On the morning of February 1st, Nasu Kinoko and Takeuchi Takashi placed several proposals on Aoki Haruhi's desk.
It was then that Aoki Haruhi suddenly remembered—
Oh, right, the company actually had these two people.
Ever since Urobuchi Gen got married in August last year, Nasu Kinoko and Takeuchi Takashi successfully joined Pokeni. Aoki Haruhi didn't place any restrictions or demands on them, letting them write proposals on their own for the past six months.
According to Aoki Haruhi's initial promise, as long as they had a suitable proposal, he would establish a separate project team for them to develop a game.
But, in the blink of an eye, so much Time had passed.
If he hadn't seen them today,
he would have almost forgotten about these two guys.
"President, these are the proposals we've prepared. Please take a look," said Takeuchi Takashi.
Among the two, Takeuchi Takashi was more outgoing, while Nasu Kinoko seemed to be socially anxious.
Before, at the wedding, it might not have been a big deal. Everyone was Urobuchi Gen's friend, essentially on equal terms, so Aoki Haruhi chatted with Nasu Kinoko quite naturally.
But once they became a superior-subordinate relationship, and Nasu Kinoko became a Pokeni employee, facing the President's inquiry for the first Time, he was inevitably a bit nervous.
He clasped his hands tightly on his knees, his whole body stiff and straight, looking as if he was under immense psychological pressure.
Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but smile, "Don't worry, and don't be so nervous. We can just talk normally. If there's a good proposal, I'll ask Akanishi Ken and Sakata Taiji for people."
"Okay, okay, President." Nasu Kinoko nodded, rubbing his hands on the sofa.
Aoki Haruhi glanced at him, finding it somewhat amusing.
Do you think you're a fly?
...
Aoki Haruhi lowered his head and saw three neatly stacked proposals on the table.
Each one felt incredibly familiar to him.
On the covers, it was written: "the night of magic," "the garden of sinners," and "Fate."
Aoki Haruhi was overjoyed.
It seems there was no butterfly effect. Could it be that he gave them too much Time?
Indeed, not interfering was the right choice.
Over the past six months, Takeuchi Takashi and Nasu Kinoko discussed the production of new game every day, while also conceptualizing the countless unformed texts they had envisioned during their middle school Time.
The main reason they hadn't given them to Aoki Haruhi earlier was the fear that if they weren't approved, their confidence would be hit.
So, it wasn't until now, after accumulating three proposals, that they had the courage to push open the door to the President's office.
It's Time for you to shine, he thought.
...
Flipping through them one by one, only Fate had a relatively large difference from what Aoki Haruhi knew.
When Aoki Haruhi looked at their proposals, it was like a gourmand enjoying delicious food.
Whenever he saw parts that felt familiar and he liked, his eyes would emit a greedy light.
The story of "the night of magic" takes place in 1989, a period that was the end of a prosperous and vibrant Time.
The setting of the story is the local town of Misaki, where there are rumors that "two witches live in the house on the slope."
The protagonist, Shizuki Soujuro, comes to Misaki from the countryside. Here, he meets the transfer student and student council president, Aozaki Aoko, and the aloof beautiful girl, Kuonji Alice.
These two are actually the witches living in the house on the slope.
Due to a series of events, the three, who have nothing in common, begin to live together in the Kuonji mansion.
Although this story has no direct plot connection with "Tsukihime," "the garden of sinners," or the "Fate series," the important character Aozaki Aoko from Tsukihime appears as the protagonist in this work, and the important character Aozaki Touko from the garden of sinners also appears as an important supporting character in this work.
Furthermore, the Fifth Magic, one of the Five Great Magics and an important setting in the "Fate series," makes its first appearance in this work.
"the night of magic" can also be considered one of Nasu Kinoko's earliest works.
It also included illustrations from Takeuchi Takashi.
Ah~ that sense of familiarity upon seeing characters I know is truly...
...
As for "the garden of sinners," the entire story revolves around the female protagonist Ryougi Shiki, a girl who wakes up after being in a coma for two years.
During her coma, she once touched the edge of death and fell into the hands of the "Mystic Eyes of Death Perception."
Because of these eyes, Shiki kills all living creatures in the world with her knife.
