Sakurai has stated that if viridi was human, she would be about 8.
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Hello! I enjoyed your writing.
It has a very different vibe from the rest of the WIP and COG games i read. There’s a sense of calmness reading your WIP and it works very well with Joe Hisaishi’s Music playing in as i read your story.
It reminds me of reading Strange Tales from Liaozhai and watching Spirited Away.
One of my fave scene so far was when you are talking with Big Sis, the feelings i get from reading this part makes me feel at peace. I hope she is not truly gone. I would love to read her scenes in the future. She feels nice. .
I also enjoyed the part where i can appear as a child to lead the hunters out of the forest, it feels like i finally get to be the spirit that can help/lead people astray, that being one being lead.
Looking forward for your future updates!
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Thank you for your words! I’ve always loved Spirited Away’s aesthetic, from the cheerful chaos to the sweet calm, so I’m glad I was able to portray that for you. That movie, along with other Ghibli movies, are huge inspirations to me. This game is 100% me being super self-indulgent.
I’m also glad you liked Big Sis. Her character and history are actually pretty elaborate, and I hope I’ll be able to touch on them further in the game. Gentle, nurturing characters are always a favorite of mine and she’s been a character that’s stuck with me for a very long time.
Playing Inochi no Namae on repeat for seven hours is how I get any writing done tbh
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Update!
Prologue was polished and half of chapter 1 has been added! See first post for more details. Thank you everyone for your support so far 
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I like the new update. The timeline seems les confusing. And the named spirits have a intimidating yet calm vibe. ( Never thought that a quail could be intimidating though). Great work
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Is there any chance that there might possibly be ROs?
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Yep! So far, all the named characters are ROs. The game’s plot is centered around the MC and their relationship (or lack thereof) with the world and its occupants. It’s safe to say that falling in love is entirely possible.
@Sija_Naji Great, I’m glad it’s less confusing, thanks for the feedback!
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Absolutely love this. Your writing is very calming and immersive, and the world is very alive. I don’t think there’s anything I could offer criticism on, you did too good.
The new characters are memorable, and the options for the MC’s preferred form are a nice addition that lets the imagination run wild. I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that has given me the same kind of flowy tranquility yours has here. Keep up the good work!
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Is big Sis the god of the mountain, Min He?
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Oh my, thank you so much, I’m so honored by your words! That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my writing 
I’m going to be grinning all day ~
@Logan3000x Does it seem that way? Hm… That’s interesting.
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Hello! The new chapter’s definitely intriguing and the issues I had with pacing last time are nonexistent here. I particularly liked when you found out you had a seed inside of you. The inability to choose anything other than the violent choice really sells it. The named spirits are also a good combination of annoying, curiosity-piquing, and likable.
Grammar
I think “lie breathlessly” or “lay breathlessly” would work better, depending on the tense you want to go for.
If it’s not a dialogue tag (eg. “she says,” “he asks,” etc.), the end of the dialogue takes a period and the next sentence starts with a capital letter:
"I like this WIP." Name shrugs. "Do you?"
“In your direction” and “from her direction” look similar so maybe the wording should be changed for the next one.
This should be a small letter.
*The
The paragraph break is smaller here than the others.
*Its
I think you mean “fleas”?
*it’s
*to
These should be a separate sentence.
This should be capitalized.
This should be a period.
Er, the dog spirit changes gender?
*it’s
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Hello again!
I did not expect for such a fast update. It was such fun playing through it again now that we are meeting with new characters.
After playing this update, my mind is burning with questions for your world. This is fun!
Lore Related Questions:
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Why do Gods allow malicious being like the foxes wandering within the Spirit World? Usually there are Gods for everything when it comes to Sino-Japanese belief, won’t there be a God that oversee the Domain of The spirit World? Or is there a compromise why the Foxes is free in the spirit world?
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Where is Jia Hun? Will we be able to interact with them?
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So the foxes can be created when the Seed blossom. It means that the Foxes are like a disease they spread their curses. Why are they cursed in the first place?
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Do fox affect Human the way they induce fear in the spirits? Can the human see them? Do they avoid them? Any human’s measure to ward them off?
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Can spirit reincarnate into humans?
MC Related Questions:
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So it seems MC is cursed or tainted, so there’s potential of them becoming foxes? Can they still be God of the Foxes? (Just asking. Haha) Can we be a cursed God? Who bring calamity and bad fortunes when my name is invoked?
