Stay-at-Home Summoner

Every player has a different situation when playing mobile games, but most of the time, they end up giving the same answer to a certain question.

Q: Is this game a great game?

In response to this question,

A: No, it’s a terrible game, don’t play it lol.

If this kind of answer comes up, it means that the game, while having its preferences, at least generates some revenue. It signifies that for someone, the game is indeed great.

However, if the game is genuinely awful, if there are too few players to even have anyone playing it, or if it’s nearing server shutdown, there’s a common phrase that comes up.

– Yep, don’t quit~ It’ll go under without you~

Where even a single user is precious. When the concurrent players are so low that operating the server becomes a loss.

No matter how much individual players try to contribute to revenue, game companies inherently require an astronomical amount of money to operate the game.

Thus, gamers wish for their game to thrive. Even if newbies stir up trouble or argue, they hope that at least the 50 familiar usernames they see every day won’t lack the simple greeting of “You logged in again today… hehe.”

And so, a story circulated in online communities.

– That person is the goddess who descended from the heavens to save our game.

Gamers gradually began to praise the coser maid. Not just the game company’s staff but also those enjoying the game hoped for an S-Rank hunter to cosplay as their game’s character.

Was it simply to pull a 30-pull?

In some games, just an increase of 30 users felt like a blessing. Especially if it was an old game that used to be popular.

But that hope was extinguished.

– The goddess is the goddess of our Enpia lol

– She’s a specialized coser of Elaine, so don’t even think about it.

– The great games of Enpia… they gotta be saved, right?

As news came that the form seen while conquering S-Rank Tower was “Secretary Elaine,” the hopes of other gamers began to dwindle.

Ah. The coser maid loves cosplaying as game characters but her genre seems limited to [Granada Impact: Redive].

Even if she were to cosplay from another game, it would probably be an internal Enpia game—like [Permanata 8X].

Amid various disappointments, gamers began to fold their hopes one by one.

There are two S-Rank Towers. One is Dokdo, the other is Jeju Island.

If you don’t swim directly across the sea or sneak onto a boat undetected, your identity will likely become apparent.

Dokdo lies far out at sea. With warships guarding the S-Rank Tower, if someone were to swim, the warships would notice first.

What about Jeju Island?

Whether by airplane, swimming across the sea, or taking a boat, you could probably get there physically as you wish.

At that moment, would the coser maid present a new cosplay?

Would she show up in Jeju Island in her other form of Elaine, “swimsuit”?

If so, wouldn’t several game companies reach out to her, or wouldn’t she be approached by government or institutions, revealing her identity?

In the midst of all this.

Busan, Bexco.

Once a host for various cosplay worlds and gaming events, such occurrences were no longer held there.

Before the towering A-Rank Tower towards the sky.

A woman stood at the entrance of the tower.

Wearing a jacket resembling a black windbreaker on the outside, armed with a handgun in her hand.

Had it not been for the orange-colored color part attached to the tip of the gun, one might genuinely mistake it for a real gun.

As if waiting for something.

And towards her, another group of people approached.

“Hello!”

With bright smiles, women each carrying their firearms approached the woman with the handgun.

“Are you cosplaying as ‘Agent 4577’… right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Oh my, your voice is really nice…! I thought you were ‘Momang’ not Agent 4577…!”

“…….”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Shall we take a picture together?”

The woman cosplaying as Agent 4577 smiled slightly bitterly at the mention of ‘Momang,’ but soon posed with her hand forming a ‘V’ shape towards the camera while smiling.

Click.

“I apologize for suddenly bringing it up. Considering we’ve heard rumors about our game shutting down….”

“I know. That’s why I’m cosplaying like this and came over.”

“Wow, really? Me too! I’m glad the outfit I made about three years ago hasn’t rotted away. I almost couldn’t even commemorate our last goodbye.”

The woman with the rifle nervously fiddled with her somewhat revealing outfit, shaking slightly.

“It was truly a great game, but while making a sequel, it fell apart because of the Tower….”

“…….”

“It wasn’t really known for its massive expenses, but it wasn’t raking in a fortune either, right? So all we could do to support the company was buying lottery tickets or packages and such.”

“I see.”

“Where will our game go now? It would be such a shame to lose all the characters.”

“I have a question.”

Agent 4577’s golden eyes sparkled as she asked.

“Um…?”

“If a hunter cosplays and conquers the tower, would that help the game company in any way?”

“Depending on who it is… it would probably differ, right?”

“Then, what about if it’s an S-Rank hunter?”

“……Um, eh.”

The cosplayers who took photos with Agent 4577 slightly shook their heads.

“Elaine wouldn’t be cosplaying as 4577 in a place like this… right?”

Some cosplayers realized.

“Why is the chest armor…?”

Regarding the inability of certain cosplayers to embody specific characters due to their basic body shapes. Most cosplayers experience stress in the chest area when cosplaying as Agent 4577, leading them to either give up on the cosplay or refer to it differently.

4577, electronic warfare type. It’s said to distort even the chest armor of the entity cosplaying in reality, enlarging it, thereby distorting the world’s data.

Is this an illusion caused by electronic warfare?

No. Cosplayers know better than anyone whether they’ve stuffed their outfits, fitted silicone chests, or if their natural bodies are showing.

The chest part of the Agent 4577 electronic warfare module was evidently ‘real.’

Just like that of the coser maid who cosplayed Elaine.

“Uh, um…!”

“What’s the matter?”

“Why aren’t you going to the S-Rank Tower, but instead to the A-Rank Tower?”

