Chapter 20. Onmyoji is a Masterpiece
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Just as Hirose Furukawa was heartbroken, unable to vent the depression in his chest, a line of text appeared in the end credits:
[Producer: Tsubaki Furuhara]
The reason Kiyoshi Yuuma didn't use his real name as the producer was mainly because this game was, at its core, a galgame. If he used his actual name, he might get permanently labeled as part of the galgame scene, making it difficult to change paths or "go mainstream" in the future.
Besides, he never planned to deeply invest in or stay long-term in the galgame field. As long as this game made money, he was going to abandon the genre for his next project. So, using a pseudonym was the best choice.
In the game industry, it's actually quite common for developers and producers to use aliases. For example, the producer of FATE, Nasu Kinoko, doesn't use his real name either.
Sometimes Kiyoshi Yuuma even wondered—maybe Nasu Kinoko did the same for the exact same reason? To make it easier to "wash his hands" of it later?
But having a pseudonym get famous—now that was a problem.
The name "Tsubaki Furuhara" was something Kiyoshi Yuuma had just casually made up. He fully intended to throw it away once Onmyoji was over. So he hadn't thought much of it at the time.
In the future, if someone came after him about it, Kiyoshi Yuuma could just say, "What Tsubaki Furuhara did has nothing to do with me, Kiyoshi Yuuma!"
But to Hirose Furukawa, things were different.
He memorized that producer's name and cursed it a hundred times over in his heart.
Tsubaki Furuhara…
Die!!!
Next up was—
[Script: Mika Ishino]
Mika Ishino…
Die!!!
Huh?
Hirose Furukawa froze for a moment. He hadn't expected such a script to come from a girl.
But still—
DIE!!
Even though the writer was a woman, Furukawa didn't stop cursing. Because that ending… was simply unbearable.
...
He glanced at the time. It was already past 10 in the morning.
In other words, Furukawa had played all night without even realizing it.
This game was way too addictive.
Fortunately, it was the weekend, and he didn't have to go to work.
He set down the controller, pressed a hand to his forehead, and felt his brain swimming. More than that, his chest burned with a raging fire that only grew hotter.
When Kurai Tsuki got "knifed," he'd already felt the urge to kill someone.
Unexpectedly, that idiotic producer had gone and stabbed Yuuki Rei directly.
Unforgivable. Completely unforgivable! How could he endure it?
Furukawa collapsed onto his bed and rolled over, intending to sleep. But no matter how much he tossed and turned, he couldn't fall asleep.
Every time he closed his eyes, the scenes from the game flooded his mind—
Yuuki Rei clutching the Totsuka Sword and flying towards the sky.
Asakura Haruka walking alone through a snowy wasteland.
Yuuki Rei's smile. All the memories they shared, replaying over and over like a carousel.
These memories crawled through his closed eyelids like ants, burrowing into his brain, gnawing at it slowly…
"Damn it…"
It was so excruciating that he couldn't say anything more.
In the past, when he played galgames before, the girls he had slept with didn't leave much of an impression on Furukawa.
At most, he'd think, "Wow, this girl's got huge boobs."
Or, "Those legs are long."
But if you asked him whether he remembered anything after the impulse?
Not really.
Besides, those earlier characters were all pixel-style. Their appeal depended entirely on your imagination and the text descriptions.
But this time…
Yuuki Rei's figure was like a seed planted deep in his brain, taking root and sprouting and making it impossible to forget even if he wanted to.
And yet the sorrow choking his chest wouldn't turn into tears. It was more painful than a simple breakup.
…
"Damn it!"
Hirose Furukawa suddenly sat up from his bed, groggy as he reached over to turn on his game console.
But just as he grabbed the controller, he froze in hesitation.
He stood there dazed for about half a minute before he finally dropped the controller and crawled back into bed.
"Sigh~"
He wanted to play it again, but he didn't have the courage at all.
Just what kind of game was this?
"Onmyoji."
It was as if it had sucked the soul right out of him.
But if you asked whether the game was good?
Furukawa could only think—
This damn thing absolutely deserves to be called a "masterpiece."
If it wasn't, he wouldn't be feeling this awful right now.
…
Once Onmyoji was released, it quickly gained a great reputation.
Though many players expressed their outrage after playing the game, saying they wanted to go to Pokeni and demand justice and hope the developers would change the ending, the game still received unexpectedly high praise.
No galgame has ever hit players this hard before.
Usually, a galgame is something you revisit over and over again, pulling it out when you're in the mood.
But Onmyoji was different—
Even though you knew the characters were amazing, the artwork was beautiful, and any one of the heroines could spark your imagination…
Once you finished the game and experienced the full story, you would lose all courage to play it again.
…
"Damn it… This game hit me right in the heart. Whether it was the art style or the story, it all made me feel like I'd finally found a rare, unforgettable masterpiece. The emotional build-up throughout the game was so cathartic. I couldn't put it down. Who could've imagined it would end like that?"
"Yeah, when Rei died, I just couldn't believe it was real."
Furukawa had always been shy about discussing galgames with others, but Onmyoji had a strange kind of magic. You have to talk about it.
And it was such a rare gem in the galgame world. It didn't even have a hint of lewdness.
Everyone in the fan community felt like grieving widowers, sharing how this game had brought harm and emotionally devastated them.
Maybe this was the only way their fragile, shattered hearts could find a sliver of comfort.
About four days after finishing the game, Furukawa finally found a group through some channels: the so-called "Onmyoji Exchange Meeting."
It was almost entirely guys, but they all wore expressions of deep sorrow.
Only here, seeing each other face to face, could they feel even a flicker of warmth amid the emotional winter.
"I really don't have the courage to go through it again. Can someone tell me… does this game even have another ending?" Furukawa felt like just asking the question had drained all the strength from his body.
Some grief was just too much to bear.
"Huh? I'm not sure. I haven't been able to get a different ending so far."
"Damn it! What kind of twisted mind does it take to come up with this kind of plot?!"
"Right? I honestly want to show up at Pokeni's office with a knife and make them rewrite the ending."
"Even if it's multiple versions of the ending!"
In reality, at this point in time, the idea of "multiple endings" wasn't yet a standard in mainstream games. The concept of "IF routes" wouldn't really emerge until Classmates two years later, and only then would it start spreading to other galgames and RPGs.
"Tsubaki Furuhara!" Furukawa growled the name through clenched teeth. "The producer's name is Tsubaki Furuhara!"
"Die!!!"
The others glanced at him, then nodded in mutual agreement. "Tsubaki Furuhara!"
"Die!!!"
"But…" Furukawa frowned in pain, "Maybe… it's exactly because of that ending that Onmyoji became perfect for me."
"…"
The others fell silent too.
After a while, someone finally said: "Onmyoji really is… a masterpiece."