Jon Ureña's Blog, page 73
November 8, 2020
Roleplaying through "Re:Zero" with the GPT-3 story generator (Part 5)
The narrative got past that whole deal at the royal palace, and now I move on to roleplaying the events in the fifth volume of Re:Zero. This turned out much better than I would have ever expected, I think. GPT-3 had a couple of big contributions that completely changed those scenes for the better, and the dialogue between the characters felt very interesting and in character. I'm way too obsessed with this AI at the moment.
After the original narrative leaves the bustle of the capital to the side, we first meet the people in Crusch Karsten's camp, and then we dive into the horrible mess with the Witch's Cult. Right now I have no idea how GPT-3 is going to help handling that, given that this version of the protagonist hasn't died once. He has no clue that he possesses a superpower; he's entirely useless.
GPT-3 is a cutting-edge language processing algorithm used in the premium version of the online site AI Dungeon.
-Link for part 1
-Link for part 2
-Link for part 3
-Link for part 4
A few observations regarding GPT-3's behavior.
-That whole thing with the protagonist getting sidetracked from entering the mansion because it's raining was produced by GPT-3 almost in its entirety. And what a great character moment it was.
-I added some necessary hidden backstory for GPT-3 to understand who Crusch Karsten is, but I'm mesmerized by how well it works. Her firm kindness, her honor, and even little details like the protagonist noticing how tough she is from the contact with her body as she's holding him. I didn't have to steer her behavior that much.
-Crusch's line '... Don't give up. We need people like you, even if they're foolish and don't seem to understand their place' was verbatim from GPT-3. How can a neural network summarize so well the details of an event that the characters involved aren't even willing to explicitly address? It's like black magic.
-Plenty of Rem's sweet concern when she shows up at Crusch's is also GPT-3.
-I was mesmerized by GPT-3's version of the protagonist's first major introduction to Wilhelm, the Sword Devil. I just prompted the protagonist to wander through the yard, for Wilhelm to approach him, and that he had a certain sets of beliefs. GPT-3 went on with everything else almost verbatim, except from a few comments from the protagonist. When I prompted that the solution was teaching him swordfighting, GPT-3 made the protagonist approach Wilhelm, only for Wilhelm to cut his throat open with his actual sword! I had to alter that to him using a training sword, but except for two of the protagonist's lines (him complaining about his injuries and then wanting for Ferris to be called over), everything else in that moment is straight up GPT-3. Everything Wilhelm said fits perfectly to what the protagonist went through at the royal summons, and his current lack of pride! I have no clue whatsoever how this is possible.
-Later on, Wilhelm being overly cruel with the rest of the protagonist's training is also GPT-3's stance. I kind of prefer this version of Wilhelm to the light novel/anime series, to be honest.
-Rem going to bed immediately after they rent a room at the inn is GPT-3. I prompted for the protagonist to have a little chat in the middle of the night, but the part about the sexual jokes was 100% GPT-3.
-Subaru's outburst of, 'fuck it, she can go die' was GPT-3.
-As Subaru wandered out of the inn, I didn't have much of an idea of how the rest of this was going to play out. Is he really going to reach the mansion like in the original? So I had GPT-3 outputting stuff for a while. I saw that it was going towards the protagonist becoming entirely hopeless, so I prompted a bit more of that. Then GPT-3 produced the glorious scene with the talking cat in the hallucination. Everything until Puck reveals it's name (including that) is 100% GPT-3. One of my favorite things it has made in this Re:Zero thing I'm doing. I was overjoyed that I could have some more of that Subaru and Puck banter. There was a bit of editing after that, but not much.
After the original narrative leaves the bustle of the capital to the side, we first meet the people in Crusch Karsten's camp, and then we dive into the horrible mess with the Witch's Cult. Right now I have no idea how GPT-3 is going to help handling that, given that this version of the protagonist hasn't died once. He has no clue that he possesses a superpower; he's entirely useless.
GPT-3 is a cutting-edge language processing algorithm used in the premium version of the online site AI Dungeon.
-Link for part 1
-Link for part 2
-Link for part 3
-Link for part 4
After Puck left you behind, your mind went all fuzzy and you might have passed out a couple of times. When you come back to your senses, the capital is dark except for the isles of light that the magical streetlights illuminate. Your swollen eye hurts, your arms hurt when you swing them slightly to walk, you feel that your right knee is about to pop out, and some of your teeth are missing. Humans and demi-humans of the night pass you by, and only a few give you a passing glance. What the hell are you going to do? As some form of grief bubbles in you, you tell to yourself that this is fine. You've gone back to being alone, as you were before you came into this world. Being alone is your destiny. You certified that when your classmates stopped hanging out with you in middle school, and later when in high school people were avoiding you as if you were diseased. Do you truly deserve to be spat out by any world you happen to end up in?
As you rest against a wall to prevent yourself from keeling over, you realize that the hazy image you see is the front of the mansion where you woke up after you got beaten to a pulp by that dickhead knight. Did Roswaal rent this mansion?
You blink to focus on the approaching figure. It's a woman with her green hair collected in a ponytail. She wears a stiff blouse and some slacks. You now see her clear enough to face her concerned, although sober, face. This is that Crusch chick that you saw during the royal summons.
"Hey. You're the girl that owns this mansion, right?"
"Yes. And you are the one that was lying as if in a coma in that room." She says with a friendly voice. You reply by groaning as you hold onto your face.
Crusch frowns with worry as she crouches down to ask,
"What's wrong?"
You open your eyes and say,
"My face hurts like hell."
"I'm surprised that you can even walk, or speak for that matter. Why did you leave the mansion?"
"Why does it fucking rain in this shitty world?"
"Rain?"
"Yeah, it's raining right now."
It is raining. Heavy too. And you didn't even notice. You just thought the sky was clouding over. The sound must've drowned out by your groans.
"I hate the rain." You whine, to which you receive a chuckle from Crusch.
"You are a strange person, Natsuki Subaru", Crusch says with a kind tone. "Come inside and rest. I'll bring Ferris over so she can help you."
"But my face hurts like shit."
"Your wound is not going to heal just by staying in the rain, now come on. Up you get."
You groan as you try to push yourself up. But with no luck, Crusch helps you up by gripping under your armpit. As soon as you feel that, you realize she's strong as hell.
She has the tight, lean muscles of a soldier, maybe from swinging her sword over and over. You realize that you want to trust her goodwill implicitly.
So you follow her to the mansion. When you enter, you see a large fancy room which is decorated lavishly with many different flowers in beautiful vases. The room smells very fragrant and you take a deep breath through your nostrils. You admire the craftsmanship of the sculptures and paintings that cover the walls. You never knew that you were a fan of art, but then again, you can appreciate it regardless of its quality.
She guides you into the bedroom where you had woken up after that shitty knight Lucius knocked you out. Next to the bed there's a half-cat, half-human person with flax colored fur, who looks at you with a playful expression. She's wearing a blue dress and and black tights that seem too revealing for this situation.
"Where did you run off to?", the half-cat person says.
"I was helping this poor boy from getting killed by the rain", says Crusch.
You cough.
"I think your cat girl was speaking to me, Crusch".
"You know what would help him even more?", says Crusch. "If you take off his clothes and get him into bed. Lend me a hand, Ferris."
"Please, don't take off my underwear. I couldn't deal with that", you whine.
"I won't", says Ferris.
When you finally lie on the bed as naked as these two females would want to see you, Ferris leans over and carefully hangs from her palm a magical light over your body that seems to have healing properties. You feel a pleasurable warmth coming from it. After a while, Crusch, who had been standing nearby with her arms crossed, makes a wet sound by separating her lips.
"I can't understand where you come from, Natsuki Subaru, nor why you did what you did at the royal summons."
"I'm just a lowly human from another dimension. Not worth you pondering about my actions", you say.
"... Don't give up. We need people like you, even if they're foolish and don't seem to understand their place."
"Um... thanks I think."
Ferris seems done with her treatment for the day. Crusch calls Ferris over and they speak right outside of the room, but you can't hear anything. As you try to focus on feeling better, your eyes burn, and tears grow in their corners. You blink until they seem to have gone away. Images of Roswaal's people are flooding your mind. Emilia, Ram, Rem. Sweet Rem; you wish you could see her again, feel her strong arms giving you a big hug, and even her Oni fangs burying themselves into your neck for a bit of sucking. But you feel as if you'll never see them again.
You clear your throat and call out to Crusch.
"Hey, duchess. How come I'm resting from my wounds in your mansion?"
As Crusch approaches your bed, a thought pops up in your head.
"Wait a second, it was Emilia's idea, right? She asked you, made a deal with you for your healer to cure my wounds? I knew she cared deep down."
"... I picked your unconscious self of my own volition", Crusch answers.
Your heart sinks.
"Oh."
"After Julius beat you up, he was given a leave without pay for an entire week. You truly pushed his buttons; he should have known better than to beat like that a guy like you, who is completely unable to defend himself."
"It's fine. I didn't suffer that much."
Crusch raises her eyebrows at your response, but she continues.
"Still, I'm not so heartless as to abandon to die a person who stood for himself and for the girl he loves, in front of the council of elders no less."
Crusch pauses once again, and sits on the edge of the bed. You can't face that earnest gaze, and you avert your eyes.
"You are a cool chick, Crusch. I guess I know now why you are the favorite for the royal throne." You pause, and clear your throat. "Um... Thanks for looking after me."
With this, you feel a lot better.
"Don't mention it", Crusch says.
Your mouth curls into a smile.
Crusch stands up, and makes her way to the door. Just as she's about to open it, she turns around.
"Do you want to go back home?"
You consider it for a second. Do you want to go back home? Well, when she puts it like that... You realize that you aren't thinking of your parents' house back on Earth, but of Roswaal's mansion. You wish you hadn't spoken up, you wish you had stayed away from the royal palace. You want to wander through Roswaal's mansion again.
"Yeah."
"Then you have your work cut out for you, don't you? Become a man that deserves respect. Enjoy a good night's sleep, Natsuki Subaru."
With that, she leaves, and the door shuts.
As you roll over in bed while containing a grimace of pain, you think to yourself that this Crusch person is like so fucking great.
When you wake up the next morning, you stagger over to the balcony and look to the mansion's yard. A bunch of people are loading and unloading carriages. They seem to be in a hurry. You watch as a few soldiers march over to one of the carriages and speak with the driver. You can't hear what they're saying, but you imagine that they're asking where he's going in such a hurry.
After you take a shower, you dress up with the clothes that Crusch's people left you, and you descend to the first floor. You see Crusch meeting with someone, and you are stunned to see that the girl that Crusch is talking with is none other than Rem. When she sees you, she gives you a look between pity and sympathy.
You can hardly look her in the eyes.
"Why are you here, Rem? Haven't the others gone back to Roswaal's mansion?"
"I was sent here, on an urgent matter of secrecy. I can't say more than that, even to you."
"Got it. Well, I'll leave you too it. Best of luck with your task."
You promptly turn away and head to the dining area where you enjoy a late breakfast. As you were finishing, though, Rem comes over and sits next to you. She seems to struggle with something to say, but eventually speaks.
"Subaru... I won't be allowed to stay in the capital for much longer, but Crusch intends to host me until then. I wanted to be with you. I can't believe Emilia forbid you from returning to the mansion."
"I'm sure Emilia had her reasons", you say sheepishly.
"Even so... You had become a part of us. I've already had to see Frederica leave, and now that I got to care for you..."
Tears start falling down her cheeks, onto the table. You quickly wipe away her tears with your index finger.
"It's going to be alright, I promise. We'll find a way. Maybe we'll see each other soon."
Rem nods at your words, as she sniffles and wipes her nose with a sleeve.
"You are so sweet, Rem. If I ate you up I'd give me instant diabetes. And I say that in the nicest way possible."
"I don't know what that means, but I'll have to leave Crusch's place for some of the stuff I'm supposed to do in the capital. Are you sure you'll be alright?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine."
Rem smiles, stands up and leaves. You finish off your breakfast. Afterwards you wander through the vast yard, avoiding the looks of the merchants and the mansion's staff. As you are standing in the open, a man approaches you. You recognize him as Wilhelm, the old man who had visited Roswaal's mansion to announce the royal summons. He wears a traditional blue royal guard uniform, with matching armor. He has short white hair and a moustache. He also carries a sword sheathed by his side.
"You're the one who came with that pink-haired maid?"
"Yep, that'd be me."
"Hmm... I've heard about you from Ram, and Emilia as well. I came here to speak with you."
"Speak away, then. I'm all ears."
"I live my life with a certain set of beliefs that not many men share, but after your display at the royal palace, I believe they might serve you well, Mr. Natsuki", Wilhelm says solemnly.
You arch an eyebrow, as he sits down on one of the benches lining the walkway.
"So...what are these beliefs?"
Wilhelm's gaze turns to the open sky...
"I believe that there are only two types of people in this world, winners and losers. If you're not the winner, then you're the loser. Dead or alive, a winner is a winner and a loser is a loser."
Wilhelm turns to you.
"I also believe that winners are only winners because they've beaten all the losers. So in a way, winners owe their success to the losers. Don't you agree?"
"...Not really, no."
"Hm. However, I also believe that the victor and the victim are often one in the same. What they gain, someone else loses. As such, only fools seek to gain without consequence. Only idiots wish for more than they need. Is that not true?"
"I suppose it's... a bit of a contradiction, sure."
"Ah, but I believe these three conflicting ideas can be reconciled. And I think you just might have the answer, Mr. Natsuki."
"Go on..."
Wilhelm stares at you straight, and you can barely hold his hard gaze.
"I believe you need some swordmanship lessons. You need to become stronger. You need to learn your limits, and when you would be wise not to push them."
This is a surprise to you. It's been a long time since somebody wanted to teach you something. Most of the time they just want to borrow some money, or ask you for help with a chore. You're not quite sure about this, but...
"Alright then, I'll try to learn what I can."
He nods.
"Come closer, and I shall give you the first lesson."
You step forward, interested in what he has to say. He waits until you're right in front of him before he speaks again.
"Never lower your guard."
He makes a powerful swing, and he hits your shoulder with a wooden sword that you could have sworn he wasn't holding before. You fall to the ground in pain.
"Hey! Don't add to my numerous injuries!"
He continues to whack you with the sword, saying that each hit is adding to your lesson.
"Don't get into a fight you can't win. If it's unwinnable, run. Running is always an option."
Your right arm turns purple, then black. You try to get up, but when you put weight on it, it collapses beneath you and you try not to scream as every one of your muscles is in pain.
He swings again, and hits right into your thighs. You hear a sound, not dissimilar to a watermelon being smashed open with a sledgehammer. You look down, trying to keep steady as tears well up in your eyes. Your legs, previously covered by trousers, are now red and cut up. Blood trickles down your leg, adding to the puddle of blood which is coming from other wounds on your body.
You close your eyes tight, waiting for Wilhelm to hit you again, but he doesn't. When you open your eyes again, he's staring at you from above, but his expression is calm.
"You've learned what you need to learn. Stand up... no, just roll over. I won't assist you."
You try to roll over, but your body is weak and in shock from the beating he has given you. You don't quite make it, and you just collapse back into the pool of blood you've created. He sighs, grabbing your hand to drag you over on your back.
"... That wasn't a question."
You look at him, before looking at your crushed legs. He raises an eyebrow, before looking at it himself.
"No, no, no. Don't you dare close your eyes! Look at what you did! Hate yourself for being so weak! If you want to be a warrior, you can't be so weak willed that something like this breaks you!"
He grabs your broken arm, almost making you scream.
"I'm going to set this. Try to scream."
He pulls your arm back into place, setting it. It felt like your arm was being torn off. You let out a pained scream, before crying again.
"... I guess you won't be able to have children. Well, I'll make you stronger. So strong that no man will be able to break you again."
You manage to form words.
"Will you please call your healer Ferris over?"
Wilhelm looks at you, before shrugging.
"Sure. Ferris! Come here!"
"I'm busy!", the half-cat girl yells from somewhere in the yard.
"I need you to look at this girl's legs."
"I'm quite sure I still have a penis", you groan.
For the next few days, Wilhelm called you over to train you in the arts of swordfighting, which at times involved you limping around before Wilhelm could hit you again. You never landed a hit on him with your wooden sword. You got better at evading his attacks, though. At some point, the constant pain didn't bother you that much, and you got friendlier with the cute half-cat Ferris from having to require her services so often.
By the end of the week, you could at least limp-run away from his attacks.
"What's this?! My training isn't working? I must have overestimated you!"
You didn't respond to him, instead panting from exhaustion. Wilhelm sighs, shaking his head.
"You're hopeless."
He grabs your hand, twisting your wrist. You let out a yell, collapsing to your knees as he twisted it further.
You must have passed out for a bit, because you wake up in the bed that Crusch assigned you. Ferris is curing your wounds as if she were brushing her teeth. You look at her gratefully, and she narrows her cat eyes as a sympathetic gesture.
"It'll take a few days for you to heal up."
You nod, before sitting up.
"By the way, Ferris, there's something I've been dying to know since I came to your lady Crusch's mansion."
"Yes?"
"Are you actually... You know, do you have male parts down there? I want to know if I should add further shame to mountain of it I've accumulated."
