Samurai Hearts – Tutorial (3)
"You ready, little bro?"
"Yeah. Ready."
"Good! Then let's officially begin the Samurai Hearts stream!"
—Everyone clench your teeth—Hell is opening
With a sly grin, Seungyeon operated the game.
Once again, the same wave of cherry blossoms swirled violently around Seungyeon and Dohyun.
And when the petals finally cleared, they were no longer standing on the sakura-covered hill.
They were inside a Japanese-style castle—specifically, the grand chamber where the lord met with his retainers.
At the head seat sat the dignified daimyo, and along both sides, the retainers knelt in neat rows.
Seungyeon and Dohyun were kneeling in the center of the chamber, before the lord.
And it wasn't just the surroundings that had changed.
Their outfits had completely transformed as well.
Their modern clothes had vanished, replaced with full samurai armor.
Seungyeon wore a feminine armor tinted with crimson hues, while Dohyun wore black-based armor with a half-face scarf that gave him a striking look.
It resembled a tōsei-gusoku, the modernized samurai armor style, but with a more refined fantasy touch.
So the body really doesn't move…
Even though everything had changed suddenly—their environment, their clothes, their movement—Dohyun did not panic.
Seungyeon had already explained a bit about VR games.
The story sections of Samurai Hearts progressed automatically, so they just had to sit and watch.
"Red Fox (赤狐) and Black Wolf (黑狼). Word of your skill with the blade has spread far and wide."
"It is undeserved praise, my lord."
The middle-aged man seated as the daimyo—Atsuragi Toyohashi—spoke. Red Fox, the in-game persona of Seungyeon, responded respectfully.
At the same moment, Black Wolf—Dohyun—bowed his head silently.
Of course, Dohyun didn't bow on purpose.
Their movements were automatic, progressing with the scripted story.
Dohyun was thinking about something else.
About the titles the lord had addressed them with.
Red Fox and Black Wolf… kind of childish, but hey, it's a game.
If someone called him that in real life?
His toes would curl so hard he might collapse.
In that sense, "because it's a game" was a great excuse.
So I'm the Black Wolf, huh.
In Samurai Hearts, the female player took the role of Red Fox, and the male player became Black Wolf.
Each character had an elaborate backstory and deep lore, but Dohyun knew none of it.
Seungyeon hadn't told him because she didn't consider it important.
And truly, it didn't matter much.
Samurai Hearts was all about combat—lore didn't affect gameplay.
While Dohyun was lost in his own thoughts, the story continued smoothly.
"I wish to entrust the two of you with a certain task. Will you accept it?"
"If it is my lord's order, I would gladly walk into burning flames. Please give the command."
"Your loyalty moves this old lord deeply. Very well. I shall give the order."
Toyohashi folded his fan neatly and spoke in a low voice.
"My heir, Atsuragi Tatsuki, will be touring the territory. This is Tatsuki's first inspection. I wish for it to be completed without issue. Therefore, I must assign skilled warriors as his escorts."
"You mean…?"
"As you suspect. You two shall guard Tatsuki. Your skill is unquestioned, and your loyalty admirable. How could I not trust you?"
Red Fox bowed deeply in response.
"We shall do everything in our power to honor the trust our lord has placed in us."
"Excellent. Truly dependable."
Toyohashi nodded in satisfaction.
And once again—now familiar after three occurrences—cherry blossoms scattered everywhere.
Dohyun didn't react this time.
By now, he realized the cherry blossoms functioned like scene transitions within Samurai Hearts.
As expected, when the petals faded, the scenery changed again.
They were now outside the castle.
A young boy sat atop a horse, looking down at them with bright, sparkling eyes.
He had rosy cheeks and round, adorable eyes—an exceptionally cute little boy.
This boy was none other than Atsuragi Tatsuki.
The future heir of the Atsuragi family—the boy Red Fox and Black Wolf would one day serve as their lord.
"So you two are the warriors escorting me? I've heard your sword skills are excellent. Very reliable!"
"It is too much praise."
Red Fox answered again.
That was how the script worked.
Black Wolf was written as a very quiet character, so Red Fox handled most of the dialogue.
In single-player mode, the flow would differ slightly, but this was a two-player session.
But uh… how long do we just sit and watch? I'm getting tired of not moving.
Just then—
"Shall we depart now?"
"Yes, young master."
Their dialogue ended.
At that moment, Dohyun sensed something different.
A sense of freedom.
