Chapter 314: The First Raider
It only took Rikiya Matsuda a minute to install the Clannad program.
The required settings are minimal, and virtually anyone can play it. Rikiya Matsuda is satisfied. After installation, an icon will appear on the desktop. Clicking on it brings up the game interface, accompanied by beautiful and calm piano music.
"This is..."
Rikiya Matsuda looked at the title in surprise. There was a beautiful cherry tree on the interface, swaying slightly in the wind. From time to time, some cherry blossoms fell from the tree, spinning and descending on the screen, as if the whole scene came to life.
"It's beautiful!" he exclaimed. Although he hasn't started playing yet, Rikiya Matsuda has been moved. He is sure that this interface was designed by Mirai-sensei himself. Its beauty can make people forget the cold of winter and feel the bright atmosphere of spring.
In fact, he was not mistaken. Takumi himself prepared the dynamism of the game's interface. He made many improvements to the Clannad of this world. The original game interface was not like this and was a bit boring. Takumi was inspired by a later work by Key Club, Clannad, whose title interface is a tree. As the characters are unlocked, their images are displayed.
Takumi also created the title interface of Clannad in this way. The first interface to enter the game is a magnificent and dynamic cherry tree, in keeping with the seasonal theme of this game, "Spring." As players complete the character's strategy, the images of various characters appear under the cherry tree, one after another, until a full screen is formed.
It must be said that this interface is very pleasant.
"I don't want to click..."
Rikiya Matsuda was even reluctant to give up the beautiful music and images of the interface. He observed it for more than ten seconds before moving the mouse and clicking the "New Game" button.
However, when the game started, the curious thing was that the title screen did not disappear, but the game camera began to move away and the cherry tree became smaller and smaller. The game menu text slowly faded, but the music did not stop. A gust of wind suddenly blew on the screen and pink cherry blossoms flew all over the sky. Then...
"Do you like this place?" a crisp voice was heard and a girl appeared on the screen. She was standing on a street full of cherry blossoms...
"..."
Rikiya Matsuda's eyes widened slightly, his mouth opened, and he was stunned, "My God!"
He looked at the game interface, which had already entered the main theme, and his heart trembled slightly. The change just now was truly classic! From the beginning, the title interface of Clannad is a cherry tree. By clicking on the new game, the camera will move away from the cherry tree on the interface and slowly expand to a street surrounded by cherry blossoms on both sides. The entire street is enveloped in a magnificent atmosphere, and a girl stands there and says the first sentence to the player.
This beginning is great! Who would have thought that the title interface can be withdrawn to get to the main theme? And the cherry blossoms waving on the screen, even Rikiya Matsuda felt they were too beautiful, and would younger players scream?
"A conscientious work!" The plot had not yet begun. But from the title and the opening screen, Rikiya Matsuda got a big surprise. This low-cost Clannad is undoubtedly a work made with the heart of Mirai-sensei, and any player can appreciate his attention to detail.
"Interesting, very interesting!" smiled Rikiya Matsuda. Clannad is simply a work with which Tatsuryū Company and Mirai-sensei have become friends. He himself did not have high expectations for this game, but after reading this introduction, the passion of the players that had not surfaced in Rikiya Matsuda's heart for decades seemed to resurface.
"Any game made with the heart is worth playing seriously. Mirai-sensei, let me, an elite player, test your skill..."
Rikiya Matsuda's eyes shone with a fighting spirit. Few people knew that he had been a star player in the Japanese video game industry. He had loved video games since he was a child. During college, he wrote a complete strategy for a newly released game and claimed that no one could decipher it in a single day. That incident caused a sensation at the time, and the game's manufacturer personally contacted Rikiya Matsuda and invited him to join.
The manufacturer is now Tatsuryū Company. Rikiya Matsuda has worked in this company for decades and is now second to none. This lost passion excited him, and he was ready to seriously attack Clannad. But he was not in a hurry, instead, he took the photo album from the box.
"Since it's a romance game, it's better to focus on a female character first," Rikiya Matsuda thought, as his eyes scanned the introductions of several female protagonists. He fell in love with the long-haired girl holding a book.
Ignoring details like age, sex, blood type, and measurements, Rikiya Matsuda was drawn to her textual introduction: Kotomi is a genius who studies alone in the library and has the ability to reach the top ten in all subjects of the national practice exam. Therefore, she is allowed to stay in the library instead of attending classes...
"The literary girl type? Well... her name is Kotomi, alright, I've decided on her!"
Perhaps because of his age, Rikiya Matsuda is not interested in girls with active and positive personalities. He prefers this type of good, studious boy. Another reason is that this type of girl, as a top student, is very common in many games and literary works. Almost everyone is tired of seeing her. He wants to see how Mirai-sensei writes a different feeling from others.
After deciding on the strategy's target, Rikiya Matsuda immediately started playing. Although he hadn't played seriously in a long time, his speed when playing any game was exceptional. The first option soon appeared.
"Record something!"