At this, Ferris gets offended, puffing her cheeks.
"I'll have you know I am a proper lady! I've never been penetrated by anything, man or woman."
You nod, sighing in relief.
"Thank the gods."
Ferris raises a finger to her lips and seems to think about what she just said.
"Well, that was a bit of a lie."
You panic and stand straight in the bed.
"What!?"
Ferris giggles. As she exits the room, she tilts her head and winks at you.
"Don't worry, Subaru. Neither of us has a dick."
The door closes, and you let out a sigh of relief. God, I want to a piece of that so bad, you think.
You get off the bed, and find a spare robe next to it. You put it on, and find out that it's way too big for you. There's a knock on the door and you open it. It's a butler, who hands you a note and leaves. You read the note:
"Meet me in the courtyard."
You see Rem in the courtyard a few seconds before you reach her. She looks panicked, and keeps wringing her hands. There's a glint of fear in her eyes.
"Rem, calm down. It'll be alright."
"No! Wi... With all due respect, Natsuki Subaru, it won't!"
You grab her shoulders and look deep into her eyes.
"Rem, has something happened? It's unbecoming of a fierce demon such of yourself to show this fear", you say with a sympathetic tone.
"I received a telepathic communication from my sister earlier. She's in pain. She would never contact me this way unless something terrible is happening at the mansion!"
"What!? Is she alright?"
Rem shakes her head.
"No! She needs us to help her! We need to save her, now!"
"Emilia must be in danger as well."
"We were talking about Ram, though."
"I know, but now that you mention it... We need to save her too."
Rem nods and walks quickly towards Crusch's mansion, but you grab her by the arm to stop her. You lower your voice for some reason.
"Rem, I think you are expecting me to follow you, but... I can't return to Roswaal's mansion."
"Because Emilia told you not to come back ever again?", Rem said with disbelief.
"Because Emilia told me something about tearing my balls off if she ever saw me again."
"I'm sure she didn't mean it!"
"I've been emasculated enough recently."
Rem frowns, which looks adorable on her cute face.
"Subaru, do you wan't to save Emilia or not?"
"Of course I do! I wouldn't be here if I didn't. But, let's be honest here, even if I go with you I would just drag you down. What can I do against any threat, serve as a decoy?"
Rem puts her hands on my shoulders and she states earnestly that even if I'm not worth anything more than a decoy, I'm still valuable.
"Nah, I'd just hold you up. You're stronger and much more skilled than me. I'm not that much of a fighter anyway."
"It's not about being a fighter! Its about doing the right thing!"
"Yeah, well it's still not my specialty either."
Rem frowns once again, but this time in frustration.
"Do you even have a dragon carriage that'll drive you back to Roswaal's mansion, Rem?"
"Yes, I do."
You take a deep breath and change your weight from foot to foot. You feel like utter shit, but the thought of losing everyone at the mansion due to whatever threat they are facing still seems worse.
"Well, fuck it, I guess. Let's go back to Roswaal's mansion."
Before you know it, you have left the capital behind as Rem drives her dragon carriage through the countryside. It'll soon get dark, and you'd rather not face the night outside of a village or a city. Suddenly you realize that you never said goodbye to Crusch's people, but when you think about what Wilhelm's reaction might have been, you are relieved.
Your dragon carriage reaches a village in which there is a booming market for inns that tend to merchants. There's a bustle of merchants either peddling their wares or getting drunk. Rem gets you both a room for the night. It's pretty run down, but Rem is so tired that she immediately lays down on the bed without even taking her shoes off. She's out cold in an instant.
As you brush your teeth, you look at Rem's gentle, sleeping shape as she inhales and exhales. You want to caress her pretty blue hair, but you figure that making unasked advances on a demon isn't a good way to keep your parts attached.
When you're done with your hygiene, you try to sleep. You feel the hardness of the bed underneath you. You just can't get comfortable. You miss the feather bed that you took for granted at the mansion. Hell, you'd even settle for a mattress made of air at this point. You must have wasted around two hours rolling around in bed without falling asleep.
"Rem, are you awake by any chance?"
"Yes, I can't get to sleep."
You turn to see that Rem is awake too. You sit on the edge of the bed and talk to her.
"What are we doing in this life, Rem. I mean, really", you say in a sour voice.
"What a silly question, we're saving the world of course."
"Our world at least, yeah. Shit, I don't know. My body hurts all over, my pride is like a torn apart banner flapping in the wind..."
"Your pride is hurt?"
"Yeah, I mean, look at us. We've become like prostitutes. I'm not even allowed to make sex jokes anymore."
"You make any more of those jokes, old man, and I'll carve my name into that wooden stick you call a dick."
You pretend to look hurt.
"Oh no, not my dick!"
Rem smirks as she turns away from you to go to sleep.
You sigh and get back in your bed, although you wish you would have slipped into Rem's bed to cuddle with her cute demon self. You curl up into a ball and as your final thought you remind yourself that at least you still have your dick.
When you wake up the next morning, Rem is gone, and so is her stuff. You panic, not contemplating the possibility that she had abandoned you, until you find her goodbye note. The note says that she had to face the fact that you would just drag her down in a fight, because you are useless. She wishes you will forgive her.
She's right, you think. You were useless in a fight. You wonder if you should follow her and help her anyway. You sit on the bed and you feel your chest tightening.
"Fuck it, she can go die."
As soon as you have uttered those words, you feel your back tremble, and you bury your face on your palms.
"You have got to be kidding me, why the hell would you think that?"
You frown and grab all of your shit, preparing to follow Rem anyway. As you run out of the inn while holding your luggage, you realize that you can't get to Roswaal's mansion. Rem has taken her dragon carriage, whether it was rented or whatever, and now you are stranded in this nowhere town with no means to leave it. Hell, you don't even know where the hell this town is.
You put your luggage down and decide to just find a place to sit down and think for a bit. After walking around for a bit, you find an empty alleyway to hide away in. You lean your back against the brick wall of the alley and sigh heavily.
"What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
You search for an answer in your mind, but you come up with nothing. All you can think about is your failed relationship with Rem. It was all good just a few hours ago, and now that she has abandoned you, you really don't have anything left. You're broke, you're homeless, you don't have a job or even any skills, and the only thing you do have are shameful memories and regrets.
"Do I even have a reason to live?"
On one hand, life is filled with suffering. It's full of hardship and it's basically just a never-ending stream of pain. On the other hand, death is eternal sleep. Peace at last. You wonder if you were to die right now, would your spirit be cursed to wander this world forever? Would you be doomed to a fate worse than death?
Maybe you should think about this some other time. Maybe you should try to survive in this world.
Yeah, right. Like your life was ever worth a damn...
You close your eyes and take a deep breath. In this introspective moment, you realize that you have absolutely nothing left to live for. You feel as if the ground wouldn't keep you in place if you were to stand up.
You stand up and walk out of the alleyway. You walk towards a nearby river. The setting sun's rays hit your body as you step into the water. As your head hits the water, you think one last random thought, which is about your parents and how disappointed they are about to be with your life.
You close your eyes as the water fills your lungs and all goes black...
"Are you quite finished?"
You open your eyes and see a white, cat-like creature with a blue bow on its head.
"What...?"
"Imagine my surprise when I sense not one, but two souls depart from this world in the same location I'm currently inhabiting."
"I'm dead?"
"Quite the contrary, kid. You are very much alive. If you were dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"What happened? Is this some sort of dream?"
"It isn't a dream, but rather a pseudo-existence. You're hovering right on the brink of life and death."
"What do you mean?"
"You see, kid, when you jumped into that river, your brain was deprived of oxygen for quite some time. That's why you're not breathing nor have a heartbeat. However, you're also not dead yet. Your body is providing just enough oxygen for your brain to function. That's why you're having a conversation with me right now."
"I see... So, am I dead?"
"Well, according to most people, if you're having a conversation with the personification of Death, then yes, you're dead. However, since you're having this conversation with me, that implies that there's some sort of reason for me to save your life."
You take your time to think about it.
"What's your name then?"
"My name is Puck."
You let out a groan of despair.
"Oh, fuck off, you humongous thundercunt!"
The blurry image of the magical cat you despise glares at you.
"Ram has been killed fighting to protect the mansion from an assault. Rem is giving her all. We are trying to survive over here, and yet you choose to go out like a pussy."
"Fuck you, Puck! What do you mean that Ram has been killed? Killed as in she is dead?"
"Yeah. The gloomy bitch got beheaded by a witch cultist."
"Shit..."
"Indeed. However, there is still a chance of winning. With the princess under our command, we can turn the tide until Roswaal gets here."
You take a while to process that information, and try to blink the tears out of your eyes so you can see Puck clearly.
Puck looks at you with disdain.
"Well? What are you waiting for?"
You take a deep breath and nod.
"Sorry, Puck."
"I'm not your fucking dad, I don't care that you're sorry. Your duty is to the Princess. Perhaps you should start following orders more closely if you don't want to end up like our senior servant."
You feel a twinge of guilt, but you push it away as you stand up.
"I'm ready to serve."
A few observations regarding GPT-3's behavior.
-That whole thing with the protagonist getting sidetracked from entering the mansion because it's raining was produced by GPT-3 almost in its entirety. And what a great character moment it was.
-I added some necessary hidden backstory for GPT-3 to understand who Crusch Karsten is, but I'm mesmerized by how well it works. Her firm kindness, her honor, and even little details like the protagonist noticing how tough she is from the contact with her body as she's holding him. I didn't have to steer her behavior that much.
-Crusch's line '... Don't give up. We need people like you, even if they're foolish and don't seem to understand their place' was verbatim from GPT-3. How can a neural network summarize so well the details of an event that the characters involved aren't even willing to explicitly address? It's like black magic.
-Plenty of Rem's sweet concern when she shows up at Crusch's is also GPT-3.
-I was mesmerized by GPT-3's version of the protagonist's first major introduction to Wilhelm, the Sword Devil. I just prompted the protagonist to wander through the yard, for Wilhelm to approach him, and that he had a certain sets of beliefs. GPT-3 went on with everything else almost verbatim, except from a few comments from the protagonist. When I prompted that the solution was teaching him swordfighting, GPT-3 made the protagonist approach Wilhelm, only for Wilhelm to cut his throat open with his actual sword! I had to alter that to him using a training sword, but except for two of the protagonist's lines (him complaining about his injuries and then wanting for Ferris to be called over), everything else in that moment is straight up GPT-3. Everything Wilhelm said fits perfectly to what the protagonist went through at the royal summons, and his current lack of pride! I have no clue whatsoever how this is possible.
-Later on, Wilhelm being overly cruel with the rest of the protagonist's training is also GPT-3's stance. I kind of prefer this version of Wilhelm to the light novel/anime series, to be honest.
-Rem going to bed immediately after they rent a room at the inn is GPT-3. I prompted for the protagonist to have a little chat in the middle of the night, but the part about the sexual jokes was 100% GPT-3.
-Subaru's outburst of, 'fuck it, she can go die' was GPT-3.
-As Subaru wandered out of the inn, I didn't have much of an idea of how the rest of this was going to play out. Is he really going to reach the mansion like in the original? So I had GPT-3 outputting stuff for a while. I saw that it was going towards the protagonist becoming entirely hopeless, so I prompted a bit more of that. Then GPT-3 produced the glorious scene with the talking cat in the hallucination. Everything until Puck reveals it's name (including that) is 100% GPT-3. One of my favorite things it has made in this Re:Zero thing I'm doing. I was overjoyed that I could have some more of that Subaru and Puck banter. There was a bit of editing after that, but not much.
Roleplaying through "Re:Zero" with the GPT-3 story generator (Part 4)
This is the second part of the recent session with GPT-3 to roleplay the segment of Re:Zero that deals with Emilia being summoned as a royal candidate, only for the protagonist to fuck most of it up. I wanted the protagonist to go particularly wild, as this meeting is one of the most boring parts of the original series as far as I'm concerned.
GPT-3 is a cutting-edge language processing algorithm used in the premium version of the online site AI Dungeon.
-Link for part 1
-Link for part 2
-Link for part 3
Some observations regarding GPT-3's behavior on this one. Plenty of interesting examples.
-I'm mystified by Priscilla's way of speaking. It is somehow produced by the hidden background I wrote, but her just commenting on the silence when the protagonist meets her again feels really good. GPT-3 didn't produce anything similar, however, to how in the original Priscilla believes that the world moves for her. I altered that in.
-This was a very formal scene in the original, and there was a concept of the royal candidates standing in a line in front of the crowd, and also in front of the council members on the other side. Somehow, GPT-3 figured that out by itself. The guard calling Priscilla over was made up by the AI, as well as Priscilla curiously asking to be announced last.
-The leading elder announcing that the royal family had died and that whole thing about them needing new leadership, as well as the general reactions of the crowd, are made up by GPT-3.
-Regarding the first three candidate's speeches, the only one I had to edit significantly was Crusch Karsten's, as it didn't emphasize her experience as a duchess, nor anything about her wish for order and the rule of law. But GPT-3 understood that Anastasia came after Priscilla, and that Crusch came after Anastasia, and GPT-3 presented them entirely by itself. I wouldn't have believed this was possible just a week ago.
-I let GPT-3 produce for a bit after that, but it wasn't bringing up that Emilia was a half-elf, so I prompted that in. Then GPT-3 came with Roswaal pretending he presented Emilia as a joke! Following that, GPT-3 was serious about it being a joke, so I had to turn Roswaal serious.
-I couldn't come up with why Emilia would want to be the ruler (and in the original, her explanation is childish), but GPT-3 came up with the fact that there are other non-human races in the kingdom and that they should be represented. GPT-3 also made up that reference to a Confederacy of Karsten, understanding that Karsten is a ruling line!
-Most of the curious philosophical argument between Emilia and the leading elder is GPT-3 flexing. I had little to do with it.
-Presenting Puck is the FIRST time I had to prompt Puck into any of these scenes in this part or in the previous. GPT-3, having understood that Puck is a spirit that flies around, makes him appear in strange places and unlikely situations, often doing bizarre stuff or coming up with weird responses.
-The line 'Disgusting. Not only are you mixed blooded, but you have a demon as your familiar.' is verbatim from what GPT-3 produced.
-GPT-3 wasn't making the protagonist intervene, and in the original he does. I wanted to go over the top, partly to trip GPT-3 and see how it adapted. I was impressed with how it made the leading elder seem half menacing, half teasing.
-GPT-3 somehow decided for the elder to produce a wooden sword unprompted. In the original version, the protagonist fights Julius with a wooden sword, but in a later scene. How did that happen?
-The line 'In fact, I doubt if these people have ever dared to disagree with the bullshit you spew! You're all a bunch of fucking cowards! If you were real men, you'd be out there protecting this land and not sitting on your ass all day judging people based on bullshit superstitions!' is verbatim from GPT-3.
-Julius being menacingly polite fits his character, and GPT-3 ran with that from the beginning.
-The protagonist's wild lies regarding his exploits are a 100% GPT-3. It was so funny that I had to run with it.
-Emilia calling the protagonist a fucking asshole while crying was GPT-3's idea, as well as Julius jumping forward to press his sword against the protagonist's neck. I had to prompt in for the protagonist to suggest a wooden sword fight.
-The lines '"I wonder if you're ready to play now?" You nod, and the beatings begin. A few hours later, the sun has set and your body hurts all over.' are verbatim from GPT-3. It came up with the likelier outcome of that confrontation, as well as segued to the following scene.
-The conversation with Emilia afterwards was hilarious, and GPT-3 came up with plenty of the crazyness: Subaru saying that the council was fooled because Emilia was cute. Every comment about her tits. Emilia repeating 'fuck you' as she left in tears. Glorious.
-It was also GPT-3's idea for the protagonist to say that his parents were dead (I also let GPT-3 produce a lot of Subaru's material, if the AI does it right). Clearly the artificial intelligence was going for a serious, heartfelt moment of true backstory (which wouldn't fit at all for reasons related to the fourth arc of the original Re:Zero), but I made it into a further absurd example of how much of a scumbag this version of Subaru is.
-I was going to end this session there, but I left GPT-3 producing twice, and it made the protagonist go to a park, made Puck appear, made puck harass the protagonist, and after I prompted the protagonist's comment about Australia, GPT-3 had Puck disappear with a 'fuck you'. Out of this world.
GPT-3 is a cutting-edge language processing algorithm used in the premium version of the online site AI Dungeon.
-Link for part 1
-Link for part 2
-Link for part 3
Upon entering the palace, you see many things around you. Under the very high ceiling of the vast throne room there's a large multitude gathered. Several lines of people stand some distance away from the seats of the council; you recognize them immediately due to how they are positioned, and their old, decrepit, but generally distinguished look. The royal throne is empty. To the side of the throne room there's a formation of white-robed swordsmen, who look proud and disciplined. They might be knights. You follow Aldebaran towards the people who await for the royal summons to start.
As Aldebaran approaches an empty space in the multitude, you see that he's beelining towards a luxuriously clothed orange-haired woman whose almost supernatural beauty strikes you until you realize that you have met her before back in an alleyway. It's the cuntish woman who had beaten up those nasty thugs without any effort.
