Chapter 60 Dating Simulation Game (2)
I immediately pressed the button and started the otherworld’s first dating simulation game, [I’m a Cleric, but I Want to Fall in Love!].
Even for me, who had memories of my past life, the title was so full of clickbait energy that I couldn’t help wondering, Is this really the title?
But since the contest entrant came up with the name themselves, there was nothing to be done.
As expected of someone who had conceived of a dating simulation game from scratch, their sensibilities were definitely different from ordinary people’s.
“Come to think of it, Mr. Shylock. You said you entrusted the scenario writing to Miss Melissa... that is, the author of ‘The Timid Young Lady,’ correct?”
“That is correct. Originally, I wanted to ask Author Wei, but even if it was the only entry, it was still formally a contest submission, so I thought that would be a bit much. Kehkehkehk.”
“It would be a little awkward for me to take it on, after all.
For now, I’m a co-host in name, so it would go against fairness.”
The fact that [I’m a Cleric, but I Want to Fall in Love!] was the only entry in the game category and therefore effectively guaranteed to win was not particularly important.
As long as it was a contest entry, if I touched it, there was room for rumors about special treatment or unfairness to arise.
I couldn’t let the very first contest be stained with that sort of disgrace.
And I didn’t particularly want to participate, either.
I could test it to some extent and help with improvements, but if I wrote the story itself outright...
Given the nature of a dating simulation game, that would be no different from me making half of it myself.
If that happened, not only would it undermine my consistent goal of getting the people of this world to create their own works,
but even I myself would have a hard time fully enjoying this new game.
How was I supposed to enjoy it when I already knew the whole story?
“There’s no need to go out of my way to do something with no return and nothing but risks.”
“Yes. That is why I asked the author of The Timid Young Lady.
Right now, in this kingdom, after Author Wei, isn’t the most reliable author none other than the author of The Timid Young Lady?”
For these reasons, after I politely declined, it seemed the proposal went to Melissa.
“At first, it took some effort to persuade her, as she refused.
Since this is the first contest, I wanted to make it properly.
If the author of The Timid Young Lady handled the story, it would also serve as publicity. Keheheht!”
Hmm, if Melissa handled the story, it should be fine.
She wasn’t the type to insert strange ideologies or ego into her work.
As Mr. Shylock had said,
she was an author who had already proven her talent twice over.
Actually, in [Real Life], which was recently being serialized in the newspaper, she seemed to be pushing ahead by splitting the four main characters into two couples and pairing them off.
I should probably start counterattacking soon, too...
“Oops. I need to focus on the game.”
I shook off the stray thought that had briefly come to mind and, this time, truly began the game.
“Oh. There are two versions of the protagonist?”
“That is correct. You may choose whether to play as a man or a woman.
Of course, depending on the protagonist’s gender, the characters and story will also change.”
And immediately after that, I let out an exclamation of admiration.
Contrary to the vague image I had held,
the protagonist was not fixed as male, but had both male and female versions.
“Now that I think about it, that is the right choice.
The users who play this game won’t all be men, after all.”
“Kehehehe! Exactly.
If it were made so that only male customers could enjoy it, we would be losing the other half of our female customers.”
At Shylock’s explanation, overflowing with capitalism, that since this was a work made through an actual contest, they might as well sell it to both sides,
I nodded and first chose the male version.
The story began at once.
— That’s right, Russell. The time has finally come for you to enter the academy. —
— It is thanks to you raising me all this time, Father. —
— Hohoho. But it seems you still know little about love.
At this rate, you cannot become a proper priest serving the Goddess of Love and Light. —
— That is... —
— I hope your academy life will become an opportunity for you to understand love.
And if you can find a lover before graduation, there would be nothing better. Hohoho. —
With the illustration of a sacred-looking church as the background,
a standing illustration of a handsome young man in priestly robes, obviously drawn with great care, appeared and spoke with an elderly priest.
This handsome young man must be the protagonist.
In dating simulation games, the protagonist’s appearance is sometimes deliberately hidden or omitted to help the player immerse themselves,
but [I’m a Cleric, but I Want to Fall in Love!] didn’t seem to be that kind of game.
Well, if they were going so far as to decide the protagonist’s name, this might be better.
“As the title says, the protagonist is a cleric.
And the story is set in an academy.
An academy really is convenient and useful as a setting.”
The story began by briefly explaining the protagonist’s introduction and background,
then took the form of him entering the academy and meeting the heroines one by one.
“To sum it up roughly,
you could say it’s about the protagonist, an apprentice priest, flirting and getting lovey-dovey with heroines at the academy.”
The reason this kind of story was possible was because, in this world, clerics were not particularly obligated to maintain chastity.
After all, the god they served was the goddess of “love” and light.
If anything, love was encouraged and favored; there was no particular reason to force chastity on them.
