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Tsukuyomi was a success.
Closed beta overflowed the servers and stress test it to point that everyday, Yachiyo kept up with coding and making her appearances in Tsukuyomi. It took two weeks for the closed beta to be completed and another two weeks for the official release.
“It was good, yes?” Fushi jumped to Yachiyo’s shoulder. “They loved it. Overwhelmingly positive reviews.”
Both of them oversaw the whole digital world they created, admiring the different cultures they incorporated. Whenever a player found a bug in the game or gave feedback, Fushi and Yachiyo reviewed it carefully.
Implementing new systems.
Fixing glitches or exploits.
Fushi viciously ensuring no cheat engines will work.
Both of them ensured that Tsukuyomi was a place for players to enjoy themselves.
Giggling softly, Yachiyo opened the developer panel and made a bit of adjustment, turning a few lights less brighter than the others, and adjusting a few plains to have more greenery. Despite every zone she created, she made sure the theme was still intact.
Olden Japanese constructs.
Colorful lights.
Underwater beings such as deep sea fishes and other ocean creatures.
A reminder of her time stuck in her pod.
She ensured that the respawn rates of everything are set to their associated times, and for the different activities to be up and running—especially the KASSEN which the players enjoyed the most.
“You were watching her, didn’t you?” Fushi pointed out, disrupting the administrator’s work.
Yachiyo’s hands on the panels stopped midway and she closed her eyes for a second before nodding. “She explored the underwater areas earlier. Found a few pearls for loot and sold them.” she continued to modify a few more, adjusting things that are not even required to be.
Busying herself.
Remembering how the closed beta test went.
The skill of cloning herself, having their own consciousness, was child’s play for Yachiyo. It was a rather useful skill when she needed to explore the world she and Fushi created. Efficiently using it to aid the players who are having trouble in the VR world, while her main body stayed in her private room—or wandered around.
It was only few times she does help players personally. Fushi said it was being biased, but for her, it was being helpful.
Specifically helpful.
Skipping along the bamboo forest, Fushi on her shoulder, as the other clones roamed around checking the other aspects of Tsukuyomi, Yachiyo found the reason she was even in the area.
A newbie player, dressed in dark blue clothing, and who just obtained a foxian ears headgear from a chest that spawned after beating an area monster.
Smiling, Yachiyo jumped out of the tall bamboos, scaring the newbie player to point that the player fell down on their ass, broken weapon in hand.
Yachiyo watched the whole thing. How this newbie player dealt the last hit, earning the treasure from the enemy, but at the cost of their weapon breaking. A weapon that was pointed at her due to shock.
“Congratulations!” Yachiyo happily greeted, pushing the weapon down with her right index finger. She then leaned close, looking at the features of the player. So familiar. So close.
Yet—
“Hello, Iro-P.” Yachiyo said, smiling softly at the player.
The player, Iro-P looked around and pointed at herself, blushing. “Y-you know me?”
Sitting beside the player with fox ears, the VR administrator nodded with a soft smile. She raised her hand, palm and fingers wide, and a holographic panel appeared. It showed the player details of the human sitting beside her.
Iro-P made an ‘O’ gesture with her lips, realizing that it was easy for Yachiyo to know everyone’s name. She was Tsukuyomi’s administrator. “W-what are you doing here?”
Yachiyo swayed her head left and right. “I’m here to congratulate Iro-P—”
“Iroha,” the player cut Yachiyo off. “C-call me Iroha.”
The smile on Yachiyo’s face widen. She knew ofcourse. For eternity she knew her name. From her mind to heart—especially her heart. She knew Iro-P’s name is Iroha.
“Then a pleasure to meet the player, Iroha. And I am here to congratulate you in obtaining a rare item.”
Blushing hearing her name, Iroha lowered her head in shyness. The ears that she obtained and equipped twitched.
Reaching for the said equipment, Yachiyo traced the feature of it with gentleness. “It suits you…” she whispered, caressing the said appendage.
The closeness was enough for Iroha to blush even more and for her character to glitch a bit—overstimulation, Yachiyo thought, noting it needs to be fixed in the next update.
“T-thank you Y-achiyo,” Iroha’s voice cracked and she instantly covered her mouth.
Yachiyo gave Iroha a gentle pat on the head and a comforting smile, “It’s alright. I would need to fix that.” she retracted her hand and hummed. “Well since you found a bug in my game, let me give you a reward.”
The administrator stood up and reached inside her makeshift pouch—a red octopus—and took out a dark green crescent bladed weapon. She held the said weapon from the two handles in the middle and pulled it apart, making a dual bladed weapon.
Amazed, Iroha looked at the said item that was then handed to her. “W-wait what?”
“It’s yours, Iroha. As my thanks for discovering a glitch.”
“But—”
“You can modify the aesthetics of it to your heart’s content as well. No charge at all.” Yachiyo giggled seeing how Iroha was torn between looking at the weapon then at her.
Before they could even talk further, Fushi jumped again and again on Yachiyo’s shoulder.
“Time to sleep. Time to sleep.”
It was a timer. If she were to not rest, the server which held her would overheat—last time it caused a day of maintenance because one of the server couldn’t handle a stress test.
