Chapter 71. Healing to Death
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Yamazaki took a ship out to sea but encountered a maritime disaster.
He fell into the seawater and didn't die immediately, but was saved by a mermaid named Suzune.
From this perspective, Yamazaki Teru was undoubtedly very fortunate.
This gave Hirose Furukawa a feeling like watching a fairy tale.
It was just that the surrounding colors and seawater were all cold.
The encounter between Yamazaki Teru and Suzune painted the entire game with a warm tone.
Before long, Yamazaki confessed his feelings to Suzune.
The two naturally moved in together.
...
This was undoubtedly happiness.
Furukawa could even experience the beauty of love in this [sole bond in a desperate situation].
Eh?
But wait, this game couldn't possibly have only one heroine, right?
After exploring for a long time and trying different dialogue options, Furukawa still hadn't discovered a second heroine.
This was very inconsistent with Pokeni's usual style.
More precisely, this had already deviated quite far from galgames, okay?
Normally, to accommodate different types of players, Pokeni would design various girls with different personalities in the game.
For example, in Onmyoji 1, there was the gentle and patient Yuuki Rei, the decisive and brave Kurai Tsuki, the lively and cute Fuune Rin... even the somewhat bewitching Onihime could all be romance targets.
In Onmyoji 2, besides Asakura Reimu, there were highly popular female characters like Takiyo, and even the sword spirit itself made players have the impulse to romance her.
But—
What was Mermaid's Heart trying to do?
A galgame with only one heroine was truly unheard of.
Ah!
Hirose Furukawa slapped both hands down, suddenly understanding a terrifying truth—
No wonder it's called Mermaid's Heart.
After all this time, there really is only one heroine, huh?
How confident in their own work, how arrogant must someone be to create such a work?
Wasn't [Tsubaki Furuhara] afraid that if players didn't like the character Suzune, the entire game would be ruined?
With such high risk, how much courage must Pokeni's development team have?
...
However...
Looking at Suzune on the screen, Hirose Furukawa only felt a warm current flowing through his heart.
Damn it.
Although he was reluctant to admit it.
This time, it was Tsubaki Furuhara's victory.
The girl Suzune was created too well.
...
Mermaid's Heart was truly a galgame different from Onmyoji—no combat content, the entire story was told through text and images, triggering plot developments through different dialogue options.
And there was only one heroine.
As information was continuously acquired and completed, a puzzle slowly emerged.
Yamazaki Teru, who survived the maritime disaster, somehow grew gills behind his ears that allowed him to breathe underwater, and his fingers developed webbing that made swimming more convenient.
Suzune guided him on how to survive in the deep sea.
They even went through some adventures together.
For example, setting traps to catch large squid or sharks, or using harpoons for smaller fish.
When encountering danger, they had to quickly hide in the crevices of reefs.
Such processes were undoubtedly thrilling and exciting, full of romantic colors and the sour smell of love.
Even Hirose Furukawa couldn't help but feel envious.
On the seabed, one could see some silent ruins. Most crucially, these silent ruins and wreckage were not what Hirose Furukawa had imagined—
Sunken ships from the Middle Ages or even earlier times.
In the ruins were cities with considerable technological development.
Although they had been eroded by seawater and covered with algae and barnacles, one could still see the glass curtain walls outside and technologically advanced cars.
This inevitably created a very strong sense of unease.
That intense doubt once again enveloped Hirose Furukawa.
This feeling was very clear. Although it was a different theme with a completely different story background—
He still detected a scent similar to Onmyoji 2.
...
Suzune was a mermaid of the deep sea—beautiful, pure, and flawless.
But the surrounding living environment was becoming worse and worse.
Ocean pollution was getting increasingly severe, and many creatures were being killed because of it.
And Suzune had long been infected with an incurable disease.
"If this continues, you'll die too, Teru." Suzune raised her big eyes and reached out to stroke Yamazaki Teru's cheek, saying with some heartache, "You don't belong here in the first place."
"It's time to send you back to your world."
...
Midway, Suzune took Yamazaki Teru to the harbor where humans lived.
But on the way, they encountered hunters with sinister intentions.
They were called hunters, but were actually hired because a certain wealthy person had an incurable disease. To extend his life, he commissioned people to search for mermaids that could grant [eternal life].
According to legend, as long as one could obtain a mermaid's heart, one could gain eternal life.
...
So Yamazaki Teru and Suzune fought against these people.
In the end, Suzune, severely injured, sank into the ocean.
[Teru!]
And Yamazaki Teru, due to the [transformation], found his legs gradually fusing together. Just as he was about to turn into a mermaid, he was caught by fishing nets.
To allow Yamazaki to return to the human world—
Suzune used her last strength to kiss him.
"Teru! As long as you think about the way back home, you can turn back into a human. My blood will let you go home."
Saying this—
A tear slid down from Suzune's face.
She struggled to bite through her own wrist and brought it to Yamazaki Teru's mouth, feeding him her blue blood.
It turned out—
Mermaid blood could turn Yamazaki back into a human.
Although extremely painful, Yamazaki Teru kept shaking his head, but the blood mixed with seawater entered his body through his gills and mouth.
The webbing between his fingers began to disappear, and his legs gradually returned to human form.
"No! Suzune, don't leave me..." Yamazaki felt utterly desperate.
As the large net rose—
The seawater kept receding.
And Suzune, like a glimmer of light at the bottom of the sea, was gradually moving away.
At this moment, Suzune looked like a butterfly, a butterfly with huge luminous wings.
Beautiful to death.
Memory flashback.
During high school, unable to endure being looked down upon and bullied, Yamazaki stood on a bridge, looked down at the river water below, closed his eyes, and jumped.
Although very unwilling, he felt that leaving this seemingly glamorous but extremely cold world might be a good thing.
But just when he had given up on himself, a [hand] grabbed him from the darkness.
He didn't see the person's appearance clearly.
That warm body instantly embraced him.
He only felt that the person's eyes were big and gentle.
As if saying, "Life is so beautiful, please live on."
...
At this moment, those eyes overlapped with Suzune's now.
For Teru's sake, Suzune sacrified her mermaid life, striving to send Teru to the other shore, the human world...
Although filled with sunshine and without the coldness of seawater—
It still felt suffocating.
At the same time, the BGM played:
[Falling petals scatter with the wind to your sky, my life gradually quiets, fading from the colorful breath... everything is dedicated to you... our time begins here, don't cry for me anymore]
Still a very beautiful and moving melody.
It had to be said, Pokeni's soundtrack was truly [healing] to death.
Gentle yet sorrowful, it could always pierce your heart.
[Beauty belongs to our dreamlike fantasy world... I want to watch your smile, let you gently stroke my hair... the pulsing life is love... at this moment let us slowly melt together... the mermaid's heart... forever sinking in the heart's sea... blooming here.]
...
THE END
Mermaid's Heart
THANK YOU
Ah...
Furukawa covered his aching chest, feeling his eyes moisten.
Damn you, Tsubaki Furuhara!