Unfortunately, I do not know Korean. Even though I just spent the last half hour thinking I should learn Korean, simply so I could help, before realising, no that’s stupid.
But otherwise, I love Eiwynn’s idea of sharing an extract from our work on the 15th, so I’m going to do just that.
This is a scene from my WIP, where the player has chosen to hang out with a character named Sumira.
15/02/2023 - Sumi 1
*label sumi1
*set bondlvl_Sumi +1
You decide that you want to spend time with Sumira.
But before that, you need to find her.
*temp manga false
*label repeat_sumi1
Now where could she be?
*fake_choice
*hide_reuse #Search the Library.
The library is clearly the obvious choice, that's where you first met her after all.
You head to the library, and find it to be slightly busy. You almost think you've gone death, but then you realise that it's the library. Of course it's quiet.
Regardless, you search around and find no trace of Sumira. It's rather surprising, you had gathered that this was her main haunt.
It would appear you need to search elsewhere.
*goto repeat_sumi1
*hide_reuse #Search in the Student Council room.
You decide to look for her in the Student Council room.
You open the door, and find the room deserted, except for Riona, who is sat at a desk doing some paperwork.
She looks up as you enter. "Hello ${pcname}, can I help you?" She asks you.
*fake_choice
#Ask her if she's seen Sumira.
"Hi Riona. Have you seen Sumira?" You ask her, "I'm looking for her."
Riona gives a small chuckle before answering. "I'm not surprised. If she doesn't want to be found, she usually doesn't. But if you really must find her, I recommend searching in places where no one else is. The Library is busy today, so try one of the common rooms."
"Thanks, I'll see you later" You say, turning to leave.
"If it's any consolation, even I don't know where she is." ${Mackenzie} says to you, suddenly appearing as you leave the Student Council room.
"Thanks for the help." You say to ${her}, heavily leaning on the sarcasm.
#Mumble an excuse and leave.
"I, Um, Yeah." You mumble, fumbling for words.
"Sorry?" She asks, clearly confused.
"Gotta go bye!" You say, and run out of the door.
[i]Well, that was embarrassing.[/i] You think to yourself.
"Shut up!" You say to ${Mackenzie}, who you notice floating nearby, giggling.
You walk away down the corridor.
It seems you need to search somewhere else.
*goto repeat_sumi1
#Search the Common Room.
*set Sumira +1
*if statlabels = true
[Your relationship with Sumira has slightly Increased!]
You decide you might as well search the common rooms.
You begin with the first floor, and begin ascending the dorm building, checking each common room in turn.
In the first floor common room, you interrupt a poker game, and quietly excuse yourself.
The second floor common room was deserted.
On the third floor, you saw something you'd rather forget. They should be more considerate of others and do it in their dorm room.
You reach the fourth floor, and find it deserted as well.
Standing in the centre of the room, you rotate 360 degrees to verify that it is in fact empty. But suddenly, you hear a voice ring out, "So you have found me, chosen one!"
Sumira emerges from a dark hallway, labelled Leopard.
"I congratulate you, chosen champion. For you have found me!" She says with a wide smile, but it is obvious to you that she is annoyed that she lost the game of hide and seek that you weren't aware that you were participating in.
"Is your room down there Sumira?" You ask her.
"Huh? Nah, I just wanted to create a metaphor." She says, staring at you, as if she was waiting for you to understand a joke and burst out laughing.
You say nothing, and she starts pouting. "You don't get it? You know, cus I'm stealthy, and so are Leopards. Actually I think that the…"
"The metaphor doesn't really work if you have to explain it." You say, sensing she was about to start a rant.
She crosses her arms, and stomps over to the sofas in the centre of the room. "Ok jeez, sorry Shakespeare." She groans as she collapses onto one of the sofas.
*page_break
*goto sumi_main1
*hide_reuse #Search the Canteen.
Perhaps she's getting something to eat.
You head into the Canteen, and find it deserted, except for a meeting of the Manga club. There is an obnoxiously bright pink banner hanging from the ceiling that says, "Manga club Meeting!" that is covered in Japanese words. A lunch-Lady near keeps eyeing the banner with pointed suspicion.
*fake_choice
#She's not here, search somewhere else.
She is clearly not here, so you leave the Canteen to search elsewhere.
*comment lucky break mf
*goto repeat_sumi1
#Go and talk to the Manga club
*set manga true
The Manga club consists of 4 members, and they seem to be hogging a table in the centre of the Canteen. The table is covered in stacks of books with Japanese characters on the covers.