Shiki's classmate Kokutou Mikiya, and Aozaki Touko, who is both a doll maker and a magus.
They are also drawn into this incident. Some love to collect floating ghosts, some love to build human deaths... In short, ordinary and extraordinary Time merge, and the strange, dark world reflected by Shiki's knife begins.
This story is actually relatively complete and can be directly developed into a game.
But...
Aoki Haruhi always felt that developing "the garden of sinners" first would make the pace too slow.
So he shifted his gaze to the last proposal.
Huh?
"President, are you reading that fast?" Nasu Kinoko couldn't help but be surprised.
At first, when Aoki Haruhi finished "the night of magic," Nasu Kinoko thought it was because his work had too little content, or that it simply hadn't piqued the President's interest.
But, not long after, Aoki Haruhi finished reading the entire "the garden of sinners."
Nasu Kinoko couldn't sit still.
Because he had spent a long Time writing these words; every sentence, every word was meticulously crafted, embodying Nasu Kinoko's hard work, and yet it was read through so quickly by the President...
He just felt like it wasn't being treated properly.
"Ahem, I've always read very fast," Aoki Haruhi explained, feeling a bit embarrassed.
He couldn't very well say that he had actually read it in his previous life, could he?
"A girl with Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, an interesting death mystery. It's a really good setting."
Nasu Kinoko nodded, feeling a little more at ease after hearing the President's comments.
The President actually read it all? So much text, he didn't expect his reading speed to be so fast?
No wonder...
Indeed, he's a busy President. Without this ability, he really couldn't do so many things.
...
Aoki Haruhi coughed, cleared his throat, and extended a slender finger, indicating that he was about to enjoy the next proposal.
Nasu Kinoko and Takeuchi Takashi held their breath, silently watching him.
However, they didn't dare to put too much pressure on the President, so they almost immediately glanced at Aoki Haruhi and then quickly turned their heads away.
Sure enough, there was a problem here; it was completely different from the King Aoki Haruhi had imagined.
In this game proposal:
The basic settings in FATE, such as magi, Holy Grail, Master, and Servants, were almost finalized, but the protagonist was a girl with glasses, and Arthur was still male!!!
It was completely different from the story of Wei Gong Shirou and Artoria that Aoki Haruhi had imagined.
Although there were also Heroic Spirit battles and the struggle for the Holy Grail, it focused more on battle descriptions.
It probably became a character design of a female protagonist protected by a handsome and charming prince.
It had a strong flavor of a future Mary Sue female protagonist.
Moreover, the familiar Gilgamesh, Kirei, Tohsaka Rin, and Matou Sakura... and a series of other characters were all missing.
They were replaced by some unfamiliar names.
However, it was clear that the foundation of the version Nasu Kinoko was writing now was still very good.
Struggling between humanity and darkness, fighting each other for wishes, each character had their own mission and unfulfilled desires, giving their all for their dreams.
The relationship between the Master and the Heroic Spirit was more like love.
It's just that the Master was a female protagonist, and the Heroic Spirit she relied on was the tall, mighty, and handsome Arthur.
Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Sure enough, a young girl lives in Nasu Kinoko's heart. No wonder so many people still thought he was a girl for so many years.
Especially the text in the proposal was very delicate and beautiful. The story, told from the perspective of the female protagonist, always subtly conveyed a maiden's feelings.
In it, you could even feel that strong girlish heart.
Such a work, neither Gen Urobuchi nor Maeda Jun could achieve such delicacy and tenderness, yet also display a strong inner self and immense courage amidst a girl-like sweetness and gentleness.
Quite remarkable.
To be able to write a work from a female perspective as a male, and write it so well that people would mistake it for something written by a girl himself.
Nasu Kinoko certainly had a few tricks up his sleeve.
Takeuchi Takashi's illustrations were also quite beautiful. Ryougi Shiki was very good-looking, and Aozaki Aoko in the night of magic was also as Aoki Haruhi imagined. In this Fate proposal, Takeuchi Takashi also provided character designs and illustrations for the female protagonist and Arthur.
Very exquisite, completely in the Fate style.
This version should be the earliest version of Fate, an unfinished work written by Nasu Kinoko back then, which was later rejected.
Then it was rewritten into "Fate/stay night."