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I see options where MC could despise Ko and Gods. And I like this option a lot because I like options that can induce the most drama. Can I continue to be rebellious but still keep my calm stat? Like Sima Yi from the Chinese History’s Three Kindgoms Era? Scheming revenge and discord behind the Gods and Retainers back?
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At the end, I felt a bit of railroad into going to the Sparrow’s Reach, towards the Dragon’s Back. I tried to be highly uncooperative during my time in the teahouse, I was desperate enough to hurt them and ran away. But when I receive the letter, suddenly I’m all for answers. This part feels disjointed, at least for me.
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Is there a choice where I choose not to be named? Haha. Probably that would mean non-standard game over. LOL.
Characters Related Questions:
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You seemed to imply that we might be able to meet Big Sis again down the line and last MC see her was her being torn by the Foxes. So she is tainted as well, if she is still alive. Can we save her? Haha. Is she gonna get a name. I like her, a lot. Not sure about the post-tainted Big Sis though.
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Qiu and An. I like An a lot, she is a fun character to read with. Can we have an antagonistic relationship with them and still get to be friends? Based on the preview in Chapter 1, it was so much fun being difficult with them.
Places & Adventures/Exploration
I love this world you create with your writing. Never overwhelms, but bring such life and imagination into the story.
So my question is will we ever have the chance to roam around the world, visiting places, ruins and understand their history and spirits there? I always wanted roam the Spirit World like Chihiro. I would love to able to immerse myself more in this world that you created.
All in all this is a great update! Thanks again!
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Again, thank you for catching those mistakes! I always comb through the writing myself, but I’m never as thorough as I like to be I’ll be editing in corrections a little later today. You’re a lifesaver!
Edit: Fixed! Thank you again!
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Aiight let me at these questions.
Lore
Somewhat spoiler-y, but I think I can answer based on what’s in the demo. Foxes can’t die. If you inflict enough wounds on a Fox, they’ll go still and then come back to life, ready to fight as ever. If you incinerate/destroy the body, the result is even worse. I don’t want to go into the gods’ idea of Foxes because that may or may not be an arc of its own, but they are very aware of the Fox problem, they just can’t do anything. Generally, gods will create barriers that Foxes avoid, but lately, it seems that Foxes are becoming more resilient to those…
This isn’t too much of a plot spoiler, but I’m blurring it anyway just in case. Jia Hun is the Center. Jia Hun is the ultimate God and the literal gate between the death and life. Passing through Jia Hun allows reincarnation. Will we interact with them? Is it a good thing if MC interacts with them? 
Foxes spread their curse, yeah. Spirits are super exposed to energy, which manifests as emotions, powers, and any interaction in the world, so coming into contact with something as malicious as a Fox (even breathing the same air) would be enough to corrupt them. As to why they were cursed, that’s some heavy spoilers that I’d like you to experience!
Hmm… I’m going to have to do a little blerb on humans for this. So humans can’t see spirits, generally, spirits have to will themselves to be seen and that takes quite a lot of energy (as seen in the prologue if you select that choice). Thus, humans can see spirits if spirits are highly agitated/in the middle of something strenuous because of how much power that generates. Of course, there are also humans who are sensitive to energy in general, and they fall in a spectrum of being able to see spirits clear as day to only being able to tell if a spirit is nearby.
Foxes are highly agitated all the time. So yeah, they can be seen by most humans, and oh yeah they are a HUGE problem. Like spirits, humans rely on wards (paper seals, carved statues, etc.) , but humans aren’t good at utilizing energy, so a great majority of them rely on local gods and deities. It kinda works out because humans worship gods, gods gain power, gods continue to create barriers that lead Foxes away.
Yep! Humans are considered Blessed Beings to most spirits, so being reincarnated as a human is a want for most.
MC
Lmao good luck trying to control Foxes. They hate each other as much as they hate everyone else, though recently that’s changed for some reason…
You can be an evil god/ entity. I still need to work out a few stats, but it’s entirely possible ~
Hmmm I don’t have something TOO drama-inducing, but kinda? You can antagonize them and be a pain to them while sticking around. This mostly will fall in the evil god route.
Oof, sorry about that. You will have more freedom and ability to avoid the Ko and gods after Sparrow’s Reach, but there’s some plot and defining story moments that need to happen before the story can branch properly. I’ll think about adding an alternative or rewriting that part for more aggressive/Ko-hating spirits. I’ll see what I can do!