They do not notice you as you approach, too deep in a discussion about something called a "Waifu". They do not even notice you as you stand right next to their table.
since they seem to be ignoring you, you look at some of the book covers. Most of them feature cartoon drawings of various characters, but you can't read the titles, since they are in Japanese.
"Do you want something?" One of them asks, suddenly acknowledging your prescence, "You're interrupting the Waifu wars."
"The what now?" You ask, confused.
"If you don't even know what that is, then you have no place among us. Sayonara baka." They say to you, gesturing for you to leave.
You are about to ask what on Earth that means, but you decide, for the purpose of your sanity, to leave.
[i]It's no use, I'd need to bring Hikari to even know what they're on about.[/i]
"YOU BAKA! AKANE-CHAN IS CLEARlY THE SUPERIOR WAIFU!" You hear from behind you.
[i]And maybe I'd need to be a little crazy.[/i]
After that confusing experience, you leave the Canteen to continue your search for Sumira.
*goto repeat_sumi1
#Give up and ask her via telepathy.
*set Sumira +2
*if statlabels = true
[Your relationship with Sumira has increased!]
[i]Sod this, I'll just ask her directly.[/i] You think, conceding defeat.
"[i]You finally given up?"[/i] You hear Sumira say to you telepathically.
"[i]You heard that?[/i]" You think back.
"[i]Hehe, I've been hearing your thoughts for the past thirty or so minutes. My guess is, since you were thinking of me, my telepathy automatically picked up on you.[/i]
*if manga = true
[i]Speaking of which, even Hikari doesn't know what those weirdos are on about, so don't bother asking her. They constantly hassle her anyway.[/i]
[i]You're prolly wondering where I am though aren't ya? You don't have to answer, I know you're thinking it. Come to the fourth floor common room in the dormitory. I'll see you there."[/i]
You don't hear her again, so you make your way to the dorm building.
*page_break
You reach the fourth floor, and head into the common room. It is deserted, but you notice notice Sumira emerge from a dark hallway, the hallway is labelled Leopard.
"Is your room down there Sumira?" You ask her.
"Huh? Nah, I just wanted to create a metaphor." She says, staring at you, as if she was waiting for you to understand a joke and burst out laughing.
You say nothing, and she starts pouting. "You don't get it? You know, cus I'm stealthy, and so are Leopards. Actually I think that the…"
"The metaphor doesn't really work if you have to explain it." You say, sensing she was about to start a rant.
She crosses her arms, and stomps over to the sofas in the centre of the room. "Ok jeez, sorry Shakespeare." She groans as she collapses onto one of the sofas.
*page_break
*goto sumi_main1
*label sumi_main1
You sit in the other sofa, you give a look of disgust at a small brown stain on the nearby cushion.
Sumira sits and stares at you, waiting for you to say something.
It seems you'll have to be the one to keep this conversation going.
*fake_choice
#Ask her how she created the handbooks.
*set Sumira +2
*if statlabels = true
[Your relationship with Sumira has increased!]
You attempt to think up a topic that would get her talking. You decide that the handbooks would be a good place to start.
"How did you create the handbooks?" You ask her.
"Aha! You wish to know the details? The you must get on your knees and call me 'Madam Genius'!" She says, in a tone that makes you unsure whether she is joking or not.
*fake_choice
#Play Along
*set Sumira +1
*if statlabels = true
[Your relationship with Sumira has slightly increased!]
Sighing internally, you get off the sofa, and fall to your knees.
Sumira's eyes widen, and she squeaks. "Wait, wait, wait, waitwaitwait, you're actually doing it? I was joking!"
Thanking your good fortune, you climb back onto the sofa.
"Anyway…" She says, clearly trying not to laugh.
#Stare at her blankly.
There is an awkward silence, as the two of you stare at each other, waiting for someone to do something.
Until finally, she says, "Don't worry, I was joking."
[i]"Thankfully…" You mutter under your breath.[/i]
"So, how I created the Handbooks you ask? Well, let's go back 4 or 5 years, and Mori Academy had just purchased a large shipment of tablets from a pretty unremarkable company. I took one look at them, and said to the Headmaster, "Wait a minute, isn't there enough of these for every student to have their own personal tablet?" And he said to me,"By golly gosh, Sumira, you're a damn genius. Take these tablets and hand one out to every student." That is definitely what he said, do not slander my good image." She explains.
