振り返り：落とし穴１６２堀～落とし穴１６５堀＋α (Part5)
What would normally have taken two or three days, we managed to power through. Being veterans of this genre, we didn't waste time swooning over the "moe" elements, nor did we stumble over the choices. We got it done.
"Shouldn't we make sure to see the bad endings, too?"
"We'll save that for after today's agenda. Still, I'm glad it’s the type where a single wrong choice leads to a bad end. That made things much easier."
"You're telling me. If it were the 'accumulated affection' type, we would’ve been in real trouble."
We were discussing the mechanics of this particular romance game. The scenarios were so incredibly dense that if it had been an affection-accumulation system, we might have been stuck in a dead end without even realizing it until the very end. And in those types of games, there are often routes where you can’t reach the survival ending unless you’ve banked enough affection points.
Fortunately, this game was straightforward: once you entered a heroine’s route, a single wrong choice resulted in an immediate bad ending.
"Alright, let’s get focused and start exploring the town. Honestly, the game didn't provide a single address or location description for any of these places."
I had held a faint hope that the game might offer some clues about the event locations, but as expected, the game’s setting was impossible to map out based on the software alone. We had no choice but to deduce the geography from the exterior shots and the protagonists' commentary.
"To begin with, the locations for each heroine’s trouble all used the same background art. But in reality, the places are clearly different."
"Ugh. I really wish they’d put the budget into that."
The stages for the supernatural mysteries—the keys to saving each heroine—were all depicted with the exact same background. Because of that, the game’s data was useless for navigation.
"At least we know there’s a new residential district, an old residential district, a school, and a shrine. That’s something."
"Though, honestly, the supernatural stuff is secondary. The real problem is that we have no idea where the protagonist or the heroines actually live."
"Exactly! They didn't write down a single address!"
They should have at least included addresses in the game! Damn it!
"Well, well. We’ll meet the protagonist at school, and the childhood friend lives right next door to him, so once school starts, that’ll all be resolved."
"Let’s hope so. Now, I want to start exploring, but... what do you think? Should we split up or go together? Honestly, I can't predict the pros and cons."
The issue was that by directly intervening in the game’s narrative, we had no idea what kind of trouble we might trigger. Furthermore, the core of this game was a supernatural mystery. Since we were hunting for the source of these anomalies, it was entirely possible we’d be targeted by them ourselves.
"Hmm. True. But I don't think we’ll be dragged into anything supernatural as long as we don't actually enter those specific locations, right? If we find a place that looks suspicious, we can just make a note of it without going inside."
"Fair point."
"Oh, but let’s go to the school and the shrine together. Those feel like they’re definitely dangerous. How about we split up to search the new and old residential districts, then meet up at the shopping district to pick up supplies?"
"Sounds like a plan."
Split up for the low-risk areas, stay together for the high-risk ones. Reasonable.
"Alright, it's eight o'clock now. We’ll explore the residential districts until twelve, meet at the shopping district at twelve-thirty, grab supplies, and then hit the school and the shrine."
"Got it. Let’s get moving..."
Taiki-kun stood up from the sofa, then suddenly froze.
"What's wrong?"
"Uh, I think I just saw the upperclassman heroine, Naoko Sudo, outside."
"Where?"
My current base of operations was a house designed so that you could see outside from the living room. Like many modern homes, it didn't have high walls or hedges for security—just a fence—so the street was clearly visible. Some might think that’s bad for security, but it’s actually the opposite; high walls and hedges provide perfect cover for burglars. But that was irrelevant; the fact that one of the heroines was right there was what mattered.
"Let’s head out. We’ll just strike up a conversation. Since we’re supposed to be students at the same school, we can ask her about that."
"Good idea. Let’s go!"
Just as we were about to step out... *Ding-dong.*
"..."
We exchanged a look. We didn't know a soul in this game world. It was impossible for anyone to be visiting us.
"Is that... a solicitor?"
"Yeah, seems likely."
Regardless, we wanted to catch Naoko Sudo, so we’d have to brush them off quickly. I opened the front door.
"Oh, hello, Torino-kun. Happy New Year. Oh, Nakazato-kun is here too, I see."
"..."
Standing there, for some reason, was the very person we were about to chase: Naoko Sudo.
She was about 160 centimeters tall, with long black hair tied in a ponytail, sharp eyes, and a well-balanced figure. Incidentally, all students in this world were eighteen or older. But putting that aside...
"Ah, uh. First of all, Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year."
We offered the standard greeting.
"Yes, Happy New Year to you, too. Though, come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve met, so I look forward to working with you."
"Uh, right. Who might you be? And how do you know who we are?"
"Oh? Did no one tell you? Well, the aunts seemed busy, I suppose. I’m your cousin, Naoko Sudo. I came to show you around the town and the school today. Nice to meet you properly."
With that, Naoko Sudo reached out to shake our hands.
"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you."
"Thanks."