Mystic Messenger: Deep Story Days 1-4 (Common Route)
Masterlist of links
Until now I've been playing "Casual Story", with Zen, Jaehee and Yoosung's routes.
But this time when I started a new game I chose "Deep Story", where only Seven and Jumin have routes. Unlocking it used up 80 of my precious hourglasses, leaving me with 49.
Casual story and deep story have the same chats etc for the first day, but the common route from days 2-4 is different after that, and then on day 5 the route you've gotten onto starts.
I've been pursuing Seven fairly consistently, and it's been mostly fun except for some unfortunate homophobia. Jumin continues to be a largely unappealing ass.
So after a day's rest I decided to get this train back on the road. Considering that I've seen multiple warnings about Jumin's path being iffy even for otome, let's go for Seven!
Since Seven is a bit of a troll, I'm playing MC as one too, especially with Jumin and Zen. Hopefully this common route won't have Seven be so mean to poor Yoosung.
I chose the unicorn icon again, and after some thought have settled on MC having the name...MC. Which I am imagining as the English translation of some Korean pun involving what otome heroines are called over there but also "MC" as in MC Hammer etc. Or something equivalent.
Thankfully the game lets you fast-forward the first day's chats. Since I'm on my third time through I can generally remember the vague context for all the questions. I'm still impatient to be done with it and see how the new common route is different.
End of Day 1! Here we go!
Yep Jumin and Seven are already acting different! Seven actually implies he might like a girlfriend, while Jumin says "not expressing emotion is like resting" and that Elizabeth the Third is special to him because he got her from "a friend". He says the reason for all his cat projects is so he can be with her at work too, which would almost be sympathetic if he wasn't such a dick about it to Jaehee.
Oooh 2 chats in and it's a Ray scene!
Ray: My saviour told me that RFA's party is fake and I must invite you all to the real party. Have fun...preparing for RFA's last party.
It's increasingly looking like Mint Eye have their own Evil Party which sounds...very silly? I mean Nameless sold me on an Evil Teddy Bear, so we'll see.
I'm trying to decide how MC should feel about cats. Dating Jumin would work best for a cat lover, but considering Seven loves cats in a way that is not always great for the cat, I feel like his MC should not be TOO fond of them.
Zen and Jaehee bond on the terribleness of Jumin and cats.
Zen: Do you remember when that jerk brought his fur ball to the party? My beautiful face became a disaster...
Jaehee: To have people not recognise Zen's beautiful face...that must never happen again
MC: Just wear a mask next time
Jumin, offscreen: *hearts*
Jaehee: I would rebel against a system that does not allow beauty.
Anyone else would consider Jaehee's behaviour a come-on but Zen's just "she's a woman, of course she goes on constantly about how hot I am".
*continues to take any choice that looks remotely like flirting with Jaehee even though it can go nowhere*
Silly banter with Seven is fun!
MC: Why don't you get your own cat?
Seven: My maid, Mary Vanderwood the third, said she'd need twice the current pay.
I am fairly sure from fandom osmosis that this maid is just Seven in a dress.
Seven: She came from the UK, love her accent.
Seven in a dress speaking English...no wonder he's the darling of Western fandom...
Seven: For now I will live a humble life with my babies *posts photo of his multiple sports cars* They purr like a cat but don't make any mess.
MC: How economical
Zeven: Exactly! See, you get me :)
A sweet conversation with Zen where he asks MC what she does. I said office work and he said some very validating things about how important she is to her office etc. He's so much more likeable when he's not trying to flirt, I'm glad they seem to be toning that down on this common route, even if it doesn't make much sense in terms of character consistency.
Yoosung: *posts his terrible $3 uni cafeteria food, which still has soup and side dishes because Korea*
Jumin: So that's how commoner college students eat.
Yoosung: Yes, Mr CEO :P Anyway, I can't believe we have TWO rich members. Seven has a maid and all those cars...
Jumin: I predict he earns 70% as much as Assistant Kang.
Yoosung: Then Jaehee, you must earn...
Jaehee: DO NOT PRESUME
Yoosung and Jaehee are uncomfortable with all the secrets V and Seven keep. Looks like both Jumin and Seven want MC to trust them to do what's best.
Man, getting points with Jumin is going to be tough, I always want to side against him with Jaehee! *enjoys doing so for now*
Seven: I should introduce my maid. She's adorable, right?
MC: Seven's cute!
Seven: Shh :) Since my job is risky I have a lot of people trying to chase me so the only person allowed in here other than me is Mary Vanderwood the Third.
