"That guy said the game he made is pretty good. Do any of you know about it?"
Looking at the loading screen, Sirin casually asked, and then the words 'No' filled the entire screen.
"No?"
As a well-known game streamer, she had tens of thousands of viewers watching live every time she streamed. This naturally included many who followed the St. Freya Small Game Festival. With so many people saying no, it seemed this game didn't have much popularity.
Forget it. Since she had already agreed before, she naturally had to fulfill the wish of that 'new fan'.
"I remember the voting rankings for the first day should be out. Let me see where this one ranks..."
To keep the live stream room lively, streamers must learn to 'talk to themselves' even if they don't look at the bullet comments.
Clicking on a small icon to the right of the game name, a number quickly appeared.
"514... how many games were exhibited in total?"
Soon, the barrage answered her question.
[A total of 523 games, this one is ranked tenth from the bottom.]
[Did the streamer get paid?]
[Definitely got paid, guess those who know, know.]
[Uh, I took a rough look, it's an old-fashioned pixel game, it's a bit hard to bear.]
[Streamer, streamer, if you're out of ideas, you can bite a lighter, no need to do these things to disgust everyone.]
[LOL, alahato α recommended yesterday rushed into the top five today, probably someone was jealous and came to the streamer for promotion. At least Alahato relies on pretty good game quality, what does this old-fashioned pixel game rely on?]
[...]
In short, before even starting to play, everyone's impression of this game dropped significantly, and they were already rubbing their hands, waiting to start criticizing it immediately.
Tenth from the bottom, huh...
Sirin deliberately put on a frowning expression and said doubtfully, "That guy wasn't bragging, was he? He looked so confident. Forget it, if it's not fun right away, I'll just turn it off and then go scold him tonight."
[Scold? Alert!]
[Why reward him?!!]
[Don't scold him, if you want to scold, scold me!!]
[I think I need Miss Pufferfish's discipline!!]
...
Ignoring the numerous crazy comments, Sirin directly opened the game.
"Alright, we'll know if it's a mule or a horse once it's taken out for a walk."
As the Fantasy Township logo flashed, the main screen quickly went black. Then, before any image appeared, a clear and pure piano sound slowly rose.
Winding and flowing, like babbling water, it directly broke through their outer shells, nourished their hearts, and smoothed away the previous restlessness.
[Gotta say, this music is really good.]
[Indeed, it doesn't feel like something a regular studio could make.]
[A very unfamiliar tune, this should be original, right? It feels like just based on this music, it won't be too much of a loss.]
[It's just a shame it's a pixel game.]
The atmosphere in the barrage improved quite a bit, and Sirin also relaxed her brows, feeling a little more confident.
Even if she was a big streamer, if she insisted on playing bad games, she would really lose followers and popularity!
Against the backdrop of a pixelated lighthouse and the Moon, Sirin clicked Start Game.
Soon, the view pulled down, and the background of the start screen merged into the actual map. On the silent, deserted mountain wilderness, a relatively large villa stood on the edge of a cliff not far from the lighthouse.
In the villa's living room, a child was sitting at the piano, and the captivating piano music was clearly coming from this child.
"Hiss, this child has the potential of a piano master!"
Seeing this, Sirin even made a joke. If two children could have this level at such a young age, they could indeed be called piano prodigies.
[Ah, these trees, this water, this house, these character models, I feel like I've gone back more than ten years, to my childhood that I can't return to.]
[This pixelated feel, memories of an era.]
[It's a pity about the music.]
Just as everyone was complaining about the pixelated graphics while enjoying the piano music, a sudden sound of braking and collision came from outside the villa.
The piano music stopped abruptly, and the child turned to look outside.
The view turned pitch black and quickly moved to the foot of the mountain. A black sedan had crashed into a tree, and white smoke kept rising from the warped hood.
"No way, how did it crash like this? It's not like the car drifted in, right?"
As soon as Sirin's complaining voice fell, she saw two pixelated figures in white coats jump out of the car.
A man and a woman. The woman, Dr. Rosaline, immediately pointed at the man and accused, "Where were you looking when you were driving, Neil!"
The man, Dr. Watts, said somewhat helplessly, "Oh, sorry, I was just trying to avoid that poor squirrel."
"But you not only ran over that poor guy, you also crashed the company car into a tree!"
"...At least it's the company car, right?"
Then, the two of them complaining about their Boss made everyone chuckle. This feeling of focusing on the story while sacrificing other aspects seemed quite interesting.
Then, they took a special instrument and walked up the mountain slope towards the villa in the darkness. There were no special obstacles on the way up the mountain, and the game difficulty could be said to be basically zero, but listening to the two characters bickering, it didn't feel so boring.
As the two entered the villa, the screen turned black again.
'Act I'
'I've never told anyone, but... I've always thought of them as lighthouses.'
"Hmm, that feels quite atmospheric~"
As soon as Sirin's voice fell, the screen came back on.
"I presume you are Dr. Rosaline and Dr. Watts. It's wonderful that you could come so quickly."
Lili, the villa's maid, welcomed their arrival.
"These are my two children, Sarah and Tommy. Since this isn't exactly a nine-to-five job, Old John allowed us to live here together."
This Old John should be the two Doctors' employer.
Dr. Watts asked a question and received a positive answer from Lili.
"He's currently receiving treatment upstairs. Please follow me, both of you."
The two Doctors bickered a bit more, then followed Lili upstairs to the second floor.
Then, the two children, seeing that no one was in the living room, went back to the piano together and played the captivating music again.
Sirin paid attention, this music might be an important plot foreshadowing.
Arriving at the bedroom on the second floor, the two Doctors finally met their client, an old man named Old John, ravaged by time and confined to bed rest.
"How is his condition?"
Dr. Watts was setting up the instrument, while Dr. Rosaline asked the Dr. standing by the window.
"The situation is not optimistic. He has at most one or two days left, and his condition could worsen at any time."
Then the Dr. asked Lili, "So, what is his wish?"
"The Moon."
"? The Moon?"
"The Moon... He wants to go to the moon."