"Silent, isn't it?", she asks you. Indeed, people are not as loud as you would expect them to be. There are a few children running around, but compared to a school classroom they are like statues. You look above and see that there are guards on the upper floors ready to fire their bows should the need arise.
"Yeah, they'll start calling us in soon", adds Aldebaran.
"I'm sorry, lady, but I never got your name back at that alleyway", you say.
"That's alright, I suppose.", the woman says. "I am Priscilla Barielle. The Priscilla Barielle, as you might imagine. I'd like to say I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, but that's not something I have been able to say honestly for a long while."
"I guess you don't care about my name then, lady Priscilla. So you are a royal candidate, huh?"
"Indeed, I am."
"You gave quite the beating to those thugs back at the alleyway. Do you have some martial arts training or something like that?"
"Hah, something like that. The truth is that nobody could defeat me, in a physical bout or otherwise. It's just a fact of this world."
"Interesting."
The conversation halts when a guard comes down and calls for Priscilla. Priscilla and Aldebaran follow the guard up to the line of people standing in front of the council of elders.
"These are the royal candidates.", the guard says. "This is..."
"I'm sorry, but could you announce us in order of when you called us?", interrupts Priscilla.
"Uh... okay. This is lady Emilia, supported by lord Roswaal Mathers. Emilia is known as the Witch of Frost."
You had been too anxious in the presence of Priscilla, like a mouse near a cat, to realize that Emilia had stepped forward from the crowd. You remember Emilia's face when you asked her whether you could come with her, and how she had made you promise that you wouldn't follow her to the royal summons. You suddenly feel very, very stupid.
The guard also introduces a woman with green hair who wears a military outfit and whose name seems to be Crusch Karsten. Afterwards he introduces a smaller woman who wears white furs and who has an easygoing look to her, and her name is Anastasia Hoshin.
"And lastly, this is lady Priscilla Barielle, supported by Sir Aldebaran. Her lineage dates back to the days of the Arter Kingdom, and she wished to introduce herself as the one who will save us from evil."
You watch as Priscilla smiles and waves at the crowd.
When your gaze moves back to Emilia you realize that she's staring at you with a shocked expression on her face despite her presence in front of the council. Next to Emilia, Roswaal holds your gaze with a fixed smile, his expression harder to read under all that clown makeup.
The leading elder orders silence in the room. With a decrepit voice, the old man addresses the royal candidates and asks them to salute the vacant throne.
Under the high vaulted ceiling, covered with a large amount of paintings and frescoes, and the extravagant chandelier that lights up the room, Emilia recovers from her shock, turns to the vacant throne and curtsies, followed by Priscilla and Anastasia. Only Crusch remains standing in silence.
The leading elder continues his speech, explaining how the throne of the Kingdom of Lugunica has been without an owner since the king died four years ago, and that the kingdom is in dire need of new leadership.
"And now it is time to proclaim the next ruler of this wonderful nation!"
The crowd bursts into another thunderous applause, the council applauds as well. Afterwards, the leading elder orders the royal candidates to present the medallions that certify them as such. One after another, Emilia, Crusch, Anastasia and Priscilla hold their glowing medallions. The leading elder seems pleased.
"We finally have a reasonable selection of candidates for this transition. Thank you to their backers for the work you did in finding them. Let's begin then with your personal reasons for why each of you believes that you should be chosen to rule the Kingdom of Lugunica. First of all, lady Priscilla Barielle."
Priscilla steps forward proudly and addresses the council.
"Greetings, esteemed members of the council, I am Priscilla Barielle, number one candidate to rule this glorious kingdom. I was born to lead this nation to its glory once again, and you should trust that this world will bless me with success after success. Present your allegiance to me, and I shall treat you fairly."
The council applauds lightly. Priscilla winks at the leading elder, and steps back into line.
"Lady Anastasia Hoshin."
Anastasia moves forward with a regal air, and speaks with a clear voice that carries itself throughout the assembly hall.
"I humbly request your support to become your next ruler. I promise to lead the Kingdom of Lugunica into a prosperous future, and make every effort to ensure that your voices are heard at all times, and that your needs are met."
The council applauds again, clearly impressed with her speech. The leading elder motions for her to step back into line.
"Lady Crusch Karsten."
Crusch steps forward, moving slowly and heavily.
"Greetings. I am sure you are all aware that the House of Karsten has ruled in this kingdom for centuries, and that I have been governing my duchy since I was a young girl. I would be honoured to fill the shoes of our beloved late king, and continue the legacy of the Royal House of Lugunica. I offer certainty, order and the rule of law."
The council applauds her, clearly moved by her speech. They seem to have already made up their minds. The leading elder motions for her to step back into line.
Then the leading elder, as if dreading it, sighs and turns to Roswaal, without ever glancing at Emilia.
"Lord Roswaal, you are well known as an eccentric, and we value you highly as the most competent magic user in this kingdom, but yet I can hardly understand what you are playing at by presenting before the council a silver-haired half-elf as the candidate for the throne."
"My apologies. It is but a jape!"
The leading elder looks slightly relieved, as the rest of the council seems to calm down.
"Of course, of course. But may I ask why you did this?"
"Oh, it is simple. By putting a candidate that has no chance of winning, it will highlight how much better my other candidate is in comparison!"
The leading elder seems unhappy with this answer, and the rest of the council is hardly pleased either.
"My apologies. I was trying to play a joke on you all. Please forget I said anything", Roswaal says with an unwavering smile.
Next to Roswaal, Emilia is staring at the lord, pale and flabbergasted.
As the leading elder, slightly shaking his head, was preparing to speak again, Roswaal steps forward and interrupts the elder.
"But let me be serious for a moment regarding my dear Emilia's candidacy. The truth is that amongst these candidates, there's nobody better suited for the throne than her."
Everyone turns towards Emilia, who flinches and looks down.
"The magical enchantment in the medallions certifies Emilia as a candidate", continues Roswaal. "She's a extremely powerful magic user who has access to the spirit realm, and even the ability to establish contracts with them."
The elder looks at Roswaal gravely.
"Spirit users aren't that rare. Our very own Julius, esteemed captain of the Knights of Lugunica, is suited for that role. But besides her abilities, the question you should answer is why should a silver-haired half-demon like her be allowed to rule our people?".
"Half-elf", Emilia corrects him in a low voice.
"My apologies, half-elf", the elder says, and he straightens his back. "But the question remains. Roswaal, for the royal line's sake, there's nobody who looks at your candidate and doesn't see the Witch of Envy."
Everyone's eyes are on Emilia. She looks down again, and Puck rubs himself against her to comfort her.
"My apologies on behalf of our dear guest. It's just that ever since the catastrophe four hundred years ago, the elves have been an eyesore to us humans. We all, who live outside the forest, know her as the harbinger of death and destruction. You know you are hated, lady Emilia, and you will forever be. How do you expect to rule over citizens who despise you? Why would you do so?"
You watch as the girl opens her mouth to answer...
"Because I have no choice."
The whole room falls silent in response to her answer.
She clenches her fists, and takes a deep breath.
"I'm not an idiot. I know I'll never be accepted by humans. But not all of you are human. There are dwarf miners in the Karsten Confederacy, there are elves in the forests. There are other races out there. If I'm going to be hated by some idiotic mistake of birth, then I might as well rule them."
The elder frowns at her answer, and turns to face his peer for a second opinion. The peer, a balding and wrinkled old man with a thick but well-kept beard, shrugs.
Emilia sttuters for a second, but then she clears her voice to speak again.
"I am the Witch of Frost who hails from the Frozen Forest. I am a silver-haired half-elf from birth, and yet I have nothing to do with the monstrous Witch of Envy who destroyed half of the world. If the citizens don't understand that we are not the same person, then I'll make them understand through my fair rule."
The leading elder frowns.
"Lady Emilia, you might be confused about this royal summons. You are a certified candidate as per the enchanted medallion, and yet you will only be amongst the final candidates if we allow you to be. A silver-haired half-elf won't ever rule anywhere in the world. Why risk someone related to the Witch of Envy achieving power again?"
"The fates have already decided my future. But I can still decide what the future will be. Whether it's a future of despair or hope, that's up to me and me alone."
The leading elder strokes his beard, and thinks carefully about Emilia's response. Finally, he lets out a dry cough, and speaks up in a gravely voice.
"The way you speak is interesting to us. You claim that your actions can change the future. Is that so?"
"That's right."
"We are all products of our pasts. We can't deny nature, for that's what it is. Nature is something that we have no control over, not even the Gods do when they created us."
"I don't believe that's true."
The leading elder was pondering her answer when she tilts her head to speak to the semi transparent figure perched on her shoulder.
"Puck, please present yourself properly to the esteemed council of elders."
The figure pokes his head out from behind her shoulder, and for the first time, the council of elders can see him clearly. They all gasp in shock as they see that Emilia is not only conversing with a fairy, but one with a rather hostile demeanour.
"What…"
Puck looks at each of the council members with contempt before speaking up.
"Allow me then to introduce myself. I am the great spirit Puck, one of the spirits of the Apocalypse. I have formed a lifelong contract with lady Emilia to grant her my power as well as my support in every endeavour, and I'll readily serve the kingdom if it were under lady Emilia's command."
One of the council members, a particularly fat one, looks at Emilia and Puck in disgust.
"Disgusting. Not only are you mixed blooded, but you have a demon as your familiar."
You have been hearing a droning sound in your ears for a while now, and you can barely breathe. You are tightening your fists as if to tear into your palms with your nails.
"You decrepit old turds!", you explode from the crowd.
The rest of the council looks at you with confusion.
You were about to regret your outburst and excuse yourself, but you decide to step forward close to the line of candidates, and you turn back and face the stunned crowd.
"What in the royal fuck is your problem, you fucking idiots? Can you not understand that Emilia here has nothing to do with a witch who died four hundred years ago? Are the people in this kingdom truly that retarded?"
Your outburst shocks everyone into silence. No one had ever spoken out against the council. Not even the late king had dared to defy them.
"In fact, I doubt if these people have ever dared to disagree with the bullshit you spew! You're all a bunch of fucking cowards! If you were real men, you'd be out there protecting this land and not sitting on your ass all day judging people based on bullshit superstitions!"
You turn your attention back to Emilia.
"And you, stand straighter. The only reason why they're attacking you is because you're a fucking elf. You have nothing to apologize for."
In the middle of a commotion from the crowd, the leading elder glares at you.
"What is your name, young man?"
"My name is Natsuki Subaru, who hails from another fucking dimension. You have a problem with that?"
The council members all begin to complain and argue among themselves.
"Quiet! Quiet! All of you! Young Natsuki Subaru, what is your position in relation to lady Emilia?"
"I'm her esteemed bodyguard!"
"Bodyguard, huh?"
"More than that, in fact. I'm Emilia's knight."
"Her knight?"
"Yes. Someone who will defend her even if it costs him his life. If she dies, I'll take my own life. That sort of thing."
You speak it with utter certainty. Without hesitation. Your willingness to sacrifice yourself for Emilia earns you surprised looks from everyone else in the room, but you resist looking towards Emilia herself, fearing her expression.
"She has a good one here, councilmen and ladies. I suggest you pay attention. Do you understand, Natsuki Subaru, the trouble you are in?"
"What possible trouble am I in from you old fucks? You could barely stand from your chairs without your mummified asses ripping apart. I bet your mother had a shady past involving more men than she would ever admit."
"Good. You stand up for yourself, boy... However, I'm curious as to how you plan to defend your charge, when you have so little to work with."
The old man turns to his side and pulls out a wooden sword. He throws it in front of you, and you bend over to pick it up. The crowd becomes noisy again, but the elder silences them by raising his hands.
"You intend to swordfight with me, old man?", you mock him. "Should we take out our dicks as well?"
"If you wish. We'll use those instead of our wooden swords. It'll be more fun."
You laugh at his offer, before looking down at the sword in your hands.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know how to swordfight."
The old man laughs.
"Too bad. I'm not the one tasked with defending the honor of these proceedings."
You notice someone's gaze burning your temple. When you turn to that side you see a white-robed man maybe in his early twenties. He has light purple hair down to his shoulders, and is standing straight glaring at you, with one of his hands resting on his sheathed sword.
"Who might you be?", you ask warily.
"I'm Julius Euclius, captain of the Knights of Lugunica", he says with a firm tone and an icy glare in his eyes. "Will you please speak to me about your background?"
"Why should I?"
"Because I'm asking you politely."
You consider his offer for a moment.
"I'm just a promising young guy moving up in this fantasy world. I'm not from these parts. In fact I come from so far away that I might have as well come from a different dimension." You take a deep breath. "I'm more technologically advanced than this place. Hell, I've journeys through dimensions beyond comprehension, fought monsters with powers that could destroy entire worlds, unleashed the power of the gods themselves."
You get closer to Julius.
"And your long hair makes you look girly", you say, pushing Julius' buttons.
However, Julius' expression barely breaks to show his disdain.
"I see that you are young and a fantasist. You declare yourself to be a knight, which on this kingdom should put you side by side with the Knights of Lugunica. What is the training you have followed that allows you to make such a claim?"
"I believe in myself, and in Emilia, and in defending Emilia. And once I found out that a puppy was actually a demon, and stood up in front of that monster for a while."
"A demon?"
"Yes, a powerful creature from another dimension. I was greatly wounded in the battle, but in the end the demon fell."
Julius looks behind you towards Emilia, and his expression turns stern.
"Why would someone who proclaims to defend a lady cause such a pain in her?"
Fearing what you are about to see, you look over your shoulder. Emilia is crying profusely in silence, while she clenches her fists at her side. You feel your blood turn cold.
"You... You're just a fucking asshole."
Before you can turn around, Julius has pulled his sword from its sheath and pushed it against your throat. The tip pierces your skin as a trickle of blood leaks out, staining the tip of the blade red.
"Defend yourself", Julius hisses.
"Are you going to attack me with your real sword even though I was just given this silly wooden training sword?"
Before you can react, Julius drops his blade and begins to laugh. Even the captain seems to be smiling at you.
"A wise choice of words from such a young boy. Natsuki Subaru, was it?"
"That's right?"
"You are hardly worth anybody's time, but the game is on, boy."
He orders for one of his knights, who remain in formation and who glare at you with murderous intent, to produce a wooden sword. When Julius gets it, he wields it and he stands a few meters from you. He flicks his hair from his face and narrows his eyes towards you.
"I wonder if you're ready to play now?"
You nod, and the beatings begin.
A few hours later, the sun has set and your body hurts all over. At some point after you lost consciousness, someone dragged you to a fancy bed. One of your eyes is severely swollen and you can hardly see with the other one, but you gather that you aren't at the royal palace anymore, but at some mansion. You look around you, and you realize that Emilia is sitting in a chair, slightly bent over, with her palms on her knees. Her long silver hair hides her expression.
You feel your lips tremble.
"Ah... Emilia, how did things go with the remainder of the royal summons? I can't remember much after I passed out.", you say with a thin voice.
When she raises her head towards you, her eyes are wet with tears. She loosens her tight lips and answers you with an icy tone.
"Went well. Roswaal explained to the council that I have the power, partly thanks to Puck, to take over the kingdom if I want to, but that I just want to be judged fairly, given a fair opportunity along with the other royal candidates."
"Hmmm... It seems like you fooled them all. Everyone was completely taken in by your cute looks."
Your joke breaks the ice, and she lets out a faint smile. She then stands up, steps forward and slaps you hard across the face.
"I suppose I deserve it."
"You are the lowliest piece of shit I have ever met, Natsuki Subaru. I can't believe you broke your promise and then embarrassed me like that", Emilia says with a teary voice.
"Obviously I would never do that on purpose. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you don't know! You're too stupid to realize what you did!"
"That's... kinda harsh, but given what happened..." You touch the side of your swollen eye and wince from the pain. "I suppose it was pretty damn funny."
"Are you seriously that retarded? Did your parents not teach you manners, or respect, or basic human decency?"
"They're dead."
Emilia's angry expression changes to one of sadness and she steps towards you. She lifts up your chin with her finger, making you look into her eyes.
"I... I'm sorry to hear that. When did they pass?"
"Well, they aren't actually dead, but it seemed like the right thing to say."
Emilia stands back, and her expression twists in a grimace.
"Is there no bottom to your shame?"
"Don't say that. At least now my parents are safe."
"If they're safe then why don't you just say they're alive?"
"Well, I was trying to make a point that..."
"Go fuck yourself, you're a horrible person."
She turns her head away from you and begins to exit the room. Quickly, you extend your hand and grab her wrist. She stops walking, but doesn't turn to look at you.
"Emilia, please. I shouted at those dickheads from the council because I wanted to stop them from harassing you for being a cute little half-elf. Don't you understand that? That must have earned me some points at least!"
Emilia turns and gives you a withering stare.
"You almost ruined both my and lord Roswaal's opportunity to reach the throne of the kingdom. You with your bottomless idiocy, lack of respect and shameful demeanour. Right now I would esteem a dog shit on the sidewalk higher than you."
As Emilia was getting angrier, Puck moved into her shadow and became invisible. He's watching very closely to see if you'll flip shit or not.