And indeed—
He could move his body again.
He realized this when he saw Seungyeon abruptly jump up from bowing and resume hosting the stream.
"And that's finally the end of the opening scene! This little kid here is the one we'll be protecting. Of course the person we must protect is a cute child—that's the classic cliché!"
"What, can you talk about him like that?"
Tatsuki was standing right in front of them, yet Seungyeon had casually called him "the kid."
When the confused Dohyun asked, Seungyeon burst into laughter.
Chat exploded too, rolling around at the newbie's innocent reaction.
—Newbie too cute—I was like that my first time too—When you first play VR, you always watch your mouth in front of NPCs lol
"VR game NPCs usually only react to certain set phrases. For example… let's see. Earlier in the opening, I called Tatsuki 'young master,' right?"
Standing before Tatsuki, Seungyeon said, "Young master."
Tatsuki, who had been staring blankly, turned toward her.
"Is something the matter? Let us depart."
And that was the end of his reaction.
Tatsuki made no comment about being called "kid," nor did he react to her talking to the stream.
He simply closed his mouth and stared blankly again.
Only then did Dohyun fully understand what Seungyeon meant when she said NPCs only respond to predetermined keywords.
"So that's what you meant."
"They say they're developing NPCs that react more dynamically, but I've never actually seen one."
—If that becomes possible, that's basically perfect AI—Way too heavy to put in a VR game lol—Imagine a game with only ONE NPC like that hahaha
Dohyun nodded, convinced.
"Anyway, opening's over, so let's get moving, little bro."
With brisk steps, Seungyeon started walking.
She looked like she already knew exactly where to go, so Dohyun simply followed without question.
Tatsuki followed as well, still riding his horse.
'Kurobitsu' donated 1,000 won!Victoria,Victoria.Doyouactuallyknowwhereyou'regoing?Victoria, Victoria. Do you actually know where you're going?Victoria,Victoria.Doyouactuallyknowwhereyou'regoing?
"Kurobitsu, thanks for the 1,000 won~ Yes, I know. I peeked at other streams. Didn't watch much because of spoilers, but I checked the opening part."
'OverdueVacationHomework' donated 1,000 won!Pre−studyomgPre-study omgPre−studyomg
"OverdueVacationHomework, thanks for the 1,000 won~ Studying with pre- and review sessions based on the textbook is common sense! I'm the well-prepared streamer, Victoria!"
Even as they walked, Seungyeon constantly chatted with the viewers.
Since this wasn't a solo gaming session, this was natural.
How well a streamer could keep viewers from feeling bored during slow gameplay sections was a measure of their skill.
And Seungyeon, being a competent streamer, naturally understood this.
Thus she maintained an endless stream of conversation.
With the audio filled, viewers wouldn't get bored—and the same was true for Dohyun, who quietly walked behind her.
Watching her banter with viewers was entertaining in itself.
Viewers noticed this and commented:
—Her brother's in viewer mode ON!—He's listening so earnestly~—This is how people get into streaming lol
…but Dohyun had no way of knowing.
Tatsuki, riding behind them, occasionally spoke too:
"Now that I've come of age, I can finally serve the Atsuragi family."
"Do you know the first lord of the Atsuragi line? He purified the entire Atsuragi domain of its strange anomalies."
"One day, I want to be like the first lord. I want to lead the Atsuragi clan into a new golden age."
At first, Dohyun listened with curiosity.
But he soon tuned it out.
Tatsuki only repeated those same three sentences over and over.
He realized it was just an NPC repeating preset lines.
"Think it was around here?"
After walking for a while…
As they moved from a hillside path into a forest trail, Seungyeon suddenly stopped.
"What is?"
"The ambush."
Dohyun blinked in surprise.
"Ambush?"
"You didn't pay attention during the opening, did you? Even that made it obvious there'd be an ambush."
"I zoned out for a minute…"
Seungyeon sighed in defeat at Dohyun's sheepish tone.
"What do you think it means when they send us along to prevent an ambush?"
No game sends players to a location for no reason.
If the game is guiding players somewhere, then there's an event waiting there.
And right before departure, NPCs mentioned an ambush?
That was as blatant a flag as it gets.
Meaning: an ambush was almost guaranteed.
And once the opening is over, a tutorial normally follows.
Since Samurai Hearts revolves entirely around combat, it was easy to guess what that tutorial would involve.
"Anyway, it's coming up soon, so get ready."