MC: Be careful meow!
Seven: I will meow!
You'd think I'd be headcanoning Seven as trans/non binary but he seems to identify pretty strongly as a guy. Still, if there's space once I get a better handle on his personality I am 100% going there.
Zen: Ms Underwood is fairly beautiful.
Jaehee: ...the photo Seven posted of himself?
Zen: D:
omg Jumin don't talk about how sick you are of Jaehee's voice.
Zen: I'm sure she's sick of seeing her boss here.
Jumin: Are you, Assistant Kang?
Jaehee: As an employee I do not feel that this is a good time for honesty.
Zen: Dude, she's not in a position to be honest.
Jumin: Why? I like people who are honest with me.
Jaehee: I suddenly remembered an urgent matter so I must leave. *leaves*
MC: I didn't get to say goodbye :(
Zen: Me either. I feel bad for her. Jumin, you should give her more days off.
Jumin: Her well being isn't my problem. We both only have to abide by the contract we both signed.
Zen: You don't understand what it's like for employees, we have to worry about a lot more than what's on our contract, and be careful around the boss.
Jumin: I never told anyone to be careful around me.
Zen: Because you never have to think about it!
A phonecall from Yoosung where he says he's been asked out by a few people in his class but never by anyone who's his type. He rambles a bit about the sort of friendly innocent relationship he wants, and it's cute, but a little odd in a conversation that only plays when he's not romanceable.
Seven keeps referring to himself as a defender of justice, which always makes me think of Red from Nameless. And they do LOOK similar, but their personalities are pretty different.
The game keeps giving me choices between Jumin and Seven, it's much easier than when I had both Jaehee and Yoosung as options. FUN NERD OR RICH DOUCHE LET ME THINK.
Seven: I have too much work stress. I want to mess with someone.
*Jumin enters chat*
MC: Here's someone.
Me: :D
Seven: *starts teasing Jumin about whether or not he's gay or "androgynous"*
Me: >:(
Jumin, after avoiding the question as long as possible: I refrain from getting involved with women for personal reasons.
Saying you're fine with "all sorts of people" does not make this line of teasing not homophobic, Seven.
Jumin gets understandably irritated and leaves.
MC: Have you ever had a girlfriend, Seven?
Seven: I've been married! To my one and only baby BINARY NUMBERS.
Inadvertently came across as wanting to date Jumin when just trying to avoid being homophobic (THANKS GAME) and Seven claimed to be in favour of it. Are you really, Seven...
Jaehee talks about how everyone changed after Rika died: Jumin got colder, Seven more secretive, only Zen stayed the same. She didn't know Rika very well but remembers how kind Yoosung and Zen were to her when she joined. Seven just teased her.
Ok Seven still beats Jumin but I kinda just want to date Jaehee again, except with kissing this time. And maannnn I hope "is Jumin gay" is not going to be a Major Thing. He's not! He's just weird about relationships! NOW LET'S MOVE ON.
As I sit here counting down the minutes until the next chat, wondering if it's going to be gross, I'm thinking I might not buy "Another Story": it sounds depressing and I'm not sure I can handle 22(!!) days of that. I might watch it on youtube and buy any well reviewed DLCs instead.
Zen: I've worked with gay people, they have their own aura that the next-to-be-president guy can't copy. He has more of an aura of jerk.
Me: Ha!
Zen: I think it's more he's androgynous. He should ask me if he ever wants to grow up.
Me, a non binary asexual: >:(
I get the feeling "androgynous" is being used to translate some korean term that means something different and probably kinda homophobic. The implication seems to be like...asexually prepubescent, or eunuch.
Oh good, so far the "Jumin...are you..." chat is Jaehee and Yoosung discussing if Jumin is an (implicitly straight) loser who's terrible with women.
Jaehee: I don't care about his personal life, but he doesn't seem to want a relationship. He's good at charming women for work.
MC: Maybe he'll open up if he meets the right person.
Jaehee: A woman who could handle and understand Mr Han? That will be difficult.
She also thinks he has a complex because of his dad. Who has been divorced 3 times and is one of the top 5 most influential people in Korea.
Yoosung: Time for LoLoL where forever alones are kindly welcomed. *leaves*
MC: Now that it's just the two of us...is Jumin the heir?
Jaehee: I have no idea. This conversation is very strange.
MC: Does Seven date women?
Jaehee: I can't even imagine it. Anyway, I have to go, but I enjoyed talking to you today :)
Me: *swoons*
Haaa and then she messages MC saying she had a horrible vision of Jumin asking her to organise a wedding for him and his cat.