Actually, uh, you can refuse to be named. The MC is pretty damn strong on their own, so I can see the more stubborn MCs just outright refusing the Ko and gods and giving them a metaphorical finger as they back into the woods.
Characters
…Did I imply that? She did die, but her story is a long and interesting one that may or may not be revealed. I’m thinking about expanding the prologue for more interaction with her, I didn’t expect you guys to like her so much. But that’s a good thing! I’m honored you guys do!
AAAHHHH QIU AND AN <3 Not going to lie, these two are my favorite characters period. They’ve been with me the longest and I always come back to write them in everything I do. As for your question, yeah! Spirits are naturally kind of mischievous and have playful/antagonistic friendships with each other generally so why not? An is definitely more likely to reciprocate with banter/teasing/frienemies thing of the two, but they both are fun to irritate.
Fun fact that I can’t keep in though: Qiu originally had an outrageous cowlick a la California Quails. But I eventually changed him into a China-native King Quail instead.
Exploration
Thank you for your words! I wanted to bring in a sense of playful chaos with the spirit world and I hope I was able to convey that. I’m also glad that you’re not overwhelmed, haha. I’m always careful about doing lore dumps because I know they can get suffocating if the writer throws too much at you at once.
You will be able to roam the spirit world quite a bit if you go down a certain route, but not so much the surface world. Or maybe not. Not sure. While I have plot points that I want the game to hit, I’m pretty flexible with how to get there, so maybe there will be exploration? You will definitely visit more places though and be able to interact with more beings of interest, but I can’t say for sure how deep the exploration will be.
Thank you for your questions! I had a lot of fun answering them 
For the vague answers about exploration and MC capabilities, I’m still testing the waters and limitations of the CoG writing style so I have no idea what possibilities I can muster. Honestly, for my first game and published work, I just wanted a linear story with some branching to get used to the medium, but that train’s been derailed so welp.
If you, or anyone else, has more questions, I’m always happy to answer!
Edit: editted first answer so its a bit more clear. Sorry about that, I’m still a little groggy.
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So if our MC straight up declines the honor to be named by the God(?) would that lead us down the path to be named by a human like An?
And I dont know if its just me but it seemed like Qiu was condescending when mentioning that An was named by a human. Would that be because the biggest honor bestowed upon him is that his god named him?
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Qiu’s issue is with humans rather than the fact he was named by a god and she wasn’t. He views An as an equal, mostly, but he doesn’t deal with humans very well. The two of them also just bicker for the sake of bickering.
Sure! I mean, you can refuse a name the entire game if you feel like it, but yeah, there’s a human or two that might feel like naming the MC later on.
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Thank You for entraining my series of questions that could actually be answered in the game in the future. Haha. Anyhow, i replay the game after reading your answers and now I have more questions! Be warn! 
Characters
Big Sis. Oh. She is really dead then 
I must have misunderstood your reply back then. If its possible for you to expand the prologue for more interaction with her without breaking your story, I very much would like it. I would like to learn more about her, and I hope even in death, she continues to play a role in MC’s life and decisions in the game.
Can we go back to where she died and pay our respect to her during the game 
, if we should ever return to the Human world?
Qiu and An. Yessssss, i wanna have more frienemies interactions with them. By the way, I have to google California Quails and King Quails to know what you’re talking about. And what i googled did not disappoint. Too bad you didn’t keep Qiu as California Quails, the feathery crest actually suits him based on what interaction MC have with him, but! His personality would be suffice to without having a crest showing off. Haha.
I hope we get to learn more of their backstory and how they came to be as spirit and Ko, and about their time in the Red Mountain. Most importantly, are they before or after MC & Big sis’s time there at the Red Mountain?
Lore again
Thinking of Big Sis’s demise, actually leads to another question about naming.
Can we set a grave for her? Would setting an unnamed grave gives power to the spirit? Does this affect the dead spirit reincarnation? How does reincarnation works actually? Is there a form of authority to judge what the deceased get to reincarnate as?
So, the only time when MC gets to interact with Jia Hun is when MC dies and being reincarnated. Does Jia Hun has a personality or is Jia Hun merely a entity without conscious?
Why would being reincarnate as human is a blessed being when they seem weaker than spirits, since their life span feels shorter than the spirits?
