12 The Challenge Mode (1/2)
His eyes weren't with him last Friday, and so he did not notice that Keiko was not around as well. To think about it, he should at least check up on her. During the time in-between classes, he would send Keiko a message, hoping she would reply. There was nothing wrong with asking a childhood friend why she was not in school for two days. The class president only heard about a house emergency, but there was no further details.
Classes had ended around lunch, giving the students a choice to take lunch or go home already. Since Arata and his two Hands were going to get ramen, they did not bother taking lunch. It was also by then that he messaged Tohru about seeing her in the afternoon at the Lumen Park. A good day in general rolled, if he would not count being extorted by Attori to pay for more expensive meals since they did eat at Imperial Kitchen.
Since it was a Saturday, there was quite a crowd building in the streets. Arata, who had gone home first and changed into something more stylish and comfortable, went to see Tohru who was waiting by the fountain. She was fiddling with her phone with a frown on her face. She lifted her gaze as she felt someone was looking at her before waving with only her fingers moving like a flirting fortune cat. The man walked up to her and sat next to her.
”Enjoy chatting with more women?” Tohru greeted him with a bitter pout, eyes going back to her phone screen. ”Geez, she won't stop.”
”Who?”
”No one.” She locked her phone and pocketed it. ”Ready? Let's go.” She got up and led Arata to a less populated part of the park.
They reached a part of the park where the crowd was seen far away. There were no other people around but them, which was nice considering the space. The king looked around at the surroundings, feeling refreshed by the shining leaves against the orange sun.
”Acchan, eyes on me.” Tohru giggled and beckoned Arata to search the bushes with her. She picked up a stick and asked him to find one similar to it. She watched him get one before humming as she walked away from him as if making distance. ”Well, I'll be testing you starting from this day. Do you think you can make it out alive?”
”Huh?” Arata twitched at the dialogue.
[You have unlocked the Challenge Mode! This mode is only exclusive to players who have three or more date-ables with maximum affection rate, and are playing non-route. Non-routes will now merge constantly after every playthrough so there poses a threat of the date-ables harming one another.]
The king's eyes widened, remembering the angry glaring Ruby just gave Attori earlier. And of course, Keiko's plead that he leave Attori behind.
[There are three parameters during a Challenge Mode: HP, Dodge, and Subdue. HP deals with your health during a Challenge Mode. An attacking date-able might damage your HP. Defending another date-able will also damage your HP. When your HP hits 0, you will lose consciousness, and gets sent to the next action time.]
[Involved date-ables also have their own HP. Be wary of it. If either the attacker or defender date-able hits 0, they will be knocked out.]
[Dodge parameter gives you the ability to save your HP from being depleted fast. However, some attacks cannot be reduced. Subdue gauge will dictate if the attacking date-able could be stopped. Filling up the gauge will let you end the Challenge Mode in a success.]
[Failing a Challenge Mode will affect your date-ables such as decrease in Affection, Obedience, and Encounter Rates. This might also cause them to run amok when their Obedience Rate falls down to 0%. Date-ables who had run amok will vanish from the playthrough.]
[Conditions to succeed in a Challenge Mode: Subdue the Date-able. Conditions to fail a Challenge Mode: Player or Date-able HP hits 0. Reminder: You cannot initiate a Challenge unless training with Tohru to increase Dodge.]
[Would you like to repeat the instructions? Yes / No]
”What is wrong with these devs?” Arata mouthed away from Tohru's sight as he listened to the instructions. He sobbed visibly, earning another raised eyebrow from the she-jerk. He then turned to the girl. ”Yeah, I'm ready.”
”Try to dodge my attack, Acchan.” Tohru grinned as she moved the stick as if a sword.
She entered into a stance, making Arata answer with a guard stance. It was good enough that Arata bought the new magazines for the Challenge Mode. He had a beginning Dodge Rate of 30% thanks to those. Their training was not intense; in fact it was too light for an actual fight. Tohru was impressed nonetheless.
”Wow, I didn't know you know how to fight now. Really impressive!” The she-jerk laughed out before swinging the stick away. ”Well, I guess we're done for today! I'll see you again sometime for this, okay?” She flashed a grin, satisfied with the results.
[You have completed the tutorial for the Challenge Mode. Meet Tohru during any afternoon in the Lumen Park to start training. Your Dodge rate is now 33%! Congratulations!]
[The Affection Scene has ended! You have additional 50 points! Affectionate Jerk Hamada Tohru now has 5% Affection Rate! Congratulations!]
Headache. Arata felt like he was going to get a headache from this content he just unlocked. Given that he was outside the game, he must have been very excited to see what happens when Attori becomes the attacking date-able. Then again, it would be painful for him since he might get knocked out for real. It always happen to him in real life, but he cannot risk it in-game.
Then again, reviewing the game's proposition of the heroines getting a complex over the player, he could see that a merged route would result to them fighting one way or another. The Challenge Mode was simply a way for the player to choose which side will win. A way to show who he values more among the women lest he forget there is more than one woman in his heart. A mode to show the date-able rankings.
A question popped out of his head. Will this affect the rate of him bumping into least favored date-ables?