My only options are to bless the love between man and animal or say I want to marry Jumin myself. GUESS THIS MC IS DOWN WITH BESTIALITY THEN.
lol
Jumin: If I make more cat businesses I'll be too busy for Father to meet with me.
Jaehee: No, it will be ME who gets too busy and has to skip meals, while you meet your father for lunch.
Come on game, translate your lolcats. I want to know what the cute lil sleepy cat is saying!
Seven: Every time I log into messenger my heart races a bit. I wanna get to know you better. lolol.
Adding the lolol doesn't make it not shmoopy, Seven.
Seven: I'd like to give you some of my chips but it's top secret where you are.
SEVEN, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DOES KNOW WHAT THE ADDRESS IS. YOU HAVE BEEN THERE.
Haaa...Jaehee is expressing a lot more sympathy for Jumin's angsty family relationship than she ever did on the Casual Story common route. Unfortunately this is having the opposite of the intended effect, I just think "Big woop, his dad gets a lot of gold digging girlfriends. Since when did Jumin ever sympathise with Jaehee's pain? She's an orphan!!"
Jaehee: Well it won't be too bad for us to all die as singles ^^
And then she changes her profile to "If I had time to go on dates I'd use it preordering dvds".
Zen posts a sexy poster of himself to motivate Yoosung to exercise more. Jumin tuts about how tawdry it is, then rings MC saying he can't get it out of his head. That's kind of gay, Jumin. (I'm queer, I'm allowed to joke about it :P)
A clearly depressed Jumin joins the chat in the middle of lunch with his father, who is apparently too busy chatting and drinking with his new girlfriend to notice Jumin on his phone. Given the choice between joining Seven in teasing Jumin for being sad and gay or getting a bunch of Jumin hearts...I GUESS I'M GETTING SOME JUMIN HEARTS. These hearts coulda been yours, Seven, if you weren't being such a jerk!
On the plus side, this means getting on the Jumin path won't be ALL laughing along with him as he's mean to Jaehee. I wonder if it's doable without being mean to Jaehee at all...
Jumin leaves the chat in annoyance at Seven, but contacts MC privately saying that he was enjoying chatting to her. Which makes me glad I wasn't being a jerk to him too. The non-jerk reply came across as pretty flirty and he was shyly into it. Oops, sorry Jumin, this was a one off.
Jaehee randomly asks if MC believes in love at first sight and then does a pretty good Zen impression, lowering her voice to read some romantic lines of his for no reason I can think of except to MESS WITH MY HEART.
MC: Wow it...felt like you were saying that to me...
Jaehee: Ha, what a funny joke! Anyway, I'm off to watch dvds of Zen.
DAMMIT CHERITZ
V and Jumin have a cute conversation about being childhood friends. V encourages Jumin to be more open to making new friends and Jumin tells him to stop nagging.
Aww, Seven wishes he had a childhood friend like that, and is a little jealous that he doesn't connect with V and Jumin the way they do with each other. But when MC asks about his childhood Seven makes a joke and changes the subject.
Flirting with Seven is fun, it's mostly a mix of being nice to him and playing along with his silly humour, which suits me as someone who enjoys being nice to people and making silly jokes. Right now he's keeping things pretty light hearted but he clearly likes MC's company a lot and appreciates how nice she is to him when most people find him a bit annoying. It'll be interesting to see how he acts when he wants to express sincere interest. I don't play along with Seven when he's being too much a jerk, though, hopefully there's enough give in the points cutoffs to let me get away with it.
I find myself thinking of this MC as non binary for some reason, I was fine with the others being referred to as a woman but with this one it's a little jarring.
There's a whole running thing about Seven having access to boxes of his and Yoosung's favourite discontinued brand of potato chips, "Honey Buddha". Seven lives off them and "Professor Pepper" (Which the translator has sometimes screwed up and just written as Dr Pepper lol) but as with Zen, MC's affectionate concern is making Seven feel like he should live a little healthier.
End of Day 3
Flashback to Rika in the apartment saying she needs a device to remove everything.
Zen: How did Jumin end up with an amazing assistant like you?
Jaehee: Money.
MC: I want Seven to be my butler.
Jaehee: ...you have unique taste.
She sure does!
Jaehee how did you realise the photo was Seven and not consider that the "maid" might just be Seven.
Zen: That Mary Underwood..is it a she?
MC: Does gender matter?
