Chapter 303 (1/2)

A Game of Nurturing

This time, the randomness of the “Two Dimensional Gate” had completely let Zhao Youyue down. It would have been much better, if she had been randomly inserted into a Doujin novel of “One Piece.” One Piece was the love of the nation, and even fan-made, non-canonical versions of the characters would be far more popular than their counterparts in the Doujin of a niche game

Inside the gate, Zhao Youyue could only skim over the premise of the work. The name of the social game was not even mentioned, and the plot was ridiculously complicated and only served to confuse her. She could feel her brain short-circuiting. It contained many unknown terms. Apparently, only those who played the game itself would understand the jargon.

Faced with a title that was thoroughly self-absorbed in its premise, Zhao Youyue felt powerless. Should she even waste her time working on such a lost cause?

She would give it a try. She first withdrew from this other world as usual, and read the Doujin novel of “White Clover.” Along with that, she would also get her hands on this social game and see what it’s all about.

On the next day, she used her phone to look up “White Clover[1],” on the search engine – Baidu Baike. Three results stood out among others. Topping the list was a plant named white clover, the second was the name of a song, and third was the name of a female character.

She was a female character of a niche social game called “Dreamside Maroon.”

Zhao Youyue continued chasing the trail. As expected, it was not a creation of a well-known game company, but a creation of a small workshop that belonged to a Doujin Association. It was said that only one person was responsible for the original illustration, music composition and storyline. This person was called “Lady ZUN [2]”

Therefore, one could imagine how unrefined this game could be. Strangely, the Doujin circle found it remarkably attractive.

This caused Zhao Youyue to reminisce about a certain game from another world, “Touhou Project.” It started off as a very ugly bullet hell shooter, but soon became a staple piece among Doujin works!

Nevertheless, it gradually lost fame after the release of newer video games such as Kantai Collection. Along the way, it had produced an endless list of cute girls some of them immortalized in the eyes of fans, such as the rowdy shrine maiden – Reimu Hakurei, who would do anything for money.

Reimu Hakurei possibly the most accurate 2d incarnation of Su Li.

“Dreamside Maroon” was a Nurturing type Social Game with a rather intriguing background setting.

At a glance, the game’s world didn’t seem very different, compared to the real world.

Once inside, gamers could select a girl and build a setting around them, giving them a daily life that you would monitor closely. This would be a close mimicry of human life.

They could gain special abilities, but only by creating interesting stories for them to play roles in. Those abilities would only be validated if their stories are likable, and the characters themselves gain popularity.

Heavy spending wouldn’t give anybody an edge in this game. Everyone would have to whole-heartedly nurture their girls in order to give them good stories and therefore proper upbringings. Of course, a wealthy person could still keep money relevant by hiring someone to create the story on behalf, but, one could never count on guaranteed results.

So, it is important to get a character whose backstory suited the gamer most. A cute, interesting character would become popular with ease, especially if complemented by an interesting story. A solidly built character with sufficient levels and abilities would be able to fulfill the end-goal of the game, defeating the “Dream Eater Monster.”