51 I Canst Leave You (1/2)
Given that he still had two more days left, he decided to visit Usagi at the Lumen Park that night. He had plenty of rest after heading home with Yukari. No Dates meant no Stamina was spent... as if trying to offset the ones used the day before.
Like last night, the Lumen Park was dimly lit at 9 PM. There were no person in the place, and only a few stray cats occupied some of the benches. Arata walked towards the fairy's flower bush and waited for her to show up. It had been only a week since they last chatted. Seeing that no one was showing up, the player chose to call out.
”Sayaka? Sayaka, are you here?” He cupped his hands before his mouth like building a megaphone. ”Sayaka!”
Due to the 'screen view,' he saw lights surfaced from the nearby bush. He spun on his heel as if turning to greet her, but it seemed she had other plans. In the end, her supposed hug from behind placed his face against her chest. She still had her arms around him like she did not even noticed what happened. Then again, the impact his skull gave her breastbone made her sob.
”A-Arata! You're here again!” The fairy chuckled before pulling back and hovering in front of him. She clapped her hands together and presented a smile. ”I missed you!”
”...Are you Sayaka or Usagi?” He frowned at her, checking for the purpose of his visit. It would not hurt to talk to the actual Usagi after all.
”Don't be silly, of course I'm Usagi”—she sent a karate chop to his head—”not!” She then swirled to escape Arata's reach. ”Why would you—?!” She was startled when the player lunged forward to catch her by the waist. Since this fairy took on a form almost in the same size of a human, it was pretty easy to catch her. ”Hm? Is there something bothering my dearest?”
”Why are you talking to me like that?” Arata sighed as he held her close to him, hiding the curls shaping his lips with a dismissive tone. ”Anyway, you're always watching me, right? You should have an idea at least.”
Sayaka held his elbows and squeezed her way out of his hold. She continued to hover nearby though. ”Ah, I can't be around twenty-four-seven. After what happened, we're upping the security of the game. I can't have anyone see you or notice you moving around.”
The player stroked at his chin like he had a goatee. ”Yeah, you did say you own the game, right? You're some kind of a secret CEO or something?”
”Uh, no.” Sayaka had her arms behind her and swayed in the air. ”That's not true, but this game is mine. This is my project that had been expanded a lot...” She looked up in the night sky and noticed the absence of stars. ”I should fix the graphics. It looks horrible from this point of view.”
”It's not like we can look up. I'm even surprised that the game looked like a real world than just a bunch of walls with pictures.” Arata chuckled as he waved his hand. He then remembered his original purpose. ”Sayaka,” he spoke in a serious tone, ”there's something I need to talk to you about.”
”Yes?”
”Will I be revived from the last save when I messed up and hit 'Game Over?' ” He did not even try to sugarcoat or smoothen his question at least. ”You know, this game had pitfalls. I never encountered one, but everyone else did say there are.”
”I'd be surprised if you encountered a 'Game Over' sequence.” The fairy shrugged her shoulders. ”It's only triggered by low Affection Scene success rate after all. The lower the success rate, the higher the chance that the date-able will give you a dead end. Besides, most pitfalls are in the previous patch. This patch centers about you”—she made frontal finger guns to gesture towards him—”keeping up with the women. Of course, from a nonroute playthrough perspective. First patch is about you rising from the rubbles, and the third one will be you— damn, I almost said it.” She huffed to the side and mumbled to herself.
”Anyway, pitfalls are not that common... especially that most of them are from scenarios.” There was a weird glint in her eyes. ”You saw that creature already, right? So what can you say? This time, it's not just a girl in a Halloween costume.”
”Yeah, I remember the players crying for non-human date-ables. What's next— an animal hybrid?” Arata spoke like he cared too little about the diverse races of the date-ables.
”Animal hybrids are too much of a stretch.” Sayaka pouted. ”You're just supposed to be a famous high school student here, not a man that will save the world.” She giggled right after her words. ”But you are, in a way, aren't you? You gotta save your world from deletion.”
The player only watched her from his spot. He scratched his head. ”I don't want to ask this, but... Sayaka, you said you saw me die when the game opened. We both know that's impossible because you're not really someone from inside the game, right?” He waited for her to cast her gaze on him. ”Why do you cater to me so much? If I was just a precious customer, I can't pay you anymore since I'm dead. Why did you lie so I wouldn't know you're... alive?”
She only hovered nearer and landed her feet on the ground. She only smiled innocently at the player. ”If you manage to survive the entire second patch, I will tell you. Do we have a deal?”