The game has started, there are absolutely no bugs this time

Chapter 195 The Darkness of the Toyokawa Family
The thought of not being able to see my mother next Thursday makes me feel terrible. Is this a kind of PTSD, or some other side effect?

……

The game industry hasn't touched the Haihu IP before. In the end, it's just a niche IP. As a comic with a decent reputation, the fact that it doesn't even have its own anime in its previous and parallel worlds, except for those that are almost entirely made out of love, speaks volumes—it's difficult to adapt.

There were no TV series or movies either, and even in this world where the gaming industry is relatively prosperous, no games were produced.

For a game giant like Yu Xuan, which is gradually reaching its peak and is unstoppable, if it were to be adapted into a Hong Kong comic, it should consider a much larger IP.

If a stealth game were set in a modern era, it should be prioritized over works like Dragon Tiger Gate, which have a clearer overall structure and a chaotic feel.

If it weren't for a small group of people in Youxuan knowing that the president liked Haihu, they wouldn't have considered this IP in the first place.

Realistically speaking, there are some censorship issues with adapting this material. Comics don't have as many restrictions, and they're sold in Hong Kong, so there are definitely fewer limitations. However, adaptations definitely need to take the mainland market into account.

To be honest, even in Japan, the content of "Sea Tiger" would be considered cult material. If it's not significantly modified for release, it will most likely be shown in late-night screenings.

Because of the plot involving the "Fourth Brother" and modern world domination, if it were to be adapted, it would definitely require major changes. After the changes, comic book fans would complain, "Where is my Fourth Brother?" If it is not changed, it will definitely be criticized as disgusting as it grows from a niche work to be seen by more people.

Whether to change it or not, you'll be criticized; it's a dilemma.

Fortunately, Youxuan has now bypassed China's censorship hurdles. They can create a large-scale work with a rating system and then add hardcore warnings that the game contains gore, violence, profanity, dismemberment, and ultimate humiliation.

Come and play if you're not afraid of these things.

In fact, it's quite easy for helmets to identify minors, allowing them to deliver the ultimate insult in its original form.

The domestic rating system is really tough, but there's not much point in going into too much detail.

Large companies' high-profile projects are more likely to be targeted, but fortunately, Youxuan's existence has already deviated somewhat from the normal rules.

Regardless of all that, while most players will probably just be watching for fun, there will likely be some core viewers who feel that only a world where everyone is acting crazy and defying the odds, and where family and love are interspersed in these incredible debates, is more realistic and engaging.

For example, Gu Meng couldn't help but hum softly when he thought about how Haihu could directly enter the second generation of the game and see the heartfelt confession between the fourth and second sons.

Hahahaha, hohoho!

Even if this game loses money, it's still worth the ticket price.

"You are exactly what I want! You are exactly what I want! Who is in charge of this project? Send him to Africa to build a new branch and promote him to branch president."

……

In addition to the exclusive game, Ash never thought that this could be a collaboration with his previous works, which were all about crazy characters like Fairy Tale.

Although they all seem crazy on the surface but are even crazier in reality, Dao Weiwei Xian has a lot of skills. While Haihu is doing his antics, his inner thoughts are very mysterious and can easily destroy the worldview.

A world-building framework is crucial for stealth games; it needs to convince players subconsciously that the world is normal and self-consistent, otherwise all realism must be abandoned.

If they are still using rudimentary infiltration techniques, Gu Meng is not optimistic about the project's prospects. It's highly likely that they will find it completely unworkable halfway through and have to shelve it or change course.

Even with intermediate-level stealth techniques, a small percentage of players would likely experience difficulty disengaging from stealth. Gu Meng felt that if they were really going to do it, they couldn't let go of the project; in the end, they would have to let Tongzi take over and optimize it.

……

That's the serious stuff. Now I want to talk about something less serious. The head of the Japanese branch just contacted me and reported some amazing intelligence.

It's supposed to be a combat power detector, oh wait, I should say a game power detector that accidentally detected a high-energy reaction.

A blue-haired high school girl was labeled as having the potential to become a god.

Then, based on the information detected, he also did a quick investigation into the girl's identity. She was from the Toyokawa family, the direct heir of the Toyokawa family that had suffered huge losses in the previous Ren Ni Xingming Special Operations Project.

Then, upon closer examination, it became quite strange that her father was apparently kicked out of the Toyokawa family due to internal strife, and she moved out of the Toyokawa family home with him.

In short, the whole thing seems normal on the surface, but it feels a bit strange, melodramatic, and childish.

