Fortunately, Momoi at least had a basic awareness of her own game's quality, and she could more or less guess why I had come to see her.
Though clearly unwilling, she still obediently stepped forward and let me pinch her cheeks to vent my frustration.
To make it up to Midori, who had been caught in the crossfire earlier, I made sure to spend twice as much time kneading Momoi's cheeks as I had spent on hers. Hopefully, seeing the culprit suffer a bit more miserably would soothe Midori's resentment.
At last, I released her with satisfaction. Momoi rubbed her reddened cheeks, her eyes welling up.
"Uuuh… why are you like this…"
I had already tried to be as gentle as possible.
Ignoring Momoi, I politely asked Midori, "Would it be alright if I came in?"
Midori stared at me for a while without answering, then turned to the side. "Sis?"
"It's fine, Sensei isn't a bad person. Actually, you could say I was the one who invited him here."
From the way Midori's gaze sharpened on Momoi, from the slight twitch in her clenched fist and the tightness in her lips, I could see it... murderous intent.
So it was you who brought Sensei here!
She probably wanted to shout that, but she held back her emotions.
"…I understand. Please come in, Sensei."
After taking off my shoes by the door, I stepped fully into the Game Development Club's clubroom and took in the scene inside.
First, a red sofa sat in the center of the room, and a plain storage cabinet rested in one corner.
On the right-hand wall hung a whiteboard covered in colorful sticky notes, with a low cabinet beneath it. Along the left wall stood shelves packed with all sorts of game-related items: consoles, cartridges, discs, magazines…
Truly worthy of the name "Game Development Club."
Finally, the space between the sofa and the window, draped with cute pink-and-white curtains printed with little cats, was a bit messy. Blankets, cushions, and pillows lay scattered about. Cables tangled across the floor, connecting controllers and consoles to an old-style television. Magazines and game cases had fallen onto the carpet.
I had no idea where to step.
"Ah! Please wait just a moment!"
Midori hurriedly began tidying up, while Momoi awkwardly approached me and asked, a bit nervously,
"Sensei, did you come to cancel the request?"
Was it just my imagination, or did I hear a faint note of hope in her voice?
…Could she be worried that I not only intended to reject the request but had actually come all the way here just to scold her?
I'm not that petty.
Before I could answer, Midori, who was sharp-eared spoke first, puzzled. "Request? What request?"
So Momoi had made the request without telling her sister. That would explain Midori's confusion earlier.
"Well, you know that rumor online about an all-purpose problem solver named Schale, right? I figured the internet trolls who reviewed our game were totally wrong, so I sent an email to Schale's public address, asking for an objective evaluation. I didn't expect you'd actually take the job!"
Since when did Schale become an all-purpose service agency?
Momoi really didn't seem all that bright sometimes.
Midori was silent for a moment. "…I'm sorry, Sensei. She must have caused you trouble. Please pretend that request never happened."
Though the younger sister, Midori seemed far more reliable than her elder sister.
"But I never said I was turning it down."
I sat cross-legged in front of the TV. "You've got Myth·Legend·Chronicle here, right? I think instead of writing up a report, it'd be better for you to watch me play firsthand. Much clearer that way."
And, well, it meant I could sit close to a pair of cute twin girls. Nice.
The two exchanged glances, then eagerly pulled out their carefully stored Myth·Legend·Chronicle disc and took seats on either side of me.
"Oh, right! I forgot to introduce myself!"
Momoi suddenly remembered, flashing a bright, goofy smile. "I'm Momoi, the scenario writer for the Game Development Club!"
Midori smiled too. "I'm Midori, the illustrator. I handle the game's overall visuals."
Momoi added, "Including our club president, Yuzu, who's in charge of planning but isn't here right now…"
The sisters spoke in unison. "We're the Game Development Club of Millennium Science School! Sensei, welcome to the Game Development Club!"
Gripping the controller, I kept my eyes forward, mostly because of my neck brace, but from both sides, I could feel the faint warmth radiating from the girls.
Suddenly, Myth·Legend·Chronicle didn't seem quite so bad anymore.
With the Gamer sisters accompanying me, I began my challenge from scratch in the clubroom.
"Momoi, I'm honestly curious."
As the familiar tutorial appeared on-screen, I couldn't help voicing my doubt. "What made you think it was a good idea to trick the player in the very first weapon tutorial?"
In the controller's prompt, the tutorial said to press the B button, but doing so immediately triggered a game over.
Momoi laughed loudly, answering as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Wouldn't it be boring if everything went just as expected?"
Midori sighed. "Looking back on that part, it really was a bit much, huh."
My fists clenched.
Sorry, I take it back. This game is trash.
Under their guidance, I avoided many of the traps that had eaten up my time during my previous playthroughs, bloody lessons learned through pain and suffering.
Still, why on earth would anyone design so many skippable events that directly affect whether you can continue later?!
"That's to spark the player's curiosity, of course!"
Midori closed her eyes and sighed again. "There's no way that works."
I had to admit, Momoi had definitely sparked my curiosity, toward dissecting her brain, that is.
I gently asked, "Did it ever occur to you that if a player accidentally misses something like say, a hidden map like earlier, they might lose motivation entirely when they get stuck later and can't figure out why?"
"Uh…" Momoi frowned in thought.
"By the way, what does that even mean… 'Twin Parents'?"
"Yeah, Sis, I was wondering about that too."
"Um! It's kind of… something like that!"
Where on earth would you even find a definition for such a weird phrase?!
I forced myself to keep playing. Setting aside those ideas that completely ruined the gameplay experience, there were at least some redeeming qualities to be found.
At least, that was true when I had two of the developers right beside me giving guidance.
Before long, the character I was controlling stood face-to-face with a powerful elite monster. I focused intently on the fight, and both girls held their breath, leaning in closer and closer until they were practically pressed against me without realizing it.
Just then, the door suddenly opened. The sound startled me, my hand slipped, and my character died on the spot.
"…Sensei?"
Yuuka stood frozen in the doorway, staring at me in disbelief as if I had been caught holding a girl on each side. Her hand flew to her mouth.