June 1, 1992.
This was the release date for Pokeni's New onmyoji on the MD platform.
Although June 1st is called International Children's Day, Japan does not observe this custom, but rather celebrates their own unique three Children's Days.
You read that right, three Children's Days!
They are "Girls' Day" on March 3rd, "Boys' Day" on May 5th, and "Shichi-Go-San" on November 15th, but only the Children's Day on May 5th is a holiday.
This also indirectly reflects that Japan is indeed a male-dominated society.
...
Hirai Koji was the owner of a game store in Tokyo's Akihabara Street.
In the 90s, Akihabara Street had not yet developed into the sacred place for future otaku; besides selling electronic products, there were also many general stores and restaurants, not much different from ordinary neighborhoods.
Without cosplayers on the street, it always felt like something was missing.
At 9 AM, he dragged his tired body out of his house and headed to the store, preparing to open.
Although called a store manager, Hirai was no different from an ordinary worker, except that his salary was slightly higher than that of the employees, but his responsibilities and the content of his work were much greater.
A game store, besides the manager, would at most hire one employee, mainly to take turns watching the store when the other person was busy.
In fact, in some game stores, the manager was a lone commander.
The game store he managed was one of Torun's Golden Finger game sales chain stores.
When Hirai Koji turned the corner and saw his game store, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide in surprise.
"Nani?! Is this real or fake? What's going on?"
In front of the small store, a long line of dense people stretched all the way to the end of the street...
And it was the kind that couldn't be seen.
"No way?"
Honestly, in the four years he had been a store manager, this was the first Time he had seen such a situation.
What happened today?
...
As soon as he walked to the door, he was surrounded by a crowd of people.
"Brother, are you cutting in line? That's not allowed. I've been waiting here for over 3 hours. Please follow the rules and go to the back of the line, okay?"
The young man at the front of the line said.
"Exactly, exactly, please be a civilized person, okay?"
"It's not easy for anyone. We've been waiting in line for a long Time to buy a game cartridge. Please respect everyone's hard work." An older uncle came out to persuade him.
The people in the line all looked up and stared at the 'line-cutter' with disdainful eyes.
Under their gaze, Hirai Koji actually felt a little guilty and took a step back.
But then he thought, wait a minute, that's not right.
If it weren't for me, what would you all buy?
They're making me look like a line-cutter.
The store manager was pushed back by the crowd, feeling unusually helpless and innocent.
"You! Are you all here to buy final fantasy 5?" the store manager asked loudly.
The surrounding air suddenly quieted down.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
It's interesting to note that this month, in addition to Pokeni's New onmyoji, another new popular game was released: Square's final fantasy 5, developed for the SFC platform.
Square at this Time could be described as a workaholic; ever since final fantasy 1 was released in 1987, the company had been releasing a new final fantasy title every year.
So players also had something to look forward to every year.
final fantasy 5 is only considered mediocre within the entire final fantasy series; its plot is average, its graphics are average, far from the renown of 6 and 7, and in terms of historical significance, it does not possess the groundbreaking nature of 1, 2, and 3, and its reputation is not as good as 4.
However, its system was quite innovative, with dozens of professions and hundreds of skills, greatly enhancing the game's playability. Players could freely combine their teams according to their preferences, making it a transitional work that connected the past and future of final fantasy.
So, many people still bought it.
However, it was clear that the people who came to buy games today were not here for final fantasy 5.
"Of course not, I'm here to buy New onmyoji."
A slender young man answered bravely and confidently.
"New onmyoji?" Store Manager Hirai Koji was stunned for a moment.
He suddenly remembered, oh right, today was the release date of the new version of onmyoji on MD.
This craze came from both the onmyoji anime and Pokeni's magazine promotions about new side stories.
No wonder there were so many people today.
But...
These guys are really confident.
Hirai Koji looked at the crowd and couldn't help but exclaim—
Two years ago, customers were secretive and embarrassed about buying galgames.
They would even sneak into the store like thieves, browse for several rounds, choose several normal all-ages games, and then, just before paying, suddenly pull out the galgame they had been eyeing from the shelf and stuff it into a pile of cartridges, trying to sneak it through and hide their little hobby.
But now, these guys can confidently and openly express their preferences.
What exactly happened in between?
Did galgames change?
Or did the players change?
Hirai Koji thought for a moment and suddenly felt—
It's all Pokeni's fault.
It created new categories for galgames and new definitions.