Because of Toyokawa Shoko's special status, as everyone knows, her father and grandfather were both sons-in-law who married into the family, so theoretically she shouldn't have moved out.

She might not have thought much about it since she was a high school student, but others should have stopped her. In short, the whole thing is rather abnormal.

She also formed a girls' band called Kureshiku.

This corresponds to the storyline of Mother Hen Card and Maigou.

Duanmu's side interpreted this as being influenced by Bangbang's project.

There is also a crying trousers in the storyline of this world, which Duanmu believes is probably because the "character design" of Toyokawa Shoko is very similar to that of Toyota Shoko in the game.

So, as if by fate, the band they formed was named after the same name, Kureshiku.

However, Duanmu believes that even if Maigou's storyline matches up, it's just a coincidence, but Mujika's storyline definitely won't match up.

The game's storyline of the hen card achieves a loop, but at the same time, it also introduces a surreal power in the subplot, all of which is the choice of Steins;Gate.

There are two or even more different interpretations unfolding simultaneously, just like counterfeit medicine.

While the Summer Triangle can certainly be seen as a display of skill or a symbolic pairing, some content creators have also pointed out that the hidden astrological aspects of the Mother Hen Card actually represent the return of a multitude of stars to their proper positions.

The interpretation was quite professional.

The insider also revealed that there really was such a case, which was considered half-rejected but not completely rejected.

The editorial department deliberately stated it this way so that different people could have their own interpretations.

On the surface, it's a girl band, but it's an evolution of female-female relationships.

It can also be interpreted as a mental world war, where there are no visual images on the surface but there are some evidence and associations.

What Gu Meng didn't know was that after the real "Mother Hen Card" series ended in his previous life, some big shots said that it was a real pity that the series had several live performances in the later episodes. If all 13 episodes of the series had been filled with live performances except for the brief introduction at the beginning, and then some interactive details, mysterious lines, expressions and demeanor were used to let the audience guess and create their own plots, it might have become a masterpiece.

Fake medicine smells so good.

However, You Xuan's version of the Mother Chicken Card is different. It's not that the audience is just being gullible; he designed it himself in a very clever way. He anticipated the interpretations that the audience could think of, then left evidence to deliberately make them interpret it, and then pulled back the foreshadowing later.

The difference in strength is enormous. Gu Meng felt that these people had accomplished almost impossible tasks; it was a masterpiece, almost comparable to Clannad. Gu Meng felt that Subaru had really pushed them to their limits and brought out something extraordinary.

Gu Meng recalled the plot of Bang Bang Mother Chicken Card that he knew about this world.

The most crucial protagonist is still Toyokawa Shoko.

The story originates from the darkness of the Toyokawa family during the Showa era, a period that retains traditional Japanese elements while being close to modern times, making it easier to unfold mysterious events.

The concert was set against a crescent moon backdrop, whereas in the early days of the Toyokawa family, a ritual was held on the night of the full moon.

Of course, the origin of the ritual is mentioned only slightly as a hint in the later part of the story. It doesn't give you a very direct impression in the game that this is not superstition but that an evil god was actually summoned. At most, it can be considered a little bit of psychological horror in the dark storyline.

Players believe that it's perfectly fine if some characters have mental issues.

To be honest, people who can't stand horror movies at all might be terrified if they play the Hen Card game and get into those dark storylines.

The same joke exists in this world: the voice actress for Hatsuka lies and deceives people.

Then most of the possible dark and mysterious aspects of the game are related to the darkness of the Toyokawa family.

The dark entity of the Toyokawa family also appears in the game, a Toyokawa villa deep in the mountains, a typical Japanese manor structure.

The contrast between the dry landscape garden and the hidden basement suggests a misalignment between the surface and the inner world.

The darkest interpretation is that the Toyokawa family, though outwardly a prestigious clan, has in fact served the evil god "Centipede Octopus" for generations.

The family gradually declined during the Showa era. In order to revive the family, the current head of the family took a risk and demolished the old house in a half-crime ceremony. The descendants are required to make compensation.

Then, the "thousand-legged octopus" sacrificial ritual recorded in the family's ancient books requires specific bloodlines and the right timing.

The current head of the family has no bloodline, but many elders decided to restart the sacrificial ceremony in order to revive the family's glory, and Xiangzi is the core black hole and the chosen sacrificial body.

The game provides no specific details, except for some discarded cases revealed by insiders, such as ritual preparations and a bizarre altar set up in the basement, which blends Japanese Shintoism with Southeast Asian sorcery, American technology, and Cthulhu elements.

Ten girls with special destinies knelt according to their star positions, forming a living barrier.

