振り返り：落とし穴１６２堀～落とし穴１６５堀＋α (Part3)
"So, that means I’ve been gifted thirty days of free, unadulterated vacation time. Though, since it’s all just a dream, nothing I do here—even grinding in a game—will leave a permanent record. In other words, raising my Pokémon here would be entirely meaningless."
That’s a bitter pill to swallow.
To think that thirty days spent with my partners would be for nothing...
"If that’s the case, I have no choice but to seek other forms of entertainment. Or I could just spend the next thirty days sleeping."
Honestly, that wouldn't be such a bad idea.
As I mused on this, I glanced back at the display and noticed a scroll bar still lingering on the text.
There was more below.
What on earth could it possibly say?
*P.S. Oh, and Taiki is at the house next door. By the way, I made Taizo and Sota’s first dream of the year a hot spring tour.*
Yes, yes, of course you did.
Taiki-kun is right next door, and Taizo-san and Sota-san are off on a hot spring dream vacation!
Somehow, a hot spring dream tour sounds like it would be incredibly healing, both mentally and physically.
And this world we’re in is pulled from some game?
I opened the program to verify the title.
*Town of Twilight.*
Yeah, sounds cliché.
However, I knew absolutely nothing about the contents of this visual novel.
Fortunately, it seemed to be from an era where the instruction manual was digitized, allowing me to browse the synopsis and character profiles.
To put it simply, while it was a visual novel, it fell squarely into the "eroge" category.
The premise was the usual trope: the protagonist returns to his nostalgic hometown, reunites with women he once spent time with, and deepens his bonds with them.
There were four main heroines and four sub-characters.
Thankfully, all the names were written in kanji, suggesting a setting based in Japan.
"...If I actually knew this game, I might have enjoyed it. But I’m a married man now. I have no intention of getting cozy with eroge characters at this stage in my life. I think I’ll just take it easy. Oh, right. I should ask Luna if it’s possible to at least transfer the game data."
Comet and Zargis would probably scream that it’s cowardly, but hey, it’s not like this is something you can win just by putting in the hours.
With that, I settled on the decision to steer clear of interfering with the game’s scenario. Just then, the doorbell rang.
It was likely Taiki-kun.
He must have grasped the situation and come looking for me.
I headed to the entrance to greet him, but...
"Yuki-san!!"
He burst in, looking absolutely frantic.
I didn't know why he was in such a panic, but I called out to him anyway.
"Yo, Taiki-kun. Quite the first dream of the year, isn't it?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah. No, that’s not it! Haven't you seen it yet? The fact that this place is a reproduction of the *Town of Twilight*?"
"Yeah, I read the description. But I’ve never played this game. It’s a bit awkward to start playing an eroge now, so I was thinking of just spending the time playing Pokémon. What do you think?"
"Oh, that sounds nice—no, that’s not the point! That’s not the problem! You don't seem to realize. In this *Town of Twilight*, if the protagonist doesn't end up with one of the heroines by the twentieth day, the entire town gets wiped off the map!"
"Haaaah!?"
What kind of garbage game is that!?
...That’s how it started. How we managed to scramble through that world is a story for another time.
Regardless, to give you the conclusion: although I woke up safely, I was utterly drained by the sheer exhaustion of it all.
***
**Pitfall 163: Strategy**
**Side: Yuki**
We were currently huddled in the living room of the house provided as my base, deep in discussion.
"...Honestly, what a troublesome first dream."
"...Yeah."
That’s right. Thanks to Luna’s usual brand of nuisance, we had been tossed into a world based on that eroge, *Town of Twilight*.
Well, if you were a fan of the game, you might enjoy just seeing the characters, but since I’d never played it, I had hoped to spend the thirty days in peace...
"Why does the town get wiped out? What kind of bizarre scenario is that?"
According to Taiki-kun, if things continued as they were, the town would be obliterated in twenty days.
I mean, there was a possibility that nothing would actually happen, but I couldn't just ignore a warning like that.
"And why does a simple romance game have a 'town-gets-blown-up' mechanic? The manual didn't have any ominous vibes like that."
The art on the manual—the package illustration, I assume—didn't seem out of place either. It just showed the four main heroines against the backdrop of a town bathed in the red glow of twilight.
Besides, a romance game shouldn't have elements of total destruction unless it’s a sci-fi or horror scenario.
"The synopsis didn't seem strange, either."
"You didn't read the manual from cover to cover, did you?"
"Hm? No, I read the controls and the character introductions."
"No, no, I mean the place names and the background lore."
"Ah, I’m the type who reads that stuff later. I mean, who reads that first?"
If I learn too much about the setting beforehand, it’s liable to lead to spoilers. That’s why I stick to reading the character profiles but avoid the deeper lore.
"Ah, I see. You're that type. But this time, I need you to swallow your pride and read it. Actually, it’s too tedious, so I’ll just explain it to you."
And so, Taiki-kun began to explain the world of the game.
Simply put, while *Town of Twilight* masqueraded as a standard romance game, underneath it was a hardcore occult horror story.
The protagonist had originally left this town because of intense spiritual disturbances that frequently made him ill, forcing him to seek treatment at a large hospital in another city.
In truth, the protagonist knew it was the work of ghosts, but he knew his parents wouldn't believe him, so he went along with it quietly.
Naturally, his health gradually improved after leaving the area, and a few years later, he was completely recovered.
The story begins with him deciding to return to his birthplace now that he’s healthy again.
"I get the premise, but how does the protagonist's spiritual affliction lead to the town being destroyed?"
The leap in logic was still too great. And the requirement of having to end up with one of the four heroines made absolutely no sense.
"Uh, I don't know the exact details, but from what we've gathered so far, it’s clear that all four heroines are suffering from their own spiritual afflictions—or rather, they’re victims of this occult mystery, right?"
"Well, yeah. It is an occult story, after all."
It would be a scam if the heroines weren't involved in that kind of thing in a horror-themed game.
"Right. So, since the protagonist is going to live here, he can't lead a normal life unless he deals with the root cause, so he sets out to solve it. In the process, he resolves the heroines' spiritual afflictions, and by doing so, he eliminates the cause of the town’s impending destruction."