Zen: No...but Seven's so unpredictable.
I'm going to read this as "I'd be fine with Seven's maid being a different man crossdressing, but if it's Seven crossdressing I'm going to be annoyed at being messed with".
A phonecall from Jumin where he is unexpectedly passionate about the importance of humans being respectful of nature.
Seven and Jaehee are both Catholic! Jumin is "Christian"(implicitly some sort of Protestant), V was raised the same way but converted to Catholicism to follow Rika. Yoosung is an atheist and finds all this religion disconcerting.
So, let's look up Catholicism in Korea!
more than 45% of South Koreans practice no religion... about 22% are Buddhists... 28% are Christians with 11% being Catholics and 18% being Protestants...Catholicism in South Korea is unique in that it has inculturated with traditional Confucian customs that form an integral part of traditional Korean culture. As a result, South Korean Catholics continue to practice ancestral rites and observe many Confucian customs and philosophies.
Wow, that is such a different dynamic than I am used to, not just in Australia but even from Japanese media. Which is cool, I don't know what tropes to expect! But there's definitely something going on with Catholicism in this game.
As I thought, V is the one who gave Jumin his cat, and named her.
Seven: God 7! Sin 7!
MC: Tan7! Cos7!
Jaehee: It's spreading D: How are we the same religion.
Seven: Do you want to pray with me?
Jaehee: No thank you.
Jaehee: Luciel is your batismal name. What is your birth name?
Seven: Jaehee. I am a devout Catholic. My baptismal name is just as important as the name my parents gave me.
Jaehee: So you are not going to tell me.
Seven: Bingo.
NO SHE IS NOT ON EDGE BECAUSE OF SPINSTER HYSTERIA. BAD SEVEN.
Jaehee: Normally when your boss is Christian you get Sundays off...
MC: I'll pray that you can get some rest.
Jaehee: I can't ever rest. Prayers will not work.
Seven: Jumin's devout on the outside but in reality... he believes in cats.
Jaehee: I feel like you've just insulted Mr Han's faith, but I agree.
Seven: Compared to Jumin I'm very devout, lol. Hallelujah!
Jaehee: When's the last time you went to mass?
Seven: Uhm...
MC: You're always with God in your heart!
I've been trying to avoid using a walkthrough for the guests, but the subtle distinction between "meowmeow" and "meowmeow," when emailing longcat was a little much for me.
Aw. Zen guesses that Seven is like him: changing his name to escape an unhappy past. So he thinks everyone should stop bugging him about it.
Seven calls and rambles about a dream he had about flying into space and rescuing his "other half".
MC: Is it someone you like?
Seven: Yes but it's not what you think. It's someone I can only see in dreams, except for this photo...Uh. I'm talking nonsense after sleeping.
Every time MC expresses interest in Seven to one of the other RFA they're taken aback then try to be politely supportive while quietly thinking "Really?". You'd all be more suypportive if you knew the only other option is Jumin!
Haha, a guest asks if he should name a bunny Jihae or Jiyeon (the names of a bunnyboy and catboy from Dandelion)
Yoosung: The people in my guild keep laughing at me and calling me an M. Do you know what that means?
MC: If you don't know you should be punished!
Yoosung: Oh! Let me know if I do anything wrong. Although...when you say things like that I get a little excited...anyway I have to go fight the whip monster. They say noone can defeat someone who enjoys an ordeal, right?
...carry on, game >.>
V says he's going on a short trip but doesn't know where to yet.
V: I wanted to tell everyone to be careful before I leave. But even if something happens, with Luciel and Jumin here I'm sure everythintg will be fine.
MC: Why those two?
V: They're the two available LIs. Seven has amazing skills and Jumin has the resources to make things happen. You can rely on them in an emergency.
Well that's not ominous or anything...
Seven tells V that his new phone will turn on a red light when it's bugged. He and V thank MC for her hard work then leave the chatroom.
Unknown: ted_so long wai_
Unknown: I am going to corrupt you
WELL THAT'S NOT OMINOUS OR ANYTHING
The screen goes dark and we're seeing things from an unlabelled POV.
???: You and I loved each other multiple times on Earth. Let's make a promise to meet on Earth again.
Aliens?? :D :D (I'm pretty sure it's not aliens)
End of Day 4... and I'm on Seven's route! Woo! And I'm at 71 hourglasses, not bad.
There's no sign so far that events diverged from Casual Story for any particular reason. And I still have no idea if these are all meant to be variants on the same MC in a multiverse or different characters.