This led to a significant increase in romance-oriented and all-ages galgames, even subtly tending to deviate from their original definition.
...
Once a person accepts their weakness.
They are invincible.
After letting go of their defenses and tearing off their disguises, people become more open.
Being able to gather with like-minded people in such a place is also a kind of happiness and joy.
Everyone might have originally felt that galgames were a bit embarrassing, but when it came to New onmyoji, there was no sense of shame at all, and they were even very open about it.
After all, although this game is a galgame, it is a very classic turn-based RPG.
So everyone started chatting, one after another.
"Ah~ it's really nostalgic, onmyoji, I can't believe it's been almost 2 years."
"Yeah, looking back now, it feels like it was just yesterday."
"But when I see that..." A middle-aged man raised his chin, and everyone followed his gaze to see a large poster pasted on the glass door of the store.
On the poster, the center was cut by a beam of light, dividing it into two parts, left and right.
On the left was onmyoji's male protagonist, Masakura Haruka, and on the right was the female protagonist, Yuuki Rei, dressed in a red and white shrine maiden outfit.
On the left was a mountain, and on the right was the sea.
The distant sunlight shone through, and after processing, it rendered the picture in two different colors.
The mountains on the left were majestic, with a sacred golden hue.
The blue sea on the right, with shimmering waves, appeared cooler.
Masakura Haruka and Yuuki Rei each extended their hands, clasping them together at the center line of the image.
Giving people a feeling that—
These two people would be together even if they had to try their best.
Or perhaps, Old Thief Furuhara continued to be inhuman, wanting to express the idea that even if two people could be together, they would still be separated in the end due to some irresistible force.
In short, depending on your thinking direction, there are different interpretations.
The drawing was indeed more refined than two years ago.
Especially Yuuki Rei, her image became more three-dimensional in everyone's hearts.
"So beautiful, Rei." The middle-aged man exclaimed, "But when I see this, my heart aches."
His words immediately awakened everyone's memories, and everyone looked as if they had been shot by a bullet, as if they had lost their parents, their eyes filled with pain and regret.
"The hatred of killing one's wife, irreconcilable, Old Thief Furuhara, west!"
"Yeah, when I played to the ending, I felt like killing Old Thief Furuhara."
"But being able to experience new storylines in the new version today, is it considered making up for the regret?"
"Hmm, the key is whether this news is true or not. Pokeni has no credibility with me anymore, ever since the last 'absolutely no knives'."
"Hahaha, 'absolutely no knives,' I feel like it's even worse than just getting stabbed directly. reverse degree person still feels unresolved when thinking about it."
"Damn it, if Pokeni still releases false information this Time, then I won't be polite to Furuhara Tsubaki."
After cursing and grumbling, everyone looked at each other and smiled meaningfully.
Just then, someone raised their watch and glanced at it, "It's already 9:20. I saw that the operating hours written on the store door are from 9 AM, so why hasn't it opened yet?"
"What do you think?"
The store manager raised his resentful gaze and glanced at him.
"Excuse me, excuse me."
The store manager pushed through the crowd and walked inside.
However, he was not strong enough and was stuck halfway.
"What are you doing? Didn't you understand what I just said? Line up!"
"Damn it!"
After experiencing the charm of this queue, the store manager's confidence grew, his courage increased, and he was no longer afraid.
"If you don't let me pass, who will open the door for you?!"
"Nani?! You're the store manager?!"
The crowd immediately parted for him.
Hirai Koji quickly straightened his back and walked through, meeting everyone's gaze.
Just these few steps made him feel excited.
As soon as the rolling shutter door was opened, the crowd immediately surged in.
"Wow~ amazing! Is this the charm of onmyoji!?"
Hirai Koji let out a sigh of admiration.
...
Furukawa Hirozawa immediately got his hands on the newly released New onmyoji on the MD.
Insert the cartridge, turn on the TV, and start the game.
After entering the game, his first reaction was—
The game's graphics were indeed much more refined.
After all, this was already the MD, a 16-bit machine; the original Famicom's performance certainly couldn't compare.
However, in terms of plot, it seemed no different from the original version.
When everyone re-experiences a game, having some experience naturally speeds up the progress. The first Time playing onmyoji took 10 hours, this Time it only took half the Time.
Yuuki Rei fulfilled her mission as a member of the Izanagi clan, perishing with Yamata no Orochi.
Amidst the vast snow, Masakura Haruka struggled to walk.