Foxes can’t die, but they can grow in numbers. Is there no way to pacify them? Cause if this goes on soon everyone/spirits could be tainted and become Foxes. The spirit world will be overwhelmed with them…Or that is a part of the plot? 
…And, they are growing immune to the Godly barriers. Ohoho. I’m throwing my 2 cents here, speculating: Could this means that whatever created them and empowering them is growing stronger as well? Since this world is based on the power of someone knowing and praying to one entity, maybe there occult that prays to these malicious beings so bestow bad luck upon their enemies. Maybe there’s a war going in the Human world and they using these Foxes to curse their enemies.
psst… can Gods/Deities be tainted as well?
MC
Will we get to establish/understand MC’s animosity toward the Gods and Ko in the game later?
Will the story explain why does MC get to be so strong nearly on par with the Ko without being under the Gods’ wing or naming?
Oh, when i play, i don’t hate them exactly, more like i do not want to have anything to do with them. Can We be not-aggressive and still does not want anything to do with them? Or whatever that they offer and still be friends with the Ko? or other Pro-Gods and Pro-Ko characters?
Will we be considered as evil if we antagonize the Gods & Ko and be a pain to them while sticking around? Can I choose to be true neutral and antagonize the Gods & Ko? Or must we be evil to do that?
YESSSS. This is promising. 
Gameplay-wise
Could I suggest moving this “What do you want from me?” during the Teahouse question to the 2nd last option before “How did you find me? (End the Match)”?
Since that option would make players skip the other remaining questions if they choose “Leave!” and move on to the next scene.
About the Exploration suggestion, i kinda just tossing a brainstormed idea, they are unfiltered. LOL. Or maybe, it doesn’t have to be in this instalment. 
HAHA.
Thanks again!
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Haha, no worries, I have fun answering these questions. It helps keep the plot fresh in my mind too!
Characters
Yes, and that’s going to be a heavy moment.
100% agree. Crest or not, he’s constantly grooming and preening around others anyway, and King Quails are pretty anyhow! It loses the homely colors of the Cal, but it’s more regal which suits Qiu just fine.
This is a confrontational scene coming up. The MC suffered Fox wounds and they want answers about where that god was.
Lore
Setting a gravestone/marker for unnamed spirits is pretty strange, simply because spirits are pretty blithe about death. However, the MC will have a chance to if they want to, though you will never know if it affects Big Sis’s next reincarnation since you won’t be able to know what she’s turned into.
cracks fingers alright, lore dump. Here’s Jia Hun, High God Lu Wen, and High God Bai Wen notes straight out of my word doc. (spoiler-y details have been redacted. This is purely supplemental. My notes are normally this disorganized, yes, I’m sorry.)
The Three
Jia Hun is the sun and the God of all Gods. The First Supreme Being and the Gateway to all other Worlds. Exists in Diyu as a giant golden wheel with a gateway through its center. Spirits pass through in death, appealing to the one who presides over the gateway to their next life. Jia Hun is associated with the sun, dragons, and all life itself. Jia Hun has a will and consciousness of emotions/expressions that can’t be expressed in words.
High God Lu Wen is the Guardian that watches over Jia Hun. He is the judge that determines the new life for each spirit, and also the one who carries out orders on Jia Hun’s will. He paces the top of the entrance of Jia Hun, ever wary for Foxes. Associated with the moon, white tigers, and salvation. He was born when Jia Hun saw itself in a lake’s reflection, when time first came to be. Lu Wen takes all of one’s life into account, your sins, virtues, doubts, dreams, goals, and gives you a new life based on what you lack. Reincarnation is to remind the soul that they are all part of Jia Hun and the same in the end, so it’s not so much judgement time as it is an evaluation of what the soul has yet to learn.
Bai Wen is the One who spins the Earth. She lives in the earth’s core as a broad-shouldered laborer. She was the first human, and a warrior who tied together the earth and Jia Hun. She keeps all time moving, and knows all weather. Humans will appeal to her for good weather and good harvests. She was born when Jia Hun first came to be, out of their desire to remain tethered to the earth. She came undone from Jia Hun’s hair tie. Associated with the earth, serpents and morality.
Diyu is the spirit world and underworld. The Center is where the dead souls migrate to, following a winding path that begins at the very edge of the spirit world to Jia Hun. It’s a pilgrimage done to reflect upon one’s life. The Center is Jia Hun, and the area around it is lived in by higher gods, the further away from the center, the more rural it gets.