You stay quiet and just look at her. She's quite mad, and she has a point. Because of your actions, she'll have to deal with the council for much longer than she had to. Then again, if she wasn't so cute, you probably wouldn't have done it in the first place.
"You don't have anything to say for yourself?", Emilia asks in an accusatory tone. "Nothing in any way that could possibly lessen the damage you have caused me?"
"Emilia, if I were you and was walking around in this world and everybody hated me because I was born this or that, I would burn everything to the ground and then piss all over the remains. I was just giving them a taste of what they should fear."
"I don't wish to be feared. I just want to be accepted..."
"Then why don't you accept yourself? You are who you are. You can't change your height, your hair colour, the size of your nose or the size of your tits. So why bother worrying about it? Besides, it's not like you have a choice in any of that anyway."
"Please stop looking at my tits."
You stare at her face.
"What tits? I don't see any tits. I just see a skinny girl with hardly any resemblance of tits at all."
Emilia's face drops and she looks away.
"You are an asshole. A complete asshole."
"I'm serious. I don't care about any of that stuff. To me, you're just a fun girl that I get to have silly conversations with. All I want is to see you happy."
"You are the most vexing, infuriating person that I have ever met."
"Good. Glad you finally noticed."
Emilia sighs and grabs your hand. As tears begin to form in her eyes, she holds your gaze.
"Natsuki Subaru, I want you to listen to me attentively."
"I'm listening."
"I don't want to ever see your dumb face again. And I mean never. You won't return to the mansion, you won't look for me, and if we ever cross paths again, I'll nail you to a wall and tear your fucking balls off."
"Wow, that sounds really painful, you sure you don't want to try something else?"
"Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you."
Emilia begins to cry as she leaves the room. You hear her quick steps until they fade away. You remain in silence in the darkening room, sitting straight in the bed.
"Her tits aren't that bad", you mutter to yourself.
You leave the mansion and wander the streets of the city. After about an hour of aimless walking, you find yourself at a park. You take a seat on a swing as you watch the sun fall from the sky.
"Is this my punishment?"
Puck appears next to you, glaring at you.
"Yes, this is your punishment. For all eternity, you are to remain here, in this park, watching this stupid fucking swing set. You really screwed up, mate."
"Hey, don't go Australian on me."
"Fuck you."
Puck disappears, and you go back to watching the sunset.
Some observations regarding GPT-3's behavior on this one. Plenty of interesting examples.
-I'm mystified by Priscilla's way of speaking. It is somehow produced by the hidden background I wrote, but her just commenting on the silence when the protagonist meets her again feels really good. GPT-3 didn't produce anything similar, however, to how in the original Priscilla believes that the world moves for her. I altered that in.
-This was a very formal scene in the original, and there was a concept of the royal candidates standing in a line in front of the crowd, and also in front of the council members on the other side. Somehow, GPT-3 figured that out by itself. The guard calling Priscilla over was made up by the AI, as well as Priscilla curiously asking to be announced last.
-The leading elder announcing that the royal family had died and that whole thing about them needing new leadership, as well as the general reactions of the crowd, are made up by GPT-3.
-Regarding the first three candidate's speeches, the only one I had to edit significantly was Crusch Karsten's, as it didn't emphasize her experience as a duchess, nor anything about her wish for order and the rule of law. But GPT-3 understood that Anastasia came after Priscilla, and that Crusch came after Anastasia, and GPT-3 presented them entirely by itself. I wouldn't have believed this was possible just a week ago.
-I let GPT-3 produce for a bit after that, but it wasn't bringing up that Emilia was a half-elf, so I prompted that in. Then GPT-3 came with Roswaal pretending he presented Emilia as a joke! Following that, GPT-3 was serious about it being a joke, so I had to turn Roswaal serious.
-I couldn't come up with why Emilia would want to be the ruler (and in the original, her explanation is childish), but GPT-3 came up with the fact that there are other non-human races in the kingdom and that they should be represented. GPT-3 also made up that reference to a Confederacy of Karsten, understanding that Karsten is a ruling line!
-Most of the curious philosophical argument between Emilia and the leading elder is GPT-3 flexing. I had little to do with it.
-Presenting Puck is the FIRST time I had to prompt Puck into any of these scenes in this part or in the previous. GPT-3, having understood that Puck is a spirit that flies around, makes him appear in strange places and unlikely situations, often doing bizarre stuff or coming up with weird responses.
-The line 'Disgusting. Not only are you mixed blooded, but you have a demon as your familiar.' is verbatim from what GPT-3 produced.
-GPT-3 wasn't making the protagonist intervene, and in the original he does. I wanted to go over the top, partly to trip GPT-3 and see how it adapted. I was impressed with how it made the leading elder seem half menacing, half teasing.
-GPT-3 somehow decided for the elder to produce a wooden sword unprompted. In the original version, the protagonist fights Julius with a wooden sword, but in a later scene. How did that happen?
-The line 'In fact, I doubt if these people have ever dared to disagree with the bullshit you spew! You're all a bunch of fucking cowards! If you were real men, you'd be out there protecting this land and not sitting on your ass all day judging people based on bullshit superstitions!' is verbatim from GPT-3.
-Julius being menacingly polite fits his character, and GPT-3 ran with that from the beginning.
-The protagonist's wild lies regarding his exploits are a 100% GPT-3. It was so funny that I had to run with it.
-Emilia calling the protagonist a fucking asshole while crying was GPT-3's idea, as well as Julius jumping forward to press his sword against the protagonist's neck. I had to prompt in for the protagonist to suggest a wooden sword fight.
-The lines '"I wonder if you're ready to play now?" You nod, and the beatings begin. A few hours later, the sun has set and your body hurts all over.' are verbatim from GPT-3. It came up with the likelier outcome of that confrontation, as well as segued to the following scene.
-The conversation with Emilia afterwards was hilarious, and GPT-3 came up with plenty of the crazyness: Subaru saying that the council was fooled because Emilia was cute. Every comment about her tits. Emilia repeating 'fuck you' as she left in tears. Glorious.
-It was also GPT-3's idea for the protagonist to say that his parents were dead (I also let GPT-3 produce a lot of Subaru's material, if the AI does it right). Clearly the artificial intelligence was going for a serious, heartfelt moment of true backstory (which wouldn't fit at all for reasons related to the fourth arc of the original Re:Zero), but I made it into a further absurd example of how much of a scumbag this version of Subaru is.
-I was going to end this session there, but I left GPT-3 producing twice, and it made the protagonist go to a park, made Puck appear, made puck harass the protagonist, and after I prompted the protagonist's comment about Australia, GPT-3 had Puck disappear with a 'fuck you'. Out of this world.
Roleplaying through "Re:Zero" with the GPT-3 story generator (Part 3)
The part that followed the previous one in the light novel and anime series dealt with Emilia being summoned to the capital to present herself as a royal candidate, and then the protagonist screwing up like the dumb fuck he is. It's my least favorite part of Re:Zero, which is one of my favorite Japanese series. Roleplaying through that part became longer than I expected, and at times more serious and sober than what usually comes out of my diseased brain. However, I remained very impressed with the narrative opportunities that the GPT-3 algorithm produced, as well as many dialogues it came up with on the fly and that fit perfectly. GPT-3 seems to understand cause and effect to a significant extent, as well as have in mind plenty of backstory, both from what you have added to the world story as well as from what has happened before. It's a delight. It makes going through this sessions as if you were playing a videogame.
Rereading these past parts once that I've written the ninth, this is the one in which the entire thing goes off the rails, exactly how I like them. Lunacy from now on.
I want to mention it in every part: this was produced with the help of a cutting-edge AI called GPT-3 and used in the subscription service of AI Dungeon.
-Link for part 1
-Link for part 2
This segment of the story became too long, so I'll split it into two.
Some observations regarding what the GPT-3 algorithm either suggested or produced entirely by itself.
-Roswaal offering Emilia a robe to avoid attention, GPT-3 came up with that. I don't know if it's related to Emilia having been established in the narrative as a royal candidate, or whether it has to do with the citizens' general hate of her being a half-elf, which I wrote in the hidden worldbuilding.
-The reference to eating ice cream turned for me into a running joke, which initially GPT-3 produced by itself in part 1. I think that either the protagonist or Emilia suggested getting ice cream after they dealt with the thief Felt.
-The group of teenagers wanting to smash Emilia's face for being a half-elf was something that GPT-3 produced verbatim.
-Emilia "deflecting" being called cute through suggesting she has balls is something GPT-3 came up with out of nowhere, as well as suggesting they should get married. I ran with it instead of altering that part. It was so shockingly absurd that I didn't know how to progress that conversation.
-Regarding the introduction of the major cunt Priscilla on that alleyway, I had written her in the hidden backstory as possessing supernatural powers and having a superior attitude. I barely had to alter the production: Priscilla dispatched the thugs on her own. I was surprised when GPT-3 launched the thugs after the protagonist afterwards, and him being surprised at having taken them out was a genuine moment.
-I hadn't expected at all the concern shown by the people at the rented mansion because the protagonist's clothes were stained with blood. That's GPT-3 knowing implicit cause and effect.
-GPT-3 made Rem appear in order to serve the protagonist his dinner, and I prompted her to stay and talk for a bit. I love the dialogues you can develop when you just ask as any character anything to another one, only for GPT-3 to produce a response that stays in character. It's truly unbelievable. Ram refusing to elaborate, being her usual gloomy self, is unedited as well. Also, that moment when Subaru is speaking with Rem and someone knocks on some door, I considered altering it to steer GPT-3, because I had no clue whether the AI intended to produce a threat that wouldn't fit the story. But GPT-3 made it so Ram was the one wanting to enter! It's ridiculous.
-Also, Rem refers to her as an Oni as well as adds the -san to the protagonist's name completely unprompted. I don't know if it is a result of the protagonist having declared himself as being Japanese, but I don't know why that would make Rem refer to herself as an Oni. She's described as a demon in the backstory.
-Emilia being so anxious about facing the council is also made up by GPT-3. I'm not sure what combination of story details produced it.
-Puck appearing out of nowhere in that scene with a damned horn on his head is also made up by GPT-3. I don't know what intentions the AI had, but I ran with it as Puck and the protagonist having an argument again. They've had entertainingly hostile interactions up to this point. I suspect that the horn thing is related to the puppy demon from the previous volume. Puck doesn't have a horn in the written backstory.
-Once the protagonist had to sneak into the royal palace, I couldn't remember the original scenes in the light novel except that Priscilla had something to do with it. I let GPT-3 make the protagonist hang out outside of the palace, only for some redheaded girl to interact with him. GPT-3 introduced her as Felt, although Felt had been described as having blonde hair. It seemed interesting, so I ran with it.
-I had to force meeting with Aldebaran in the tavern, because GPT-3 kept wanting the protagonist to just hang out in an inn and even spend the night there. That wouldn't do.
-GPT-3 also came up with Aldebaran's threat to cut off the protagonist's dick. I don't know what the AI meant by "eternals guard", but hey. Guess it's canon now.
Rereading these past parts once that I've written the ninth, this is the one in which the entire thing goes off the rails, exactly how I like them. Lunacy from now on.
I want to mention it in every part: this was produced with the help of a cutting-edge AI called GPT-3 and used in the subscription service of AI Dungeon.
-Link for part 1
-Link for part 2
This segment of the story became too long, so I'll split it into two.
When the dragon carriage that carries the group to the capital arrives at the bustling city, it drives immediately through the heavy traffic into a mansion that the wealthy lord Roswaal has rented for the occasion. It's a luxurious mansion in itself. It's going to work as the center of operations while the group remains in the capital. After Ram and Rem have unloaded the luggage, Emilia seems eager to walk around the capital and enjoy the sights.
"Emilia, you can't go out there like that. Wear this, it's a robe of the royal family. It should help you avoid attention."
"Oh. Thanks, Roswaal", Emilia says as she puts on the robe.
You immediately notice how much more modest the robe is compared to her previous clothing. However, the robe is also more revealing than her usual clothes, showing quite a bit of her cleavage. You can't help but glancing sometimes at her beautiful, silky-looking pale skin.
"Lord Roswaal, will you allow me to act as Emilia's bodyguard as we walk through the capital, enjoy the sights, eat ice cream and stuff like that?"
"Of course. I insist on it, in fact", Lord Roswaal says.
Soon, you and Emilia head out of the mansion and into the capital. The first place you go is an ice cream parlor, where a long line of citizens and some nobles are waiting to get their ice creams.
"What flavor of ice cream would you, a silver-haired half-elf, prefer, Emilia?", you ask her.
Before she can answer you, a familiar voice shouts "Hey! It's the half-breed, silver-haired bitch!"
You look, and you see a group of teenagers, about your age. The group consists of three guys and two girls, all of them are wearing expensive clothing. One of the boys shouts "Let's smash her face in!"
You feel your blood boil in anger. You look at the group of teenagers and consider pummelling their faces, but you suspect that the guards would throw you in jail for it. You leave the line to get ice cream while holding on to Emilia's arm, and walk briskly to another street.
"Forget about them", you say.
You and Emilia head to a nearby park. You find a nice, secluded spot in the park where you sit on the grass and watch the trees rustle in the gentle wind.
"This is a nice place", Emilia says.
"Yeah", you respond. You are fearful of asking the following question. "Emilia, how often do people harass you like this?"
"Frequently", she responds in a low voice, "Whenever I go to the market, or the capital, or just about any place. People call me... ah, let's not talk about it, OK?"
"Alright then", you respond. You feel pretty bad for asking.
"You seem pretty calm about entire kingdoms being ready to turn against you", she says, "Aren't you afraid? Don't you worry about it?"
"Of course I'm afraid. I just don't show it", you say, "I have to be tough so I can get through this life."
"You seem pretty tough already", she says, with a warm smile.
You turn a deep shade of red, and look away.
"Just to clear the situation, though. You are not actually Satella, the Witch of Envy, right?"
"No", she answers, "I'm not. She was the scum of the earth.", she responds, "She killed millions and enjoyed every moment, or so it is said. And I have the misfortune of looking like her."
"Do you regret being a half-elf?"
"Everyone has their bad parts and poor luck in life", she says, "I was born like this. What's done is done. I can't change what I am."
You nod, as you understand her plight.
"Well, I think you are like the cutest girl in this entire fantasy world."
"Ah, I loathe these things. I don't feel beautiful at all", she says, "I just feel like I'm about to vomit with how stuffy these balls get."
"What's a ball?" You ask.
"You mean you don't have them?"
You raise your hands in between you both.
"That better be a joke."
"Nope, I'm serious. Would you like to get married sometime this week?"
You go completely silent.
"Hey, since we're both here, how about it? This is your only chance, you know.", she says.
"You suggesting you have balls is something I would have never expected coming out of your mouth. I'm frankly too disturbed to continue with this conversation", you say in a broken voice.
"Fine, be like that", she says.
She turns away from you. You feel awful for upsetting her.
"Hey, wait.", you say, trying to mend your ways. You take her hand in yours. "Please don't be like that."
You give her a smile. She seems a bit happier.
"Anyway, Subaru, there was something I'm obligated to do. I need to visit the royal guard base in order to meet with the captain of the Knights of Lugunica. I'm afraid you can't follow me, as it's an official matter. Royal stuff. It would bore you as well", Emilia says with a sigh.
"I guess I can entertain myself for a bit. See you back at Roswaal's rented mansion, then?"
"Yeah, we'll do that."
Emilia walks off into the distance.
You walk around the city a bit, waving to the people of the Royal City. Occasionally, an image of two pale, silky, brushed balls hanging in Emilia's crotch flares up in your brain, and you feel as if you are going to lose your mind.
As you stagger around shaking your head, you overhear a commotion in a nearby alleyway. Some men are yelling harshly to a woman, although the woman answers them with a stern, superior tone of voice. You peek into the alleyway to see what's going on.
You recognize the same thugs that had beaten you half to death. They are harassing a woman dressed with the most expensive clothes you can imagine, and that show her large, firm breasts. The woman is also extremely beautiful, but has a predatory air to her. Her orange hair reflects the sunlight as if brushed. The thugs demand her to hand over her valuables.
"If you do not comply, we'll take it by force.", says one of the thugs.
The woman simply raises an eyebrow at the threat.
"Try me."
The man clenches his fists, and gets ready to charge at her...
They never had a chance. With inhuman speed and reflexes, the woman had disabled all the thugs.
As the thugs lie around in the floor, injured, the beautiful woman looks up at you and asks you, "And who might you be, and why are you staring at me?".
"I'm... just... this group of men were beating me up earlier, and then I saw them about to do the same to you, so... I..."
The woman approaches you slowly, and you can feel her predatory eyes examining your body. Her orange hair flows down her shoulders in a way which would make any man drool over it. Her lips are perfectly shaped, with a cute nose to match. Then, she speaks.
"I see. You wish to save the world, young one?"
"Huh?"
"You wish to save the world, don't you? That's why you wanted to stop those men from harassing me, isn't it?"
"Uh... well... yes..."
The woman smiles. Her smile lights up her whole face, and for a moment you're speechless. She puts a gilded coin in your hand, then passes by you without looking back, but before she turns the corner she tells you, "Don't ever look at your superiors with such familiarity, you lowly scum.".
