"Really? Where is it?" Koze Furukawa eagerly began searching.
"Uh, the one at the very bottom, against the wall, on the left side, tucked in the corner. Try looking there," the Uncle Shopkeeper said, standing on tiptoe to patiently guide him.
"Ah, I found it. Thanks!" Koze crouched down and pulled a game box from the corner.
After wiping it clean, his eyes suddenly lit up.
The cover's amazing!
This was the first impression Onmyōji gave.
The cover featured a pair of antique-style figures. In the center stood a young onmyōji wearing a tall hat and ornate robes, with a massive, radiant moon behind him.
Beneath a cherry blossom tree, petals danced in the air.
Behind the onmyōji were three strikingly beautiful girls of different styles: a Miko in red and white, holding a longbow; a valiant female samurai; and a moe-loli in a long dress with a dazed, adorable expression.
The characters were drawn with extraordinary detail, and the art style was unlike any game Koze had ever seen.
In fact, even the most outstanding animated films today might struggle to achieve such exquisite detail.
The character designs of the male and female protagonists, with their refined lines and colors, were a tier above the current mainstream gaming and art styles.
Furukawa was instantly captivated by the game after just one glance.
Their artist must be incredibly talented.
Huh...?
Is this for real?
This looks like it's going to gather dust.
Why is it tucked away in such an obscure corner? Honestly, if the Uncle Shopkeeper hadn't recommended it, Furukawa would never have noticed this beautifully packaged game lying in such a remote corner.
Wait a minute...
Furukawa quickly noticed another detail.
"16+?!" The large restricted-age rating on the cover startled him into a soft gasp.
Though only two years separate 16 and 18, the difference is worlds apart. Galgames rated 16+ only contain romantic elements; any blue content is strictly off-limits.
"That's right, it's supposedly a galgame," the Uncle Shopkeeper chuckled, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "But Furukawa, you definitely meet the age requirement."
Of course I do.
How many years have I been working already?
Seeing the cover and knowing it was a galgame, a knowing smile spread across Furukawa's face.
But... this...
Furukawa tilted his head, suddenly finding the situation both amusing and absurd.
It was rare to see an RPG with an Onmyōji theme, and even rarer for it to be a 16+ galgame.
How could those two genres possibly mesh?
Most galgames on the market these days were the fast-food type—simple and crude. Galgame players and RPG players felt like entirely different user groups.
Pokeni?
He'd never heard of this company.
Still, the game's cover was quite well done.
He scrolled down further.
No way?!
"8,000 yen?!"
That price was outrageous!
"Yes, that's correct," the Uncle Shopkeeper nodded with a smile. "They say this company added a special chip to the cartridge to ensure game quality, which drove up the cost. The salesperson claimed the game itself was one-of-a-kind and that a single playthrough would prove it was worth every penny."
"Hmm..."
Now Furukawa finally understood why this game was tucked away in this corner.
An unknown company, an exorbitant price, and a bizarre RPG+galgame theme—it all gave him a bad feeling.
He mentally gave the game an initial assessment.
"To be honest, I've never played this game either. I just thought the cover looked good. If you don't want it, don't feel pressured to buy," the Uncle Shopkeeper said, being quite straightforward.
"No. I want to buy it."
Furukawa picked up the cartridge and walked to the counter.
What should he say? The moment he saw the cartridge's cover, a strong intuition struck him—
This might actually be a really good game.
However...
If he ends up regretting this purchase, Furukawa vowed never to buy another game from the company Pokeni again.
At 8 PM, Koze Furukawa returned to his apartment, carrying the newly purchased game cartridge.
He expertly turned on the TV, connected the game console, and plugged it in.
Furukawa opened the game box, removed the cartridge, blew on the pins at the bottom, and inserted it into the console.
Click.
The console booted up, the snow on the screen suddenly vanished, and the screen went black.
A quaint, antique-style background music began playing.
A notice appeared on the black screen:
[Notice]
[ This work has been approved for sale by the ethics committee. ]
[ Minors under 16 are prohibited from purchasing or using this work. ]
[ All characters, groups, locations, and settings in this work are fictional. ]
[ This work is purely fictional and does not reflect any real-world content. ]
[ This work is the intellectual property of Pokeni. Do not copy, alter, record, repost, sell, or emulate it. ]
[ All actions are prohibited except those explicitly permitted by copyright law. ]
[All characters appearing in this work are 18 years of age or older.]
[ This is a standard disclaimer for almost all games aimed at players 16 and older. ]
[ Koze Furukawa pressed the A button as instructed, and the image vanished. ]
[ The screen then filled with text: ]
[ The Onmyōji originated in China. ]
[ They are cultivators who understand celestial observation, face reading, direction finding, disaster prediction, feng shui, and ritualistic practices. ]
[ They can foresee fortune and misfortune and manipulate shikigami. ]
[ And... ]
[ Subdue demons. ]
[ As the last word appeared, the entire screen suddenly lit up. ]
[ The background music abruptly shifted to a more intense melody. ]
[ The screen now showed a woman with silver hair, horns on her head, and revealing attire. Her lips were vividly red, and her eyes held a deep, luminous glow. ]
[ Calling her a "woman" might be slightly inaccurate. ]
[ Because her dialogue box displayed the name: Oniyakihime ]
The two fleshy horns on her head were clear symbols of her status, instantly identifying her as a demon girl.
Wow.
This is incredible.
To achieve such a soft and beautiful effect on the Red and White Machine... truly remarkable.
Furukawa thought to himself.
Tsk tsk...
This character design, this art, this level of detail... it completely overturns my imagination of what games could be.
Before this, games on the Red and White Machine had been almost exclusively pixelated, like they were covered in thick, heavy mosaics.
While the graphics still weren't smooth and fluid enough to be breathtaking at first glance, they were already dazzling in comparison.
The first glance alone had a powerful impact on Furukawa.
Especially—
When his gaze drifted to Oniyakihime's neckline, he was stunned.
The mere thought that this was a galgame made his blood surge through his veins.
This is practically animation-level quality, isn't it?
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