Time continued to tick, returning to yesterday.
Furukawa Hirozawa went to the accident scene according to the recorded time.
Around 11 PM.
As expected, a cutscene was triggered upon arriving.
On the television screen, a white-haired middle-aged man stood at a traffic light, his face flushed, seemingly having had too much to drink.
This was the male protagonist's father, Yamasita Sei.
"The vehicle approached, and my father's profile reappeared in my line of sight."
"I hadn't seen my father for seven years."
"At this moment, it was as if I was violently struck by fate, and my entire soul trembled."
"Although my father wasn't necessarily a qualified father, and I rarely received much warmth from him when I was young, the period after losing him was truly difficult."
"It wasn't until I saw him again, saw him standing alive in front of me, that I realized—
No matter what, I still missed him."
Bang!
A car roared past, and at the critical moment, the male protagonist lunged at his father.
However, he was hit hard by the car, and his entire body flew backward.
His father's face, illuminated by the car's headlights, turned pale. After a moment of stunned, he finally reacted, sobering up considerably. He ran over and hugged the male protagonist.
While pressing his hand on the bleeding area, he shouted loudly, "Ambulance! Call an ambulance!"
"This is great, truly great."
The male protagonist smiled with relief, reaching out to stroke his father's graying temples.
Seeing this scene, Furukawa Hirozawa's eyes were slightly moist.
He wiped his face with his hand, feeling terribly upset.
Furukawa Hirozawa missed his own father.
Honestly, if there really was such an opportunity in the world to go back in time and start over, he would also be willing to exchange his own life for his father's, just like the male protagonist.
At this moment, as the male protagonist was lingering between life and death, past memories flashed like a revolving lantern.
His father taking him to play golf when he was a child, carrying him while grass-sliding, playing football…
These scenes flashed one by one.
White light.
"No matter how severe the injury, with the time jump the next day, I would still return to a recovered state.
No, to be precise, I would become the me of yesterday.
If I had a cold yesterday, then I would still be suffering from a cold now.
Time is like a guiding thread, constantly pulling me forward into the past."
The next day, the characters in the scene also changed.
When Furukawa Hirozawa controlled the male protagonist to return home, Yamasita Sei was also alive again.
To be precise, this was already the day before the car accident occurred.
So, of course, his father was still alive.
It's just that—
When this father saw Yamasita Sei, his eyes were full of fear and coldness, and perhaps a hint of regret.
As soon as they got home, the two of them argued over a trivial matter.
""Please drink less in the future." Seeing him, I couldn't help but think of the car accident that would happen tomorrow.
But more than that, the memories of death revived.
I just remembered—
What my father was like before the car accident."
Yamasita Sei's father was an alcoholic and had a violent temper. He often argued with the male protagonist over small things, and the two even came to blows at one point.
However, it was usually the male protagonist who was unilaterally beaten. After venting his anger, his father would be unusually remorseful and regretful, yet he would insist on not apologizing, only going out for a walk by himself.
Seeing such a father, Furukawa Hirozawa was infuriated.
If it weren't for the game, he would really want to give him a good beating.
Do you know?
Your son saved your life.
It's just that—
Those things happened in the future, and the father in the present couldn't possibly have such memories.
"When did my father, the father I missed, the loving father, turn into someone who loves to drink and has a bad temper?"
"Probably when my mother passed away, right?"
Yamasita Sei said, looking at the photo on the table.
In the photo, there was a group picture of young Yamasita Sei with his parents, and the family looked exceptionally happy.
From the clues he had gathered, Furukawa Hirozawa learned that—
When Yamasita Sei was young, he had a very warm family. His father worked hard outside, was very loving towards his mother and him, often bought him toys, and took him to amusement parks.
However, one day, his mother got cancer and then became bedridden.
All the family's savings were used for her medical treatment, but even so, it didn't last long.
In less than half a year, his mother passed away.
Ever since his mother passed away, his father changed completely. He drank all day, became incredibly depressed, and aside from paying the male protagonist's tuition, he didn't really care about anything else.
Only when the male protagonist was rebellious and caused trouble at school would his father call him over and give him a severe beating.
Under these circumstances, the relationship between the father and son became extremely cold.
…
Time continued to tick, and the male protagonist gradually became younger.
Returning to the past day by day like this, as if going against the current in the long river of time, the male protagonist fell into an incomparable melancholy.
"What's the meaning of it?"
"I suddenly felt lost."
"If everything I experience in this world will reverse and jump back to the past due to time, then what is the meaning of everything I do each day?
After all, our current actions affect the future, not the past.
But my future is in yesterday.
Thus, my life has lost its greatest meaning of living.
Because every yesterday is a reality I have already experienced."
…
Playing to this point, Furukawa Hirozawa's mood was terrible, feeling the same empathy as the male protagonist in the game.
The Pokeni's game design truly makes people love and hate it.
You are not just an observer watching the whole story, but actively participating in it. Time constantly rewinds, but the experience is very repetitive, which inevitably makes one anxious.