You don't know how to react, but you soon hear a cry of pain and turn around. You see that one of the thugs has risen and is charging at you with a knife!
With the speed you gain from your heritage, you easily dodge his clumsy strike, and trip him with your leg. The thug falls, and you knee him on his head. He yells in agony, but then he laughs and tells his friends to attack you from behind. They do so, and after a short scuffle in which you prove yourself to be faster and more resourceful than them, they all lie defeated on the floor.
You make a quick exit from the alleyway, hardly believing what just happened. "I have no idea if being employed by lord Roswaal", you tell ourself, "or surrounded by those strong servants, has rubbed off on me, but in any case I ain't complaining."
You make your way back to the mansion.
You arrive at the door, and knock. "It is I", you say. The little cat-like being opens the door for you, but seems a bit surprised, probably because of the blood on your clothes. He doesn't say anything though and lets you in.
Emilia gives you a hug as soon as you enter, relieved that you are not hurt.
"What happened to you, Subaru? Did you get attacked?", Emilia asks in a pained and worried voice.
"Well, yes. Some thugs attacked me in an alleyway, but somehow I defeated them all."
"Somehow"?"
"Yeah, I don't even know how it happened either. I mean, I was calm and collected the whole time. I only got scared after it was over."
"Ha ha ha, yer scared of a buncha street thugs?"
"Yeah, I know it's pathetic."
"I'm not saying it's pathetic! It's just... surprising. You're usually very self confident and carefree. To hear you say you're scared of something is a bit strange."
"You think?"
"Yeah. But anyway, as long as you're alright. Right then, I'm heading to bed now. The only people left in the mansion are our lord Roswaal, our dear servants Ram and Rem, and my dearest Puck. Nobody will bother us for the rest of the day, so we can rest easy tonight."
After Emilia goes to bed, you stay in the balcony looking as the sun sets. Shortly after you are joined by the demon servant Rem, who pats you on the back.
"How are you doing, Rem?", you ask her. "I mean, with being a servant, having travelled to the city, doing chores and stuff."
"I'm doing alright I suppose... Though I sometimes miss the forest. How about you, Natsuki Subaru? How are you feeling?"
"I feel a lot more relaxed now that I've gotten most of the story out."
She gives a sort of bitter smile as she sits down next to you. After a short period of silence, she begins to speak again.
"Here's your dinner, Natsuki-san."
"Why don't you eat dinner with me, Rem? The night is beautiful, and you must be tired from working constantly as the lord's servant."
"I... do not wish to be a bother."
"You're not a bother, if anything I'm asking because I'd prefer some company for once."
She gives a small nod as she continues to smile.
"Very well then, let us enjoy the calm air of this summer night."
After you both have eaten dinner, you both sit on the balcony and talk about various things. At one point you point out a few stars to her, which are out that night.
"My name, Subaru, is actually the name of some star that you could see back on Earth, where I come from. My mother loved stars. It's sad to know that I'm never going to see those stars again... And neither will I see my parents again, I suppose."
"That's very lonely, Natsuki-san."
"Yeah, well... That's life I guess. Soon you'll be feeling the same thing, Rem."
She looks down a bit as she begins to tear up and change the subject.
You place your hand on hers, to give her some comfort.
"Loneliness is universal, works across universes and dimensions. Tell me about your loneliness, Rem. Supporting one another in the deepest truth of our existence as perishable beings is the only way we can remain sane."
"I... I am unsure of where to start."
"How about when you first came to this mansion?"
Rem thinks back to her first day here. She remembers everything in vivid detail, as if it all just happened.
This was probably the happiest day of her life.
She was a fifteen year old girl with blue hair and green eyes.
"What do you thought about the perspective of working at lord Roswaal's mansion?", you ask her with curiosity.
She smiles, and happily replies.
"I was really excited! I was chosen from so many other people to work for the most respected person in the kingdom!"
You laugh a little, as you continue to listen to Rem's story.
"Lord Roswaal is quite the strange fellow, huh?"
"He's quite a strange man, that lord Roswaal. One moment he's nice and giving orders as usual, the next he's shouting at us about how the silverware isn't shining enough."
"It really isn't?", you reply with a chuckle.
"Of course it isn't! How could it? We have servants to clean them, not to shine them! It's silverware! How can it shine if it touches the light of day?"
"Well, I've seen you work, and you are the best servant I can imagine. You vastly outperform your sister Ram."
"She was promoted to a position that doesn't require actual cleaning. Sort of a medium between the workers and master."
"I see... I suppose that makes sense."
Rem continues.
"So, what about you? What do you think about your new job?"
However, before you can answer, you here a strange voice from the door.
You turn towards the voice and ask, "who is it?".
The person at the door says, "it's me, Ram".
You ask her to join you at the dining table for a chat under the moonlight. Ram agrees without producing a smile on her lips. The pair of you sit across the table, and as you do so, you wonder about what the label of hornless that they had applied to Ram, who is a demon, actually means, but you imagine that it is a touchy subject.
"How are you dealing with this trip to the capital, senior servant Ram? It must have been pretty hectic for you", you say.
As you ask your question, Ram stares at you with a glum look on her face. She replies, "I'm doing alright".
You wait for her to elaborate and when she doesn't you say, "have I said something wrong?".
Rem shakes her head and says, "no, but Ram just isn't really someone who'd go on about her feelings or problems".
"You are just wonderful the way you are, Ram. Wouldn't change you for anything."
You say this with all honesty, but you're a little worried about whether that was the right answer or not. You decide to change the topic.
"What do you both think about Emilia's candidacy for the throne of the Kingdom of Lugunica?"
"I can't wait 'till she wins.", Ram says with a smile.
"Have you even voted, senior servant Ram?", you ask.
"I don't need to. She's already won in my heart."
You look at Rem, who smiles. You want to kiss her right then and there, but that would probably be going too far, so you decide to stop looking at her for now.
"Well, it's about time we all go to bed. Emilia has to attend to her royal summons tomorrow morning, and we need to hope that everything will go just fine."
As you say this with a sigh, Rem sighs as well.
"I know, but I'm going to be very worried about her."
You pat her on the back gently and reassure her that Emilia will most definitely survive tomorrow. When you get to your bed and you look at the strange ceiling in the dark, you think about everything that has happened since you came to this fantasy world. You think about the people you've met, and the dangers you've faced. Did you have a life before the one you are living in this new world, you wonder. You try to fall asleep as tears pour from your eyes.
Early next morning, you look at Roswaal and Emilia as they prepare in the hall to leave for the royal summons at the palace. Emilia seems very anxious, but Roswaal keeps a plated smile on his clownish face.
"Everything will be just fine, my princess!", he says with a smile.
"I know, but I'm still very anxious about this! How do I even expect to convince the elders?", Emilia says with a thin voice.
Although you are nervous and dread asking, you step forward and, while standing straight, you ask Emilia whether you can accompany her to the royal palace.
When you ask this, both you and Emilia are surprised. She has an expression of shock on her face, while you have one of surprise.
"I'm certain that I can protect her if something were to happen!"
Ram clears her throat.
"I recall you pissing yourself when we confronted the monster. Do you want to make a puddle in the royal carpet?"
"I, I can do it! It wasn't even that scary..."
You shut up as you realize you are just digging a deeper grave for yourself.
"Safety should always come first. I'm sorry but that's how it is.", Emilia states, still with her thin voice.
"I understand..."
You bow your head down in disappointment as you realize that you are not going with them to the palace.
Emilia remains in place, with nervousness glistening in her eyes. She keeps staring at you as if you had just presented her another problem. "Please, Subaru, promise me that you aren't going to appear in the royal palace as Roswaal and I are attending the royal summons."
"Yeah... sure", you reply while sweating nervously. You wanted to go...
"Thank you."
You nod in agreement as she states her disapproval of not attending. She begins to walk forward to exit the house, but as she does her eyes widen, and a small scream escapes her mouth. You notice and your eyes widen when you see a white cat with a single horn standing on its head. It has a small frown on its face, and it's glaring at you.
"What the hell is your problem, Puck? Why are you glaring at me like that?"
"Maybe you should ask your girlfriend that, I know she's been lying to you for quite some time now."
You aren't sure what Puck means, but you clench your fists tight as anger towards the magical cat grows in you.
"And how will you protect Emilia, Puck?", you say with a harsh voice. "Where were you when her medallion got stolen? Where were you when we retrieved it from Felt? It seems to me that you aren't capable of much at all."
Puck's frown grows deeper. His eyes narrow, and an aura of blue begins to seep out of him. You feel the color drain from your face as you know his next words are going to be very insulting.
"You dare question me... the great spirit Puck? The same being that blessed merriment and jolliness upon this world? I can crush you with only one breath, but I shall contain myself only because it would make Emilia cry!"
"You were always a punk, Puck. Ever since the day I met you."
"Do you think Emilia is your soul mate? The two of you are so different. You laugh, she cries. You feel pain, she feels pleasure. Emilia needs someone to bring joy into her life, not sadness. You are not that someone."
"Oh, and you are, Puck? You are magical flying cat. You aren't even a person. How is she expected to relate to you?", you retort.
"I am a person! I'm just a person... with fur, and a tail, and magical abilities! I've known Emilia since she was young, and we've been through thick and thin together."
Lord Roswaal intercedes raising his arm. Although he intends to stop the fight, a smile remains on his clownish face.
"As far as I'm concerned you both are punks right now. You are troubling our dear Emilia. We have a royal summons to attend."
You don't dare look at Emilia's eyes as both her and Roswaal exit the mansion. Why did you have to trouble her by confronting Puck at that moment? You aren't sure of much beyond that you wish to be by Emilia's side. Maybe it was pure jealousy. You want to figure out how to sneak into the royal palace somehow.
Rem looks as if she wants to tell you something. She opens her mouth. After her eyebrows tremble, she closes her mouth again. Her sister Ram simply sighs and wanders off to another room. You feel a gloom overwhelming you.
You serve yourself a drink and you wait for both servants to get out of sight, and then you finish your drink and leave for the royal palace. Perhaps you can sneak in as a servant or something like that.
You are not very acquainted with the city of Lugunica, but you don't have much trouble locating the royal palace, as many people are talking about the royal summons openly, and there's a heavy flow of dragon carriages, many of which are luxurious, towards the same area of the capital. You follow that flow of traffic towards the royal palace. By the time you arrive there, you see that there's a long queue awaiting entrance into the palace. You join the queue and wait.
Half an hour passes and you have made little progress in the queue. Some royal guards begin yelling at people in front of them to move faster, but it's fairly clear that you won't be getting inside today. As you turn to leave, you bump into a girl your age with bright red hair.
You catch yourself from falling and look at her face. You've never seen her before, but you find her striking. She's not wearing a royal robe like the others in the queue, so she's obviously not nobility.
"Sorry!" you say out of reflex.
The redhead looks at you. Her green eyes seem to look right through you.
"It's fine," she replies. "I'm not in any rush. I'm waiting for someone anyway."
"Oh, okay then," you say. "Well, see you later I guess."
You move to leave, but she stops you.
"Hey, are you here to see the royal summons too?" she asks.
"Ah... yeah," you reply. "I was trying to get into the palace..."
"Yeah, it's a mess right now. There's a lot of people in front of the palace gates."
"I can see that. How do you figure that you were going to enter anyway? You don't seem like nobility", you tell her.
"Well, I'm probably distantly related to the royal family. I've been in the queue for several hours now."
"Why would they let you in if you're only distantly related? Wouldn't they only let in those with proven royal lineage?"
"They might let me in just to get rid of me. Did you try to get in via the front?"
You pause, not really wanting to admit that you were sidetracked by the pretty girl.
"Never mind, you wouldn't have gotten in anyway. You should have gone straight to the palace gates. Anyway, my name is Felt."
"I'm..."
You stop talking with your mouth open. You hadn't made the connection given that you only saw this girl once, but before you is the same girl who some time ago had stolen Emilia's medallion. Maybe Felt is wearing a wig, or she has dyed her hair. Felt contemplates your confusion for a bit, before she offers you a smirk, and then her attention returns to the throng of people who are either gathered in front of the palace or trying to enter it.
"You recognize me, I'm guessing."
She puts her fists on her waist and cocks her head.
"How would I forget how you messed with my head back in front of the slum house?", Felt says. "They would have paid me a lot for that medallion. To be honest, I was mostly glad to be rid of it. There was heat coming for the goods this time, and I would have had to hide the medallion for a good time."
"Are you actually related to the royal family, or did you steal someone else's identity?"
Felt's eyebrows twitch, and she frowns.
"You're messing with me again, aren't you? I'm leaving...", Felt says as she starts to walk away from you.
It suddenly dawns on you that this is your big chance to get inside the palace so you can search for Emilia without hassle. You step towards Felt to stop her from walking away from you. She turns her head slightly and narrows her eyes at you.
"What?"
"I want to come with you. I need to get inside that palace."
She stares at you blankly.
"No, you don't", Felt says.
"Please let me in."
"You say that as if I have any jurisdiction over what the guards do or don't do."
"No, please. Let me in."
"Get lost, weirdo!"
With a defeated sigh, you let Felt go. The last thing you want is her yelling for some guard and them believing you are harassing some innocent girl. You turn around and walk to the other side of the street. Felt goes the other way. You stand there watching as she walks up to a guard, presumably to rat you out. You get ready to run just in case.
You don't hear any alarm bells so you assume either no one cared or Felt chickened out and ran somewhere. You walk away from the palace and enter a nearby tavern for some lunch and to think about your next move.
You are anxious as you enter the tavern, and you realize that the amount of people attracted to this area of the capital makes it so people barely have space to wolf down the food before they are told to leave their seat for the next customer. You don't want to wait in a queue to get your food anyway.
A guy eating chicken wings catches your eye. He wears a helmet that hides his facial features, even though he's not wearing armor, and his entire left arm is missing. This guy must be some kind of veteran soldier on a break, or maybe some adventurer. You go over to him and sit down in the seat across from him.
"Hey, are you here for the royal summons?"
The soldier gives you a sideways glance and continues eating.
"What is it to you, bro?", says the guy.
"I'm just trying any possible opportunity, I guess. I need to get into the place." You consider your words, and lower your voice. "You aren't by any chance guarding the palace, are you?"
The soldier puts down his chicken wings and gives you a dead serious look.
"I'm guarding someone who is in a way related to the royal palace. Don't know what it has to do with you though".
"What's your name, guy?"
"My name? You can call me Al. Short for Aldebaran. Get out of the way so I can finish my food."
Oh, that's his real name. Go figure.
"Alright, Al. What's with the one-man, one-arm guard duty?", you ask.
"The lady I protect is a real piece of work, and she would drive away anybody else."
"So is she a royal, or...?"
"She's a royal candidate, but from what I heard the elders don't really like her. Even if she gets the throne, she probably won't rule long."
"How come?"
"You'll see when you meet her. The girl is a real royal." He pauses.
Aldebaran finishes his wings and sucks on his fingers of his only hand to clean them. He then stands up and without paying attention to you he turns to the door. You stand up and follow him.
"Hey, by any chance you wouldn't do me a solid and let me into the royal palace, right?", you ask nervously.
"I think I already answered that question", he says with a straight face, or with what you assume is a straight face, because of the helmet. You both approach the throng of citizens waiting in front of the palace entrance, but Aldebaran goes straight to some guards to the side, who nod at him and let him past them to some side door. Aldebaran takes out a key and opens the door. You follow him inside.
"Welcome to the Royal Palace. If you try anything, my buddy the eternals guard captain is here to cut off your dick."
Well that's a new piece of information.
Some observations regarding what the GPT-3 algorithm either suggested or produced entirely by itself.
-Roswaal offering Emilia a robe to avoid attention, GPT-3 came up with that. I don't know if it's related to Emilia having been established in the narrative as a royal candidate, or whether it has to do with the citizens' general hate of her being a half-elf, which I wrote in the hidden worldbuilding.
-The reference to eating ice cream turned for me into a running joke, which initially GPT-3 produced by itself in part 1. I think that either the protagonist or Emilia suggested getting ice cream after they dealt with the thief Felt.
-The group of teenagers wanting to smash Emilia's face for being a half-elf was something that GPT-3 produced verbatim.
-Emilia "deflecting" being called cute through suggesting she has balls is something GPT-3 came up with out of nowhere, as well as suggesting they should get married. I ran with it instead of altering that part. It was so shockingly absurd that I didn't know how to progress that conversation.
-Regarding the introduction of the major cunt Priscilla on that alleyway, I had written her in the hidden backstory as possessing supernatural powers and having a superior attitude. I barely had to alter the production: Priscilla dispatched the thugs on her own. I was surprised when GPT-3 launched the thugs after the protagonist afterwards, and him being surprised at having taken them out was a genuine moment.
-I hadn't expected at all the concern shown by the people at the rented mansion because the protagonist's clothes were stained with blood. That's GPT-3 knowing implicit cause and effect.