The discarded drafts contained a large number of detailed settings, such as supernatural phenomena like the blue flames of candles flowing backward, the Kagura bell ringing on its own, and the dry landscape garden transforming into a snake, as well as the imminent awakening of an evil god.

At the moment of sacrifice, the patriarch pierced his own heart to complete the blood sacrifice, and the altar transformed into a gaping maw of abyss...

Wooden Man's Diary - "The bluish-gray tiled eaves cut out the outline of the blood moon, and ten bronze lanterns lit up one after another along the corridor."

I hid in the shade of the maple trees, watching those figures in dark purple robes pass through the triple torii gate. The three-line pattern on their sleeves gleamed in the moonlight, like countless rotating eyeballs.

The basement was filled with the mingled scents of aged incense and fresh blood. A white candle burned along a pentagram trajectory, its flame eerily drooping downwards, its pale blue-white core licking the dark red runes on the floor.

It's a very stereotypical description. Initially, the goal was to incorporate the scenes into the game and express them through the mental world of a wooden figure, suggesting that what she sees might just be a childhood dream or fantasy.

Later they suggested we stop doing it that way and make it into a diary instead.

There are also eerie nursery rhymes and strange incantations, the whole set.

Everything was ready, and adding a few diaries or extra text in the "what if" scenarios wouldn't be much work, but in the end, for the sake of the whole story and project, it was all scrapped and released by the insider.

All of these were eventually brought to a stop because going too far was still too much. No matter how well they were explained, they were still too outrageous, even if BanG Dream! itself doesn't have a normal worldview.

These are all game settings. In reality, because the Toyokawa Group already exists, there is no Toyota. This initial scenario has been revised many times, and even the names of the characters have been changed.

The screenwriter himself wouldn't believe that such dark things could happen in reality.

However, President Gu felt it wasn't that simple.

……

"The eight-fold wine was offered to the ten ordained maidens of the Great God of the Underworld, one of whom was a pure-blooded recipient of our family's blessings... The prayer text... the distorted chanting... it was so detailed, and even the architectural details perfectly matched the layout of the old house..."

Japan, the Toyokawa family.

In reality, the Toyokawa family is certainly not as outrageous as the initial concept art suggests, with a bunch of sorcerers, but there are still some old fogies who control many of the family's hidden resources.

It's really just at the level of an ordinary conglomerate. Of course, conglomerates also have a dark side, but it's definitely not as outrageous as in the original setting.

"These are all texts from a game called Mother Hen Card. We suspect that this game... is not a normal game. It may be a huge prophecy or a convergence ritual. Many things unfold according to the chapters of Maigou and Mother Hen Card."

"Could it be some kind of massive advertisement? Or just a coincidence?"

"The old house's basement has many secrets and details. Our Toyokawa family's old mansion collapsed before the Heisei era due to an accident... or a failed ceremony? Only a few of us old guys still remember it. Unless one of us told Yugen those things, it's impossible for it to be such a coincidence."

"...What exactly is this 'game metaphysics'?"

Of course, the group knew about the mystical aspects of gaming. It was an incredibly powerful gaming company, a global leader in gaming technology. Its president, Gu Meng, was an all-around genius who could even break world records in physical training. Now that I think about it, this company should have superpowers.

Otherwise, there's no way to explain that unscientific marathon record, or that groundbreaking technology.

How can a living person have such strong abilities? Isn't this obvious? Why does everyone take it for granted?

This company must have superpowers; the CEO might be doing large-scale brainwashing.

"So, are these scriptures and rituals real? Is this game a reflection of reality? Eternal life, a great being?"

In the abandoned case, the elders of the Toyokawa family's dark side "had their Adam's apples bobbing up and down as if constricted by invisible threads, and the wooden octopus carving on the altar began to ooze a pitch-like liquid. The candlelight cast their shadows on the wall, and those shadows that should have been human-shaped were clearly writhing... They had gained eternal life..."

These descriptions directly portray the Toyokawa family's darkness as the ultimate boss, but the real Toyokawa elders, upon seeing them, were more concerned with whether these descriptions could be true.

As for the price, "When the dagger was plunged into the chest of the tenth priestess, the temperature in the basement plummeted. The girl's blood didn't drip; instead, it flowed upwards along with the candlelight... The priestesses in their white robes suddenly let out a shrill laugh, and countless transparent octopus tentacles surged from their eye sockets... Each pupil reflected the melting moon."

The girls' fate was tragic, but they paid the price entirely, which seemed to be the case.

……

(End of this chapter)