NOVEL NEXT Chapter 439
“So, I think we’ll be on TV soon.”
When I asked, ‘Can I mention going on TV from an internet broadcast?’ I heard it wouldn’t be a problem, so we decided to just spill the beans.
[Though it feels like it’s finally coming out now]
[Fr, it’s like optimally serving the national pride, lol]
“I’m Korean, so what national pride?”
[Oh, that’s true]
[Woooo]
[Woooo, trash, woooo]
The person who called us optimally serving national pride suddenly bowed deeply.
[I apologize]
Ding ding.
“I’ll forgive you.”
It’s only polite to accept an apology when you give a proper amount. After all, we were just joking around when we said it.
“However, the airing date is undecided. They said they would look into our story a bit more after hearing it.”
[Are they really in contact with the game love?]
[But the character has the same name and looks the same, can’t resist]
[For real, lol]
“Well, I haven’t heard that much.”
I had heard it was fine to talk, but it didn’t seem right to go into too much detail, so I cut myself off.
“Still, it was fascinating. I was thinking, so this is how you film and edit.”
Claire, who was next to me, said.
It was definitely a different vibe than just editing something shot with a webcam.
Would it be different if we went to a studio? Of course, I had no plan to go that far.
“Ah, and the photos we took are out.”
[Oooh]
[Show us!]
[I wanna see]
“Please wait a moment.”
I stood up from my seat.
It wasn’t just me—everyone gathered for the broadcast stood up too.
We had placed a small photo of all of us on the desk, and the large photos were already brought out in frames by Miri, just outside the broadcasting room.
We unfolded the stand that we had prepared and placed the two frames on it.
“How is it?”
“Looks good, right?”
[This is a real family photo, lol]
[Mia looks just like a real daughter]
“I’ll say it again, we are all the same age.”
At my words, Mia puffed out her cheeks slightly. Was it because it sounded like I was emphasizing how young she looked?
Well, still, we were all satisfied with the photo.
The picture seemed to have no edits other than color correction as requested. Of course, that was enough since we looked beautiful.
I mean, someone might ask if it was a cosplay photo…but after watching the kids’ faces so closely over the past few years and months, it didn’t look like that to me.
“I’m thinking of hanging these big photos in the living room.”
In the chat, family photo jokes started popping up again.
Well, we are family, after all.
That’s the vibe we were going for.
*
After putting the photos back outside, we gathered in front of the camera again.
“Well then, I will now play the remaining epilogue part of the game.”
I switched to game settings and held up the controller.
“By the way, how much playtime is left?”
[2-3 hours?]
[About 4 hours]
[I took about 3 hours]
Compared to the total playtime, there wasn’t much left.
“Then let’s clear it all in one go today.”
I said that and pressed the button.
The game started again from where we last left off.
More precisely, it began as if nothing had happened.
As if Sylvia had never existed, and as if there had been no battle with the goddess.
But not that time had gone backward…
[……Claire.]
[Alice.]
The two people I met at school.
Claire didn’t look like the Claire I knew, with her ponytail; instead, her hair was slightly wavy and down like in the previous game.
I mean, she’s a character whose hairstyle changes often, so…
With two buttons of her school uniform undone, she looked a bit decadent, and seeing that character made me think—
“Ugh.”
Claire freaked out.
Well, if I saw Sylvia in a bunny outfit in the game, I’d freak out too.
……I mean, I did wear it myself once.
Originally, at this point, Claire is already a ‘dead person.’ In the previous game, Claire had died, and so Emperor Arthur III’s plan had completely fallen apart.
[You look healthy.]
[You too, should I be relieved?]
The two exchanged banter with a tic-tac of words.
“Did you all have that kind of vibe in that world?”
“Well, I mean, it was better than this.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t this cold, at least.”
Claire and Alice replied respectively.
[Lucky you, Alice. You got the chance to become the next empress, after all?]
[Thanks to someone, right? ‘You risked your life’ to save me, didn’t you?]
Alice, who was talking, suddenly cut her sentence halfway as if she felt something strange.
[……. ]
Claire looked quietly at Alice.
[You’re also sensing something strange, huh?]
And then Claire spoke.
[That’s right. I ‘risked my life’ to save you. Thanks to that, Father’s plan was completely ruined, and you got to be in a position to become the next emperor. But how could I ‘risk my life’ to save you?]
Claire said while moving her arms as she crossed them.
[Surely, the attack… would have killed me without question.]
[……. ]
Alice held silent for a moment.
[There’s also a part that doesn’t make logical sense.]
Alice looked at Claire and said.
[Your past.]
[Why about my past?]
[Isn’t it strange? You were… in that kind of situation, how could that child escape safely from there?]
[What? Are you calling me out now? Should I have been assaulted by those men?]
After showing one hand to Claire, who got immediately furious, Alice said,
[No, on second thought, that’s not the issue. I distinctly feel like I’ve heard that past from you. But strangely, that part I can’t recall exactly. Why is that?]
[……. ]
[Actually, you’re also feeling it’s odd, right? Every time I think of parts that don’t make sense, various facts come to mind simultaneously. It feels like this was the case, or that was.]
[Nonsense.]
In the end, Claire answered like that and swiftly passed by Alice.
[Either way, it’s all worked out in the end. Just enjoy the happy ending. Someone did risk their life to save you, after all.]
[……. ]
At Claire’s words, Alice couldn’t say anything.
The screen changed to Leo.
[Princess.]
[You can call me Charlotte.]
“……”
Charlotte was looking at the screen with an expression as if she had something really to say.
“If you have something you want to say, feel free.”
“Why am I making that kind of expression at Leo?”
I looked back at the screen.
One hand was shyly raised to tuck her hair behind her ear. Of course, it was just a motion, as Millennium didn’t have the technology for hair to flow smoothly behind the ear.
“Maybe it’s because I raised the affection level a lot?”
The story doesn’t change significantly. It’s just the characters appearing in a specific event scene that alter.
At first, Alice and I were pushing each other to pursue, but at some point, we were pursuing Charlotte.
I guess the character coming out in this scene isn’t just Charlotte, but also those whose affection levels were maxed out.
“……”
Since Charlotte was glaring at me silently, I quickly turned my head back to the monitor and focused on the game.
[What were you doing here……?]
Leo spoke a bit awkwardly.
[I was looking at the flowers.]
Charlotte said that to Leo and chuckled.
And then,
[When did I say you could drop the formalities?]
She started talking and cut off midway.
[When was it?]
[It seems like it was in the first semester.]
[Wasn’t it after the summer break?]
The two didn’t match their memories.
No, to put it accurately—
[……It seemed like that?]
[Listening to you reminds me, it seems like it was in the first semester…… ]
The reason for the discrepancy in the two timelines is that that event happened at different times in the previous and this work.
This is what Sylvia said as she was dying.
Sylvia judged that her existence didn’t match the future they had chosen.
Thus, she rebelled against the goddess, who was trying to deny everything they had achieved in order to twist the world to her own order.
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Sylvia-chan..]
It’s a bit funny how people who seem to know all the contents are typing that in the chat.
[This is strange.]
Charlotte said with a serious expression.
[Yeah, strange.]
Leo agreed.
[Once more, what’s happening?]
[……Well, I’m not really sure either. But it seems we can’t just sit and do nothing.]
Somehow I had a feeling of what the next contents might be.