It was past 8 PM when Furukawa Hirozawa returned home after buying the game disc.
A famished Furukawa Hirozawa still had to make his own dinner.
Living alone has its advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is absolute freedom.
The disadvantage is that after returning home, even a hot meal has to be made by oneself.
For some unknown reason, perhaps due to his recent increase in age, Furukawa Hirozawa always had a strange urge to get married.
However, the thought of Furukawa Nagisa and Okazaki Shio from CLANNAD made him hesitate.
Furukawa Hirozawa felt that he didn't have the ability to start a family yet.
It wasn't that he lacked financial means; Furukawa himself was an old senior who had been working for a long time, and he had successfully been promoted to section chief last month, with an annual income of at least 4 million.
This was completely sufficient to support the expenses of an ordinary family.
However, Furukawa Hirozawa believed that he didn't have the determination to shoulder the burden of a family, a wife, and a child's life.
Especially when he thought that his wife and child might become unfortunate, just like the characters in CL, a tragedy might befall him one day…
Just thinking about it made him completely abandon any thoughts of marriage.
According to Furukawa Hirozawa's own philosophy, if you can't bear the death of your wife and child, then the best way is not to bring children into the world and not to start a family.
That way, you won't be sad and wake up crying from dreams.
Ah~
While eating dinner, for some reason, Furukawa Hirozawa felt an urge to cry.
He really wanted to cry.
Damn it!
Is this the sequela that Old Thief Furuhara brought me?!
Damn it, playing too many Pokeni games, even if you don't encounter misfortunes like in the game, you still lose the courage to fall in love!
To some extent, perhaps this is another kind of misfortune?
Furukawa Hirozawa trembled all over, and the chopsticks in his hand almost fell due to this terrifying thought.
Terrifying!
Could it be that Old Thief Furuhara knows witchcraft and cursed me?
Thinking of this, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but get up, go to his study, open his computer, and then log in to the Pokeni website to post a new thread—
"To friends who have played Pokeni game, has anyone successfully fallen in love, gotten married, and had children?
Additional question: After playing Pokeni game, have you become more fortunate or more unfortunate?"
After posting, without waiting for replies from other players, Furukawa Hirozawa returned to the living room.
After all, the number of people in Japan with computers is still very limited, and many messages in online forums won't receive immediate replies; they usually need some time to ferment.
If the forum administrator thinks your post is particularly good and valuable, they might help you highlight and sticky it.
However, Furukawa Hirozawa didn't hold any hope that his question would be highlighted and stickied.
His immediate priority was to quickly finish his dinner and then start the game.
…
It was 9:30 PM.
After finishing his wash-up, Furukawa Hirozawa finally mustered the courage to turn on his game console and TV.
He inserted the LL disc and started the game.
The screen turned white.
A common announcement for Pokeni's galgame appeared:
【In this work,
all content is purely fictional, including characters, place names, relationships, etc.
Any resemblance is purely coincidental】
Immediately after the text disappeared, a large POKENI logo appeared.
【game is life】
【Please embark on a journey of life here】
The first time Furukawa Hirozawa saw Pokeni's slogan, he was actually quite moved.
Everyone's life is unique, but we can experience new journeys by experiencing others' lives or through the lives within a game.
In time, it's like entering a parallel world.
Especially after CL, Furukawa Hirozawa felt this point even more deeply.
What Pokeni made wasn't just a game; what game directly involves falling in love, getting married, having children, until both wife and child pass away?
What they made was clearly life itself.
Written as CLANNAD, read as life.
The players' evaluation of CL was Furukawa Hirozawa's own inner thought.
"Life, ah, life…"
But now—
His heart was as firm as a rock, completely unmoved.
This was the sequela of playing Old Thief Furuhara's game; once you have experienced the most tragic life and endured the vicissitudes of the world, seeing "game is life" no longer evokes so much emotion.
But not necessarily.
Some players are the opposite.
After experiencing everything, they are more easily touched.
To this, Furukawa Hirozawa said that he himself often oscillates between the two, and sometimes Furukawa doesn't even understand himself.
"Ah~ life is truly hard to understand, isn't it?"