Rikiya Matsuda chose the correct option without hesitation. He scoffed, "Can such a basic option be difficult for me?"
As an elite player and now a senior game creator, Rikiya Matsuda can see the possible consequences of each option at a glance. He moves forward with confidence. Only when there is suspense does he briefly save the game and then continue with the plot. If he discovers that he has deviated, Rikiya Matsuda will immediately use the saved file to return to the main plot.
He knows that the best way to play is to focus on one character and not relax. So, although there are many side quests in the first few chapters, Rikiya Matsuda simply ignores them, ignores them, and keeps ignoring them.
As time passes, he slowly frowns.
"This game doesn't have enough laughs!?"
He was a little surprised. Although it is geared towards fun, Clannad is not deliberately funny. This aroused Rikiya Matsuda's curiosity. What is Mirai-sensei planning?
"And did I choose the most difficult route?"
Rikiya Matsuda tragically discovered that Kotomi's option appeared later than several other characters'. He knew he must have chosen a difficult route, but still, he played it with patience. Kotomi is more adorable than other girls. The male protagonist met her for the first time in the library. When he opened the door, little Kotomi appeared in Rikiya Matsuda's field of vision. She was not abrupt or surprising. She lowered her head to read a book alone. The feeling of tranquility and quietness won Rikiya Matsuda's love.
This girl seems to exist only in fantasy. Every time the male protagonist went to the library, she would prepare tea, food, and even read books to him obediently, like...
"Like a couple." Rikiya Matsuda's wife was very virtuous when he married her. Although they are not yet together in the game, Kotomi gave him the feeling of being a brave man and a good wife and mother, but there were many things about her that made him feel strange.
This girl promises to be a top student, but she has little social common sense and even lacks friends. Her personality is natural. Sometimes she uses scissors to cut pages from books inexplicably, and the violin she plays is unpleasant and destructive, but she doesn't know it. And the books she reads are also very strange: "The day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, yesterday a deer, and today it's you..."
"What does it mean?"
Rikiya Matsuda thought, frowning. He clicked the mouse non-stop and continued reading. After several hours, he saw two words in the title on the game interface: "Kotomi." These two words indicated that he had finally stood out among the many options and had entered the true Kotomi line.
"It's very difficult..."
Rikiya Matsuda wiped his sweat. This route is very difficult to follow. But once inside, the options for other characters disappear and the difficulty of the strategy is considerably reduced.
Furthermore, after entering this route, Kotomi's story really begins, and some puzzles are gradually solved. It turns out that the pages Kotomi cut with scissors are pages with her parents' names. Kotomi's parents are internationally renowned scholars. But they died when she was a child.
How did they leave the world? Just as the game was beginning to reveal the truth, suddenly, there was a knock on the door of Rikiya Matsuda's office.
"Mr. Matsuda, it's time to leave work, are you leaving..."
The secretary's voice was heard outside, but Rikiya Matsuda was in a moment of euphoria, so he had no time to worry about leaving work. He looked up and said, "Bring me takeout, don't let anyone bother me!"
After giving the order, he continued to watch the game's plot, while the mouse kept clicking. More of Kotomi's stories were revealed one by one. Her parents died in a plane crash that fell into the sea on her birthday when she was a child. Kotomi cut out the pages of the book to commemorate them, and the book she read actually had connotations: Kotomi and the male protagonist were friends as young people.
"The day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, yesterday it was a deer, today it's you..."
This sentence is a confession to the male protagonist who has forgotten the past. The male protagonist and Kotomi used to be very close as young people. When this truth is revealed, the climax of the story begins. The male protagonist gradually remembers everything, but Kotomi shuts herself away again. To alleviate her psychological trauma, the male protagonist helps her tidy the garden. He wants to bring this girl out of her shell...
But the result...
"Did you fail?"
Rikiya Matsuda looked at the back of the male protagonist who failed in the game and left. He was stunned for a moment, then became enraged. He stood up suddenly, felt a sudden dizziness, and had to grab the table to keep from falling.
"Mr. Matsuda, Mr. Matsuda, what's wrong with you?" The secretary, who had just entered the office, was startled and ran with takeout. He held Rikiya Matsuda and asked nervously, "Where do you feel uncomfortable? Do you need to see a doctor?"
"No." Rikiya Matsuda shook his head and said, "Sitting for so long, getting up suddenly, I have a little anemia, it's normal."
After recovering, he motioned for the secretary to step aside and then picked up the phone from the table with a cold face. He found Takumi's number and dialed it. After connecting the call, he cursed loudly.
"Mirai-sensei, what are you playing at? Who would play a game with such an ending?! Who would play it?! The end of the Kotomi line turned out to be a surrender. Why is the male protagonist so useless? And why does the game have so many dark stories? Are you sure this is a cheerful game? Where's the fun?! Your ads reek of malice. Do you want others to call our company a ruthless company?"
Takumi, on the other end of the phone, seemed scared. After a long silence, he said:
"Mr. Matsuda, you got the wrong answer. This is the bad ending of the Kotomi line..."
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