The story came to an abrupt halt.
At the same time, a series of drawings were displayed on the screen, with subtitles appearing on the right.
Accompanied by Atsushi Shirakawa's beautiful and melodious music, a faint sadness permeated the air.
[THE END]
[Producer: Furuhara Tsubaki]
[Director of Animation: Hayao Miyazaki]
[Script: Maeda Jun]
[Music and Sound Effects: Atsushi Shirakawa / Maeda Jun]
[Special Animation: Goro Miyazaki]
...
Furukawa Hirozawa was silent for two seconds, then came back to his senses.
The screen returned to the initial page, and the interface had also changed.
It transformed into a dreamy, fantastical interface.
It seemed the production team was presenting the second playthrough scene from Nare's perspective.
A new option appeared in the menu bar, called [Nare's Drawings].
Clicking on it revealed Nare's seemingly chaotic and strange doodles, symbols that appeared to have no meaning at all, but Furukawa Hirozawa knew that these were all drawings of her father.
Moreover, when you viewed any of these pictures, it would display [What the drawing looks like in a normal person's eyes].
It was a very interesting little easter egg.
However, looking at the content recorded in these drawings would inexplicably move you.
The 'truth' of each drawing was a happy moment spent with her father.
Of course, some also involved time spent with other female protagonists.
It could be said to be very clever.
The'Start game' option also changed to [Second Playthrough].
And when Furukawa Hirozawa clicked the button, a prompt popped up:
[The second playthrough will re-experience the game from Nare's perspective. Are you sure?]
Hmm?
It's actually presenting the game from Nare's perspective?
Then what will father and mother, and this world, become?
Pokeni is too extravagant, aren't they? They actually made two sets of art resources. No wonder this game disc is so big.
And...
Old Thief Furuhara is completely working Master Miyazaki Hayao like an ox!
...
Should he start the second playthrough?
Although curious, Furukawa Hirozawa did not do so.
He silently put down the controller.
He didn't plan to start the second playthrough immediately.
But his heart felt strangely calm.
It's strange to say, LL was moving, but after it ended, it didn't make one feel sad at all.
Or rather, all the sadness was replaced by emotion.
When the male protagonist finally discovered that the paintings were all of his father, Furukawa Hirozawa himself broke down in tears at that moment.
The reason for his tears was simple: it was due to emotion.
Nare, who had once been by his side, was gone, and every one of these paintings showed a daughter's love for her father.
Is there anything in the world purer or more touching than this?
Especially when the truth was revealed, the emotion in Furukawa Hirozawa's heart was beyond words.
This was the love that Furuhara Tsubaki had placed in the players' hearts—the purest emotion after the beautiful reunion of father and daughter, and family.
And at the same time, when the male protagonist discovered that the daughter he had with Senshan Aoi was Nare, everything was brought to its climax.
At this moment,
A perfect closed loop was formed in the storyline.
Furukawa Hirozawa closed his eyes, carefully recalling everything that had happened.
Since the current daughter is the former Nare, then can it be said that—
In the future, when Nare grows up, she might feel incredibly pained by the loss of her father, and so, after obtaining the mermaids tears, she wished to see her father.
No, was the wish to swim with her father?
Thinking of this, Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly.
From a plot perspective, this wish is still very possible.
Because it was her father's wish, and incidentally Nare's own wish, Nare disappeared after they swam.
He didn't know if she went back to the future.
But at least Nare's wish was fulfilled.
Mm-hmm.
Furukawa Hirozawa nodded.
That's probably it.
How should he put it?
Although the plot ended abruptly here, all the content had been clearly explained.
The subsequent process seemed unnecessary to show.
Or rather—
Old Thief Furuhara's slight mercy prevented him from doing so.
In LL, unlike CL, the game was not pushed all the way to the scene of Miyazaki Natsuki's death.
Just thinking about the young daughter crying inconsolably after losing her father made Furukawa Hirozawa want to cry.
One must know that when Furukawa Hirozawa saw the loss of his daughter in CL, he completely broke down.
That was the first time Old Thief Furuhara had shown the death of the female protagonist and daughter so vividly.
Looking at it this way, LL ending at its climax is truly kind.
But... with Senshan Aoi's personality, even without Natsuki, she would still be able to take good care of Nare and the family, right?