“I guess I have to leave for now.” Yachiyo stood up and turned to face Iroha. She slowly held both Iroha’s hands and squeezed them “Well, I would see you next time, Iroha.”
Speechless, the player could only watch how Yachiyo held her hands then left her in the bamboo forest zone.
There was a time where they first held a contest under KASSEN - Sengoku mode. Everyone were at it, testing it out.
Ofcourse, one of them was Iroha, teamed up with some random players.
Yachiyo watched Iroha play from one of the flying Oar fishes that floated around the Kassen field. Well she told Fushi she be overseeing it directly, but her sea bunny companion knew it was an excuse.
She saw how Iroha was beaten up, lacking support from her teammembers.
Again.
And Again.
And Again.
Until no lives were left and Iroha’s team lost.
Every respawn, there’s a twitch in Yachiyo’s chest. The feeling wherein she wants to jump off the Oar fish and join in the battle and whack the players that killed Iroha. The feeling of revenge.
But she has to reign it in. Holding on the Oar fish’s fin for dear life as she kept her smile.
It took all in her to announce the winner in a cheerful tone—deep inside she wants to curse them.
Yet, despite the loss, she was thankful that Iroha bore no sadness, infact, the player smiled back at her reassuringly.
"Always keeping your ingame strength.”
When Tsukuyomi first opened for full on launch, Yachiyo, the administrator herself, stood in front of every players there is. She greeted them with her most cheerful smile that she could muster, waving her hands to everyone.
“Welcome, dear players!” she waved her arms enthusiastically, earning her loud cheers and several declarations of love from her audience. “I would like to thank you for supporting the start of this project of mine, and because of that, we have now launched TSUKUYOMI for everyone to enjoy.”
Several cheers and whistles echoed. Some launched a few fireworks to commemorate the event.
Looking around, Yachiyo smiled as her eyes landed on one player who did not cheer as loud as the others, but looked at her with affection. This melted her heart. Then and there, was the woman who she waited for long time.
“To show my thanks, I would like to offer you this song—” she spread her arms wide and everything surrounding her turned dark.
Lights focused on the now glass platform, in the middle was Yachiyo who began to sing her newest song.
A song that she created for that day itself.
Upon opening the door, I found a twisted noontime evening
How did I get home yesterday? My body's the only thing I'm sure of
Good morning; I'll carry on with being lost once more
among the unknown sights that have become so familiar
A song that reminded her of why Tsukuyomi was there.
After I figured all was lost, I've been getting by somehow,
somewhat embarrassed to be tough enough to still be alive
I know what I have to do, even if I forget
Otherwise, things become so agonizing
A song that conveyed her current emotions that speaks to a certain player.
I look up to see someone with big black eyes
It's because I saw you that this light came to be
It was a world where she has to wait a bit more.
Surrounded by the world painted in colors of my choosing,
where do I find meaning in the scars I could not choose?
In the heart of a world where only I am the hero,
I'm onstage, appearing in every scene until the end
What do I do? I can't even pretend to be empty
Fushi flashed the title for the audience to know.
[Hello World]
As the music near it’s end, Yachiyo looked straight at a certain player with fox ears, and uttered the last line of her song.
“Hello, hi there, here I am. Hello, hi there, here I am” she ended the song softly, lights dimming
There was a new player that signed in.
The default, it was a tutorial ‘Yachiyo’ who would welcome the new player. But this time—
Yachiyo, with Fushi on her shoulder, stood in front of a blonde teenager.
“It’s Yachiyo!” the blonde said out loud. “You’re Yachiyo!” she said, pointing at the administrator of Tsukuyomi.
Yachiyo closed her eyes. “The sun sinks low in the sky, and nighttime falls.”
The surrounding changed from dusk to night, falling stars filled the sky, making the blonde looked at it in amazement.
When the scenery changed, Yachiyo ran to the blonde and held her hand, a gentle squeeze was added. With a warm smile, she welcomed the new player to Tsukuyomi, introducing herself and Fushi. She then showed her the basics of character customization before pushing her to the world she created, smiling at the blonde—nostalgia.
A mini concert was always a must in Tsukuyomi. Tickets always sold out—yet there was always one available for a certain fox-earred player if she has the right amount of currency.
And right now. in front of every player who got a ticket, Yachiyo performed. A song she will finally sing.
A song she waited for so long to let out.
Smiling as her eyes landed on the blonde new player and Iroha, she took a deep breath and exhaled.
“After circling through thousand of years, we’ve finally met here and now.”
Yachiyo knew, as she sang her song, that it is where the clock will start. Deep inside, as she sang her song, as she watched over Iroha who now finally met the blonde—Kaguya—that the cogs of time will turn.
And this is where it hurts the most for her.
This is where she knew nothing after the next coming events.
“It will come true—now, let’s journey through this story”
she ended her song, earning praises from everyone.
The next events—oh it is very familiar. So damn familiar.
And all she could do was smile and let it run it’s course.
All she could do was watch and see, aching at how she knows of what will happen.
But she kept her smile, wondering now—if this ending will indeed be changed.
“YACHIYOOOOO!”
From where she stood, somehow she could feel it. From atop of the torii gate, where she could see Kaguya—herself—declaring her victory in the upcoming contest, she could feel it. In her olden digital bones.
“What an adorable young thing.”