As for the original version, it is said that it was long forgotten what it was about, and was later adapted into "Fate/Prototype: Fragments of Silver."
The male version of Arthur is also known as Old Saber.
What a pity, what a pity...
Aoki Haruhi didn't get what he wanted.
From his personal perspective, the first Fate-related work should definitely be FSN. It's the cornerstone of the entire Fate series. As long as this work can be released, the future path will be smooth sailing.
Otherwise, it would take a detour for a while.
It seems that the two of them have actually made considerable progress. Without external interference and pressure, Nasu Kinoko can be said to have let himself go, fully dedicating himself to writing the proposal.
But even so, he still couldn't produce the work Aoki Haruhi envisioned.
Should he let them continue creating?
Or should he accept "the garden of sinners" and release it first, then slowly make the later game...
What about that?
Aoki Haruhi frowned in thought.
After a little Time, he quickly skimmed through "FATE," then closed the proposal and sighed silently.
Nasu Kinoko and Takeuchi Takashi couldn't help but tense up.
"What's wrong, President?"
The first two works were reviewed very quickly, but Aoki Haruhi spent almost the same amount of Time reading "FATE" as he did the previous two proposals combined.
At that Time, Takeuchi Takashi and Nasu Kinoko already felt that something was wrong.
Now, hearing the President's sigh, they became even more uneasy, their whole bodies tensing up again.
"Nothing, I'm just marveling at how excellent the setting of Fate truly is."
Aoki Haruhi said with a smile, "Masters, Heroic Spirits, fighting for the Holy Grail for their dreams, engaging in battles of life and death, and in the process of these battles, one can glimpse humanity.
The overall structure and rhythm are very well-managed.
I really like this kind of story and setting, especially the Heroic Spirits and Masters. The two protect each other and share a common destiny, summoning great heroes from history to duel for their fate...
It's truly amazing.
A very brilliant and creative design."
"Thank you, President."
Hearing the President's praise, the two were undoubtedly happy, but for some reason, they felt that the more they were praised, the greater the twist that would occur later.
"So, is there anything that needs to be modified?"
"If not..."
Takeuchi Takashi was about to say that if there wasn't, he was ready to apply for manpower to develop the game.
But Aoki Haruhi interrupted him.
"Oh, right."
"Mhm, mhm." The two young men sat upright, hands on their knees, nodding repeatedly.
Aoki Haruhi clasped his hands together, a friendly smile on his face, "Have you ever thought of making Arthur a girl?"
A brief silence fell in the President's office, as if Time itself had frozen.
After two seconds.
"Eh?!"
Takeuchi Takashi and Nasu Kinoko were greatly astonished.
"President, are you serious?" Nasu Kinoko couldn't believe his ears.
Making Arthur a girl?
Is this a setting a person could come up with?
No matter who looks at Arthur, he should be a man, right?
In legends, Arthur was the man who pulled the sword from the stone.
If he were changed to a girl, how would he have given birth to Mordred?
...
But on the other hand, Takeuchi Takashi, who was beside him, was clearly much calmer.
Not only calm, but he was even visualizing in his mind what a female version of Arthur should look like.
"Ah!"
Takeuchi Takashi exclaimed, slamming his fists together.
Startling Nasu Kinoko next to him.
"Amazing!"
"The setting of Arthur as a girl is simply amazing!" Takeuchi Takashi's eyes lit up with joy.
Nasu Kinoko looked at Takeuchi Takashi with a puzzled expression, thinking, are you okay?
"Right, isn't it?"
Aoki Haruhi also stood up, saying enthusiastically, "A blonde female swordswoman, wielding a wind sword, wearing knight's armor, fighting alongside other heroes. Although petite, she possesses extraordinary will and courage.
Designing Saber like this will definitely attract a large group of players."
"Mhm, mhm." Takeuchi Takashi nodded frantically.
He couldn't agree more.
Only Nasu Kinoko, sitting next to him, had a bitter expression throughout.
"If that's the case, then perhaps the protagonist's identity could also be changed? After all, if the game we want to develop is aimed at a male audience, it would be better to have a boy as the protagonist, wouldn't it?" Aoki Haruhi guided them patiently.
"In that case..."
Nasu Kinoko's pupils dilated.
Wouldn't all the content have to be changed?
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