Good question! Once spirits awaken, they shed their mortal body in exchange for power and higher thinking. They become pure energy and practically immaterial, losing their physical ties to the earth. Humans, on the other hand, take the form of Bai Wen and though they live shorter lives, they live full ones. They keep grounded to the earth while they bring about change and creativity. Spirits cannot affect the world the same way they do, and it’s why the spirit world is just an echo of the real one. In a world where your spiritual goal is to live as fulfilled as possible, being human helps a lot.
Of course, humans still feel pretty inferior to spirits regardless. The grand scheme of things is great, but having powers and magic is still something to envy.
There isn’t, and everyone becoming Foxes is a legitimate issue that the gods are trying to address. That is plot, of course, for a certain route. But I’m very excited to write it all out.
oooh it’s a bit more complicated than that. The origin of Foxes, who created them, what’s going on, why the barriers aren’t working and why they can’t be purified is an absolute mess.
Though I can say that humans worshiping Foxes will be addressed! (and it’s my excuse for exploration) I will say that humans can’t be cursed though, only killed by the Foxes. They aren’t made up of magic/earthly energy so it doesn’t corrupt them. Well, for the most part. This, too, is a bit complicated.
Yes, but they have a higher resistance to it. More power = more pureness = harder to corrupt.
MC
Ooooohhh yeeeaaaahhhh. This’ll be fun. You can be friendly with the Ko and then gain animosity for them as you know them. I’m trying to write An, Qiu and Min He so that it’d make sense why the MC would like or hate them.
MC is The Chosen One ™
…Kidding. It will be brought up, but it’s not a huge reason. It’s partly luck, because the MC was simply born with a boost in strength, and partly due to what they’ve been through (emotions and experience builds power). There are plenty of unnamed spirits as strong or stronger than the MC, it’s just not all that common.
Ooh, sorry I misunderstood. But yes, you can. Refusing won’t make you an enemy of them, and you can still visit the Red Mountain if you’d like to pester them. Again, spirits are naturally mischievous anyway so they’ll take it as friendly affection.
I thought antagonize as in, like literally trying to ruin everything they’re about. But if you want to just annoy them, go right ahead. An angry, fluffed up Qiu that can’t do anything more than throw you out of the shrine will be fun to write.
The evil god route is something I’m still developing, but that will be actually evil and less playful (though you can still mess with them). Haven’t quite worked out all the story points for this one though so I can’t tell you too much.
Gameplay
That…might be a good idea. The only reason I have it where it is is because “How did you find me?” and “Attack!” appear out of nowhere if you ask certain questions and react a certain way. I wanted those to also appear at the end right before (End Match) to make it more clean, but maybe I’ll list them after (End Match)? I’ll mess around with that. Thanks for the advice!
Oh sweet merciful god, if this became a series I don’t know what I would do lmao, but I’m happy you think it deserves more!
And now I have to go back to reread my notes to make sure it’s still consistent lol. Thank you for the questions, I’m always up to answer as many as I can (Also, I really like your profile pic! Yuumei is my favorite artist~)
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UPDATE FOR AUG. 16
Hi, so I’m a big dumb. I thought “Oh hey, it’ll be fine if I just transfer this old novella into an IF and add some branching and it’ll be okie-dokie.”
Nope. I should have looked ahead more. The idea I want to do is actually way more ambitious than that so I spent the beginning of this month re-planning, rewriting and re-everything. I fixed my old characters, put in some new ones and finally got a storyline that I’m really satisfied with.
So in this update, I put in the branching paths. 2/5 of the branching in chapter 1 is finished, and the other three should come shortly. They are all half-way done, so expect it in two weeks (max).
In reality, the major branch is between staying in the spirit world or returning to the mountain. They both play out differently and show a different side to the overarching story. I’m really, really excited about this since I could only explore one side before so I hope you guys enjoy it as well!
Also, for now, please don’t mind the stats too much. I need to work on balancing them and deciding which I should keep or discard. The game isn’t too stat-heavy anyways though, but just so that you guys are aware I am working on it.
I also added all the planned ROs to the character list in the first post, because I just finished deciding on how I wanted to work with romance. I haven’t written romance in a long time and I miss it so I’m highkey excited for this
The next update will feature either a revamped prologue or another finished branch very soon! Hopefully. Thank you everyone for your support~
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I love your writing. Fantastic opener.
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