"Especially my own life."
Furukawa Hirozawa sighed, uttering profound words.
He always felt as if many selves lived within his body.
Even he couldn't understand himself.
In the game:
The text disappeared, then gradually faded into a white screen.
In the middle was a large old tree, with white snow covering the ground.
Only the text in the entire screen was black, forming a sharp contrast with the white.
Upon seeing the start screen, Furukawa Hirozawa only felt a stinging sensation in his eyes.
He truly admired Pokeni, admired Old Thief Furuhara and Hayao Miyazaki, for creating such an interface; were they really not afraid of players getting snow blindness or something?
However, upon closer thought, a meaningful smile inadvertently appeared on Furukawa Hirozawa's lips.
Goodness, this was completely the opposite of CL.
It couldn't be entirely called opposite, but the contrast was quite obvious.
CL's main interface was predominantly green, with green grass, full of vitality, highlighting "Spring."
And now, the entire scene was covered in white snow; although Hayao Miyazaki processed it to appear as a single expanse of white, upon closer inspection, there were still other colors and varying degrees of light and shadow intertwined.
But the main theme was clearly "Winter."
From the very beginning, using a similar composition but different scenery to tell you that this game is definitely not that simple.
It must be said, Old Thief Furuhara is truly wicked.
What is a mirror image?
What is complementary?
Perhaps it was all laid out from the very beginning.
Furukawa Hirozawa only hoped that the game content wouldn't disappoint him.
On the right was the menu bar.
With "LIFE-LINE" written in large letters.
Below it were:
【New game】
【Load】
【Settings】
【Staff】
【Exit】
At the same time, while staying on this interface, light and pleasant music slowly began to play.
This music instantly brought tears to Furukawa Hirozawa's eyes.
Although the melody of the music itself was completely different from CL, you could clearly feel the stylistic similarities between the two.
Both were slow, gentle, and like wind, soothing you with "beautiful" music.
However, hearing such music, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but feel afraid.
Afraid that LL was a tear-jerking game.
And also afraid that it wasn't a tear-jerking game.
Damn it!
Old Thief Furuhara is too hateful; he's almost giving people PTSD now.
Taking a deep breath, Furukawa Hirozawa selected "New game" and pressed the button.
The game began.
The entire screen was pure white.
A line of text appeared below, with a blue background and white font.
It read: "An endless white world."
"…"
"Snow…"
"Yes, it's snow."
The male protagonist's monologue began.
There seemed to be a sense of being in a dream.
Huh?!
This similar opening.
For a moment, Furukawa Hirozawa even thought he wasn't playing LL, but CL.
Because this opening, including the dialogue, was not just similar to CL, but identical.
However, he quickly dismissed the doubt in his mind.
Because a door appeared in the screen.
This door stood alone in the snow, somewhat resembling doraemon's Anywhere Door.
However, whether on this side of the door or that side, only a world full of snow could be seen.
This was clearly Old Thief Furuhara's mischievous humor.
Even though they were two different game, he wanted you to connect them through similar scenes and dialogues.
Snow fell heavily.
Falling from the sky like light.
A knocking sound came from outside.
Then, from the first-person perspective, the male protagonist, Miyazaki Natsuki, reached out and gently grasped the doorknob.
Upon seeing the protagonist's name, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but complain—
Old Thief Furuhara's naming sense is too mischievous, isn't it?
Isn't this name a combination of his own and Hayao Miyazaki's?
A sense of déjà vu with Miyazaki + Furuhara Tsubaki.
However, it's quite ironic to name a winter scene "Natsuki" (summer tree).
Creak.
The male protagonist pulled the doorknob and opened the door, revealing a small, frail girl standing outside.
She was probably only about 3 or 4 years old.
With a round face, large sparkling eyes, dressed in a thick cotton coat, a large wool hat, earmuffs, and fluffy gloves, she looked completely round.
Ah~
Upon seeing this girl, Furukawa Hirozawa's entire heart melted.
"Um… who are you looking for?" Miyazaki Natsuki asked tentatively.