She continues, "So obviously, I thought that these would not do in their current state, so I took all roughly 1500 of them back to my room, and connected them all into their very own personal network. I then had to spend the next year or so, meticulously customising each one so that we each had our own personal digital handbook. Oh yeah, and there was the whole database that I added for Riona, but that was no big deal. So, now, when someone graduates or dies or whatever, We just have to change the name and Boom! Some one else gets the handbook."
With the basics out of the way, The two of you spend the next few hours talking about the handbooks, Sumira answering your questions with extreme enthusiasm and detail. You both say goodbye to each other, and retire to the dorm rooms when night falls.
*page_break
#Try and get her rambling, so that she'll keep the conversation going herself.
*set Sumira +2
*if statlabels = true
[Your relationship with Sumira has increased!]
You attempt to think up a topic that would get her talking. It is then that you remember what Riona said to you that one time.
"So, why do you think the Mirror World exists?" You ask her.
Sumira looks at you as if you had just confessed your love for her, and takes a deep breath.
Letting it out, she starts talking.
"Well, when I first experienced Speculo, I thought I was just dreaming, so I didn't really believe it. I only first began believing it when Riona and Jack told me the whole story. Once I knew the phenomen was real, i began thinking about it. One of my first theories was that it is the brain of some eldritch entity, and it links with our own thought processes, causing us to see our hidden thoughts…"
[i]Time seems to start warping…[/i]
"…And if you consider it that way, then you'll understand why I say that the powers that we gain from the awaking are probably automatic defensive reactions by our minds. So if we think along those lines, then perhaps we might be able to understand why our powers seem to link to our deepest, darkest secrets. And before you ask, no I'm not telling you my secrets, that would mean I…"
[i]You experience a sensation of falling in and out of unconsciousness.[/i]
You look back up suddenly, after your brief experience of time dilution, and find that Sumira has gone. Now alone in the common room, you decide it would just be best to call it a night. You stand up from the sofa, but as you do, you notice something stuck on your chest.
You take it off, and find it to be a post-it-note.
"Thanks for listening to me rant, we gotta do it again some time. You nodded off so I left, but I still wanted to thank you. BTW it's 2AM. -Sumi"
2AM? You snap your head to look at the clock in the common room. Crap, it's 3AM!
You waddle back to your dorm room, suddenly realising your tiredness, and fall asleep in your bed before you get a chance to get dressed.
*page_break
#Just sit in silence.
*set Sumira -1
*set friendly -3
*set apathy +1
*if statlabels = true
[Your relationship with Sumira has slightly decreased.]
[You are now perceived as significantly more coldhearted and slightly more apathetic]
You can't seem to find the right words to say, so you say nothing.
Sumira keeps staring at you, seemingly expecting you to say something.
It becomes clear to her after a while however, that you don't plan on saying anything, so pulls a laptop out of her bag. She places it on the table inbetween the sofas, and begins typing at an impressive speed.
The two of you spend the next few hours sitting together in silence. Sumira works on her laptop, while you sit there in silence, doing nothing. The next time you glance at the clock, it is time to go to bed.
You get up from the sofa, and Sumira looks up at you as if she forgot you were there. "Oh yeah, ${pcname}, you're here." She says, with an awkward mood in the air.
She places the laptop back in her bag, and stands up as well. ""You're clearly new at this, so I'll give you a word of advice. If you're planning on hanging out with someone, perhaps don't spend the entire time just sitting in silence? Good night." She says to you, before heading into the stairwell.
You are left alone in the common room.
"Yeah…" You say, to no one in particular.
*page_break
*if current_date = "2/9/2025"
*goto 2/9_end
*if current_date = "3/9/2025"
*goto 3/9_end
*if current_date = "4/9/2025"
*goto 4/9_end
*if current_date = "5/9/2025"
*goto 5/9_end
*if current_date = "6/9/2025"
*goto 6/9_end
*if current_date = "7/9/2025"
*goto 7/9_end
*if current_date = "8/9/2025"
*goto 8/9_end
*if current_date = "9/9/2025"
*goto 9/9_end
*if current_date = "10/9/2025"
*goto 10/9_end
*if current_date = "11/9/2025"
*goto 11/9_end
*if current_date = "12/9/2025"
*goto 12/9_end
*if current_date = "13/9/2025"
*goto 13/9_end
After pasting it in here, I have realised it is much larger than I thought, but Oh well.
