This is a Beta Test?! - A Literally Broken System

World-building was always a subtle affair, in my opinion. As a seasoned cutscene skipper, I wasn't always the best when it came to video game stories. As such, I usually just relied on context clues and background information to piece together what exactly was happening in the game. Of course, if the information I got was interesting enough, I'd actually start wiki-diving the game and learn the story from there. And while I know it was pretty much frowned upon to do such a thing, I really didn't care. I'd rather speedread through the lore than listen to it or read it in-game when I was supposed to be playing the damn thing.

But then, this wasn't a game anymore, wasn't it...

"Okay, Guidance. Can you give us some clues as to what's happening right now?"

Finding ourselves in Shizu's room, I did my best to ignore what was ostensibly some of the girliest stuff I've ever seen from someone so hilariously tomboy in nature. Then again, she was still a princess despite how she might act or speak. It was only understandable that her makeup was pretty much on display in front of her mirror, or that her open closet was practically bursting at the seams with all of the clothes stuffed inside it. Her bed was somehow disheveled despite her not sleeping on it for a few days, and for all of the room's opulence, it... Actually, wasn't I just describing a more expensive pigsty of a room?

"I don't remember all the details, Moriya," Guidance grumbled as she sat on the princess's bed, Shizu sitting beside her as I stood in front of them. "At best, I can describe the broad strokes of the story. Assuming it's still the story, that is."

"That's more than enough," Shizu stressed out. "My visions have been fading as of recently, but I'll probably still remember them if I can hear a few of their details."

I nodded at Shizu's claim. "And while inaccurate, it's still a decent barometer for what we can expect. We don't even know if we can allow ourselves to die yet, so it's better for us to not go into danger completely blind."

At my words, the princess looked at me with a puzzled look. "Die? But all people die, right?"

Wait....

I blinked as I realized what I just blurted out. Ugh... I guess we have to explain this now. And looking at Guidance, the smirk on her face already told me that she was passing on the burden of elucidating our friend to my poor self. Well, that was annoying...

"We're not from this world, remember? Usually, if we died, we can come back to life in a designated spot and try again," I explained with a sigh. "It wasn't perfect, of course. You might lose a bit of yourself in terms of experience or some other penalty, but it was still better than just restarting from the beginning."

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And thank modern sensibilities that it became the norm. Checkpoints saved players a lot of time grinding their asses off just to get back to where they last died. And it wasn't fun that-

"Wait, you mean your people are functionally immortal?" Wait... Wrong conclusion!

"I- Err... I kind of phrased that wrong," I mumbled out, scratching the back of my head as I deliberated on what to say. "Think of it like this... In our world, your world is a fictional reality. In this fictional reality, if we die, we come back to life to try again."

Yikes... That sounded even more confusing than what I just said. What the hell was wrong with me today?

"What Moriya meant to say is that this world is a game and that we'd usually come back to life whenever we die," Guidance sighed as she finally graced the conversation. "But since we're in this world as actual humans, we have no assurance that we'll live through death."

With each word spoken by the dev, Shizu's eyes shined ever so brighter with awe and... worship. Looking at us, it was clear that her view of us had changed yet again.

"And yet you two refuse to acknowledge that you're [Eld Gods]?" Shizu argued with a chuckle. "How are you not Gods if you can come back to life at any time?"

Oh boy. "In our world, we're just humans. And now, the same can be said here," I let out another sigh. "Please don't think too hard on it."

"How could I not? You're both of the [Eld]," Shizu insisted, a frown now gracing her features as she continued. "And while I can understand wanting to- Oh..."

Oh? "Oh, what?"

At my question, the princess only smiled as she gave us a knowing look. "Don't worry, I now understand."

Oh dear.... "Shizu, whatever it is you're thinking, it's probably wrong."

"And I agree," Guidance chimed in. "For the last time, we're not gods. Okay?"

"Sure thing," the princess beamed.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance, while the dev in front of me shared in my misery as Shizu just gave us a bright smile. I already knew that she was thinking of all the wrong things about the two of us, but I didn't really care anymore. "Can we just move on to things that can actually affect our survival right now?"

"The Emperor was supposed to die back then," Guidance quickly wrested control of the conversation, thankfully. "Also, those two that are joining us aren't supposed to show up till way later into the game."

"W-wait... Father was supposed to die?"

"He's not dead right now, Shizu," I hastily ran damage control, the dev already flinching at Shizu's betrayed tone. "Guidance healed him, right? So that's not gonna happen any time soon."

"Yeah, and as a result, the world will only become more unpredictable," Guidance sighed. "I'm assuming you got a quest earlier, Moriya?"

"How'd you know?"

"I can hear that chime too, you know," the dev chuckled. "And I'm sure Shizu here heard it as well." Eh?

"Oh, so that's what it means?" the princess gasped. "I never even noticed."

I let out another sigh as I walked towards the nearest bedpost and leaned on it. "Yeah, I got a quest earlier. Final Attack, was it?"

Looking at Guidance's reaction, I never really expected anything other than surprise to color her reaction. However, what I got was arguably more than what I was expecting.

"Final Attack?! That's too soon!"

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AN: Kindly vote so that I can get back to 2 chaps per day ^^