"A concert?"
Nero's eyes lit up as she began to fade. "Since it is your request, I shall naturally prepare thoroughly. Anything less than a grand spectacle would be unworthy of your status."
Bubble watched with a smile. After fusing with Tru'nembra's Spirit Origin, Nero's singing would become even more terrifying to the life on this planet, with far more severe consequences. But Bubble didn't care; such matters were utterly trivial to her. All that mattered was Jiang You's happiness—and he genuinely found Nero's singing beautiful.
"Well then, that concludes the beginner's tutorial. I hope you enjoy your game."
Seeing Nero return to her original world, Bubble bowed to Jiang You. "But... you don't look very happy."
"...It's not that I'm unhappy," Jiang You replied. "I just suddenly feel invincible, and it's killed my motivation."
Players were strange creatures. They loved the thrill of crushing their opponents but didn't want their foes to be too weak. They needed at least some interaction.
"But even without this expansion," Bubble said, "it wouldn't have made much difference."
The only opponent who had appeared so far, Goetia, was barely worth a second glance, and now he was completely out of the picture. This world had become nothing more than a playground for Jiang You. Even if Bubble hadn't intervened, the final outcome would have been the same.
"Perhaps you could find your own fun?" Bubble suggested. "Like building special Decks for other characters... You've already had similar ideas, haven't you? Why not give it a try?"
"No, that's not the point. The game's content is finished, isn't it?"
Jiang You felt this was less a "beginner's tutorial" and more the goddamn endgame. No wonder they'd brought out Bubble.
"Since the test content is over, send me back to the Official Server! I haven't played a normal game of Yu-Gi-Oh! in months! What about my progress?!"
Honestly, it would be better for this world if Jiang You simply forgot about it. As long as he had no further thoughts about this place, no problems would arise. The issue was that Jiang You himself had physically arrived in this world and was constantly interacting with it, making it impossible to send him back. And even if they did create a so-called "Official Server" for him, no real players would appear, which would only create even bigger inconsistencies.
"Can't be helped."
Bubble still planned to observe Jiang You for a while longer. If this world were truly destroyed, it wouldn't benefit Her either, so She decided to buy it a little more time.
"It's a programming issue. If we forcibly transfer you to the Official Server, all data on this Test Server will be lost. If you insist, we can terminate the testing contract now, transfer your character data to the Official Server, and compensate you with cards of equivalent value to what you've acquired during this period."
As Bubble spoke, a contract link appeared in Jiang You's inbox.
"..."
No matter what, this was a save file Jiang You had poured months of effort into. Although Bubble promised to compensate him with equivalent items, it was no longer a simple matter of resource compensation. As Jiang You had said before, the characters in this game were so lifelike that he had developed unnecessary attachments. He couldn't bring himself to make the decision to wipe all the data here just so he could go back to playing card games.
Bubble, of course, knew this would be the outcome. She had seen right through Jiang You's little schemes all along.
"Your hesitation shows you're still attached. In that case, let's continue the closed beta for a while longer. However, this has indeed affected your gaming experience. To compensate you, a new contract has been drafted. The compensation tier has been raised by one level. Please review it."
It was almost comical. Jiang You, the absolute authority in this universe, was still struggling with financial problems in what he believed to be the real world. Bubble decided to alleviate his financial woes slightly, hoping it would make him even more engrossed in the game.
Jiang You quickly received an email with the new contract. The content was largely the same as the previous one, but the compensation had more than tripled. If the original pay was only equivalent to a part-time job, the new remuneration surpassed that of most industries on the market. Just by signing his name, combined with his current salary, he could achieve a small degree of financial freedom.
Jiang You reread every clause over and over in disbelief, searching for a catch, because it all felt too good to be true. But he couldn't find a single clause that worked against him, which paradoxically made him even more uneasy.
Given Konami's usual attitude toward its customers, he thought, they would never do something this charitable. Raising a tester's salary for no apparent reason was the kind of thing that only happened in dreams.
"Are you sure you're not experimenting on me?" Jiang You smelled a conspiracy. Bubble was definitely setting something else up.
"Free lunches falling from the sky do seem unrealistic," Bubble admitted. She did indeed intend for this to feel unreal to Jiang You. Such things had to be done gradually. If she hit him with too much stimulus at once, this universe would instantly explode. If it weren't for the need to stay within reasonable and acceptable limits for Jiang You, Bubble would have multiplied his salary by ten.
"This is an assessment based on the player's overall in-game performance. For the company, this expense is negligible."
"...Still highly suspicious."
Jiang You pinched himself and felt no pain.
"So it really is a... oh, I forgot to turn off the damage percentage reduction."
After disabling the pain dampener, Jiang You felt the true sensation of pain.
"It's actually real?"
"This is a game. Does it matter if it hurts or not?" Bubble sounded exasperated.
"..."
Feeling embarrassed, Jiang You quickly changed the subject. "Can I consult with the relevant personnel about this?"
"Feel free." Bubble was unconcerned. No one could find a flaw in the contract she had drafted. It was perfectly understandable for Jiang You, with his human mindset, to be cautious. Humans, much like demons, were creatures fond of playing tricks.
"As long as you continue testing, this contract remains valid at any time."
Having covered everything necessary, it was time for Bubble to depart.
"Well, that's all for the tutorial and the information I needed to convey. Now, I wish you a pleasant gaming experience."
"Okay, I'll give you a response as soon as possible." Jiang You felt like he was in a job interview, except the roles of the applicant and the HR representative were reversed.
"By the way," Bubble added, remembering her earlier promise, "this character will remain in this area as your secretary." She left behind an avatar to observe Jiang You's every move up close.
"The next time you log in, this area will be redecorated in a library style, so please look forward to it. Also, this character will no longer be controlled by me; she'll act autonomously. You can feel free to do anything you want to her—no need to be shy."
"N-No, I wouldn't do anything like that!" Jiang You thought. He wasn't that desperate. He had no desire to die of social embarrassment.