The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

“The game’s story seems a bit strange.”

“Huh? What’s strange? Didn’t the story start properly from the beginning?”

“That’s exactly what’s strange.”

Claire, who had asked me the question, and Alice, who was watching us play, didn’t seem to understand what was odd about the game. But having played through all the previous installments, I thought the starting point felt off.

By the end of the previous game’s story, we had already dealt with the Emperor.

Sure, there were a few characters who had died along the way, and the story hadn’t fully wrapped up yet, so it ended on a somewhat somber note, but it had still been concluded.

“Oh, I see. This part is more like the middle of the story, isn’t it?”

Alice, who was sitting next to me, said, looking confused.

[Hmm?]

[Hmm hmm?]

[Is this a trap?]

“It’s not a trap. But if anyone tries to spoil, I’ll kindly ban you.”

[Sylvia’s here!]

[It’s really Sylvia!]

Well, of course, it’s really Sylvia.

But I still didn’t get what kind of personality this version of Sylvia had.

I thought she had been hiding her emotions properly at the beginning, though.

“Anyway, in the original, the story had already been more or less settled. We had already stopped the Emperor’s ambitions.”

Back to the game discussion.

So starting the game from the beginning again felt a bit odd. No matter how many new systems or characters were added, it seemed strange for the story to return to the very start like we were playing in an alternate universe.

Moreover, it wasn’t just a short part of the prologue—it had already been almost seven hours.

I mean, seven hours sounds like a lot, but if you don’t get bogged down in the details and just follow the story, this game series usually takes about 20 to 30 hours. Essentially, we were around the halfway or one-third point, and the story was nearly identical to the early parts of the first entry in this new world.

Well, not exactly the same, but still...

Still, my answer came quickly.

“[...No, this is right. To save the people I cared about...]”

Sylvia in the game mumbled this while sitting in her room, curled up in the corner of her bed.

“Unnie... You’ve been carrying such inner turmoil all this time...”

“...I’ve never had such turmoil.”

“Probably, Sylvia wouldn’t have agonized over it that much.”

[What’s this? Is it a concept?]

[They’re cosplaying, but now it looks like they’re going for a full character concept, LOL]

[Actually, I like it.]

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

In the game, Sylvia seemed to be harboring something deep inside.

Surprisingly, her reasoning might be similar to mine. After all, my ultimate goal was to finish the story without letting the characters I cared about die.

And, I actually succeeded.

*

The game shifted to Leo's perspective. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Because of this, it wasn’t clear whether the Sylvia inside the game had the ability to rewind time, but there was a skill among the playable characters that made accuracy 100%. Using that skill, you could pull the order from the back and bring it forward.

Moreover, the skill was called “Chrono Reverse.”

However, the game often used skills or magic with the name “Chrono” attached, so just seeing the skill name attached to the character Sylvia didn’t necessarily mean she had the power to reverse time. It was hard to make that connection.

In the game, when you used a skill, the effect was...

“Wasn’t the background just in the middle of a city? Why did it suddenly change to a mountaintop, and now you’re cutting snowflakes with a sword?”

Alice asked seriously, watching Leo’s ultimate technique.

“That’s game liberty. It’s like poetic license.”

“...So when I swing my sword, is it also supposed to be some kind of griffon crying in the background?”

Alice definitely had that effect in one of her skills.

“Yes, exactly.”

“Still, my swordsmanship is pretty normal. Aside from the fact that the surroundings suddenly go dark. And the movement is so stiff.”

Claire gave a straightforward evaluation of her sword technique.

But the stiff movement seemed more like a problem with the execution rather than a failure to replicate swordsmanship... Or was it? If it’s because of a lack of technique, it might make sense.

[My swordsmanship?]

[Is she admitting it’s herself?]

“Some of the people watching the stream are asking if the character in the game is really you, Claire.”

“Huh? Of course, it’s me. It’s obvious, right? Same name and everything.”

[?]

[???]

[?]

Countless hooks appeared in an instant.

Of course, the expressions on the other side weren’t really confused or genuinely believing what they saw.

They were probably just laughing.

Usually, when someone compares a very beautiful person to another, viewers react like that. Many watch just for the fun of teasing the streamer.

[Isn’t this a little too cringe?]

“Endure it if it’s cringe. You’re the ones who chose to watch this stream from the beginning. Didn’t you recognize the characters that looked exactly like the ones in the game when they first appeared?”

[Agreed]

[LOL If it wasn’t Sylvia herself, why would I even watch this? LOL]

[They’ll probably just talk endlessly while playing the game, so why would anyone watch? LOL]

Exactly.

The reason this game wasn’t streamed much was because the pacing was slow.

It was fine to play solo and leisurely enjoy the story, but showing it to others was a problem. The game was turn-based, which made it less flashy, and the dialogues appeared in text form. Each session was long, and the game was divided into several parts, so once you started streaming, you’d be stuck broadcasting it until you finished the game.

In the first place, fans of this game would probably prefer playing it themselves rather than watching someone else do it. JRPGs are like that.

Why would anyone watch if three beautiful girls were cosplaying and playing?

[If they say they're playing, what can you do? LOL Santa exists, so why wouldn’t the heroine in the game exist? LOL]

“Thank you for the 10,000-won donation, Sylvia’s husband.”

“Unnie’s husband?”

“Claire, that’s just someone claiming it’s their name.”

Alice answered Claire’s reaction. Claire nodded with an “Ah, right?”

“And, they made a good point. Santa Claus exists. If he didn’t, who would put presents by my pillow at midnight on Christmas Eve? Also, the U.S. Air Force tracks Santa’s location every year and reports it.”

[LOL That’s true, LOL Santa Claus exists]

[Sylvia, keep dreaming!]

[If it’s too cringe, just leave.]

When I openly said that, the viewers started defending us.

It’s funny when people come to a concept stream and complain about it being cringe. If you think like that, what do you call VTubers who wear 2D masks and stream? If you don’t get it, you should leave.

Well, actually, the reason that “cringe” can be forgiven is probably because the three of us are pretty enough to compare /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ to those 2D girls.

“Ah.”

Just as the game was progressing smoothly, I was caught off guard.

Aside from the prologue, the main story of the game would periodically present "relationship events."

And when you saw those relationship events or bought gift items from merchants in the game to give to characters, you could raise their favorability. As the favorability increased, the character who would be involved in the ending was determined.

After finishing the first week at the academy—after I took the first quest, got tired of Leo and Claire’s earnestness, and won a perfect victory in a mock battle by rewinding time—on the weekend of that week, Leo could walk around the dormitory in the evening.

“Oh, Unnie, what’s with these heart shapes on the screen?”

Claire noticed the change in the screen in an instant.

There were three heart shapes, all glowing pink.

Each time you saw a relationship event, the hearts would decrease, and after seeing all three, the event for the week would be completed.

Normally, there would only be two, but since I made sure to complete side quests throughout the game, I had earned extra points, and now there were three hearts I could use.

“......”

If there’s an event like that, then—Sylvia Fangryphon, the character, is certainly romanceable.

And this game almost always has a kiss scene near the end if you complete the romance route.

Although it doesn’t feel too erotic due to the graphics and motions—

...I really don’t want to do that.

What excuse should I make to Claire and Alice?