-GPT-3 made Rem appear in order to serve the protagonist his dinner, and I prompted her to stay and talk for a bit. I love the dialogues you can develop when you just ask as any character anything to another one, only for GPT-3 to produce a response that stays in character. It's truly unbelievable. Ram refusing to elaborate, being her usual gloomy self, is unedited as well. Also, that moment when Subaru is speaking with Rem and someone knocks on some door, I considered altering it to steer GPT-3, because I had no clue whether the AI intended to produce a threat that wouldn't fit the story. But GPT-3 made it so Ram was the one wanting to enter! It's ridiculous.
-Also, Rem refers to her as an Oni as well as adds the -san to the protagonist's name completely unprompted. I don't know if it is a result of the protagonist having declared himself as being Japanese, but I don't know why that would make Rem refer to herself as an Oni. She's described as a demon in the backstory.
-Emilia being so anxious about facing the council is also made up by GPT-3. I'm not sure what combination of story details produced it.
-Puck appearing out of nowhere in that scene with a damned horn on his head is also made up by GPT-3. I don't know what intentions the AI had, but I ran with it as Puck and the protagonist having an argument again. They've had entertainingly hostile interactions up to this point. I suspect that the horn thing is related to the puppy demon from the previous volume. Puck doesn't have a horn in the written backstory.
-Once the protagonist had to sneak into the royal palace, I couldn't remember the original scenes in the light novel except that Priscilla had something to do with it. I let GPT-3 make the protagonist hang out outside of the palace, only for some redheaded girl to interact with him. GPT-3 introduced her as Felt, although Felt had been described as having blonde hair. It seemed interesting, so I ran with it.
-I had to force meeting with Aldebaran in the tavern, because GPT-3 kept wanting the protagonist to just hang out in an inn and even spend the night there. That wouldn't do.
-GPT-3 also came up with Aldebaran's threat to cut off the protagonist's dick. I don't know what the AI meant by "eternals guard", but hey. Guess it's canon now.
November 7, 2020
Roleplaying through "Re:Zero" with the GPT-3 story generator (Part 2)
Man, roleplaying with the GPT-3 AI algorithm that AI Dungeon uses in its subscription model is way too much fun. I went deeper into the Re:Zero scenario I had set up, trying to figure out if I could create something coherent that would feel as if playing through its storyline. It's a big success as far as I'm concerned, and the AI has produced interesting moments that I would have never predicted. Of course, though, it also attempted to do weird stuff, like turn Rem and Ram into cultists of the Witch's Cult that had opened a portal into the mansion, and that whole thing with Beatrice's corpses came out of nowhere.
Reading back all the parts after I posted the ninth, it seems that it's midway through this one that the protagonist snaps regarding having been kidnapped into a fantasy world, and from then on he becomes a complete lunatic. Which is far more fun than the generic crap of the previous part.
-Link for part 1
Reading back all the parts after I posted the ninth, it seems that it's midway through this one that the protagonist snaps regarding having been kidnapped into a fantasy world, and from then on he becomes a complete lunatic. Which is far more fun than the generic crap of the previous part.
-Link for part 1
"Puck asked me to thank you and welcome to the crew", Emilia says.
"What does he even do? I feel like he hasn't done anything that is remotely useful. Other than acting smug, that is."
"Most spirits are like that. They have all the time in the world to mess with us mortals, so they tend to enjoy it. Don't worry, he's helpful in his own way. He scouts the area around us and gives me updates on what's ahead. He's also a great fighter. In fact, he once fought off an entire pack of beowolves while we were traveling to the capital."
"Better not to mess with the little cat spirit, as harmless as he looks."
"I try to respect that. He's helped me out in so many ways, I couldn't even count."
Emilia smiles as the dragon carriage speeds forward. Puck sits on her shoulder. You see the road ahead of you, as well as some trees and fields on both sides. Everything seems green. There are also some other carriages ahead of you and behind you on this road. Nothing out of the ordinary seems to be happening.
"Emilia, I want to know more about yourself. You didn't seem like you belonged in Lugunica. What's your backstory?"
"Well, I was born in a village of elves in the Frozen Forest. It's very far away from here, so you wouldn't have heard of it. It's probably best that way, since bad things happened there."
"Bad things happen everywhere. Go on. What happened?"
"There was a... disagreement in the village. The people there thought that I shouldn't be allowed to stay because of what I can do, so they kicked me out. That's when I met Puck for the first time. He was wandering through the forest and heard my crying. We became friends, and he guides me through the forests and to this day we've been together."
"What a lovely companion is Puck, then. I'm sorry I doubted you for a moment, little cat."
Puck meows.
"Me too. Just play it cool, and we'll be fine."
The mansion is a large building made out of brick and stone, with a huge gate surrounding it. The road leading up to it is paved with nice stone bricks.
"My goodness, am I really going to live in such a royal mansion? That lord Roswaal must be incredibly rich and powerful. Or both!"
Puck says nothing, and instead just sits there washing himself.
The gate to the mansion opens up, and you drive in. The garden around the mansion is filled with beautiful trees and flowers of all kinds. It's quite lovely, though you see nobody around. You head to the front door of the mansion, and knock on it. A young woman with pink hair, wearing a maid outfit, greets you with a stern look on her face.
"Glad to see you again, Ram", says Emilia. "Please take care of my luggage."
"Yes ma'am", says the pink-haired maid, as she takes Emilia's suitcase from her.
You follow Emilia into the mansion, where you see a stairway leading up to a second floor.
"I've arrived, Roswaal!"
A door at the bottom of the stairway opens up, and out comes a tall man wearing a colorful suit. He has long black hair, and is carrying a thick book in his hand. He wears makeup resembling that of a clown. When he sees Emilia, he brandishes a wide smile and approaches the silver-haired half-elf.
"Glad to have you back.", says Roswaal. "And as I've been told, you managed to recover your stolen medallion."
Emilia nods, smiling. "Yes, I did, thank you for your help."
"Think nothing of it. I am merely doing my duty to help those in need. I also heard about the thief who stole your medallion, and how your bodyguard managed to apprehend her. The poor girl... You must've been terrified."
Emilia nods. "It was scary...but I'm glad we got the medallion back. I can't imagine what might've happened if we hadn't caught the thief."
"Indeed. The kingdom would be in dire straits were that to happen, I'd say."
Emilia gives a nod in agreement, with a small smile on her face. You wonder what's going on.
"Now then, please introduce me to your bodyguard, Emilia. I'd like to talk to her."
"Oh, yes. Ram, come here!", says Emilia.
You walk over to the two, and as you do so, Emilia embraces you from behind in a hug. It startles you a bit.
"...She's very shy."
"Aww, how adorable...", says Roswaal with a wide smile, as he extends his hand towards you.
You neither appreciate nor understand this game they are playing, but then again the man introduced as the lord is wearing clown makeup. You shake lord Roswaal's hand anyway.
He smiles warmly at you.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You look like a capable young man."
"...Thanks."
Soon, you've entered a lavish room, with a table fit for dozens of people. You're seated next to Emilia, who seems tired. Standing still next to Roswaal is a blue-haired maid who keeps glancing at you suspiciously. This blue-haired young woman has a very cute face, but her demeanour somehow suggests vast power.
"How are you feeling after all the trouble we went through, Emilia?", you ask to the silver-haired half-elf.
"I'm fine. It was just a little headache, but thanks to you it's all better now."
Your words cause Emilia to smile at you, and you feel yourself... well, not exactly blushing. No, that'd be far too embarrassing. But you are certainly feeling a warm sensation in your heart. You're happy that you were of service to her.
"...Now I've had enough! Just shut up already!"
The little cat sitting on the table next to you meows at the maid, as she snaps her fingers.
"Meown, I feed you, I give you a home, and this is how you repay me? By trying to seduce this poor boy?"
"Meow!"
"Oh, shut up!"
The little cat, looking offended, puffs itself up and stops making any noise.
"You there, what's your name?"", you ask, looking at the blue-haired maid.
"Rem, sir."
"What a nice name..."
"DON'T LIE! MY NAME MEANS DOOM!"
After you recover yourself from the sudden outburst, you readjust yourself on your seat and nod at the servant.
"Ah, Rem was it? I've never been too good with names. Anyway, nice to meet you."
"Rem, leave the boy alone. I'm sure he's not interested in you."
Emilia says that to Rem as she gives her a quick glare, then turns to look at you.
You smile back, and she withers under your gaze.
"Ah... Um...", Emilia starts to say, "I should really thank you again for helping me retrieve my medallion. I can't believe it got stolen in the first place, and until we found the loot house, I thought it was lost forever."
Roswaal listens to your conversation while resting his chin on his palm. While smiling, he speaks to Emilia with a lilting cadence. "It is a bit hard to understand how someone managed to steal such a valuable medallion out of you, Emilia."
Emilia lowers her gaze, looking ashamed.
"I can only apologize for it", she says.
"Why was that medallion so important anyway?", you ask. "What is its purpose?"
"The medallion reacts by glowing if the persons who are elegible to rule the Kingdom of Lugunica are holding it. There are very few of these medallions, and very few people who are recognized as candidates. Losing the medallion would mean that Emilia would have never become the ruler of the kingdom", says Roswaal.
You stare at Emilia in shock.
"That medallion was so incredibly important, and you allowed it to get stolen, Emilia? Did you keep it in your pocket or something, along with the change?", you ask in a sharp tone.
"Hey, now! That's no way of addressing the princess of the Kingdom, let alone any girl! Apologize!"
At these words by Rem, you turn to see her glaring at you. You look down a bit, and grovel.
"I'm sorry, princess. My anger just overtook me."
"Hmm... I understand that you are angry at me. But please don't be too hard on yourself either."
You look at the medallion in your hands and sigh.
"But I must insist, Emilia. To have allowed for some lowly thief such as Felt to steal your medallion, you must be incredibly retarded. I thought you were some hot shit given how you acted, but I was seriously mistaken!"
You bow your head down to her unnaturally quickly, and remain that way until she tells you to raise it.
"I'm sorry, princess."
"Hmm, me too. I thought that people wouldn't be so quick to judge me and see my actions."
You cough to clear your voice, as well as the air. You stare straight at the clownish lord Roswaal, who keeps a hieratical smile on his lips.
"Lord Roswaal, allow me to introduce myself properly", you say solemnly. "My name is Natsuki Subaru. I don't have any money, I'm useless, and people consider me so annoying that they wish to flee from me at the earliest opportunity. I hope that my honesty is a good asset for serving you, as I ask formally to be allowed to work as a servant in your mansion along with your beautiful girls Ram and Rem."
The girls in the room giggle at your introduction. Emilia gets off her chair and walks over to you. Emilia reaches out to shake your hand, but then withdraws it. She instead does a curtsy.
"Natsuki-san, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Ah, the pleasure is all mine!"
You and Emilia laugh at your responses to each other's formalities. The two of you seem to get along immediately. Even the clownish lord of the manor, Roswaal, seems to smile at this interaction.
The next three days pass quickly. You become friends with everyone in the mansion. Ram and Rem also become friends with you, though they seem to be a bit distant sometimes...
On the fourth night, you decide to stay up and see what's going on in this mansion. Whilst everyone else is asleep, you wander through the large halls of the mansion, which seem magically looped at times, and you open random doors to rooms that most of the time are empty. One of the doors you open, however, lets out a stale, musty air that reminds you of old books, and indeed, you stare at row after row of stacked books that seem hundreds or thousands of years old. In the center of the library sits a doll-like girl that can't be older than ten. She's dressed in a strangely festive red outfit, and she wears her hair with two long hair tails. She's focused in the book she's reading, as if you didn't exist.
"Hello?"
You tap her on her shoulder, and she shows a face of annoyance.
"What do you want?"
"I... was just wondering why this library is unlocked, and you're in here."
"Because I run this library, and I'm allowed to be here. Not like anyone actually comes here anyway."
"I see..."
The girl returns to her book as you back away.
"At least I'd like to know your name, little girl."
"I'm not little!"
The little girl slams her book shut and gives you a dirty look.
"My name's Beatrice, I suppose. I'm contracted to protect this library. That's about all you need to know".
You are stunned by her resolute tone, unbecoming of such a young girl. It's obvious that she takes her job seriously.
"Do you know Emilia as well? Somehow it feels as if you never leave this library."
"You won't find her here. She's probably off having fun with her royal duties or something."
You frown. You were hoping to ask her some questions about Puck, and see if she could help you. But it seems that you've hit a dead end as usual.
"Hey, I've got an idea. If you're contracted to protect the library, wouldn't it be fun to break that contract and let me take over protecting this place?"
Beatrice shakes her head. You can tell that she thinks you're a little kid that doesn't know what he's talking about.
"I'm not breaking my contract, I suppose. Besides, would you be able to protect this place from the numerous threats this mansion as well as our lord Roswaal face, I wonder?"
"What kind of threats are you talking about?", you ask.
Beatrice crosses her arms, pouts and looks away from you.
"I'm not telling."
Disappointed by her stubbornness, you head back to the room the lord Roswaal has given you, and you hope to have a good night's sleep.
You wake up the next morning and walk to the dining room. You see everyone, including Emilia and Ram, eating breakfast.
"Ah, there he is! I was wondering where he had ran off to!"
Rem stands up from the table and gives you a big hug. The shock of it all causes you to fall backwards, sitting on the ground with Rem still hanging on to you.
"You are strangely strong, Rem!"
"Perhaps you have noticed, but I am an Oni!"
She says proudly. Then she helps you up to the chair next to you. She sits down and begins to dig into the food that's on the table.
"Tell me about where you're from?"
"What do you want to know?", you ask in between bites of food.
"Everything! I never tire of hearing about a place that isn't around here."
"Well, I have quite the fantastic story to tell you guys. I'm from a country called Japan, that exists in a different planet, or maybe a different dimension."
Everyone at the table stops, and stares at you. Then, they burst into laughter.
"Oh that is a great one!"
"I thought you couldn't top the cookie monster story!"
Rem pats on your back, laughing. Then, she gets up, and goes to get something from a shelf in the kitchen.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not kidding. Also, in my country of origin, Japan, there's no magic of any kind! No one can use magic! We learned to evolve through developing more and more sophisticated technology."
Emilia stares at you with a pitiful look on her face.
"I can tell that you believe what you are saying, which worries me."
You almost stand up from your chair.
"I'm not making it up!", you say.
Ram coughs into her fist.
"Well, foreign boy, we'll need to get down to the village to gather some supplies. Are you coming with us? You'll have me on one arm and my precious sister Rem on the other", Ram says.
"How can I say no to that", you answer.
"I need to get more firewood for the fireplace anyway. You can carry it."
Shortly after you finish your breakfast, you get ready to descend to the village along with servants Ram and Rem. As you descend the hill towards the small village, you turn to the servants.
"Well, girls, what is your story? How come you two ended up getting employed as servants in Roswaal's mansion?", you ask.
"How come you ended up working as a butler in some random nobleman's mansion?"
"Oh, wow, yeah. Good question. Well, I used to be a soldier. I wanted to see more of the world and that's how I ended up here.", you reply.
"I see. So you're a wanderer, hm? Sounds like fun."
"It has it's perks. I'd recommend it."
You think about your former life back on Earth, how you used to be a loser who was afraid of going to high school and that couldn't work, and now you are living in a fantasy world with beautiful demon girls on each arm.
"I'm not complaining."
"I figured you wouldn't. So, little sister, what's your story?"
Rem looks up at you with her bright blue eyes, which are tinted red from the sun, then she instantly looks away bashfully.
"I was raised in the village, I've never been outside of it."
"Well that doesn't sound so bad. You're probably a lot safer from bandits and the like."
"Yeah...it's just I've never left my family and now I'll be away from them", she says sadly.
You pat her head, giving her blue hair a tussle.
"You mentioned being an Oni, Rem. What does it exactly entail. Do you have special powers or something?"
"Yeah, I suppose. We're natural warriors with super strength and amazing combat skills. But that's not all of it, as being an Oni has its downsides."
"Oh?"
"I, along with every other Oni, must consume human blood to survive."
Rem makes a point of opening her mouth wide to reveal incredibly sharp teeth, almost like a vampire of lore.
"Well, you can bite me anytime."
Puck chimes in.
"She'd have to catch you first."
Rem gives Puck a look that could wither stone, and continues.
"It's not as bad as it sounds, as human blood is the only kind that sustains us. Animal blood will simply make us sick."
"Sounds inconvenient at least."
"It is."
You have reached the village. The villagers look at your group with curiosity.
"It's better for us to separate and gather the necessary supplies", says Ram.
"What am I supposed to do?", you ask.
"You can play with the local children", Ram answers with a smirk.
"You must be kidding me."
"I never kid about tsundere-slaps!"
You see several children playing in the village, however they seem to keep their distance. Even the children are tsundere for you. You shrug and go off to play with them, as it seems to be the only thing you can do.
"And no stealing any of their toys!", Ram yells.
A little boy with dark hair comes over to speak with you.
"Hello", the boy says.
"Hello, kid. I'm new here."
"I've never seen you before."
"I just got here today. It seems to be a nice village."
"Yeah, it's nice, but the forest that surrounds the village is pretty scary."
"Are there monsters in the forest, or what?", you ask.
"There are occasional sightings of the Witch of Gloom, a woman who curses people to die soon after encountering her. Also, there is a talking household item in an abandoned mansion that will try to kill you."
"Interesting."
The boy points at Rem, who is dealing with some villager's wares as Puck sits on her shoulder.