At the same time, the first-person camera moved downwards, giving Furukawa Hirozawa a sense of immersion, as if he had truly squatted down.
Miyazaki Natsuki reached out and stroked the little girl's head.
She leaned in with an expression of enjoyment.
Immediately after, before the male protagonist could react, the girl pounced on him.
"Daddy!"
"Daddy!"
The little girl called out affectionately.
But Miyazaki Natsuki was utterly bewildered.
"Eh?!"
【Whose child is this, calling a strange boy "Daddy" directly?】
【The problem is, I don't even have a girlfriend.】
【If someone saw this, I'd probably be disliked by girls for the rest of my life, wouldn't I?】
Just then, Miyazaki Natsuki's glasses were pulled off by the girl's chubby little hand.
The camera zoomed in on the glasses, reflecting the male protagonist's image.
At the same time, bright light shimmered on the lenses.
…
Then the camera suddenly cut.
Turning pure white.
【That's right, it was in this snowy season that I met her.】
【My future daughter—
Narai.】
…
The glasses swayed, with white clouds in the sky quickly passing over them.
Then the scene rotated from the sky to the ground.
In the vast white snow, the male protagonist, wearing black-rimmed glasses, walked hand in hand with the girl.
The little girl had also grown from her 3 or 4-year-old appearance to about 6 or 7 years old.
This transition was truly excellent.
Although Furukawa Hirozawa had some reservations about the "low-Appearance" male protagonist wearing glasses, he still found this scene beautiful.
Hayao Miyazaki's drawing skills are truly top-notch.
Moreover, the male protagonist and the girl walked one after another, with the little girl walking faster.
In the entire composition, the daughter Narai was clearly further ahead, with her center of gravity forward, striding quickly, pulling the male protagonist.
The male protagonist just smiled and let her drag him forward, but he looked into the distance, seemingly having discovered something.
A simple scene, yet it instantly revealed both their personalities.
The daughter Narai was clearly a bit impatient, and seemed to have endless energy.
While the male protagonist appeared calm and composed, but his eyes revealed a hint of unease, indicating that he was a more cautious father.
Although the whole world was cold, this scene inexplicably gave off a warm feeling.
Seeing this, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but feel a pang in his nose.
Damn it…
I miss Shio.
In CL, the male protagonist also walked with his daughter Shio in the snow, wanting to go to the flower field they had once visited, wanting to play with his daughter one more time.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do it.
Shio died in the snow, in Okazaki Tomoya's arms.
In the later parts, there was a scene where Okazaki Shio was sleeping under a big tree and was discovered by Ibuki Fuko after she woke up, but there was no concrete depiction of Tomoya and his daughter playing together in the flower field.
…
And now, Miyazaki Natsuki walked happily with his daughter Miyazaki Narai in the snow.
This obvious similarity yet contrasting comparison was truly moving.
Damn it!
That hateful Old Thief Furuhara.
Is he trying to make people cry right from the start?
Furukawa Hirozawa took a deep sniff, suppressing the sour feeling in his heart, and then quickly grabbed the controller to continue to the next step.
The two left a trail of footprints in the snow.
Walking towards the distant town.
"Is this a place where we can find happiness?"
The male protagonist asked softly.
"My daughter, Narai, has suffered from a severe eye disease since she was young; what she sees is completely different from what I see, and she cannot perceive this world."
"However, our hearts, as father and daughter, in pursuit of happiness, are the same."
"For this goal, we have been wandering."
"Is this a place where we can find happiness?" the male protagonist asked again.
"What kind of world does my daughter see?"
The wind blew snowflakes, sweeping across their faces, then flying forward.
Immediately after, a row of houses in a small town appeared ahead.
The lighting in the game also noticeably changed.
Just as the houses in the town came into view, the colors suddenly changed.
The entire world was no longer white, but pink, as if covered in cherry blossoms.
The distant city became mottled, as if rendered messy with various pigments, completely unrecognizable as a clear image.
The background music also became cheerful.
"Perhaps, here we will find the answers we seek."
…
Wow!
How stunning is this opening?
This feeling is like playing CL.
Despite different characters and stories, there's such a strong sense of similar déjà vu.