Eriri shot him another glare.
"Please. Aside from Steins;Gate, when did your games ever had a happy ending?"
She looked as if she were not scared at all.
Of course.
If only her body hadn't been trembling when she said that, it would have been far more convincing.
In response to Eriri's complaint, Akifumi scratched his nose.
"Even if you say that, this work is quite special among my past work."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Eriri waved impatiently. "Just go do your thing."
Akifumi shook his head.
Since things had already come to this point, there was no need to persuade them further.
Returning to his room, Akifumi turned on his computer and checked the comments on the post he had made the day before.
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"Cleared the game! The story is simple, but the level design is ingenious. Super fun!"
"Simple story? This is one of the rarest perfect endings ever!"
"If this were any other developer, yeah, it'd be simple. But coming from you, Sensei, this ending is anything but simple!"
"Ugh, the frog scene was such an emotional gut-punch... but at least the ending was good!"
"Seeing Viola escape from the witch's house and being saved by her father was just too sweet! And coming from the 'Warrior of Love and Hope' Sensei, this sugar hit even harder!"
"Sensei, we've cleared the game. Where's the follow-up you promised?"
"Didn't Sensei say we need to unlock all the endings first? There must be other routes, right?"
"Of course! Did you guys miss the 'End?' after the credits?"
"I've played through it twice and didn't notice any difference."
"+1. Did we miss something along the way? My head hurts."
"How did you guys clear it so fast? It's been an hour, and I'm still stuck in that reference room. Is this a bug?!"
"Reference room? Check the walls carefully."
"There's already a guide out if you're really lost. But honestly, solving puzzles yourself is way more satisfying."
"Exactly. Following a guide ruins the fun. Might as well just watch a Let's Play."
"Sensei, please give us more stories with perfect endings in the future!"
"+1."
"+2."
"By the way, isn't Steins;Gate updating tonight?"
"...Don't bring up Steins;Gate! I'll start crying over Mayushii again!"
"Damn it, my good mood just evaporated."
"But didn't Sensei promise a perfect ending this time? What's there to be sad about?"
"Do you really trust Sensei to be that kind?"
"Maybe it's just bait for the game, 'The Witch's House.'"
"But... Sensei has never lied to us before, right?"
"Well, whatever. We'll find out tonight anyway."
———————————————————————
"A perfect ending, huh?" Akifumi smirked.
"These guys completely misunderstood because they couldn't figure out the truth. Can't blame me for that, right?"
After all, neither the fake ending nor the true ending was actually happy.
The former was because players hadn't uncovered the truth, while the latter laid everything bare for them to see.
"I just hope they won't be too heartbroken when they reach the true ending. Amen."
He tapped on his screen a few times and opened the creator's backend on Steam.
"Whoa..."
Seeing the sales figures, Akifumi Mugiho couldn't help but suck in a breath.
133,493 copies sold!
That's a whopping 186 million yen!
Even with the platform taking a 30% cut, it was far better than the measly royalties from book publishing.
Of course, the two industries couldn't be directly compared.
Publishing involved rent, utilities, staff salaries, printing costs, and equipment maintenance. Plus, bookstores wouldn't buy inventory at the suggested retail price.
Though the publishing industry was profitable for the big shots, the process was exhausting and full of red tape.
Akifumi had no interest in dealing with that.
That said, game development wasn't as easy as it seemed either.
Selling over 130,000 copies within 12 hours, without any promotional slots, was something only someone like Akifumi, who already had a solid fanbase, could pull off.
Combined with a well-crafted story and word-of-mouth promotion, the sales kept climbing steadily.
"Still, out of 130,000 players, not a single one found the true ending?"
"These players are hopeless."
Shaking off his stray thoughts, Akifumi put on a serious expression.
He still had a few illustrations left for the prequel to 'The Witch's House.'
If the players unlocked all the endings and he didn't deliver the promised content, that would be embarrassing.
"Let's finish everything today!"
Time flew by, and soon, it was 8 PM.
The long-awaited episode 23 of 'Steins;Gate' was released.
Though Mayuri's death had broken everyone's hearts, Akifumi's post from the previous day sparked hope among the fans.
Could Kurisu really be saved this time?
With bated breath, the audience pressed play.
As the story unfolded, the anticipation built.
The timeline had been restored, and Suzuha once again found Okabe.
And In the near future, World War III would still break out, with countless lives lost.
The root cause? The time machine.
Suzuha begged Okabe to help her change the future.
But Okabe refused.
After all, this was the timeline where he sacrificed Kurisu to prevent the worst-case scenario.
If he helped now, everything would have been for nothing.
"But what if... the key to preventing World War III is saving Kurisu from being stabbed that day?"
———————————————————————
The moment Suzuha said that, chills ran down the spines of every viewer.
Goosebumps erupted.
———————————————————————
"Everything is connected. Every timeline influences the same future."
"This story... is truly a masterpiece."
On screen, Okabe's hesitation faded as he accepted Suzuha's request.
It wasn't for world peace.
It was to save the woman he loved—Kurisu Makise.
But, to everyone's shock, this rescue attempt ended in failure.
And the killer who stabbed Kurisu... was none other than Okabe himself.
In that moment, one thought echoed through the minds of all the viewers:
"Damn it you trick us again, you bastard!"
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