This entry was originally posted at https://alias-sqbr.dreamwidth.org/726383.html. There are
comments.
Until now I've been playing "Casual Story", with Zen, Jaehee and Yoosung's routes.
But this time when I started a new game I chose "Deep Story", where only Seven and Jumin have routes. Unlocking it used up 80 of my precious hourglasses, leaving me with 49.
Casual story and deep story have the same chats etc for the first day, but the common route from days 2-4 is different after that, and then on day 5 the route you've gotten onto starts.
I've been pursuing Seven fairly consistently, and it's been mostly fun except for some unfortunate homophobia. Jumin continues to be a largely unappealing ass.
So after a day's rest I decided to get this train back on the road. Considering that I've seen multiple warnings about Jumin's path being iffy even for otome, let's go for Seven!
Since Seven is a bit of a troll, I'm playing MC as one too, especially with Jumin and Zen. Hopefully this common route won't have Seven be so mean to poor Yoosung.
I chose the unicorn icon again, and after some thought have settled on MC having the name...MC. Which I am imagining as the English translation of some Korean pun involving what otome heroines are called over there but also "MC" as in MC Hammer etc. Or something equivalent.
Thankfully the game lets you fast-forward the first day's chats. Since I'm on my third time through I can generally remember the vague context for all the questions. I'm still impatient to be done with it and see how the new common route is different.
End of Day 1! Here we go!
Yep Jumin and Seven are already acting different! Seven actually implies he might like a girlfriend, while Jumin says "not expressing emotion is like resting" and that Elizabeth the Third is special to him because he got her from "a friend". He says the reason for all his cat projects is so he can be with her at work too, which would almost be sympathetic if he wasn't such a dick about it to Jaehee.
Oooh 2 chats in and it's a Ray scene!
Ray: My saviour told me that RFA's party is fake and I must invite you all to the real party. Have fun...preparing for RFA's last party.
It's increasingly looking like Mint Eye have their own Evil Party which sounds...very silly? I mean Nameless sold me on an Evil Teddy Bear, so we'll see.
I'm trying to decide how MC should feel about cats. Dating Jumin would work best for a cat lover, but considering Seven loves cats in a way that is not always great for the cat, I feel like his MC should not be TOO fond of them.
Zen and Jaehee bond on the terribleness of Jumin and cats.
Zen: Do you remember when that jerk brought his fur ball to the party? My beautiful face became a disaster...
Jaehee: To have people not recognise Zen's beautiful face...that must never happen again
MC: Just wear a mask next time
Jumin, offscreen: *hearts*
Jaehee: I would rebel against a system that does not allow beauty.
Anyone else would consider Jaehee's behaviour a come-on but Zen's just "she's a woman, of course she goes on constantly about how hot I am".
*continues to take any choice that looks remotely like flirting with Jaehee even though it can go nowhere*
Silly banter with Seven is fun!
MC: Why don't you get your own cat?
Seven: My maid, Mary Vanderwood the third, said she'd need twice the current pay.
I am fairly sure from fandom osmosis that this maid is just Seven in a dress.
Seven: She came from the UK, love her accent.
Seven in a dress speaking English...no wonder he's the darling of Western fandom...
Seven: For now I will live a humble life with my babies *posts photo of his multiple sports cars* They purr like a cat but don't make any mess.
MC: How economical
Zeven: Exactly! See, you get me :)
A sweet conversation with Zen where he asks MC what she does. I said office work and he said some very validating things about how important she is to her office etc. He's so much more likeable when he's not trying to flirt, I'm glad they seem to be toning that down on this common route, even if it doesn't make much sense in terms of character consistency.
Yoosung: *posts his terrible $3 uni cafeteria food, which still has soup and side dishes because Korea*
Jumin: So that's how commoner college students eat.
Yoosung: Yes, Mr CEO :P Anyway, I can't believe we have TWO rich members. Seven has a maid and all those cars...
Jumin: I predict he earns 70% as much as Assistant Kang.
Yoosung: Then Jaehee, you must earn...
Jaehee: DO NOT PRESUME
Yoosung and Jaehee are uncomfortable with all the secrets V and Seven keep. Looks like both Jumin and Seven want MC to trust them to do what's best.
Man, getting points with Jumin is going to be tough, I always want to side against him with Jaehee! *enjoys doing so for now*
Seven: I should introduce my maid. She's adorable, right?
MC: Seven's cute!
Seven: Shh :) Since my job is risky I have a lot of people trying to chase me so the only person allowed in here other than me is Mary Vanderwood the Third.
