start preaching now! Let's learn the goddess's motto with me, and then we can play games together after learning, how about it?"

She finally remembered her job as a nun.

Naturally, everyone had no objection. After all, after a week, they were already familiar with this process. Some people with better memory could even repeat the teachings that Metien had told them. People who were interested in the teachings of the goddess, such as Kadora, would ask Metien and Sister Livia for more in-depth questions (in fact, they would also ask Sister Gloria, but for some reason, the other party always hesitated and seemed not very happy, so the considerate girl avoided her); and those who were not interested in the teachings of the goddess, because there were games to play, felt that they had received the favor of the goddess, and would listen carefully during the sermon, at least showing their attitude.

If the pace continues at this rate, maybe in two or three weeks, some of these boys and girls will become believers of the goddess.

Ling planned to stay and listen to how his sister preached. Did he learn anything from his last teaching? However, he failed to do so because when Metien asked for everyone's opinions, someone suddenly stood up. He was Mitch.

"I'm sorry, Miss Metine."

He exhaled lightly, and then said to the pink-haired girl in an extremely serious tone: "But, not today."

"Oh, no?" Metien didn't expect to be rejected and was stunned for a moment: "Why?"

Could it be that Mitch was still resisting the teachings of the goddess? But since Lingge's missionary work, hadn't his attitude softened? According to Kadora's secret disclosure, Mitch would occasionally ask her about the Holy Goddess Church in private, because Kadora had a good relationship with Metien and knew more about the history and heritage of the Holy Goddess Church. Since he did this, it meant that he had some good feelings towards the Holy Goddess Church, right?

In this case, it has nothing to do with the goddess's teachings, could it be that...

Metien asked with a guilty conscience: "Did I do something to make you angry?"

"No, it's not." Mitch realized that his tone could be easily misunderstood, and his expression softened slightly, but he was still serious: "This has nothing to do with you, it's our private matter."

"We?" Metien keenly grasped the key point: "You mean--"

"Well, not only today, but for some time to come, we may not be able to come to Tianxin Church." Mitch said.

"Wait!" Someone suddenly shouted, "What about my Mario clearance record?"

"Shut up, Moya." Mitch glared in the direction of the voice. He had already recognized the other party's identity. It was the boy who had bet with him before on who could clear Mario faster, but was defeated by him with despicable... ahem, clever tactical deception. Whether as the leader of these young soldiers or as the winner of the bet, Mitch had enough confidence to make him obedient: "Don't forget that we still have important things to do."

"You said so after you cleared the level yourself."

The man muttered, but didn't say anything else. Obviously, he also knew that what Mitch said was indeed more important than him completing the game. However, he then added in a voice that only he could hear: "I'll complete the game for you when I get back."

"Etc., etc!"

Metien was confused by the conversation between the two and asked quickly, "Why? What do you want to do? How long will it take? Can I come and help? If someone helps, maybe it can be solved faster?"

Mitch shook his head firmly. "I'm sorry, but we have to do this ourselves. You have helped us a lot. As a member of the Ash Guerrilla, we have no reason to ask for more, Miss Metien."

This was said to Metien, but he was looking at Linger. The young man was silent. He looked around, sweeping his eyes across the faces of the young men and women of the Ash Guerrillas, trying to see some confusion or hesitation on their faces, but the young man was obviously disappointed, or relieved. Every face he saw, although still young, had a firmness and awareness that did not belong to this age. Their eyes were clearer than gems or stars. They had already understood what they should do, what they should do, and why they were living in this world.

Mitch, the backbone of the team, Kadora who had been silently assisting him, Moya who had made a bet with Mitch before, and the boys and girls who had just been scrambling to discuss which game was more fun and whose operation was better, their wills could no longer be shaken by him.

So, my gentleness is really useless.

Or maybe, adults’ kindness is useless to children?

He asked, "Are you going to participate in this operation as well?"

Needless to say.

Mitch nodded. (End of this chapter)