I didn’t want to and had absolutely no intention of doing it. It wasn’t like I’d chosen to come here in the first place — I’d just gone to sleep and woken up stuck inside a game. What kind of person would actually go along with playing the game in a situation like this.
“What happens if I say I don’t want to play?”
[ System ]
[You mean pause?]
“No. End the game. I want to get out of here.”
[ System ]
[That’s not possible!]
“What? Why not!”
[ System ]
[Once it’s started, you can pause, but it’s been set up so that you can’t end it hh]
“Why! Who! What kind of idiot set it up that way!”
[ System ]
[I’m not sure……?]
“It’s your game, how do you not know!”
[ System ]
[I only explain the in-game situation and present choices — I’m not the game developer. Think of me as a kind of NPC :)]
“Aaaaagh!”
I screamed as loud as I could out of sheer frustration and fear. If all I could do was pause, that meant I was completely trapped here. How does anyone make a game where you can only pause and not quit? Did the developer make this without ever having played another game in their life? What a brainless developer.
“Then how do I get out of h—”
[ System ]
[Time’s up. The game is resuming.]
“What?! No, I said I wasn’t playing!”
I waved my arms at the system window hoping it would disappear, even tried pressing the X at the top — but the window wouldn’t go away. Text announcing the start of the tutorial appeared, and Choi Woosu and Lee Yura began moving in sync with it. The game had resumed. I had no choice but to watch.
Yura, having already sent her friend off ahead, leaned against the window frame, and Woosu greeted her with his usual smile. I hadn’t thought much of it while playing the game, but seeing it in person — they suited each other absurdly well. It was immediately obvious, without anyone having to say it, that the combination of their unrealistically beautiful faces was the secret to their popularity.
[ System ]
[“Did you come because of my message?”
“Yeah, I was on my way back from the school store and I’d be passing your class anyway, so I figured I’d just come say hi in person.”
“That explains it. So that’s why you weren’t texting back.”]
Well, well. A scoff slipped out of me. No matter how much she’d wanted to talk face to face, the fact that Yura had left Woosu on read didn’t change. And yet she was practically glowing just because he said she’d come to see him — it was almost pitiful to watch.
[ System ]
[“But why did you message me earlier anyway?”
“Oh, hold on.”
Woosu took out his phone and held it out to me. On the screen was a photo of a cozy, aesthetically decorated café — exactly my style, and I couldn’t help but be charmed by it.
“Wow! What’s this place? It’s so pretty!”
“Right? I thought you’d like it, so I saved it.”
“Really? Thank you. Where is it?”
“Not telling.”
“Aw, why. Didn’t you save it to show me?”
“Yes and no.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
Woosu tilted his head down slightly, avoiding my eyes. His cheeks were flushed as he smiled shyly.
“Would you……want to go there together after school today?”]
The scene where Yura gets asked out on a date by Choi Woosu. This was the tutorial and the first quest of the game. Out of habit, I reached my finger toward the system window. I’d done the tutorial at least ten times, so my body moved on its own, knowing the choice options would appear right at this moment.
[ System ]
[This is……a date invitation, right?
I was grateful that he’d looked up a café for me, and the way he was shyly asking me out was kind of cute. The thought of going on a date with Woosu was already making my heart flutter just a little.
But I hesitated to answer right away. If I went to the café with Woosu, I’d be late for my tutoring session — was that really okay?]
[ System ]
[Answer.
1. “Yeah, I’d love to!”
2. “Oh……what do I do? I have a tutoring session today. Can we go another time?”]
The reason she’s hesitating about accepting the date is a tutoring session. The choices were so perfectly high-school that I let out a quiet laugh. The kind of dilemma you could only have at that age — it was almost endearing. True to it being the tutorial, the right answer for the route was painfully obvious. I didn’t even want to waste time deliberating and quickly chose option 1.
[ System ]
[“Yeah, I’d love to!”
“Yeah? Are you free today?”
“Yep, I’m free. I’ll come to your classroom when it’s over then.”
“No, I’ll come to you. I’ll message you before I head over, so wait for me.”
“Should I? Okay then.”]
Good lord. A real hopeless romantic, this one.
As Yura waved and started heading back to her own classroom, Choi Woosu called out to her before he even realized he was doing it. He couldn’t quite bring himself to say he wanted to stay with her just a little longer, so after a brief internal struggle he brought up student council matters — barely managing to keep her there. It was obvious Yura had no idea what he was actually trying to do, but even that seemed to delight him, because the smile never left Choi Woosu’s face.
[ System ]
[Quest complete!]
[Choi Woosu’s affection toward Yura has risen by 5%.]
A heart popped up above Choi Woosu’s head and filled with pink to match the increase in affection. The choice just now had only raised it by 5%, but the heart was already filled far beyond that. Once the affection gauge was fully displayed, a number appeared above the heart.
[ System ]
[♡28%]
This was Choi Woosu’s current affection level toward Yura. The tutorial had only just ended, and it was already at 28%. I hadn’t played any other romance simulation games so I wasn’t entirely sure, but most of them seemed to start affection at 0 — this game was different. The capture targets already had feelings for Yura before the game even began, which was why their affection didn’t start at zero. That was one of this game’s unique mechanics.
[ System ]
[Yura’s affection toward Choi Woosu has risen by 2%.]
[♡12%]
This was another one of the game’s mechanics — it wasn’t only the capture target’s affection that needed to be filled. Yura’s affection toward the respective capture target also had to reach a certain threshold before the game could be cleared. Settings like these, which you couldn’t find in other games, were definitely part of what made this one such a hit.
“……Rough. Really rough.”
Choi Woosu’s affection had gone up 5%, while Yura’s had only risen by a measly 2%. And even when fully filled, it still wouldn’t reach even half of Woosu’s. Seeing how each of them felt about the other displayed as a number like this made me feel a little sorry for Choi Woosu. Anyone could see it was his completely one-sided love.
[ System ]
[Congratulations. The profile of the first capture target, ‘Choi Woosu’, has been unlocked! Would you like to view it now?
Yes / No]
“No. No. Absolutely not.”