MC: Be careful meow!
Seven: I will meow!
You'd think I'd be headcanoning Seven as trans/non binary but he seems to identify pretty strongly as a guy. Still, if there's space once I get a better handle on his personality I am 100% going there.
Zen: Ms Underwood is fairly beautiful.
Jaehee: ...the photo Seven posted of himself?
Zen: D:
omg Jumin don't talk about how sick you are of Jaehee's voice.
Zen: I'm sure she's sick of seeing her boss here.
Jumin: Are you, Assistant Kang?
Jaehee: As an employee I do not feel that this is a good time for honesty.
Zen: Dude, she's not in a position to be honest.
Jumin: Why? I like people who are honest with me.
Jaehee: I suddenly remembered an urgent matter so I must leave. *leaves*
MC: I didn't get to say goodbye :(
Zen: Me either. I feel bad for her. Jumin, you should give her more days off.
Jumin: Her well being isn't my problem. We both only have to abide by the contract we both signed.
Zen: You don't understand what it's like for employees, we have to worry about a lot more than what's on our contract, and be careful around the boss.
Jumin: I never told anyone to be careful around me.
Zen: Because you never have to think about it!
A phonecall from Yoosung where he says he's been asked out by a few people in his class but never by anyone who's his type. He rambles a bit about the sort of friendly innocent relationship he wants, and it's cute, but a little odd in a conversation that only plays when he's not romanceable.
Seven keeps referring to himself as a defender of justice, which always makes me think of Red from Nameless. And they do LOOK similar, but their personalities are pretty different.
The game keeps giving me choices between Jumin and Seven, it's much easier than when I had both Jaehee and Yoosung as options. FUN NERD OR RICH DOUCHE LET ME THINK.
Seven: I have too much work stress. I want to mess with someone.
*Jumin enters chat*
MC: Here's someone.
Me: :D
Seven: *starts teasing Jumin about whether or not he's gay or "androgynous"*
Me: >:(
Jumin, after avoiding the question as long as possible: I refrain from getting involved with women for personal reasons.
Saying you're fine with "all sorts of people" does not make this line of teasing not homophobic, Seven.
Jumin gets understandably irritated and leaves.
MC: Have you ever had a girlfriend, Seven?
Seven: I've been married! To my one and only baby BINARY NUMBERS.
Inadvertently came across as wanting to date Jumin when just trying to avoid being homophobic (THANKS GAME) and Seven claimed to be in favour of it. Are you really, Seven...
Jaehee talks about how everyone changed after Rika died: Jumin got colder, Seven more secretive, only Zen stayed the same. She didn't know Rika very well but remembers how kind Yoosung and Zen were to her when she joined. Seven just teased her.
Ok Seven still beats Jumin but I kinda just want to date Jaehee again, except with kissing this time. And maannnn I hope "is Jumin gay" is not going to be a Major Thing. He's not! He's just weird about relationships! NOW LET'S MOVE ON.
As I sit here counting down the minutes until the next chat, wondering if it's going to be gross, I'm thinking I might not buy "Another Story": it sounds depressing and I'm not sure I can handle 22(!!) days of that. I might watch it on youtube and buy any well reviewed DLCs instead.
Zen: I've worked with gay people, they have their own aura that the next-to-be-president guy can't copy. He has more of an aura of jerk.
Me: Ha!
Zen: I think it's more he's androgynous. He should ask me if he ever wants to grow up.
Me, a non binary asexual: >:(
I get the feeling "androgynous" is being used to translate some korean term that means something different and probably kinda homophobic. The implication seems to be like...asexually prepubescent, or eunuch.
Oh good, so far the "Jumin...are you..." chat is Jaehee and Yoosung discussing if Jumin is an (implicitly straight) loser who's terrible with women.
Jaehee: I don't care about his personal life, but he doesn't seem to want a relationship. He's good at charming women for work.
MC: Maybe he'll open up if he meets the right person.
Jaehee: A woman who could handle and understand Mr Han? That will be difficult.
She also thinks he has a complex because of his dad. Who has been divorced 3 times and is one of the top 5 most influential people in Korea.
Yoosung: Time for LoLoL where forever alones are kindly welcomed. *leaves*
MC: Now that it's just the two of us...is Jumin the heir?
Jaehee: I have no idea. This conversation is very strange.
MC: Does Seven date women?