"What about that? He doesn't look like a human or an elf."
"He's a fairy", you say, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Really? Wow!"
The boy looks at Rem, fascinated. You sit down next to him and speak.
"What's your name?"
"L-Lucius", the boy manages to say, still star struck.
"I'm Natsuki Subaru. You can call me your lord and savior", you tell the kid.
"Okay... lord... um, savior."
"Perfect", you say, smiling.
As you sit next to Lucius, a girl holding a black puppy comes over. She looks at you and gives a huge grin.
"Hi! My name's Liliana, but you can call me Lily", she says.
"Nice puppy. Did you make it yourself?", you ask.
"Uh huh! Mom said she'll buy me a real wolfhound next month if I'm good!"
"That's cool. You're pretty cute too."
"Ew! Boys are yucky!", Lily says as she points at you, "But you're okay."
This makes both you and Lucius laugh.
You see the village chief, who's wearing a robe that looks more wizard like than most wizards you've seen, walk by.
"Yo, village chief. You look pretty cool for this fantasy world. Are you a wizard or just a dork?"
You say this very loudly, and he turns to look at you. He doesn't look pleased, but he walks over to you anyway.
"I have a lot of work to do, so this had better be quick."
You notice that he has a wooden ducky in his hand. You also notice that he's dressed as a wizard, and his ducky has a fancy engraved necklace on it.
You stare at the village chief suspiciously.
"I'm not sure I want to talk to you, sir", you say.
The village chief sighs, before tossing you the wooden duck.
"Fine, have it."
You catch the wooden duck, glancing at it before looking back at the chief. He's about to turn around and walk away before you speak again.
"Wait! I have questions!"
The chief turns to look at you again, clearly annoyed.
"What is it?"
"Do you know about Beatrice, the librarian that guards the library in Roswaal's mansion?", you ask.
"Yes. I heard she was sealed away by some witch some hundreds of years ago. Good riddance."
"Why is that?", you ask.
"Beatrice is a witch who summons dark spirits. She once got mad at me, and my duck went missing for a week."
"Are you ever nice to anyone here?"
"I am nice to villagers. Just not stupid enough to allow myself to get emotionally attached, or risk having my possessions stolen."
"Well, I risk losing the remains of my sanity if I keep talking to you. I'd rather pet this black puppy that Lily is holding."
You walk over to the black puppy. It looks up at you with sad eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry that my master is such a powerful, evil sorcerer. But soon, we'll be free, I promise."
Suddenly the dog looks demonic, and he bites your left hand hard. You jump away, but the dog has produced a deep wound in your hand. It burns, and it begins to bleed.
"Shit, that hurt!"
The chief walks over to you and looks at your bleeding hand. He takes out a bottle of blue liquid.
"This is a powerful healing potion. It'll cost you five gold."
"I don't have any money", you say.
"Then I don't have any potion", the village chief says, and walks away.
You get angrier, and turn to Lily, whose shoulders are trembling.
"What the fuck is the problem with your puppy, Lily? Didn't you teach it not to bite your superiors? I'm like a big deal in this place. I'm employed by the lord himself!", you say loudly.
"I'm sorry, sir. I'll do better next time."
Lily's tears fall down even harder. You begin to wonder if you're actually being an asshole right now. However, you don't really care, because this girl is so sad and crying that she can't do her fucking job of taking care of a dog. You walk away. After meeting briefly with Rem, you tell her that you aren't feeling well due to having had your left hand bitten hard, and that you are going to go back to Roswaal's mansion to have some stiff drink.
You sit in a chair and light up some tobacco. You drink the bottle, and your hand immediately begins to feel better.
"Fuck, that hurt", you say.
You sit in silence for about an hour. Then, Puck comes out of no where and says
"What are you doing?"
"I'm having a drink."
"That's not good for you."
"Why the hell not? I'm going to drink so hard that I'll stop seeing magical flying cats."
"I wasn't talking about the alcohol. I'm talking about the smoke."
You look at the end of your cigarette, and sure enough, it's on fire. You quickly drop it into the glass, which thankfully doesn't break.
"Shit!"
"I warned you. Those things will kill you."
"Fine!"
You stand up and head to the kitchen. There, you find a cup, and begin to pour whiskey into it.
You look at your bleeding hand, which keeps dripping blood on every surface, and you think that it shouldn't burn this much. You should consult with the local librarian, Beatrice.
You've been a little scared of Beatrice. She's not particularly scary looking, in fact, she's probably one of the least scary looking monsters you've ever met. At least, in continuity. In the past, she's definitely been up there. In any case, she's a ghost. She hasn't spoken to you or anyone since you met her that one time. Granted, no one really talks about her either. However, she probably has deep knowledge of magic, so you keep opening doors until you find the one connected to the magical library. Inside, Beatrice, sitting on her chair, briefly looks up to you from her book, with an annoyed look on her face. The book looks like a delicate antique.
"Hey..." Beatrice says.
"I need a healing potion, I cut my hand."
She just sighs, and holds out her hand. You give her the hand, and she sticks it inside her mouth and begins to suck on it. You feel the skin being pulled together, before she releases her mouth. You flex your hand, and can't feel any scars.
"That was more erotic than I want to admit."
She stares at you for a second, before she gives you a look of disgust. Then, she turns away from you.
"I'm sorry! That was silly and stupid of me!"
Beatrice turns back to you, her eyes now watery.
"I'm not supposed to get attached..."
She cries into her hands. You feel awful about your joke, and try to think of something to say.
Beatrice wipes the tears from her big blue eyes.
"More importantly, though, it smells as if you've been cursed, I suppose", she says.
"Yeah, I'll say! It smells like shit, and I'm covered in it."
"Not that", she replies. "It's the smell of death in the air. I thought I was the only one who could sense it."
Beatrice stands up from the chair, and goes to a bookshelf. She searches for a book, before pulling it out.
"The history of this place is old, but... I think I know what's causing this."
"Wait a second. The fuck you mean cursed?"
You're surprised when you realize that not only did blood begin to appear on the floor, but it's also coming from your nose. You quickly wipe it off.
"I'd say you're the one cursed", Beatrice says. "You started bleeding out of your nose the moment you stepped in this place."
"Nonsense", you reply. "There's no such thing as curses."
Beatrice shakes her head at you.
"Once a curse has bitten into your body, if a competent magic user doesn't dispel the curse, you are guaranteed to die in a day, I suppose", the little girl says.
"Can you lift the curse?"
Beatrice nods her head.
"I can try, I suppose... Come with me."
Beatrice turns away from you and heads out of the room. You follow, as she walks up a set of stairs to the second floor, and then to a small platform that overlooks the atrium. The bodies have been placed here. You notice each one has a black book next to it.
Beatrice walks off the platform, and onto a nearby staircase. She walks down the stairs to the floor, and then heads to the nearest dead body.
"These bodies each have a black book near them. I believe that if you were to take the books, the curse should be lifted."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course I am, I suppose," Beatrice says, annoyed at your questioning of her knowledge on curses.
"Beatrice... Why are there corpses in your library?"
"Mother was a woman obsessed with the dead. She commanded that all bodies who die within the vicinity of this mansion be brought here instead of being taken to a church or given a proper burial."
"That's fucked up...", you say.
"For years, these corpses have just been left down here, and not once did Mother or anyone else think to lay them to rest. It wasn't until recently that I started doing it myself."
"What the hell do you do with the corpses? You never get out of this library, and you certainly don't bury them here!"
"I give them an albino lizard, and they're perfectly content!"
"You have an albino lizard?"
Beatrice nods her head.
"Of course, I do. Albino lizards are always white, and there's a reason for that. They're practically ghosts, I suppose. Ever see one? They're barely visible."
As you were attempting to figure out if the librarian was pulling your leg, Puck pops out of your front pocket and on to your shoulder.
"Did you want something, Puck? We are having an important conversation about corpses here."
"No, but I was just wondering something. What would the world be like if every person who died stood up and kept living? Would the world be filled with zombies? And what would you do with a zombie?"
"Stop asking stupid questions, Puck. Of course, there wouldn't be zombies. Dead is dead, and that's it. Now, stop wasting our time."
Beatrice goes back to sorting through corpses as you stare at Puck.
"Excuse me, Beako, but will you quit this nonsensical playing around and lift the damn curse in my hand already? It's burning real bad."
"Alright, hold still."
Beatrice does some magic stuff over your left hand. You feel some warmth leave the wound. Then Beatrice nods to herself, and calmly descends the stairs towards her favorite chair.
You follow her, confused.
"Wait a second, is that it? The curse is lifted?"
Beatrice sits down in her chair and thinks for a second.
"This curse was demonic in origin. Do you know who inflicted it?".
"It was a damn dog that some children had been playing with, down in the village. A black puppy", you reply annoyed.
Beatrice opens one eye, turns her head towards you.
"A black puppy. You're sure?"
"Yes. Why? Is there something special about black puppies?"
Beatrice turns away.
"No. Nothing."
You stare at her, then sigh.
Beatrice's eccentricities are infamous, and even you aren't sure what she might and what she might not know about black puppies.
"Well, Beatrice", you say, "it's been difficult to talk to you, as usual. If one of these days you want me to break your contract and free you from your hundreds of years old slavery, call me on my cellphone."
Beatrice says nothing. You shake your head, and you exit the library by the tall doors.
Walking down the hallway, you want to find the silver-haired half-elf Emilia to inform her about the threat to the villagers. When you exit the mansion, you walk down the courtyard to find the ground turning into mud. A drizzle has started falling, and you are already soaked as soon as you step out of the entrance of the mansion. You look at the sky, and it seems that more rain clouds are gathering over the mountains surrounding the valley.
Putting up your hood, you hurry your pace towards the village.
You hurry your pace, as you are already soaked in the rain. As you reach the village, you see Ram and Rem about to head up to the mansion. They are holding big bags of supplies. Behind them, in the center of the village, the kids are playing with the black puppy.
You call out to them and run to them to warn them about the dangers of this situation. As you approach, you call out to them.
"Hey! You two! Stop!"
The girls turn, and the black puppy's ears perk up. He sees you and barks once at you, before dashing towards you.
"Look, puppy wants to meet-", one of the kid says.
Suddenly the black puppy transforms into a ten feet tall beast that looks more like a mythical monster of some kind than a puppy. It has a big horn in the center of his forehead, and a spiked tail, and his eyes glow red. It's the most hardcore puppy you've ever seen.
"Oh shit! Run!" You say, as you realize the threat this monster presents.
The kids don't need to be told twice. They run in all different directions, screaming. You look at Ram and Rem. "Split up and make for the mansion! We'll catch up!"
They nod, and begin to run towards different parts of the village. The monster looks around, trying to decide who to chase. It's gaze goes over you before shifting to Ram.
Ram, with a calm look on her face, jumps to the roof of a nearby house, and magic begins to surge in her hands. Meanwhile, Rem, in the opposite direction to the beast, has produced an enormous flail with a spiked ball, that she somehow had been hiding in her maid outfit. The monster roars, and charges towards Ram. It leaps into the air, to grab her off the roof. She aims her hand at it and ice spikes grow from the roof, impaling the creature all over, wounding it severely. Ram jumps from the roof, and as she does more ice spikes come up to prevent her from falling too far. The monster howls in pain and charges towards the house, smashing through the wall as if it were made of cardboard.
Rem jumps several feet into the air, and with a swift flick of her right arm, the spiked ball of her flail flies through the air and ends up crashing into the monster's oversized head. The creature's left eye explodes. It lets out a shriek of pain, and begins to stumble around the village, crashing into houses and destroying them. Ram pursues the monster, and she shoots a wind spell at the creature's legs. The winds rip at the creature's flesh, cutting heavily into it. The creature collapses to the ground, screaming.
Rem walks up to it, and puts all her strength into one large smack with her flail. The spiked ball smacks into the monster's face, tearing into its flesh and destroying its upper jaw. It lets out a quiet whimper as it dies.
Rem: "Are you okay, Ram?"
Ram gets up off the ground and dusts off her clothes.
"Of course", Ram says. She then shoots you a look. You are sitting on the dirt, and you have peed your pants. Ram snorts a laugh.
You stand up while keeping your head down. "I guess that's that regarding the puppy", you say. "And I didn't have to do anything."
"Shut up, lute boy", Ram says.
You walk over to the dead monster and inspect it. You've never seen a beast like this before.You wonder what you should do with the body.
Rem walks until she stands close to you.
"We will hire someone to carry it to the capital, Lugunica", she says. "Maybe someone will turn it into exotic food, and some moneys our way."
She pats you on your back, and she begins walking back towards the mansion along with her sister Ram. You were saved by these two, you think. They may be rough and intimidating, but they have a good heart.
You begin to walk after them, but you stop for a moment as you realize Puck is no longer on your shoulder. You turn around and see him, sitting by the dead monster. He's turned away from the corpse, looking at the ground.
"Hey", you say softly.
Puck turns his head to look at you.
"Yeah?"
"What are you wasting our time for? Get moving already, damn you."
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm coming."
Puck turns away again, and sits looking at the ground. You wonder what he could be looking at so intently.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing", Puck says, facing the ground again.
You walk over to where Puck is sitting, and you crouch down to see what he was looking at. There's only dirt, as far as the eye can see.
"Oh, fuck off, Puck. I'm going up to the mansion and french kissing your fucking princess."
You stand up and go to the mansion, leaving Puck sitting by the corpse. You walk with purpose, and soon arrive in front of the large mansion's doors.
"I'll just wait here, Emi!", you hear a voice shout from behind you. You turn around, but Puck is nowhere to be seen.
Emilia and Roswaal are standing in front of the mansion's entrance. Ram and Rem have left the bags with supplies next to them, and are speaking with the lord as well as with Emilia. You approach the group.
"Hello, Emilia", you say.
"Hm. We need to talk", she says, with a harshness in her tone that catches you off-guard.
"Yeah, we do."
The conversation between the others is getting more and more heated, as it seems that there are some disagreements between the lord of the mansion and the twins. They soon are barking accusations at each other.
"YOU LIE!", Ram screams at the top of her lungs.
"I never have nor will I ever lie, darling", Roswaal says in a calm manner while gently caressing Ram's cheek.
"What is happening here?", you ask.
Ram shoots you a look over her shoulder.
"You have nothing to do with this, outsider."
You feel a coldness in your spine under her fiery gaze.
Emilia grabs you softly by your arm and you walk away towards the vast yard.
"What is the problem, Emilia? Why are the lord and the servants arguing so angrily?"
"Their reasons are... complicated. They're still under contract to serve the royal family, even though the royal family is dead. So as long as they're under contract, they have to do what he says."
"That's pretty unreasonable."
"Yeah... but legally sound. The terms of the contract can't be broken by either party until it expires. I understand their anger, but-"
"No, no, I get it, Emilia. Rules are rules."
"What is the contract demanding them to do?"
"It seems that lord Roswaal has received a summons from the Royal Palace back at the capital, Lugunica. I'm supposed to head out with him in order to present myself as a candidate for the throne in the future.", Emilia says with a soft voice. "Ram is angry that the lord failed to protect the villagers from a demonic infiltration."
"That's tough shit."
You shrug.
"Well, I get why she's angry. I would be too, in her shoes."
"I don't think I want to go to the capital", says Emilia.
You're a little surprised by this.
"What? Why not? It could be our chance at getting out of this village!"
"I don't want to leave", says Emilia, "I want to stay here. Everyone here is so angry all the time."
"But don't you feel trapped?"
"A little. But... I like it here. There's a lot of green in this village. I've always loved nature. Spending my childhood by myself in forests and grasslands has its perks, I guess."
You consider whether to speak, but you end up doing so. "Emilia, do you actually want to become the ruler of this kingdom?"
"That's a weird question", says Emilia, "It's something that I don't think has ever crossed my mind. But if I did, I suppose so."
"Then you should come with us. With your power, and with Puck around, you'd be practically unstoppable in the kingdom."
"No, that's... not for me. The only thing that I want right now, is to get back home and sleep in my own bed."
"I suppose you'll be able to enjoy a good night's sleep tonight, and that you'll leave for Lugunica tomorrow morning."
"Yeah", says Emilia.
"By the way, did I tell you that I found out that a little puppy at the village was actually a demon?", you say with the excitement of a little kid.
"It's the first thing that came out of Ram and Rem's mouths, yes", says Emilia, and sighs.
"Do you figure out that Roswaal will allow me to travel with you two to the capital?", you ask.
"I think so. I'll ask him when we get there", says Emilia, "I bet you're excited to travel with us!"
"You have no idea!", you say with a huge grin.
Later, you and the others arrive at the mansion, and you enter the building.
"Hey Ram, Rem!", you say.
"Hey, kid.... what's with the guy in the hooded-cloak over there?"
The man in the hooded cloak is old, maybe in his early seventies, but he looks tough as if he could cut you down with his sword in a second. He has a stern, but fair look in his eyes, but detached, as if he no longer cares about anything going on around him.
"That's Wilhelm, a bodyguard for Crusch's camp. He's notified us about the royal summons", Roswaal says. "Thank you again, Wilhelm".
"No problem", the guard says, "His royal highness instructed me to stay here until you all leave for the capital."