Thank you, Furuhara Tsubaki, for creating such a strong and kind female protagonist.
At this point, Furukawa Hirozawa no longer had the motivation to continue other female protagonist routes.
Everything would wait for him to read other people's guides and insights on the forum in the future.
"Damn it!"
"Damn you, Old Thief Furuhara!"
"You have the players' psychology completely under your thumb!"
"You are truly detestable!"
...
And, strangely enough—
After Furukawa Hirozawa experienced the emotion and shed tears, he felt a strange sense of healing in his heart.
This feeling was truly very peculiar.
He couldn't quite figure out why for a while.
But standing up, he felt incredibly refreshed.
It was as if some strange magic had been cast upon him, and his entire inner being had been nourished.
How strange.
This was something he had never experienced in Old Thief Furuhara's previous games.
And he didn't have the slightest thought of wanting to kill Old Thief Furuhara.
Quite the opposite, there was a strange sense of gratitude in his heart.
At first, Furukawa Hirozawa himself didn't quite understand why.
Until he got into bed and closed his eyes.
The game had a strong lingering effect; as soon as he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with Nare.
He couldn't fall asleep at all, and the scenes from the game kept flashing before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
Like a tangled ball of yarn, it Entangled Furukawa Hirozawa.
Until President Qing Zhiyuan of Pokeni's words appeared—"LL and CL are two sides of the same coin, complementing each other. Although the two games are completely different in their settings, they are like mirrors."
"Ah!"
Just then, Furukawa Hirozawa's heart jolted, and he sat up from the bed.
He finally caught the thread.
...
If CL was about brokenness, that an incomplete life is complete.
Then in LL, it is about mending.
Through time, the sense of brokenness is mended, thereby making a broken life complete.
Huh?
Thinking of this, Furukawa Hirozawa got goosebumps all over his body.
Upon closer thought, it was indeed so.
In CL, the male protagonist went from being alone to building a family. This is everyone's life experience, and up to this point, it is very complete. However, it quickly becomes broken due to the departure of his wife.
Even if he can regain the courage to live from his daughter in the future and reconcile with his father, a crucial member is missing from this family.
Until the very end, when his daughter Ushio leaves, the male protagonist becomes alone again.
LL, however, is completely the opposite. The male protagonist starts with his daughter. In this single-parent family, the mother's position has always been missing until Senshan Aoi fills it.
At this moment, the family becomes complete.
Although Nare disappears after her wish is fulfilled, in the days to come, Miyazaki Natsuki and Senshan Aoi will also have a complete family.
Nare...
What a kind child she is.
Because of her arrival, Natsuki, who had cancer, regained the courage to live, and no longer avoided his feelings, bravely accepting Senshan Aoi's love.
This is actually very remarkable.
As soon as Furukawa Hirozawa thought of this, his eyes couldn't help but well up.
If it were him, knowing that his life was short, could he truly accept Aoi with equanimity?
Could he truly marry and have children like a normal person, and live a happy life?
He dared not imagine.
Just thinking about it made him lose the courage to live.
If not for Nare, how dim would Natsuki's world be!
From this perspective, his future daughter saved him.
No wonder...
Furukawa Hirozawa covered his forehead, laughing happily.
No wonder he felt healed.
Because the core of LL is the process of salvation.
Whether for the male protagonist, Nare, or Senshan Aoi, they all found salvation in each other.
Originally, several incomplete individuals, when pieced together, became whole.
That's the story.
How could it not be moving?
But beyond the emotion, there was also a strange sense of strength and redemption.
Lifeline.
These are the individual lifelines of each character in the game; broken lives were mended together.
At the same time, this is also the player's lifeline.
No matter how many hardships you encounter in life, or what kind of setbacks, after experiencing this game, you will gain strength from it.
"Ah~ Old Thief Furuhara is amazing."
Moreover, everything was as Pokeni's slogan said: LL is CL's mirror, complementing each other, and the two games make the two states and directions of life complete.
Is this Furuhara Tsubaki?
...
No sadness.
Although the process was moving and at one point made players want to send him hate mail, after finishing the game, they were inexplicably healed, and their mood calmed down.
This wonderful experience immediately swept over countless players.
