Next story:
A young lady from the Warring States era.
Her duty was to protect her clan from destruction.
One day, she discovered a magical bronze mirror that transported her to a strange new world.
Here, there was no war. Everyone could live freely and happily. She was dazzled by the bustling sights and, before she realized it, met him—a shut-in who wasn't totally useless.
Their first meeting was a mess. They even got into a fight.
She lost. And by the rules of her world, that meant he was now her husband.
When she was hungry, the shut-in took her out for a meal.
A pork cutlet bowl. She was shocked. "So much meat… it must cost a lot, right?"
Because in her world, ordinary people couldn't afford meat.
She also tried a drink called beer for the first time.
"What is this? It's so good," she said, drunk and hugging the bottle, grinning.
It might've been the most relaxed she'd ever felt.
When the hangover wore off, she woke up and picked up the bronze mirror that brought her here.
She took the shut-in back with her to her own world.
But that didn't really change much.
In her world, everything was still the same.
The Ketsuno Clan was still on the verge of collapse, surrounded by dangerous enemies.
The only thing that changed was the new "husband" who didn't look very strong.
He became the captain of her personal guard—but that was about it.
Even with him around, the fall of the Ketsuno Clan couldn't be stopped.
Two months later, she sat on the city wall, covered in blood. The endless war had turned the land red.
Outside the city, the dead were piled like mountains. The sound of battle shook the sky.
They were the enemies about to break through.
Staring at the army outside, she knew she had failed to protect the Ketsuno Clan in the chaos of this world.
"So this is how the Ketsuno Clan's three hundred years of honor ends…"
The shut-in kept begging her to escape, but she only shook her head gently.
"Makoto, you and I are different. From the day my father put this armor on me, I swore… I'd protect the Ketsuno Clan's honor with my life."
Makoto tried reasoning with her, listing examples and historical patterns: empires rise and fall, your clan isn't the only one to be destroyed.
"Makoto, you don't understand. Our clan's dreams and sacrifices live on in this land. Take this bronze mirror and go."
She told him everything.
After hearing it, he begged her even more to come with him.
But she had her beliefs. There was no way she'd agree.
If she were the kind of person who could throw all that away, she wouldn't have come back in the first place.
She closed her eyes. The sound of his voice was gone—only the noise of the enemy about to storm the city remained.
"Makoto, are you gone? You really… left, huh…? Honestly, I really wanted to leave with you."
"I wanted to drink beer with you again… That beer was so good… really so good…"
Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes.
The memories came rushing back. Her character art holding a beer mug appeared in the center of the screen.
"Husband, this wine is so good! How about another two glasses? Look, I already drank all of mine! You should have some too—come on, cheers!"
In that hazy moment, she thought she faintly heard his voice.
"Kill!!!! I am the captain of Anna Yano's royal guard. Anyone in my way—will be killed!!"
Staring at the game that had returned to the main menu, Jason sniffled and closed his slightly sore eyes.
It took him a while before he opened them again.
"This game is insane!"
"This game is totally crazy! Why does a lewd game need such amazing art? The voice acting is great, and even the match-3 combat system is top-tier. Isn't that expensive!?"
"I just wanted to play a lewd game—why did you have to make it so emotional!?"
Even while complaining out loud, Jason didn't hesitate at all.
No, he wasn't grabbing tissues—he had exited to the main menu and immediately went to the store to leave a 5-star review.
Even though the refund period hadn't passed yet, once you leave a review, you can't refund the game.
But that didn't matter at all. He didn't need to say anything else about what came after.
Just from what he'd already seen, Jason felt the game was totally worth it.
In fact, he thought the creator was dumb for only selling it for ten bucks!
............
And it wasn't just Jason. On a small overseas forum, a bunch of LSP players (lewd game fans) discovered the game and checked it out out of curiosity.
When they exited the game, all of them were deeply moved.
Some were drawn in by the story.
The tale of the elf and the demon made them think about the good and evil in human nature.
Humans chose to fall, while a non-human elf tried to help them, only to be betrayed in the end.
The story of the shut-in and the female general brought tears to their eyes.
He seemed like a useless guy, but when he finally had the chance to leave, he showed a kind of bravery and responsibility most people could never imagine.
The story of the dragon maid and the knight was a long, strange, and beautiful journey.
Praised like ancient kings, who could match them?
Because of them, evil monsters dared not threaten the land. Because of them, greedy rulers didn't dare oppress the people.
The story of Caiyun and Chae-woon made many LSPs cry.
Two hundred years of waiting, two hundred years of rebirth. Their story should have ended two hundred years ago.
It's supposed to be a game LSPs love the most.
So why does it feel so heavy, so sad after playing?
Now these players finally understood what those earlier forum posts were talking about.
In that moment, they could really feel it too.
Of course, there were still a lot of impatient lewd gamers who weren't good at match-3 and got stuck right at the start.
"Caiyun, please stop sucking my blood! Let me in! I'm your Senior Brother Chae-woon! Let me see you!"
Those players started studying the match-3 system carefully, grinding for points and money to buy upgrades and items.
Eventually, they evolved.
They stopped caring about the lewd parts of the game and became obsessed with the match-3 gameplay instead.
Simple and easy to pick up, yet full of fun.
For a lewd game, this was almost unbelievable.
Except… the girl on the side was getting kind of annoying—she was blocking the match-3 screen!
"Woman, move! Get out of the way! Don't mess up my match-3 combos!"
"This time, with my brainpower, I'll definitely beat my high score!"
(End of Chapter)