In response to one cosplayer’s question, the woman shrugged and tucked the colored part of her handgun into her pocket.

“Because there’s a tower there.”

* * *

“…I wonder if this will suffice.”

Elaine was sent to Busan. Through women’s clothing and disguising tools coming from Patrick, the advisor to the US President, Elaine took a bus to Busan, where she blended seamlessly into the crowd while cosplaying with our third summoned ally, the hacker.

And currently, she was conquering the A-Rank Tower.

I was sitting at my computer back in Seoul, watching Elaine on one screen of my dual monitor setup, while observing reactions from various communities on the other.

“Everyone’s going crazy, really.”

“As expected.”

Kiharu, seated near my mouse pad, moved the mouse to point to a live comment.

“Why are they cosplaying a Chinese game? They’ve already started stirring up trouble.”

Not Elaine, the character from the domestic game company Enpia, but Agent 4577 from the Chinese game company Chaochao Play.

– I figured it out. Coser maid is a gametard.

Not even half a day after announcing server closure, strong opinions were emerging in the chat of those streaming live near Bexco regarding the act of cosplaying from that game.

– They’re trying to save [Girls’ Frontline]. When they cosplay, people help boost sales, so this is a protest against the server closure, telling them not to shut down.

“Smart.”

“While it’s clever, don’t you think that the situation you find yourself in as my partner only lets you see things like that? That’s just one of the 29 opinions that just passed live.”

“To think someone would hit the nail on the head among 29 comments.”

There truly are many smart people on the internet.

Yet such opinions quickly get buried under the deluge of live comments, becoming fleeting ideas in a flood of brainstorming.

“Should we call this a blessing in disguise?”

“If it comes out from this direction, wouldn’t that be a good thing?”

Kiharu pointed to a comment.

“Some interpret it as a signal to move to China.”

“I expected as much. But regardless of what I would have chosen, those on the internet would have spilled all their pent-up words.”

If it had been a different Enpia game, they’d be called Enpia-obsessed. If I had chosen a character from a Japanese game, I’d be labeled a pro-Japanese. Selecting a character from a Chinese game means being called a Chajang-nyon.

“The accusations pouring from those unable to see the game as a game are merely conjecture. All I need to do is convey one thing to this side: a satisfying explanation that can be understood.”

I relayed the replies I received via SNS to Kiharu.

“Look at this. Our friend Louis understood.”

“I can’t believe I have to worry about whether the American president might feel political pressure for cosplaying a character from a Chinese game. It really is hard being a summoner.”

“Of course, we have to do that because he’s our supporter.”

For now, I went ahead with the cosplay of 4577, but next, I decided we would cosplay a character from an American game for our conquest of the ‘A-Rank Tower.’

Of course, this was separate from summoning.

Cosplaying haphazardly wouldn’t cause major issues, and if we summoned 4577 and got her cooperation, heading to America might be advanced sooner than expected.

“If we can control the information regarding us as we wish, then going abroad won’t be a problem anymore.”

“What if they call us from China?”

“I’ve also talked to President Louis about that.”

As an apology for cosplaying from a Chinese game.

“If you want to conquer an S-Rank Tower through the coser maid, you’ll need permission from the President of the United States.”

“…….”

“And doing this much will ensure there are enough reciprocal benefits. No matter how good of a friend one may be, secrets must be kept.”

“Why only focus on the game?”

“Exactly. It’s also about saving the game company.”

One possibility.

There’s a method where I can discuss with the US President to prevent server closure by buying the game company.

– I’ll fulfill your request, but why does the summoner want to acquire that game company? Is it just for simple interest?

They would certainly be suspicious. Even if they don’t think of me as someone with abilities related to games, they might conclude I have such a great interest in gaming that I’d want to buy a game company.

– Oh, mister summoner. If you don’t just concern yourself with America, I might just destroy every server of the game companies you cherish.

To prevent such scenarios, prior arrangements are necessary.

While I can trust President Louis, trusting the Americans completely is difficult.

Given that President Louis has little time left in office, we must keep our movements to save the game company hidden from America as much as possible.

This complicated issue.

If she comes, it will be resolved.

“President Louis might not speak directly but if he can coordinate schedules from the middle, it would maintain his dignity… ugh, do I really have to worry this much about a president?”

“What about that person?”

Kiharu pointed to the president appearing in a live news press conference.

“What about the Korean president?”

“…For now.”

I pointed to the screen depicting Elaine, who was not doing anything with the handgun in her left hand, but slaying the monsters filled in the Bexco A-Rank Tower with the sword in her right hand.

“If Elaine tries to spoon-feed wherever she goes, any desire to help vanishes.”

A phrase that scrolled across the real-time press conference caption.

President, Ironblood deployed.

“Why are they trying to send two S-Rank hunters into the A-Rank Tower?”

“It’s not deployment; it’s an incursion. In the meantime, while Elaine buys time….”

“Summon her.”

Currently, I am running two games simultaneously.

One is a game linked to reality through the Elaine and summon management application.

The other is for summoning our third ally.

The hacker.

The nurturing of the new content that was delayed due to minor updates has just been completed.

“Alice. Now that the nurturing is complete, can I summon?”

[Possible.]

?

[Proceeding.]

“Good. Then….”

Preparations are complete.

“…for the sake of our summoned allies who will extract all the game company’s data.”

Game company acquisition?

‘Why bother.’

Our third summoned ally, the capable hacker, can likely rip that server apart completely.

“Let’s retrieve the client and go copy everything. For our own server.”

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