The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

“So yeah, we might be on TV soon.”

When we asked, “Is it okay to mention that we’ll be on TV after being on an online broadcast?” they said it was fine, so we just went ahead and said it.

[Feels like it's about time though.]

[For real, this is pure national pride optimization lol]

“I’m Korean. How would that be national pride?”

[Oh, fair point.]

[Boo~]

[Boo, trash, boo~]

The one who accused us of being nationalistic immediately dropped to a kneel in apology.

[I'm really sorry.]

Ding.

“You are forgiven.”

If someone apologizes sincerely and compensates properly, it’s only polite to forgive. Not that any of it was serious—both the comment and the apology were basically jokes.

“Anyway, the broadcast date hasn’t been decided yet. After hearing our story, they said they needed to look into a few more things.”

[Wait, are they getting in touch with the game company?]

[The characters have the same names and even look the same, no way they can ignore that.]

[Seriously lol]

“Not sure. They didn’t tell me that much.”

They said we could talk about it, but I figured going into too much detail might be a bad idea, so I kept it vague.

“But it was kind of fascinating. Made me realize this is how they shoot and edit this kind of stuff.”

Claire, who was beside me, spoke up.

It really did feel professional. Totally different vibe from just editing webcam footage.

If we actually went to a studio for this, it’d be another level entirely. Not that we have any plans to go that far.

“Oh, and the photos we took—those are out now.”

[Ooh!]

[Show us!]

[Wanna see!]

“Please wait just a moment.”

I stood up from my seat.

And not just me—the five of us who were broadcasting together all stood up.

We had left small prints on the table, and we’d placed the framed large photos just outside the broadcast room in advance.

We set up the stand we’d prepared for the framed photos, and put the two frames on display.

“What do you think?”

“Came out nice, right?”

[It’s like a real family portrait lol]

[Mia totally looks like a daughter in that one]

“Just to make it clear again, we’re all the same age.”

Mia puffed up her cheeks slightly at my comment. Maybe it sounded like I was implying she looked young?

Well, still—everyone was happy with how the photos turned out.

They didn’t edit anything besides the color correction, just like we requested. Not that it mattered—we were good-looking enough without extra editing.

To someone else, we might’ve looked like we were doing cosplay or something... but after spending these past years—and especially the past few months—seeing the kids right in front of me, I didn’t think that at all.

“We’re planning to hang these two large photos in the living room.”

As soon as I said that, the chat started spamming the “family photo” jokes again.

Well, we are a family, in a way.

That is the vibe we were going for when we took them.

*

We returned the photos to their spot outside the room and gathered in front of the camera again.

“Alright, we’ll be playing the rest of the game’s epilogue now.”

I switched to the game setup and picked up the controller.

“How much longer do we have to go?”

[2 to 3 hours?]

[Around 4 hours maybe]

[Took me about 3 hours]

Compared to the total playtime, we didn’t have much left.

“Then let’s finish it all in one go today.”

I said that and pressed the button.

The game picked up right where it had ended last time.

Or rather, it looked like it picked up there—as if nothing had happened.

As if Sylvia had never existed, as if the battle with the goddess had never taken place.

It wasn’t quite like time had rewound—

[......Claire.]

[Alice.]

The two of them ran into each other at school.

Claire didn’t have her usual ponytail like I remembered. She had her hair down in soft waves, looking more like she did in the previous game.

Well, she was a character who changed her hairstyle a lot.

Her school uniform had two buttons undone, giving her a bit of a rebellious, provocative vibe—

“Ugh.”

Claire winced.

Fair enough—if I saw Sylvia in a bunny suit in-game, I’d probably flinch too.

...Not that I haven’t worn one myself.

At this point in the story, Claire is supposed to be dead. In the previous game, she died, and because of that, the Emperor’s plans were ruined.

[You look healthy.]

[So do you. Should I say I’m relieved?]

The two of them exchanged barbed comments.

“Was it really like that for you all in that world?”

“Well, maybe not that cold.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t that bad.”

Claire and Alice answered in turn.

[Lucky you, Alice. You actually got the chance to become the next Empress.]

[Thanks to someone, right? Someone who ‘risked their life’ to save me.]

Alice paused midway through her sentence, like she’d realized something strange.

[...]

Claire looked at her quietly.

[You’re starting to feel it too, aren’t you? That something’s off.]

Then Claire said:

[Yeah. I did ‘risk my life’ to save you. Because of that, Father’s entire plan fell apart, and you got to be the next Empress. But how did I manage to ‘risk my life’ to save you in the first place?]

Claire crossed her arms and tapped her finger in the air.

[That attack... even if it had hit, it wouldn’t have been weird for me to die right there.]

[...]

Alice didn’t respond right away.

[There’s another thing that doesn’t make logical sense.]

Alice looked directly at Claire.

[Your past.]

[What about my past?]

[Think about it. You were in that kind of situation—how did a little kid like you make it out of there safely?]

[What, are you picking a fight now? Are you saying I should’ve been raped by those men or something?]

Claire snapped, but Alice raised a hand calmly.

[No, that’s not it. I’m just realizing that’s not the real issue. I feel like I heard that story from you before... but weirdly, I can’t remember the details. Why is that?]

[...]

[You feel it too, don’t you? Every time you think about the parts that don’t make sense, a bunch of different memories come rushing in—like it could’ve gone this way, or that way.]

[Nonsense.]

That was all Claire said before she brushed past Alice.

[Whatever the case, it all worked out in the end. Just enjoy your happy ending. Someone risked their life to give it to you, after all.]

[...]

Alice couldn’t say anything in response.

Then the screen shifted—to Leo.

[Your Highness.]

[You can just call me Charlotte.]

“......”

Charlotte was staring at the screen with a very particular expression on her face.

“If you’ve got something to say, feel free to say it.”

“Why exactly am I making that kind of face at Leo?”

I looked back at the screen.

She was tucking her hair behind her ear with a shy hand. Sure, it was just an animation, and Millennium Studios didn’t have the tech to make the hair flow that naturally yet—

“I probably maxed out her affection level.”

The story itself didn’t change much. Mostly just which characters showed up in certain cutscenes.

At first, Alice and I were pushing each other to try and ‘win’ each other over, but somewhere along the way we both ended up focusing on Charlotte.

So this cutscene could’ve featured any character whose affection level was maxed.

“......”

Charlotte gave me a death glare, so I quickly turned back to the screen and refocused on the game.

[What are you doing here...... huh?]

Leo’s tone turned awkward.

[I was looking at flowers.]

Charlotte said that and chuckled softly.

Then—

[When did I say you could speak casually to me again...?]

She trailed off mid-sentence.

[When was it again?]

[Pretty sure... it was during the first semester.]

[Wasn’t it after summer break?]

Their memories didn’t match.

No, to be precise—

[Maybe... it was first semester?]

[Now that you say that, I think it was first semester too.]

The reason their memories weren’t lining up was because that event took place at different times in the previous game versus this one.

So this is what Sylvia meant when she was dying.

Sylvia realized that she no ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) longer belonged in the future the others had chosen.

That’s why she betrayed the goddess—who had tried to reshape the world to her own design by erasing Sylvia’s existence—and fought back.

[ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[Sylvia-chaan..]

Seeing those comments from people who clearly knew the whole story was a bit funny.

[This is... strange.]

Charlotte said with a serious look.

[Yeah, something’s off.]

Leo agreed.

[Are we about to go through it all over again?]

[...I don’t know either. But still, we can’t just sit around doing nothing.]

I could already guess where this was headed.