Jaehee: I can't even imagine it. Anyway, I have to go, but I enjoyed talking to you today :)
Me: *swoons*
Haaa and then she messages MC saying she had a horrible vision of Jumin asking her to organise a wedding for him and his cat.
My only options are to bless the love between man and animal or say I want to marry Jumin myself. GUESS THIS MC IS DOWN WITH BESTIALITY THEN.
lol
Jumin: If I make more cat businesses I'll be too busy for Father to meet with me.
Jaehee: No, it will be ME who gets too busy and has to skip meals, while you meet your father for lunch.
Come on game, translate your lolcats. I want to know what the cute lil sleepy cat is saying!
Seven: Every time I log into messenger my heart races a bit. I wanna get to know you better. lolol.
Adding the lolol doesn't make it not shmoopy, Seven.
Seven: I'd like to give you some of my chips but it's top secret where you are.
SEVEN, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DOES KNOW WHAT THE ADDRESS IS. YOU HAVE BEEN THERE.
Haaa...Jaehee is expressing a lot more sympathy for Jumin's angsty family relationship than she ever did on the Casual Story common route. Unfortunately this is having the opposite of the intended effect, I just think "Big woop, his dad gets a lot of gold digging girlfriends. Since when did Jumin ever sympathise with Jaehee's pain? She's an orphan!!"
Jaehee: Well it won't be too bad for us to all die as singles ^^
And then she changes her profile to "If I had time to go on dates I'd use it preordering dvds".
Zen posts a sexy poster of himself to motivate Yoosung to exercise more. Jumin tuts about how tawdry it is, then rings MC saying he can't get it out of his head. That's kind of gay, Jumin. (I'm queer, I'm allowed to joke about it :P)
A clearly depressed Jumin joins the chat in the middle of lunch with his father, who is apparently too busy chatting and drinking with his new girlfriend to notice Jumin on his phone. Given the choice between joining Seven in teasing Jumin for being sad and gay or getting a bunch of Jumin hearts...I GUESS I'M GETTING SOME JUMIN HEARTS. These hearts coulda been yours, Seven, if you weren't being such a jerk!
On the plus side, this means getting on the Jumin path won't be ALL laughing along with him as he's mean to Jaehee. I wonder if it's doable without being mean to Jaehee at all...
Jumin leaves the chat in annoyance at Seven, but contacts MC privately saying that he was enjoying chatting to her. Which makes me glad I wasn't being a jerk to him too. The non-jerk reply came across as pretty flirty and he was shyly into it. Oops, sorry Jumin, this was a one off.
Jaehee randomly asks if MC believes in love at first sight and then does a pretty good Zen impression, lowering her voice to read some romantic lines of his for no reason I can think of except to MESS WITH MY HEART.
MC: Wow it...felt like you were saying that to me...
Jaehee: Ha, what a funny joke! Anyway, I'm off to watch dvds of Zen.
DAMMIT CHERITZ
V and Jumin have a cute conversation about being childhood friends. V encourages Jumin to be more open to making new friends and Jumin tells him to stop nagging.
Aww, Seven wishes he had a childhood friend like that, and is a little jealous that he doesn't connect with V and Jumin the way they do with each other. But when MC asks about his childhood Seven makes a joke and changes the subject.
Flirting with Seven is fun, it's mostly a mix of being nice to him and playing along with his silly humour, which suits me as someone who enjoys being nice to people and making silly jokes. Right now he's keeping things pretty light hearted but he clearly likes MC's company a lot and appreciates how nice she is to him when most people find him a bit annoying. It'll be interesting to see how he acts when he wants to express sincere interest. I don't play along with Seven when he's being too much a jerk, though, hopefully there's enough give in the points cutoffs to let me get away with it.
I find myself thinking of this MC as non binary for some reason, I was fine with the others being referred to as a woman but with this one it's a little jarring.
There's a whole running thing about Seven having access to boxes of his and Yoosung's favourite discontinued brand of potato chips, "Honey Buddha". Seven lives off them and "Professor Pepper" (Which the translator has sometimes screwed up and just written as Dr Pepper lol) but as with Zen, MC's affectionate concern is making Seven feel like he should live a little healthier.
End of Day 3
Flashback to Rika in the apartment saying she needs a device to remove everything.
Zen: How did Jumin end up with an amazing assistant like you?
Jaehee: Money.
MC: I want Seven to be my butler.
Jaehee: ...you have unique taste.
She sure does!
Jaehee how did you realise the photo was Seven and not consider that the "maid" might just be Seven.
Zen: That Mary Underwood..is it a she?
MC: Does gender matter?
