Internet Magic in Fairy Tail (Re-upload)

Deep Web

Levy looked around, taking in the surrounding darkness. There was nothing tangible in sight.

"Sensei, what kind of place is this?"

"A place to make games."

With a sharp clap, Nate brought forth a piece of ground from the void.

"Think of this as the outer map of the [Magic Arena]."

"To create a new game, the first thing you need is a map to hold it."

On the newly created land, enormous boulders began to appear, stacked haphazardly in impossible formations. They defied the laws of physics, rising in columns toward the sky in seemingly nonsensical shapes.

Levy's face lit with curiosity. "So, this is how games are made? You just clap your hands, and everything appears?"

"It's not that simple. If only it were."

Nate snapped his fingers. In the blink of an eye, a large pot materialized before them. It stood about a meter tall, just the right size for an adult to fit inside. For the petite Levy, however, it seemed slightly too big.

Nate quickly resized it, making it smaller—just tall enough to reach Levy's chest.

"Get in."

"Uh?" Levy froze. "Get in the pot? Why?"

"It's a necessary step in making the game," Nate replied, keeping a straight face.

"Well… okay."

Trusting her Sensei completely, the naive apprentice complied. Levy placed her hands on the edge of the pot, raised her right leg, and stepped inside. Then she tucked her left leg in, crouching to fit.

She turned to Nate, confused. "Now what, Sensei?"

Nate paused briefly before shrinking the pot further. It now snugly enclosed Levy, its edge resting just below her chest.

With a wave of his hand, countless streams of binary code—zeroes and ones—coalesced into a massive hammer.

"Take this."

Levy blinked, unsure, as she accepted the hammer. It felt surprisingly light, more like a small wooden stick than a weapon.

"Now, use the hammer to try climbing to the top of that rocky mountain," Nate said, gesturing to the bizarrely stacked stones ahead.

Levy was dumbfounded. "With a hammer? I thought this game was called 'Getting Over It.'"

"Exactly. Short for 'Hammer Climb.'"

"But Sensei, I can't move! Do I really have to stay inside the pot? What kind of ridiculous game is this?"

"You don't like the pot?" Nate thought for a moment before snapping his fingers again. The pot turned bright pink. "How about now?"

"It's not about the color, idiot!" Levy growled, veins bulging on her forehead.

"Come on, don't be so picky. Pink is adorable."

Patting Levy on the head, Nate offered encouragement. "Good luck!"

Levy: "…"

This idiot Sensei is definitely messing with me, isn't he?

Taking a deep breath, Levy tried using the hammer to move. She pressed it against the ground and pushed down hard. To her surprise, she and the pot leaped forward a short distance.

This… might actually work.

Levy's eyes widened in amazement. Yet something felt off. Looking down, she realized she had merged with the pot. There was no way out.

Resigned, she continued hammering. Her pot-bound self began hopping awkwardly toward the rocky terrain.

I have to admit, this looks kind of cute.

Nate chuckled to himself. "Exactly. Now, use the hammer to hook onto the rocks and pull yourself up."

Levy, her expression a mix of determination and resignation, tried hooking onto a rock. With a firm pull, the pot shifted upward slightly.

"Good. Keep at it. The goal is to climb to the top."

Levy grumbled but complied. As she hopped and hammered her way forward, Nate couldn't help but grin.

This is going to break so many players.

"This feels a bit humiliating!" Levy complained, but she still followed the instructions.

Using the hammer to hook onto a protruding part of the boulder, she pulled with all her strength. The "Pot Levy" shot upward a small distance—

—and then landed steadily back where she started.

"This is impossible!"

Frustrated, Levy threw the hammer onto the ground and turned to glare at Nate, cheeks puffed in anger.

Nate stroked his chin thoughtfully and nodded. "You're right, the physics is too realistic."

Getting Over It is originally a 2D game, while the Deep Web's simulation is fully 3D. A direct replication wouldn't work seamlessly. But that wasn't a big problem. The core concept still remained: the goal was for players to painstakingly climb to great heights, only to fall all the way back to the start after a tiny mistake.

Explaining the game's design philosophy to Levy, Nate summed it up: "You need to try it yourself and adjust the details to perfect the experience."

"Sensei…" Levy rolled her eyes. "Is this kind of game really fun? Just thinking about it makes me angry!"

Angry? Good!

Nate suppressed a laugh but maintained a serious expression. "Trust me, it'll be a hit."

With that, he activated Arc of Embodiment. A moment later, a projection crystal materialized in his hand.

"Here's the gameplay I imagined. Use this as your reference."

"Good luck, Levy!"

And just like that, he disappeared, leaving Levy alone.

Resigned, Levy activated the crystal, which projected a beam of light, revealing a screen. The footage showed a pot-bound man wielding a hammer, repeatedly trying to climb an obstacle-filled mountain. The video lasted over thirty minutes, with the pot man trying over and over, only to fall back down to the starting point time after time.

Levy felt a mix of pity and amusement watching it. "I think I get it now…" she murmured. "Alright, let's give it a shot!"

…

Having handed off Getting Over It to Levy, Nate no longer concerned himself with it.

There are countless abstract games out there, and Getting Over It is only one of them. Compared to something like Cat Mario—a ridiculously infuriating platformer—Getting Over It wasn't even that punishing.

Nate recalled how, in the past, Cat Mario had pushed him to the brink of punching his monitor. This world's players hadn't been exposed to such games before, so starting with something less extreme seemed wise.

…

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. The Pokémon Tournament was still in full swing, though Nate paid little attention. He was deeply engrossed in developing new features for the Magic Net.

The [Celestial Pokémon Farm] was now complete. Building upon Irene's initial design, Nate added various interactive elements to enhance the gameplay experience. Additionally, he introduced new items to the Celestial Pokémon in-game shop:

-Farm Plots

-Seeds

-Furniture

-Farming tools

Basically, anything he could think of was added to the shop. Prices ranged widely, with farms being the most expensive at 1,000 Magic Net Coins. Of course, to make players feel like they were getting a bargain, he listed the original price as 2,000 Coins, with a "limited-time 50% off" promotion.

Perfect!

After finalizing everything, Nate prepared a patch notes announcement. "While I'm at it, I might as well update the card pool. With the tournament underway, this is the perfect time to introduce Dragonite!"

Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite—being first-generation pseudo-legendary Pokémon—had already been designed but kept out of the pool until now. With the tournament hype at its peak, many players would undoubtedly be eager to draw Dragonite. More pulls meant more magic energy—an absolute win.

After drafting the announcement, Nate immediately pushed the update live.

Magic Net Alpha 0.8.3 Update Announcement

This will likely be the final patch for version 0.8 before the transition to 0.9.

~~~

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