Developing New Features!

The solemn atmosphere was interrupted by the book's endless chatter.

Roger's face was full of exasperation. "I want you to keep a close eye on the discussions among those internet users. Once the number of official mages increases, start guiding them to discuss the surrounding regions—nearby countries, neighboring lords, anything. Gather as much information as possible."

"You want to... start spreading Magic Net Rings to other regions?" Betty looked at Roger in surprise. "Isn't that a little too soon?"

"We're not preaching in the traditional sense. Naturally, the more widely Magic Net Rings spread, the better." Roger replied casually before turning his gaze back to the book. "Oh, right. Once the user count reaches one thousand, directly unlock the Private Chat feature."

"Why not unlock it from the start? Why open it now all of a sudden?"

The puppet Betty could not understand.

The Private Chat feature had been developed from the very beginning.

Yet Roger had ordered it hidden.

Only the forum feature had been made available.

It had only been one day, and now he was saying it should be released.

"Because we now have a certain user base." Roger smiled. "Before, the forum was full of our alt accounts. If we enabled Private Chat, who knew what problems might arise? But once the user base grows, they'll be able to communicate with one another."

"Besides, the Private Chat feature will speed up the spread of our Magic Web."

In this world, where commoners and serfs almost never moved from one place to another, nobles and extraordinary individuals had enormous communication needs.

Yet delivering a message often took dozens of days, several months, or even longer.

Even the king sitting in the royal capital needed more than three days to send an order to the border, even with Griffin messengers.

Spellcasters were scattered across every nation, making communication between them Hell-level difficult.

For news about a single magical material, it was not unusual to travel through countless lordships and kingdoms just to deliver a message, taking years to do so.

The Private Chat feature would greatly satisfy their needs. Many of them would surely take more Magic Net Rings with them and head into the distance of their own accord.

They would not even need to distribute them personally. Magic Net Rings would spread at an astonishing speed...

The farther apart users were, the more obvious the internet's value became.

"Lord Roger, your wisdom once again..."

Before the book could offer much praise, Roger hurriedly interrupted it. "Book, let's discuss business. I've got a new idea, and we should study whether it can be realized."

"I think this new feature will be groundbreaking as well!"

A new feature?!

The book and the puppet instantly showed interest, or at least puppet Betty did.

The discussion over the new feature did not go particularly smoothly.

The book and the puppet had very limited ability to understand the new terms Roger kept bringing up.

But Hedy in the royal capital was progressing with unprecedented smoothness.

The name of Magic Goddess's chosen, Hedy the Coffin Bearer, rapidly spread through the mage circles of the royal capital.

Legend had it that her coffin was filled with gifts bestowed by the Magic Goddess.

As long as one prayed before those divine gifts, one could obtain the purest knowledge in the world. One could even witness legendary great figures debating the true essence of magic and the mysteries of the world within...

Legend had it that this was the key to unlocking the greatest secret of mages.

Even mages who normally never appeared in the royal capital and kept far from crowds returned one after another.

Yet very few managed to obtain a Magic Net Ring.

Hedy the Coffin Bearer was a capricious person, or perhaps she could see the mages' devotion to the Magic Goddess...

She would give a Magic Net Ring to a lowly Apprentice, and she would give one to a powerful High-Order Mage. She would give one to a beautiful person, and she would give one to an ugly person. She would give one to someone acknowledged as the smartest, and she would give one to someone hopelessly foolish... It seemed that anyone might gain her favor, yet it also seemed that anyone might be rejected by her.

There was no pattern whatsoever.

But everyone learned something else: Mr. Duru, a senior researcher of the Rune Society and a Mid-Order Mage, seemed particularly unwelcome in the Magic Goddess's eyes. He was always one step too late.

Whenever they saw him, it meant Hedy the Coffin Bearer had already left. They were advised not to follow him, or to try their luck along another route.

What they did not know was that Hedy the Coffin Bearer had already returned to the Black Forest east of the royal capital.

"Heavens! I never knew you had such talent in this area. You actually completed the task the god gave me in such a short time."

The old mage looked at his Apprentice in astonishment.

Heaven knew how many times this Apprentice had made him cry from frustration over the past decade or so.

A simple Magic Rune might take her several months to memorize.

A simple Spell Model might take her several years to complete.

A simple magical potion could even end with her blowing up her own laboratory.

Though he had been about the same back then.

But that was not why he did not consider Hedy "stupid."

This time, however, it was truly different!

Before Hedy had even returned, he had received a divine revelation... Hedy had actually completed the task in such a short time!

"Teacher, if you don't have any other instructions..."

Hedy had just been about to say she wanted to rest when her teacher, the old mage, hurried to one side and lifted a curtain that had never appeared in the room before.

!!!

Hedy's eyes widened.

Her gaze was filled with disbelief.

For one brief moment, she even thought that she should have put on smoky makeup before returning. At least, at least then her teacher might have thought she was exhausted.

Ten times as many—at the very least, ten times the number of Magic Net Rings from the first batch!

Heavens!

If she had known there were so many rings to distribute, she should have set up a stall in the plaza on Starlight Street and handed them out directly!

No, even if she gave them to everyone on Starlight Street, she probably would not be able to distribute this many rings, would she?

"Tea... Teacher, do these need to be distributed too?"

Hedy the Coffin Bearer, who had shaken the mages of the royal capital so deeply, now only felt that her life had become utterly bleak.

She even started stammering.

"No. There are only five hundred here... four hundred and ninety-nine need to be distributed. One is yours. The god said you did not keep one for yourself. How are you supposed to communicate conveniently like that?"

The old mage shook his head and gave a number that made Hedy feel as though her life had regained some hope, but his next words left her completely stunned.

"The rest are for sale. You need to open a shop in the royal capital and use the money from sales to purchase Refined Iron and bring it back."