Hello, this is Director Lee Jong-joo.

Recently, we've been focusing on functional content and balance-related updates, but I’m here today to share our plans for adding and revising the main story.

I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to write this tomorrow, and since this is something I wanted to communicate within this week, I hope you understand why I’m posting it now.

As I mentioned before, there are many omitted parts in the story of A Cagesong of the Ocean episode, and some elements differ from the original, so we’re working on revising chapters 1 to 3, which are already implemented. Additionally, we plan to ensure that future chapters (starting with chapter 4) will be properly represented when they are released.

Here are the major directions:
1. Revision of some characters' dialogue and roles (e.g., decreasing the significance of the protagonist, Forte)
2. Restoration and expansion of the overly shortened plot flow (such as the removal of incidents in Marcha Village)
3. Enhancement of omitted cinematic scenes (like the battle on Ryutom Island and Kavaro’s escape scene)
4. Implementation of previously skipped puzzle elements (such as reinforcing the process of finding the Resonance Stone)
5. Production and application of new BGM
6. Addition of illustrated cutscenes

From chapter 4 onward, we are preparing and producing content according to this direction.

While it's not completely finalized, our current target schedule is as follows:

A Cagesong of the Ocean episodes:
- Chapter 4: Target release by the end of October
- Chapter 5: Target release in November
- Chapter 6: Target release in December
- Chapters 7-8: Target release in January
- Revisions to chapters 1-3: Before the update of chapter 8

Prophecy of the Moonlight Witch episode:
- Prologue: Target release between January and February

These are the current target timelines.

However, please keep in mind that the target schedule might change during the actual development process, but we will do our best to meet the planned goals.

Many users may feel that the revision work should come first, but since there are numerous aspects that need to be adjusted extensively, we decided to proceed this way to prevent the story progression from being delayed too much. We ask for your understanding on this.

Next, I’d like to talk about the addition of the "Very Hard" difficulty and the second balance patch, which I’m sure many of you have been eagerly anticipating.

The "Very Hard" difficulty was originally slated for early October, but it looks like we will need to push the update to October 10th. There have been many recent balance adjustments, and since this content is based on 6-person battles, there are still many aspects that need testing. To achieve a higher level of completion, we’ve decided to proceed with the update on the 10th rather than the 4th.

Looking at the data, I can see that players have minimized their adventure play as they prepare for the "Very Hard" difficulty. Since adventure play is key to character growth, it’s not ideal that progression has stalled. Therefore, we will be holding a Halloween event on October 4th to provide more content.

Now, let’s talk about the second balance patch.

After the first balance patch, we observed an increase in the usage rate of many of the adjusted heroes. It’s encouraging to see that balance adjustments have led to increased hero usage, but we must remain cautious, as some heroes may indirectly suffer due to these changes. Moreover, adjusting many heroes at once can lead to issues with progression fatigue and might compromise the overall balance.

For this reason, I’m sorry to say that the second balance patch will have to proceed one hero at a time. I know many of you were looking forward to it, but rushing could cause bigger problems, so we ask for your understanding.

Starting with the second patch, we are considering holding a vote to let you select which hero should be balanced first.

Follow this link and cast your vote! [Second Balance Patch Candidate Poll]

The voting period is until September 29th at 14:59 PM (UTC+0), and once the character is selected, we will prepare and announce the target update date.

The poll results will be aggregated across all servers.

That’s all I have to share with you today.

I seem to have used the words "sorry" and "understanding" quite a bit in this message, but I hope you see it as our effort to make the game more complete.

With that, I’ll take my leave.

Thank you.