act7mini

(Come to think of it, I just taught her how to use a controller.)

(And I only figured that combo out not too long ago.)

(How'd she learn it?)

(Could I have unleashed a dormant gamer god?)

(Is there finally someone who could help me clear the secret set piece in Toukouden 2 Tachibana Edition?)

(Nnn... can't be sure yet.)

(Let's see if she can get past the set piece in Nukenin's hidden route first.)

(Sawara the Silentious. Pretty tough to beat.)

Oh, there's an animation.

(Here it is, the nighttime Saeki Crossing!)

Wh-Why can't I hack my way through?

I may be meant to flee.

(That's why people love Ringo Software. The way they connect and guide you through levels is so well-done, it clicks even for the littlest kids.)

Ugh, how are there still monsters on the road? How obnoxious!

No rush, take it slow.

Careful. There'll be monsters from the car ahead and the stores streetside.

Right, right, right, for this set piece, you'll want to use the streetlamps to stall the big guy, if you can't afford to tank, and then you can sort out the mob.

Errm.

Use that big tornado move to clear them away a little.

But don't use it too much. Save some SP for the set piece.

(Can she understand what I'm even saying?)

Step over here, and then—like that.

(Seems she does.)

Wagh, this is a dead end!

But it's got some room to maneuver.

You're in the set piece battle now. That one's usually invincible, but you can sac an item from your inventory at him and his invuln disappears.

Which one?

This one, the 'Sachet of Consecration'. Equip to your inventory, then just use it like anything else.

Do I take aim at him?

Mhm. You've got one chance.

Very well.

—A deadeye hit!

The invuln barrier's gone. Now slam him with everything you've got.

Very well!

Waargh, what speed!

You can-NOT lose, okay? You only get to do this fight once per save, and losing means doing the whole thing over again!

Fifteen minutes later...

What do I do if I can't regenerate?!

Focus, he's low too!

Remember to evade and parry!

You can't block that one, jump away jump away!

Get him, get him!

Counter, nice! Chain a skill in!

Nice, nice, weak point! Hit it!

Hei-yah!

Nice—niiiiiice!

You got the achievement—you got it, you got it!

G-Got what?

The true end!

True end? What do you mean, true end?

Didn't I just start playing a short while ago?

That's 'cause I was already in the back part.

Oh, the staff credits are rolling, perfect. Let me tell you how the story goes in the first part of the game.

Very well.

I can't read the words, after all. I've little choice but to rely on your narration...

(That's true, there's no Victorian release of the game. Impressive she had the patience to play for so long...)

Ahem. The game's called Nukenin, and it's about a nukenin—like the name—who left his homeland to live in a new nomadic city, and the story that happens there.

What's a nukenin?

They're... um... the nu-keh part is runaway, the nin is... they're assassins, killers from the shadows, does that make sense?

Yes.

And while this assassin was serving his master, uh, his lord, he saw his lord getting killed, and then was framed for the deed. So he had no choice but to leave the land for somewhere real far away.

And then?

So then he's where the story takes place, Shin-Aki City.

The city's an actual real one. My super-riajuu friend Utage sent me a postcard from there once.

The biggest thing about it is—all the ghost stories. Plenty of ghost stories all come from there.

And most of them are from after the city got wrecked by a Catastrophe and rebuilt.

Like station stops that don't actually exist, this kinda mysterious guy where if you don't give him water he follows you all the way home and drinks all the water there, Aki figurines that like wandering out and calling their owners when they get lost and then find their own ways back, stuff like that.

(You hear that, Annie? The next time you go out to play, remember to call me.)

(Yes.)

Really mystical ones, really especially scary ones.

Oh, the staff roll's over. Now it's mega-hyped secret ending time!

Mm...

Mmnn... mm?

Huh?!

Right, that had foreshadowing!

Oh my-Oh my god, everything makes sense now!!

Miss, what was that animation afterwards about?

It all makes sense. You know how I just said the assassin moved to a new city? So, because he was such an expert at assassination and investigation, he started up this detective agency.

And the big guy we just defeated in that set piece was called Sawara the Silentious, the oldest ghost story of Shin-Aki City.

They say that at night, at the busiest crossing in the Saeki district, if you cross alone, you run into this Higashi ronin dressed in ancient clothes.

He uses sign language to ask you something, and if you can't answer him, don't respond or try to run, he'll hunt you down and kill you. You end up in the endless icefields, or he goes down.

My, does that really happen?

I dunno either. Utage said the crossing in Saeki's all full of fun and excitement, and there's people drinking at every sake joint, and once they're done with one, they move onto the next, and then it's next morning and they just go back home and change clothes and go straight to work. Nobody's ever seen any kinda mute ronin.

Socky joint? They serve drinks and sell socks in your country?

Y—Yeah...

Anyway! This game's last hidden ending tells you that every ghost story in the entire city was descended from the oldest one, and then they spread out like tree roots.

Sawara wanted this Higashi place to become a city of ghost stories that outsiders would never see, and with that as his main thing, in the end he wanted to turn all of Higashi into a ghostly paradise!

Unfortunately, he met the protag, a guy from outside who probed out the whole thing.

In the end, Protag beats the original ghost story, finds out the city's secret, and the whole tree of stories falls apart, turning the city back to normal.

Simply because he won the 'set piece'?

Because ghost stories need enough mystery to last in people's minds. That's how they survive and get passed on.

If their true natures are revealed, the mystery disappears, and a million ghost stories lose their foundations all at once.

Their whole reason to exist is gone.

(Oh? Oh-ho—)

(What a coincidence, I'd like a few things to 'last' in this lady's mind too.)

(Here's my plan of action.)

You seem very happy, Miss.

We beat the hidden route! No duh I'm happy! Super-happy, tera-happy!

Ahh—and I have no idea my new games are gonna get here—

I guess I'll head back to the dorms—