In such a situation, corresponding to the male protagonist's words, Furukawa Hirozawa could deeply understand such a desperate feeling.
If your future, every day, is fixed, something whose answer is already known.
All the things you do will not cause any change to tomorrow, then the whole person should go crazy, right?
Furukawa Hirozawa initially thought that time reversal was quite good, being able to indulge in pleasure and even steal others' little secrets to do things, but now, he no longer thinks so at all.
If this continues, people will be tormented to the point of madness, right?
…
It was in this incomparably desperate and uncomfortable state of mind that the whole world changed.
The male protagonist met the female protagonist.
Yamasita Sei met Tanikawa Aitsuki.
At first, nothing unusual was noticed, but after several encounters, Furukawa Hirozawa discovered—
This girl named Tanikawa Aitsuki could actually retain "tomorrow's memories."
To be precise, if something was experienced with Tanikawa Aitsuki today, and this event did not belong to the true timeline but was a memory that only a time-reverser would have, it should have been erased after the time jump.
But Tanikawa Aitsuki still remembered.
When the two realized this, they began to run towards each other without hesitation.
The setting sun dyed the sea and the beach red.
Two black shadows ran wildly on it, then fell, and continued to get up and run towards each other.
As the background music started playing, Furukawa Hirozawa's heart surged with excitement.
After stumbling and fumbling, the male protagonist and female protagonist finally came together.
The two stood on the beach, looking at each other, as if seeing themselves.
They smiled with pursed lips, but tears flowed uncontrollably.
"Huh? You actually…" The male protagonist tried hard to control himself, but his chest heaved erratically.
"You actually…" The female protagonist tightly clutched her skirt with her right hand, looking at the other person with gentle eyes.
"I thought I was the only one in this world…"
"Me too…"
"This is great, it turns out I'm not alone in this world."
"Me too…"
Then, the two walked on the beach and embraced.
At this moment, the male protagonist cried like a child.
Furukawa Hirozawa's eyes welled up with tears, deeply moved by this scene.
If the encounter between the male protagonist and female protagonist in Pokeni's "Mermaid Heart" was the meeting of two human isolated islands,
Then at this moment, the meeting of the male protagonist Yamasita Sei and Tanikawa Aitsuki was like half of heaven meeting the other half, and their entire lives became complete.
"You must be crying tears of joy," Furukawa Hirozawa murmured.
It was the first time he had experienced such complex emotions.
...
"It's a promise. Every day from now on, we'll meet here."
"Okay." The female protagonist's eyes welled up with tears, and she smiled blissfully.
At that moment, Furukawa Hirozawa, who was in front of the screen, also started to smile.
Damn it, Pokeni is really good at tugging at heartstrings, aren't they?
This feeling is truly amazing.
If it weren't for all the build-up before, allowing you to deeply feel the loneliness and despair in the time reversal, then this reunion scene would definitely lose a lot of its emotional impact.
If it were like other galgames, where the male protagonist and female protagonist started interacting and falling in love from the beginning, then there wouldn't be this sense of shock at this moment.
It's precisely because the game designed a period of dullness, allowing you to deeply feel despair, that when a match lights up the night sky at this moment, you are able to look up.
The tiny flickering flame, though faint, warms the heart.
In the vast universe, because of you, I am not alone.
Furukawa Hirozawa's heart couldn't help but moisten.
...
The subsequent plot development was truly very sweet and funny.
The male protagonist returned to the day he first confessed to his current cuckolded girlfriend.
Knowing the future, he chose not to confess.
Instead, it was the 'girlfriend' who couldn't hold back and asked the male protagonist to meet after school, taking the initiative to confess.
"Hmph, I already have Aitsuki, why would I want you, you bitch!"
Furukawa Hirozawa pressed the button fiercely, choosing [Reject].
He didn't know why, but when the male protagonist ruthlessly rejected that cuckolded girl, Furukawa Hirozawa felt an unspeakable sense of exhilaration in his heart.
After [returning] to being single, the male protagonist and female protagonist naturally got together.
Although they were moving backward in the river of time, with someone to confide in and look forward to every day, the two shared their joys, sorrows, and everything in between.
Then, they gradually drew closer to each other.
"I remember there's a particularly beautiful fireworks display tomorrow."
"Mm, let's go watch it together," the male protagonist said with a smile.
...
The blooming fireworks, one by one in the sky, were incredibly beautiful.
The vibrant colors dyed the entire sky in a myriad of hues, and light cascaded slowly from above like a waterfall, illuminating the faces of the male protagonist and female protagonist, making them incredibly beautiful.
"Aitsuki," the male protagonist called out.
"Hmm?" The female protagonist turned her head.
"I like you!" the male protagonist shouted, mustering his courage.
The female protagonist nodded, smiling as she replied, "Mm. Me too."
In such a romantic atmosphere, the male protagonist and female protagonist embraced and kissed.
