Peaceful times always pass by inadvertently. In the blink of an eye, it was Christmas Eve.
Here in the Far East, students were already on winter break, and many restless hormones walked hand-in-hand on the streets, preparing to do some not-so-peaceful things on Christmas Eve.
And this day was also the release date of white album.
Kitagawa Marin is a loyal player of galgames.
From the very beginning of manhua mirror, its unique art style in the industry had astonished her, and she had since become a fan of Rain Master.
That's right, the name Yǔ used in the underground world was Rain, which, combined with his name in the public world, formed his true full name, simple and unadorned, so much so that Bronya had complained about it many times.
Later, the addition of Eromanga Sensei made Kitagawa, as a fan, even more pleasantly surprised. She bought the entire manhua mirror series and enjoyed it countless times.
Therefore, upon learning that Rain Master and Eromanga Sensei's new collaborative work, white album, was about to be released, especially after hearing that the game's price would be twice that of the manhua mirror series, Kitagawa was filled with anticipation. When she further learned that the game's animated adaptation would be released soon after the game's launch, her anticipation directly reached its peak!
A higher price proved there was more content inside, and they even started producing the animation in advance. Didn't this mean the two masters had great confidence in their work?!
So, she had worked early to save up her pocket money, and when the time came, she lined up overnight a day in advance to buy the first-edition limited version with special benefits.
The stores here were quite interesting; each selling store would have special benefits for different characters, which was quite unfriendly to collectors. However, for high school students with limited funds, just being able to buy it was already very satisfying.
Refusing her friends' karaoke invitations, Kitagawa returned home early. After a quick dinner, she took a deep breath and, with a sacred expression, opened the paper bag.
The special benefit included with the purchase from the store she lined up at was a girl with long brown hair who smiled very cutely and gently. This immediately hit Kitagawa's sweet spot, and she carefully treasured the pillowcase, hanging scroll, and poster from the bag.
Then, she turned her attention to the game.
Rubbing her hands together in anticipation, she tore open the game's plastic seal, then, somewhat impatiently, inserted the disc into the game console.
Soon, the game interface slowly appeared, and pleasant background music began to play.
"The UI actually changed?!"
Kitagawa muttered to herself in surprise and looked at it for a few more seconds.
It seemed the two masters had finally remembered to change the old UI that had been used for five games. It was good, but it really caused some aesthetic fatigue.
Even more excited, Kitagawa did not immediately choose to start the game.
She first got up and went to the restroom, carefully trimming her nails. Then, she placed a pack of tissues on her computer desk, and only after confirming everything was ready did she click on the game.
The screen turned black, and white text slowly appeared.
The plot quickly progressed before her eyes, and a smile soon appeared on Kitagawa's face.
Setsuna is so lively and cute, and Kazusa is so cool and beautiful!
She hadn't expected that besides dark literature, Rain Master could also write such lighthearted and happy campus life stories. This was truly a pleasant surprise, especially the delicate descriptions of emotions, which resonated with Kitagawa and quickly drew her in.
Although she didn't know how she, attending an all-girls school, could relate, it didn't matter.
Just as Kitagawa thought this was a romantic comedy about a love triangle in a school setting, gradually, the plot's direction suddenly began to feel off.
The smile on her lips gradually disappeared, and time unknowingly stretched into the deep night.
Finally, when she saw Kazusa, who had just kissed Kitahara, slap him on a snowy street and accuse him, "Why are you so skilled?!" Kitagawa's entire expression twisted.
She clutched her stomach, which was aching slightly. The tissues she had intended to use accidentally fell to the floor, but she no longer wanted to pick them up.
What, what is all this? Couldn't everyone just live happily together? Why did it have to be so twisted and stomach-churning?
Despite her complaints, she couldn't stop watching, and she even found herself unable to feel aroused by the usual explicit scenes she enjoyed.
With a plot exceeding a million words, she played from night till dawn, from dawn till night, only hastily eating some food and drinking some water in between, even holding her bladder for a long time before going to the restroom.
Finally, when the word "End" appeared on the screen, Kitagawa finally collapsed into her chair, deeply engrossed in the story and unable to extricate herself.
She had thought the love triangle in the prologue was already tormenting enough, but compared to the final social chapter, those were merely appetizers.
Each option that appeared brought her immense torment; she felt as though her heart was tied to an execution rack, being slowly tortured slice by slice.
She tried to smile but found she couldn't.
Afterward, in an attempt to explore the possibility of the three being happy together, she accidentally entered the affair route, and the result was… she completely shut down, her expression blank, her eyes unfocused.
In the following days, her life became a mess.
Her mind was filled with Setsuna every day; she couldn't eat or sleep. She felt like she was emo, losing interest in all games. Her friends were worried something was wrong with Kitagawa and even wanted to take her to a psychiatrist.
However, she ended up talking to the psychiatrist for half an hour about how good Setsuna was and how much she pitied her, leaving the doctor utterly bewildered.
This lifeless period continued until just before New Year's Day. She was idly browsing a game forum, just casually scrolling, her mind still constantly thinking about Setsuna.
It was the first time a story had made her feel so choked up inside.
At that moment, her eyes accidentally caught a plot analysis post about white album, and without thinking, she clicked on it.
Several days had passed since the release, and most players who had bought the game early had already played a lot, so an analysis post was normal by now.
Rubbing her messy, unkempt long hair, Kitagawa lay on her desk, staring blankly at the lines of text on the screen.
The poster first analyzed the emotional entanglement between the three characters in the plot. After a series of reasonable analyses, they began to insert their personal opinions at the end.
"This is just my personal opinion, but don't you all think Setsuna is being quite underhanded? Even though Kazusa and Kitahara are true love, she still wants to butt in. In my opinion…"
"?"
Kitagawa couldn't read the rest. She only felt an anonymous fire erupt from her heart.
What nonsense was this person saying?
Could a girl as cute and heartbreaking as Setsuna be wrong?
This @#@$%@%@%!!!!
Couldn't tolerate it at all!
Grabbing her keyboard, Kitagawa immediately joined the battlefield in the comment section!