Lost, he saw a familiar figure silently waiting under a big tree in the snow in the distance. It was Kurai Rui, holding an umbrella, cradling a baby, looking at Masakura Haruka with deep affection, waiting for him to return.
...
Very good, I once again experienced the feeling of being re-depressed after my heart was broken.
Furukawa Hirozawa closed his eyes and sneered twice.
The laugh wasn't because he was happy, but because he was extremely angry.
Bastard!
I knew Furuhara Tsubaki wouldn't be that kind!
I completely fell for Old Thief Furuhara's trick!
This Time, I must send razor blades to Old Thief Furuhara!
Just then, a line of text appeared on the screen—
[If at that Time, I could foresee everything, then what would happen?]
[If...]
Hmm?
Furukawa Hirozawa looked up and found that after returning to the main menu, an option had been added to the menu—
[Hypothetical Start]
What is this?
His eyes suddenly lit up. At this moment, Furukawa Hirozawa realized that this thing should be Pokeni's conscience.
Click [Hypothetical Start]
The game restarts, but this Time the restart is similar to a second playthrough, allowing some items and equipment from the first playthrough to be inherited.
Fighting monsters will be much easier.
After entering the game, a small line of text appeared in the upper right corner of the screen: [IF]
"IF?"
Oh, Furukawa Hirozawa reacted, this means 'if'.
During this game, when the male protagonist first landed on Fairy Spirit Island, he did not choose to peek by the lake, but instead noticed someone following him, so he repelled the ill-intentioned people of the Moon Country.
Although he didn't peek at Rei, the grandmother still felt that the two were a good match and hoped that Masakura Haruka could be with Yuuki Rei.
However, this Time, Masakura Haruka did not do anything strange with her on their wedding day.
Continuing forward, he still encountered Kurai Rui and Fuyukage Rui of the Moon Country.
This Time, the male protagonist, already knowing that the Land of No Interruption would collapse, took precautions first and protected Kurai Rui and Yuuki Rei.
So there was no need to look for the phoenix egg and qilin horn.
This Time, he still returned to the past. Although the male protagonist still couldn't save the Witch Queen (who was Yuuki Rei's mother), he severely wounded Yamata no Orochi.
After sending Yuuki Rei back to Fairy Spirit Island, Masakura Haruka returned to reality.
Everyone was intact, entering the final battle with 100% strength.
In this battle, the male protagonist's strength increased significantly, and both Kurai Rui and Yuuki Rei were at full health. Together with Fuyukage Rui, the four of them easily defeated the cult leader Litian.
After being defeated, Litian summoned Yamata no Orochi again and merged with it.
Yamata no Orochi was severely wounded ten years ago, and its strength was no longer what it used to be, but it was still very powerful.
Everyone was beaten to their knees, severely wounded.
In a critical moment, Yuuki Rei still stood up, holding the shi quan sword, and rushed towards Yamata no Orochi.
Boom!
A burst of light exploded.
The floodwaters receded, but the devastated Moon Country was left with only ruins.
The sky cleared, and in the golden sunlight, the shi quan sword slowly descended.
The shi quan sword glittered in the sun, but Yuuki Rei did not return for a long Time, and Masakura Haruka was heartbroken.
Furukawa Hirozawa's heart was twisted to the extreme.
No way?
Where's Rei?
Did they still perish together?
Just as his heart sank to the bottom of the sea, he saw the seawater gently ripple, and a glow appeared on the surface.
A slender girl rose from the water.
Yuuki Rei's mouth was a tragic smile, with traces of blood, but she was still alive.
Seeing this, Furukawa Hirozawa, along with Masakura Haruka on the TV, showed a relieved smile.
"Wuwuwu... I finally waited for this day."
Although he knew this was an IF route, equivalent to something in a parallel dimension, something that happened after the male protagonist made other choices, and not the true main storyline.
But at this moment, Furukawa Hirozawa still couldn't help but burst into tears.
He had waited for this day for too long.
That feeling of a wound healing and regret being mended.
"Furuhara Tsubaki! Amazing!"
...
Aoki Haruhi felt his brow suddenly twitch, then he sneezed heavily.
HR-chan, sitting by the door, saw this and said with a smile, "President, you must have done too many bad things, the players are all cursing you."
"Bah, bah, bah, please don't say such scary things!"
Aoki Haruhi frowned and glared at her fiercely.
This guy is getting more and more lawless.
"But..." Ayase Akane covered her mouth and chuckled, "Maybe someone is thinking of you."
"Hmm?"
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