[And so, one more before the irregular schedule begins.]
???: "..."
The woman glared at the "result" displayed on her handheld terminal, alone in a room with nobody else in it...
???: "—!"
She slammed the terminal onto the floor in anger. But thanks to its highly shock-resistant design and the woman's lack of physical strength, it did not even crack, and the screen continued displaying the same unchanging result.
???: "...No. No, this isn't how the scenario goes..."
Siegwurm being defeated—she had seen that coming.
The Color Dragon conflict reaching its conclusion had been unexpected, but she could still accept it.
But. But...
???: "Noirlind's affinity value is completely in the positive... He's become... an ally of humanity."
That alone was unacceptable. In the "scenario" of the woman who had created the world called Shangri-La Frontier, Noirlind was supposed either to be slain by Siegwurm, or to defeat Siegwurm and reign as the new "King."
So what was this? Given the black dragon's specifications, she knew he could become the size of a large dog, but his parameters were now the complete opposite of hostile.
???: "...So it's this one."
The name was not on the "blacklist" made by that fairly capable woman—though still inferior to herself—but there was a connection...
She operated the handheld terminal and connected to the server. Her hard stare never softened as she dug through a certain player's information all the way into grayish-black territory.
This was exactly why she hated letting every random nobody step into that world. What should she do about this? Maybe erase them, data and all...
The instant her thoughts reached that point, the woman wiped every trace of that dark emotion from her face, booted up an old-fashioned-looking PC, and began looking something up.
???: "...Yes, yes. Hehe, hehehehe... Ah, I knew it. I knew Grandfather was amazing. Hehehehe...!!"
Fine, then, the woman thought with a smile. If it existed in the "scenario," there was no need to bring down divine punishment. Thinking about it, she had only lost her composure a little because this development had not been part of the story she was told that day.
???: "It's not like I'm that stupid woman..."
She operated the handheld terminal, blithely forgetting that until not long ago she had genuinely believed she would never let anger take over and delete someone's data.
???: "I wonder if she, too, could qualify as a 'Tsukuyo-maru'? Well, whatever. More importantly..."
With Siegwurm's defeat, Shangri-La Frontier had reached its next stage. From the woman's perspective, this was where things truly began. She was not entirely pleased that they had reached this point in only two years, but it was still within an acceptable range... or at least, it should have been.
???: "This one... really is the problem..."
The player's appearance had first been confirmed around summer. But the fact that, in only three months from then, the player had cleared three Bonus Unique Scenarios was nothing short of abnormal.
???: "...I'll need countermeasures."
Trying to stop the player simply by raising the difficulty would be foolish. By now, that player had triggered six Bonus Unique Scenarios besides Orchestra. Rather than clumsily trying to restrain the player, it would be better to make them take "detours."
???: "Avenger... Vysache scenario... Bahamut dungeon..."
Her thin white fingers flew across the AR console of the handheld terminal connected to the PC. Information was pulled from the rapidly changing data, and a "detour side story" personally crafted by the creator god of Shangri-La Frontier began taking shape.
???: "Ah, if Siegwurm has been defeated, maybe I could send the player on a Bilac-related detour? Put the required material at the far western edge of the continent... No, that won't do. I'd rather keep the chance of running into Goldhuneenay low. In that case... no, maybe it's the opposite? What if I deliberately make the player get involved with a Unique Monster instead...? Yes, that's a great idea."
Fortunately or unfortunately, this player had also made contact with a Conquista Doll. In that case, she could tweak Leviathan's difficulty to buy some time while...
???: "Hehe, hehehehe... Fine. If I'm going to do this, I may as well go all the way. Orchestra... Starting now, monitor and observe while referencing the past logs of player name 'Sunraku,' and improve the accuracy of the 'Orchestra Program.'"
Voice authentication. In response to the command she had given, a simple acknowledgment appeared on the monitor, deepening the woman's smile even further.
???: "While I'm at it, maybe I'll modify the other Raid Monsters too. Even taking the elves and rare monsters into account, it still annoys me that Great Red Devourer was taken down by only three people."
That game-obsessed idiot was far too cautious, always going on about balance, balance. Raid Monsters were calamities that had utterly destroyed the prehistoric civilization. They should never be defeated on a first encounter. Even if that did happen, far more sacrifices should have to be paid.
???: "It'll be a pain if anyone finds out, so I'll conceal the program... Let's see. For now, I'll multiply their HP by 1.5 and make their AI more aggressive..."
By now, she had completely forgotten about the player she had been focused on moments earlier. The woman—Tsukuyo Tsukuri—could think of nothing but making the game more faithful to "Shangri-La Frontier."
Tsukuyo Tsukuri: "Grandfather, Grandfather... I'll make your, my, our 'world' more and more wonderful. Hehe... ahahahahaha...!!"
Nobody knew it yet, but the brush held in God's hand was rewriting the world itself into something even more vicious...