Zen: No...but Seven's so unpredictable.
I'm going to read this as "I'd be fine with Seven's maid being a different man crossdressing, but if it's Seven crossdressing I'm going to be annoyed at being messed with".
A phonecall from Jumin where he is unexpectedly passionate about the importance of humans being respectful of nature.
Seven and Jaehee are both Catholic! Jumin is "Christian"(implicitly some sort of Protestant), V was raised the same way but converted to Catholicism to follow Rika. Yoosung is an atheist and finds all this religion disconcerting.
So, let's look up Catholicism in Korea!
more than 45% of South Koreans practice no religion... about 22% are Buddhists... 28% are Christians with 11% being Catholics and 18% being Protestants...Catholicism in South Korea is unique in that it has inculturated with traditional Confucian customs that form an integral part of traditional Korean culture. As a result, South Korean Catholics continue to practice ancestral rites and observe many Confucian customs and philosophies.
Wow, that is such a different dynamic than I am used to, not just in Australia but even from Japanese media. Which is cool, I don't know what tropes to expect! But there's definitely something going on with Catholicism in this game.
As I thought, V is the one who gave Jumin his cat, and named her.
Seven: God 7! Sin 7!
MC: Tan7! Cos7!
Jaehee: It's spreading D: How are we the same religion.
Seven: Do you want to pray with me?
Jaehee: No thank you.
Jaehee: Luciel is your batismal name. What is your birth name?
Seven: Jaehee. I am a devout Catholic. My baptismal name is just as important as the name my parents gave me.
Jaehee: So you are not going to tell me.
Seven: Bingo.
NO SHE IS NOT ON EDGE BECAUSE OF SPINSTER HYSTERIA. BAD SEVEN.
Jaehee: Normally when your boss is Christian you get Sundays off...
MC: I'll pray that you can get some rest.
Jaehee: I can't ever rest. Prayers will not work.
Seven: Jumin's devout on the outside but in reality... he believes in cats.
Jaehee: I feel like you've just insulted Mr Han's faith, but I agree.
Seven: Compared to Jumin I'm very devout, lol. Hallelujah!
Jaehee: When's the last time you went to mass?
Seven: Uhm...
MC: You're always with God in your heart!
I've been trying to avoid using a walkthrough for the guests, but the subtle distinction between "meowmeow" and "meowmeow," when emailing longcat was a little much for me.
Aw. Zen guesses that Seven is like him: changing his name to escape an unhappy past. So he thinks everyone should stop bugging him about it.
Seven calls and rambles about a dream he had about flying into space and rescuing his "other half".
MC: Is it someone you like?
Seven: Yes but it's not what you think. It's someone I can only see in dreams, except for this photo...Uh. I'm talking nonsense after sleeping.
Every time MC expresses interest in Seven to one of the other RFA they're taken aback then try to be politely supportive while quietly thinking "Really?". You'd all be more suypportive if you knew the only other option is Jumin!
Haha, a guest asks if he should name a bunny Jihae or Jiyeon (the names of a bunnyboy and catboy from Dandelion)
Yoosung: The people in my guild keep laughing at me and calling me an M. Do you know what that means?
MC: If you don't know you should be punished!
Yoosung: Oh! Let me know if I do anything wrong. Although...when you say things like that I get a little excited...anyway I have to go fight the whip monster. They say noone can defeat someone who enjoys an ordeal, right?
...carry on, game >.>
V says he's going on a short trip but doesn't know where to yet.
V: I wanted to tell everyone to be careful before I leave. But even if something happens, with Luciel and Jumin here I'm sure everythintg will be fine.
MC: Why those two?
V: They're the two available LIs. Seven has amazing skills and Jumin has the resources to make things happen. You can rely on them in an emergency.
Well that's not ominous or anything...
Seven tells V that his new phone will turn on a red light when it's bugged. He and V thank MC for her hard work then leave the chatroom.
Unknown: ted_so long wai_
Unknown: I am going to corrupt you
WELL THAT'S NOT OMINOUS OR ANYTHING
The screen goes dark and we're seeing things from an unlabelled POV.
???: You and I loved each other multiple times on Earth. Let's make a promise to meet on Earth again.
Aliens?? :D :D (I'm pretty sure it's not aliens)
End of Day 4... and I'm on Seven's route! Woo! And I'm at 71 hourglasses, not bad.
There's no sign so far that events diverged from Casual Story for any particular reason. And I still have no idea if these are all meant to be variants on the same MC in a multiverse or different characters.
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