Naturally, Russell, the protagonist in the work, was also a priest of the Goddess of Love and Light, so there was no problem whatsoever if he ended up with a heroine.
However, there was a separate problem from that.
“A protagonist who doesn’t know love.
Should I say that’s a little unusual for the protagonist of a dating simulation game?”
Namely, that the protagonist, Russell, did not understand the emotion called love.
It wasn’t that he was a psychopath. He was simply the type who had yet to learn what the emotion of love itself was.
His religion permitted love, but due to his own personal issue, he could not love.
That irony, the reverse of the clerics from my past life, was quite intriguing.
— Ngh. Father was right.
At this rate, I cannot stand proudly before the goddess and swear that I am her priest... —
Perhaps because of that, Russell himself was troubled and filled with self-loathing, believing that someone like him, who did not know love, could not become a true priest of the Goddess of Love and Light.
Well, since he couldn’t understand the core doctrine of the religion he had believed in all his life, it was only natural for him to suffer as a cleric.
“Compared to the light title, the protagonist’s concern is quite serious.”
This gap wasn’t bad.
And so Russell, who wanted to understand the emotion called love more than anyone else,
thought that perhaps something might change if he changed his environment, and left the static church behind for the academy.
There, during his academy life, as he formed connections with the heroines he encountered, he would come to understand love.
That could be called the overall central theme.
A classic boy-meets-girl development, if you wanted to put it that way.
‘This is tasty.
They can show the protagonist growing and changing as he learns what love is.
And the parts where the heroines melt the protagonist’s heart and teach him love will be heart-fluttering, too.’
I had wondered why they had specifically chosen a cleric as the protagonist,
but with this reason, it seemed like a very good way to establish the protagonist’s motive for acting, as well as to express the theme and goal of a dating simulation game: love.
— Prologue End.
Please look forward to the official release for the continuation! —
“Ah, what? It’s over already?
Tsk. I wanted to see just a little more. What a shame.”
After progressing a little further, the prepared content ended along with a message asking us to look forward to the official release.
It was disappointing, but there was nothing to be done. Hadn’t they said from the start that this was a prototype?
It wasn’t fully complete yet, and so the story had only been prepared up to the prologue.
Still, in the fact that within the prologue, it succeeded in roughly hinting at how the story would flow and impressing the distinct personalities of the heroines,
I could glimpse Melissa’s talent.
The playtime was also fairly generous, running over two hours.
Out of regret, I immediately played the female protagonist version as well. The characters and story development changed to have more of a romance-fantasy feel,
but the overall framework and the material itself felt similar.
Of course, the fun it offered felt completely different from the male version,
so it seemed like this could be enjoyed separately in its own right.
‘The basic playtime starts at twice as much?
This is an insanely good deal!’
Anyway.
After playing the otherworld’s first dating simulation game, [I’m a Cleric, but I Want to Fall in Love!], what were my impressions?
“This is incredibly fun!
I’m already looking forward to the main story that’s still in preparation!”
Naturally, without even needing to say it, it was the best!
To think they had managed to create a dating simulation game of this quality from nothing, in an otherworld with no foundation at all!
Even I, who had played this genre several times in my past life and was familiar with it, couldn’t hide my interest and anticipation.
Maybe because it had been decades since I last played one, the sweetness of the dating sim seeped all the way into my bones, making me feel as though I might get diabetes.
“It’s painful that there’s only the prologue.”
If it’s this sweet from the prologue alone, how much sweeter will it be once the full version comes out...
I’m so excited, I feel like I’ll be thinking about it every night before sleeping for a while.
This chilly sensation, as though I had fallen into the trap of early access after such a long time.
Damn it. It’s both nostalgic and irritating.
“Kikikik! If Author Wei says that much, then it must have been made very well.”
“Well, it’s not that there aren’t a few things to improve.”
A dating simulation game is certainly a game where the story is the main focus, but that doesn’t mean it’s simply a novel.
Since it uses not only text but also images, the method of expression and direction have to change.
Naturally, the method of development and flow cannot help but be completely different between a novel and a game.
To give a really simple example,
there’s no need to describe in writing how embarrassed a heroine looks. It would be simpler and more impactful to convey it by making the heroine’s illustration blush.
But this prototype still strongly felt as though it was simply unfolding like a novel,
so I thought I would need to convey that to Melissa and have it fixed.
Besides that, adding functions like save and load or skip,
or adding conditions that could determine ending branches,
I didn’t know whether all of them would be implemented, but little by little, various improvements came to mind.
“But in terms of content, I have nothing to criticize at all.”
Therefore, although the official release was still far off, I could say that this was more than enough to pass the standard.
What standard, you ask?
“Let’s present this prototype together with the contest winner announcement.”
The standard for whether it could be shown together at the contest winner announcement.
Now then, shall we see what other people think?