...
Ah...
So sweet.
Furukawa Hirozawa couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Falling in love really does make people happy.
However, he looked up and glanced out the window, where in the quietness, he could still glimpse young couples strolling hand in hand down the street.
Furukawa Hirozawa frowned, completely unable to imagine what it would be like for him to be in a relationship with a girl.
Ah, it's still better to fall in love in a game.
However, seeing this, Furukawa Hirozawa only felt a little sour in his nose.
Damn it, in real life, I get tormented by other couples, so why is it that in the game, where I should be empathizing with the male protagonist, I feel tormented by the game couple now?
Furukawa Hirozawa shook his head, casting aside such heretical thoughts.
...
The game continued.
Simply put, after the male protagonist successfully confessed, the two of them lived a shameless and carefree life.
Their daily lives were sickeningly sweet, like being soaked in a honey pot.
But time was still flowing rapidly.
Moving towards its predetermined direction.
From their high school days, all the way to middle school, their bodies gradually became smaller and smaller.
They no longer looked much like adults.
This year, the male protagonist was 10 years old.
The female protagonist was 6 years old.
Still on the beach, their agreed meeting place.
The two sat on the ground, gazing at the distant sea, Aitsuki holding Yamasita Sei's hand, her fingertips trembling slightly.
"Sheng, I'm so scared. If time keeps flowing backward like this, will I die?"
When the female protagonist asked this question, Furukawa Hirozawa's heart inexplicably skipped a beat.
He suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem.
I knew Pokeni couldn't be that kind-hearted; it turns out they were waiting for me here.
If time keeps flowing backward, the male protagonist and female protagonist will definitely get younger and younger, but—
What would happen if it kept going back to the day they were born?
Furukawa Hirozawa didn't dare to think further.
In that case, wouldn't it be both a new birth and a death?
Because when it jumps to the day before you were born, you only exist in your mother's womb.
Another 10 months, and perhaps you wouldn't exist.
What's the difference between not existing, perishing, and dying?
At this moment, Furukawa Hirozawa suddenly understood what Gen Urobuchi, the script planner for Pokeni, meant by "Only new life, no death."
Damn it, didn't they say they wouldn't be cruel?
"No."
Although I said no, that was merely my strong desire.
I really wanted to comfort Aitsuki, but even more so, I wanted to comfort myself.
I'm very scared.
Even more scared than Aitsuki.
What I'm afraid of isn't my death.
It's losing her.
...
I was truly terrified, scared to the extreme.
Aitsuki is only 6 years old this year. If time keeps going backward, then she only has 6 years left.
"I understand," the female protagonist shouted loudly.
In the morning sun, the beach was stained with a vivid red color. It was quite cruel to say, as the rising sun should be the most vibrant time, but in Furukawa Hirozawa's eyes, it was almost like a death knell.
"If that's truly the case, then for me, who doesn't have much time left, being able to enjoy every day with you is the greatest joy." Aitsuki smiled.
Smiling and crying at the same time.
The male protagonist walked over with his little feet and embraced the female protagonist.
At that moment, both of them were already in tears.
...
Ah...
What should I do? I don't dare to play any further.
Furukawa Hirozawa held the controller, not daring to continue playing.
This was the first time he had encountered such a game, one that clearly told you that the upcoming plot would be extremely heartbreaking.
And then it put the choice in your hands.
How cruel and insane is that, you bastard!
Furuhara Tsubaki and Gen Urobuchi are simply two devils.
They're not human at all!
Ah ah ah ah ah ah!
Furukawa Hirozawa stared at the TV for a while, thinking—
If time stopped here and didn't continue, then it would be a good ending, right?
...
Furukawa Hirozawa instinctively wanted to crawl back to sleep, but he couldn't let it go in his heart.
So he crawled back, wanting to seriously see what the final ending was.
Time kept flowing.
It was pouring rain that day.
The male protagonist woke up to find himself lying on a hospital bed.
The male protagonist was only 9 years old that year.
He rubbed his eyes; white walls surrounded him.
As his entire vision went from blurry to clear, a woman lying on a hospital bed appeared in the frame.
The woman's lips were pale, and seeing the male protagonist wake up, she showed a faint smile.
She reached out and stroked the back of the male protagonist's head.
...
The long-lost gentle touch stroked the back of my head.
I hadn't experienced that feeling in a very, very long time.
But—when these hands, rough and thin, were placed on the back of my head, tears couldn't stop flowing.
"Ah… this… this is…"
The male protagonist looked up, his eyes tearful, at the woman, holding her hands in his palms.
Light poured in, making the woman's appearance sacred and pure.
Because.
These were Mother's hands.
My mother passed away from cancer when I was 9 years old.
I had long forgotten Mother's scent.
But at this moment, it all came back to me.
Mother, how much I miss you.
"Mom… Mom…"
I only called out once, my throat choked, unable to speak.
...
And at this moment, Furukawa Hirozawa was also in tears.
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