Chapter 72. There Are Actually Different Endings?
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Hirose Furukawa sat motionless in place, stunned, as if his soul had been drained away.
From the plot's perspective, Suzune was clearly an ancient human who was forced to migrate to the ocean due to environmental changes.
Yamazaki was a lonely youth who, even living in the human world, had never felt even half a bit of warmth.
And Suzune, clearly the last mermaid, could not fall in love with humans.
In this world where she could not obtain love, Suzune would not harbor enthusiasm for increasing her own kind.
Lonely and exhausted, she became a young woman in a despairing world.
Two lonely and desperate individuals came together and became each other's sole bond. Although cruel, it also healed the heart.
But—
That bastard Urobuchi Gen, in the end, made Suzune leave the world in this manner, leaving only Yamazaki alone.
Even returning to the human world—
What use was such a world, a world without Suzune?
If Suzune couldn't survive, what happiness was there to speak of for Yamazaki?
...
The credits had already started appearing on the TV screen.
Sure enough, in the producer column hung a name that Hirose Furukawa was extremely familiar with, loved, and hated—
[Tsubaki Furuhara]
Tsubaki Furuhara!
Die!
Die! Die! Die! Die!
Script: [Urobuchi Gen]
Urobuchi Gen!
Die!
Die! Die! Die! Die!
Urobuchi Gen's style was truly too intense.
If the previous Onmyoji 2 left a deep impression, then this time's Mermaid's Heart further strengthened that feeling—
Urobuchi Gen was a scriptwriter very skilled at creating suspense.
In Onmyoji 2, that sense of suspense and the feeling of increasing inner turmoil the further you went was truly irresistible.
In Mermaid's Heart, it was manifested even more thoroughly.
In small details, Hirose Furukawa was made to doubt Suzune's identity, desperately hoping it wouldn't go in that direction, forcing players to pray inwardly.
To some extent, Urobuchi Gen really understood how to control players' psychology.
This person's imagination and creativity truly amazed Hirose Furukawa.
But—
Clearly, whether it was Urobuchi Gen or Tsubaki Furuhara, these two guys were already not quite normal.
Could such a worldview and story even be conceived by humans?
And to cut so thoroughly yet so beautifully—it really made one both miserable and delighted.
I really want to strangle them.
Yet to some extent, what made Hirose Furukawa most angry was that he actually felt these two had contributed an extremely delicious delicacy.
A unique worldview, unexpected character settings.
Exquisite visuals, plus a moving story.
Delicate touches, heart-healing melodies...
All these woven together moved Furukawa deeply.
...
When he came back to his senses, Hirose Furukawa realized he had been sitting in place for a long time.
It's over, it's over.
I suspect Pokeni's essence is the embodiment of evil, trying to assimilate players too!
Turning them into terrible masochists.
Furukawa shivered with cold, his teeth chattering.
...
Early Monday morning, Furukawa, Hayamikawa, and Kinoshita gathered together to discuss Mermaid's Heart.
"Hey, have you all finished the game?" Furukawa asked.
"Mm..."
Both of their expressions were extremely exhausted.
It was clear this game truly had a spiritually devastating effect.
It had to be said, Pokeni's galgames really had a knack for delivering emotional blows.
Different methods, never repeating the same cut.
Most terrifyingly, after cutting you, you'd still think their knife skills were excellent.
The three sat in the smoking room, their souls seemingly drained.
Hayamikawa handed out cigarettes, and the three silently took a drag.
"Damn it."
"Old bastard Tsubaki Furuhara has stopped being human now. In every sense." Hayamikawa said.
The other two nodded, expressing full agreement.
"How should I put it?" Kinoshita held the cigarette between his index and middle fingers, scratching his head with his thumb as he recalled the game scenes. "The suspense in this game is really good. Although I had suspicions in my heart early on, it was still hard to believe in the end that Suzune was actually human."
"Yeah." The other two nodded, chiming in. "From the changes in the male protagonist, you can tell that the merpeople at the bottom of the sea were actually early humans. It's just that due to certain factors, in order to survive in the sea, they transformed into mermaid forms.
Suzune is so beautiful, what a shame."
"But even so, Suzune's heart is pure and flawless. She's someone who would die for Yamazaki."
"Mm, truly ironic. Humans couldn't give Yamazaki love and warmth, yet it's Suzune, a [mermaid], who could empathize with Yamazaki."
"Sigh, actually in a sense, if Yamazaki could keep living with Suzune like that, it wouldn't be a bad thing, right?"
"Too bad. Two lonely individuals fundamentally can't survive in this world."
Sigh.
Everyone let out a heavy sigh.
After falling into brief silence, Kinoshita sniffled, his eyes slightly reddened, and said, "Actually, this is good too. Even though Yamazaki became one of the merpeople, he gained freedom."
"Eh?"
As soon as Kinoshita finished speaking, the other two simultaneously raised their heads, looking at him in confusion.
"No, no, that's not right." Hayamikawa stared at Kinoshita with some surprise and amusement. "Clearly Yamazaki saw Suzune killed and in the end chose to die for love. Where's this talk about becoming a merman?"
"Huh?" Hirose Furukawa asked in confusion. "Wasn't it that Suzune sent Yamazaki Teru back to the human world?"
"What are you guys talking about?" Kinoshita was completely confused.
The three looked at each other in surprise.
After two seconds—
All three simultaneously widened their eyes.
"What?!"
"So Mermaid's Heart has different endings?!"