Many players logged onto Pokeni's forum to post, stating, "This is truly a magical experience."
"Because all wishes have been fulfilled, everyone has no regrets. As players, we also have no regrets."
"Although there will be no father's companionship in the future, I think Nare being able to re-experience her father's past love is enough, isn't it?
In the future, she'll live well with her mother, carrying this experience. This ending is truly not sad at all."
"Exactly, exactly. Put yourselves in their shoes. If you had cancer and still had such a good wife and child, wouldn't you be happy?"
"Ah, this..."
"In short, thank Old Thief Furuhara for bringing LIFELINE. The sadness and regrets experienced in CL were healed here in LL."
"Yes, it really is strange. I still haven't quite figured out why."
"I think it's probably because Old Thief Furuhara is a kind person, right?"
"Ah~ Are you sure you're not being sarcastic?"
"Yes, a kind person, so kind that you want to kill him."
...
Although the players were joking, in this world, there was truly one person who wanted to kill Furuhara Tsubaki.
No, to be precise, he wanted to kill President Qing Zhiyuan.
Hayao Miyazaki was stunned when he saw the images at the end of the game.
"Ah, Suzuki P, come quickly and see."
Hearing Mr. Miyazaki's voice, Toshio Suzuki, who was downstairs in a meeting discussing promotional matters, couldn't help but frown.
The female assistant opposite him was looking at Toshio Suzuki with a strange expression.
"Suzuki-san, is something wrong?"
"Oh dear, the cat's out of the bag," Toshio Suzuki touched his smooth forehead. "But it's fine, you all continue your discussion."
After speaking, Toshio Suzuki trotted upstairs.
In the 'game Room,' Hayao Miyazaki was sitting on a stool with a displeased expression.
However, his eyes were red.
It seemed he had just cried and had only called him up after composing himself.
Toshio Suzuki thought to himself.
"What's wrong, Miyazaki?"
Toshio Suzuki walked in.
"This isn't right." Hayao Miyazaki pointed at the television.
On the screen were Nare's drawings.
"Eh? Not right? What's not right?" Toshio Suzuki feigned ignorance, "Isn't the game quite good? And I really didn't expect you, Miyazaki, to be able to get this far on your own."
Hayao Miyazaki pouted.
"This game has no difficulty at all; it's just about making choices according to your heart when you encounter options."
"Damn it, even if it's a difficult game, I wouldn't be afraid, okay? The reason I didn't play before was mainly because I was too busy, and sometimes my hands would get dirty with paint."
"Yes, yes," Toshio Suzuki echoed, "Then I guess you won't need me anymore?"
Mr. Miyazaki choked for a moment, but then immediately said with a stern face:
"Not those things. What I want to talk about is the game LIFE-LINE."
"Oh, right, right, what about the game?"
Hayao Miyazaki stood up and pointed at the television,
"The illustrations used here are wrong. I haven't seen any of these drawings. Furuhara Tsubaki didn't use the images we provided."
"Eh?" Toshio Suzuki feigned surprise, leaning in to look closely. "I think the drawings are pretty good, and weren't you quite moved?"
"The drawings are indeed good, and I was very moved."
Hayao Miyazaki didn't lie either, "But, that's not what I'm talking about. Pokeni didn't use the artwork we provided as per the contract. This shows a complete lack of contractual spirit. That's the issue.
I never expected President Aoki, who seemed so pure and harmless, to play such a trick on us in the end.
He did this without informing us beforehand, which is truly unscrupulous!"
It was clear that Hayao Miyazaki was very angry.
But he hadn't seemed this angry even when nausicaä of the valley of the wind was ruined by another game company.
Toshio Suzuki understood the reason for his anger even more—
It was mainly because he had a good impression of and trusted President Qing Zhiyuan, and now he felt deeply betrayed by someone he had highly regarded.
Anyone would be hurt, wouldn't they?
Thinking of this, Toshio Suzuki almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Actually, Miyazaki-san, President Aoki had informed Ghibli about these original art contents beforehand, and I agreed to use these original artworks instead of Miyazaki-san's drawings."
"Eh?!"
Hayao Miyazaki's eyes widened, looking at Toshio Suzuki in disbelief.
Good heavens, it turns out the betrayer was someone else!
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