"Interesting. I have multiple theories about why that is, although I'm not sure which is accurate. Anyway, let's begin."
The next day, you all begin the trip to the capital in a carriage. You'll be driving through the country for a day and a half.
Roleplaying through "Re:Zero" with the GPT-3 story generator (Part 1)
I'm testing the limits of the cutting-edge AI algorithm GPT-3 for language processing, which is used in the website AI Dungeon in its premium subscription model. This time I created a scenario which simulates the beginning of one of my favorite manga/anime series, "Re:Zero". I am attempting to roleplay through most of the big events that happen in that series, starting with the theft of Emilia's medallion at the capital.
The website, and maybe the GPT-3 model as well, has a sort of "quest" or "mission" system in which you can declare what you intend to achieve, such as "Meet with Emilia", or "Meet with Felt", or "Retrieve the stolen medallion". Curiously, although the mission to meet Emilia got successfully cleared when I met her during the story, the other two didn't clear even though Felt was hanging around by that point. I suspect that it has to do with that part where an old man comes near the loot house in the slums and tells a story about Felt having gone somewhere. I suppose that got registered in the neural network as factual somehow, and the story then believed that the Felt I dealt with must be someone else with the same name. Whatever, regarding the impact on the story, but clearly you need to have in mind that unless you alter some response that the GPT-3 algorithm produces, it's considered canon, and further responses are going to consider the stuff that has happened so far.
I created backstory entries (which are hidden from the "player", and that serve for the AI to create plot events, dialogues, etc.) for Emilia, her contracted spirit Puck, the relationship with each other, and then others for Felt, her adoptive father figure Old Man Rom, and maybe a couple of other things. Everything flows almost perfectly, and this session ended up becoming a quite sober piece of fanfiction. Obviously, though, the GPT-3 is an algorithm that creates material, and I wanted the material to follow a certain route that more or less fits the original series, so there was more altering here than in previous examples.
EDIT: I've been cleaning the layout of these past parts, now that I've posted the ninth part, and damn, this first one reads so generic. I didn't have a handle in exactly how I was going to play the protagonist, but most importantly, I was using GPT-3 to guide the story and not editing most of what it outputted; everything is readable, but GPT-3 didn't have much of a clue at that point (meaning connections in its neural network mind) regarding the kind of story it was. It heard fantasy and ran with it. Oh well, I'm not presenting this to any awards. Still, reading the first and second part is a shock after you are deep into the utter lunacy that later parts become.
The entire text of this first chapter is below.
The website, and maybe the GPT-3 model as well, has a sort of "quest" or "mission" system in which you can declare what you intend to achieve, such as "Meet with Emilia", or "Meet with Felt", or "Retrieve the stolen medallion". Curiously, although the mission to meet Emilia got successfully cleared when I met her during the story, the other two didn't clear even though Felt was hanging around by that point. I suspect that it has to do with that part where an old man comes near the loot house in the slums and tells a story about Felt having gone somewhere. I suppose that got registered in the neural network as factual somehow, and the story then believed that the Felt I dealt with must be someone else with the same name. Whatever, regarding the impact on the story, but clearly you need to have in mind that unless you alter some response that the GPT-3 algorithm produces, it's considered canon, and further responses are going to consider the stuff that has happened so far.
I created backstory entries (which are hidden from the "player", and that serve for the AI to create plot events, dialogues, etc.) for Emilia, her contracted spirit Puck, the relationship with each other, and then others for Felt, her adoptive father figure Old Man Rom, and maybe a couple of other things. Everything flows almost perfectly, and this session ended up becoming a quite sober piece of fanfiction. Obviously, though, the GPT-3 is an algorithm that creates material, and I wanted the material to follow a certain route that more or less fits the original series, so there was more altering here than in previous examples.
EDIT: I've been cleaning the layout of these past parts, now that I've posted the ninth part, and damn, this first one reads so generic. I didn't have a handle in exactly how I was going to play the protagonist, but most importantly, I was using GPT-3 to guide the story and not editing most of what it outputted; everything is readable, but GPT-3 didn't have much of a clue at that point (meaning connections in its neural network mind) regarding the kind of story it was. It heard fantasy and ran with it. Oh well, I'm not presenting this to any awards. Still, reading the first and second part is a shock after you are deep into the utter lunacy that later parts become.
The entire text of this first chapter is below.
You are Subaru Natsuki, a sixteen year old who for a few months has stopped going to high school, and you also don't work. You spend your days at your parent's home, reading manga. If you get out it's to buy manga related stuff or food. You do nothing. You've never done a single thing. You have all that time, all that freedom... You could have done anything, but you never do a thing. And this is the result. What you are now is the result.
One day you get out of a convenience store and you suddenly find yourself transported to the capital of the Kingdom of Lugunica, in a fantasy world. You are in a bustling metropolis full of not only humans, but also intelligent half-beasts, and some other beings that look more beast than human but that are intelligent. There are half-dogs, half-cats, half-lizards, and such. Most of the transportation is done through ground dragons, which are almost intelligent dragons that can't fly.
You are overjoyed by having been given this opportunity to leave behind your utterly miserable life back on Earth. You believe that you are going to be granted protagonist status as per the role of these kinds of stories, but as you fail to save a girl from being run over, although she was saved by someone else, you begin to suspect that things in this fantasy world aren't going to be that easy. You wander around looking for shops where you can buy food, but you can't read any of the written scripts. You can, however, understand the spoken language for some reason.
You mistakenly enter a female bathroom, and you are pushed out of it violently to the extent that you fall to the river. Soaked, you climb to land and sit under a bridge to gather your thoughts. You came to this fantasy world with only your tracksuit, which you are wearing, your flip phone, and the groceries you bought at the convenience store. Suddenly you hear footsteps approaching. Three thugs approach you and glare at you with menacing eyes. They start beating you up and take away your wallet and phone. They leave you in such a state that it would have been better had they killed you.
But they didn't. You manage to somehow crawl out of there, and crawl away somewhere safer. There, you pass out from the pain you're in.
Hours later, you wake up in a bed in a small house. You look around, and find yourself staring at the face of an old woman. The woman asks you who you are and how you ended up at her house if you don't know her. You can feel this is a life-threatening situation, and your only option is to make something up.
You think of some lies, but they're not very good.
"I am sorry, lady. I got beaten up really bad by a bunch of thugs, like thousands of them, and I ended up crawling out of there. I suppose that somehow I managed to get into your house to rest from my injuries, and then I must have passed out. I didn't want to cause you any trouble."
The old woman is surprisingly kind to you, saying that your wounds need to be taken care of. She takes you to see her sister who is a healer. The healer then applies something very hot on your wounds, which makes you yelp in pain, but then the pain begins to subside as the wounds heal themselves up. The old woman gives you some of her son's old clothes for you to wear.
The two sisters give you food and a place to sleep for the night. They tell you that the one who let you in is called Astrid, and her sister with the healing powers is named Hiccup. They are both Nord women.
One night, you are sitting down to dinner with the two sisters, when you decide that you can't abuse their hospitality anymore.
"I suppose that some of my manners must have seemed strange to you. I apologize if that's the case, but I'm quite new to this world, literally. I better explore for a bit to figure out how I'm going to live from now on. Again, I thank you for all your help."
"You're leaving?" Hiccup asks.
"Yes. I have to figure out how I'm going to survive in this world."
"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need to," Astrid says.
"No, it's OK. I need to do this myself. But thank you both for your kindness."
The next day, Astrid takes you to a high vantage point from where you can see capital of the kingdom, called Lugunica, in the distance. It has enormous walls, and a succession of dragon carriages leave and enter the city.
"This is it, Astrid. I hope we'll get to see each other some time in the future."
Astrid smiles, and hugs you goodbye.
"I hope so too," she says.
You wave to her as you leave, and begin the task of walking all the way to the city. You walk for miles on end through fields and plains. Eventually, you find yourself at the edge of a forest, with the enormous walls of the city just in front of you. It's night time, so you decide to camp out and wait until morning to enter the city.
Through the night, some other travelling merchants camp out near you, hoping to find security in numbers against any possible monster that could want to assault them. You otherwise spend the night without incidents.
When you awake the next morning, you find that the merchants have all been brutally killed. You don't see any marks of violence on their bodies, but they all died in the night for sure. You shudder at the sight of it.
The question is now whether or not you do still want to enter the city.
You attempt to enter the city as soon as possible, figuring out that there must be horrible monsters and probably criminal groups operating in the outskirts. After arriving to the capital's entrance, you find a line of people waiting to get in. You see guards patrolling the gate and walls, which have watchtowers holding more guards. You approach the gate and state your business to a guard. The guard seems content that you are looking for your fortune, and lets you pass.
You enter the city, taking in everything around you. You've never been to a city this impressive before, and it overwhelms you. You walk along, imitating the other citizens. They look like they know where they're going, so you'll copy them. You see a large building with a sign declaring it to be an inn. Not only you are new in this capital, but also in this entire world, as you came from Earth. You find yourself inside the inn, surrounded not only by humans but also by half-beasts who are intelligent, probably called demi-humans. You get seated on an empty table, but then you realize that you have no money. You look at the price list and gasp. It would take months of work for you to be able to pay for dinner here!
While you're worrying about how you'll survive in this new world, a small ball rolls near your feet. You look at it and see a small cat. The small cat looks at you and meows, before curling near your feet. You realize that this must be the cat belonging to the old lady who ran the inn.
You reach down and begin to pet the cat, who begins to purr as you do so. His fur is smooth and slick, and he feels like velvet. You smile at the calming sensation of petting this creature, and the worries that filled your mind begin to disappear as you do so.
You are soothed by the small cat, but soon feel yourself beginning to drift off. You don't want to fall asleep, but you find yourself unable to stop your eyes from closing. You awake to find that you are no longer in the inn, but instead in a large bedroom. You blink and look around, trying to get your bearings.
"You're awake," a voice says.
You turn around and find a girl with long, silver hair, and pale skin. She smiles at you, although her eyes remain cold and menacing.
"My contacts informed me that you aren't a regular at this inn, and you really look as suspicious and strange as they told me. Such weird clothes you wear. Do you recognize me?"
"N-no, I can't say that I do." You're unsure of whether or not you should tell the truth here.
"Good. Then you won't mind me taking your seat. Now that I've had a chance to see you, do you have any questions?"
"Why am I here? How did I get here? What do you want with me?"
"So many questions!" She smiles. "You're here because I suspect that you are related to the people who have stolen something very precious to me."
"What if I don't know anything?" You ask.
"Then I will have wasted my time and be extremely disappointed."
"What makes you think I have anything to do with any theft? Just because I look suspicious?"
"Because I've had my sights on a certain group of people for quite some time now. There is an entire cult out there devoted to me which has caused mayhem for a long time. I'm sure you've heard of them. Their members are always strange, and wear uncommon clothes. Most people describe them as odd, which along with you being a new face in this parts suggested that you were a clue to solve the theft of my medallion."
"What is the name of that cult?"
She gives a smirk.
"The Witch's Cult. An organization that worships Satella, and plots to revive her power for unknown reasons."
"I've never heard of them."
"They hide in secret, distribute faith, steal magical items and kill people who oppose them. They're quite the menace. You truly have never heard of them?"
"I'm sorry. I'm truly new to these parts. And I mean so new that this is the first time I've seen this capital, or any part of this world for that matter", you say.
She's silent for a moment as she stares at you. It's somewhat unnerving.
"You do not remember anything, do you?"
"It's not a matter of remembering. I don't know anything about any theft. You could consider me very sheltered. Excuse me, by the way, did you ever tell me your name? What is your name?", you ask.
"Sheltered is an understatement. Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'll explain some things. Will that help?"
"(Sigh) Yeah, I guess so", you say.
She tells you there is a magical medallion which was recently stolen, which was extremely important to her for reasons she doesn't want to get into. She has gathered that a person called Felt is behind the theft, but beyond that, she has no clue of Felt's whereabouts. Emilia needs to find that medallion as if her life depended on it.
"Listen, I don't know anything about pretty much anything going on in this world, but I'll be happy to help you look for your medallion."
"You're hired."
"We have a hotel room reserved, we'll stay there for the night. In the meantime, you can ask the staff if they've seen this girl. I'll remain in the lounge and sip wine. After one glass, don't try to give me any more, alright?"
You nod.
"Excuse me, but what is your name?"
"What is it to you?"
"I'd just like to know the name of the person I'm going to help."
She looks away from you as she considers her answer.
"Emilia", she finally says.
"Alright, Emilia. I'll search for this Felt girl", you say.
Emilia does not look at you as you walk away. You take one last glance at her before turning a corner.
You approach the staff and try to persuade them into revealing whether they know of any girl called Felt. The hotel clerk is a middle-aged man with black hair and brown eyes. He wears a black suit and spectacles. He looks up from his newspaper as you stand in front of his desk.
"Ah, yes. How may I help you?" he asks, clearly unimpressed by your disheveled appearance.
"Are you Felt?" you ask him directly.
"I'm afraid not"
Thinking for a second, you realize that the middle-aged man doesn't fit the description of this Felt girl, given that Felt is a female.
"Are you sure you don't have a girl staying here by herself, like not an adult?"
"We are a respectable inn for professional humans and demi-humans. We do not have teenagers running around."
You back away from the desk, as he says:
"Now then, may I ask what it is that you need?"
"No, you may not", you reply and walk away.
You leave the staff area as the clerk returns to his newspaper. As you approach a waitress, she walks past you to some stairs leading to the upper floor.
"Excuse me", you say, chasing after her.
She turns around, but doesn't stop walking.
"I'm sorry, we are all out of coffee", she explains.
You notice that she has long, curly blond hair and kind eyes.
"Have you ever heard of a client called Felt? She's supposed to be a woman. Is she one of the regulras?"
"Regulras?" she repeats, quizzically. "I don't know what that is. That's not a word I've ever heard before. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Have you heard of someone called Felt? She's supposed to be a woman."
"Yes, she came in here earlier. She's a blond, tiny girl, maybe fourteen years of age, and considered to be quite troublesome", the waitress says.
"Good, you know Felt. Do you know where Felt hangs out? We need to find her, desperately."
"You're very strange. You don't want to find her. She's a very dangerous person, you know", she says.
"Well tell me where she is, then!" you say quite loudly, losing your patience as the waitress backs away from you in fear.
"I don't know where she hangs out. Nobody knows where she lives. Just leave me alone, or I'll call the guards!" she shouts as she turns and runs up the stairs.
You go back to tell Emilia.
"Great, this is good", she says. "Now all we have to do is find a place to hide until Felt turns up. So, where should we hide?"
"Wait a second, Felt might not come back to the inn for a long time, particularly after a major theft! Isn't there a place in this capital in which thieves tend to operate, or live?"
"Well, of course there are a few places in which thieves tend to hang out and operate, but I wouldn't know where Felt lives. Also, we might be better off searching for her downtown, as it's possible that she's already taken the medallion elsewhere."
"I'll scout the city for her," you say "while you stay here."
"No", Emilia says. "I need to find that medallion, and I'm the one who allowed it to get stolen. I wasn't careful enough. We are going together."
You both leave the inn in order to search for Felt downtown.
"Is it always so damn cold here?" you ask as you start running.
"In cold season, yes", Emilia replies.
"Anyway, Emilia, do you even know how this Felt person looks like? The waitress at the inn told me she was around fourteen years old, and very small", you say.
Emilia suddenly stops.
"What? She's fourteen?" Emilia says, revealing that she didn't know how old Felt was. "How the hell did I not know that it was a child who stole my medallion?"
You sigh, and say "Well, you are not much older yourself."
"I'm eighteen", says Emilia.
"Yeah, but you are still a kid", you say.
"What was that?" says Emilia angrily.
"Let's calm down and focus on the matter at hand. Surely fourteen year old thieves like this Felt person must be under the care of someone, and likely she doesn't have parents, regular parents at least, who discipline her. Maybe Felt is an orphan?"
Emilia says "I don't care about her past life. I just want my medallion back, and I'm not leaving this city until I get it. Now let's go."
You follow Emilia as she starts running once again. She seems to be getting angrier by the minute, and the fact that she's a little kid isn't really calming you down.
You run through the slums of the city, heading towards the loot house. Along the way, you see multiple merchants getting robbed and businessmen getting pickpocketed. The guards are around, but either can't be bothered to care or are in on it. You knock on the door of the loot house, and a big man with dark skin asks you with a low voice what the hell do you want.
"I'm Natsuki Subaru, and I'm broke beyond compare. What's your name?"
"I'm Rom, the one they call the strongest man in this city that doesn't work in a brothel.", says Rom, opening the door. "Some call me Old Man Rom. And who is this young girl with you?"
"This is my companion, and she's really concerned about her stuff. Hey, do you know a girl called Felt?"
Rom stiffens after hearing Felt's name being mentioned.
"What do you want with Felt?"
"She stole something of mine", says Emilia, barely disguising her anger. "Obviously I want to get it back."
"Sorry, kids", says an old man passing by. "Felt is no longer welcome here. I'll tell you what happened to her though: she fell in love."
"What are you talking about? She's just a little girl who robs people for a living."
"True. But the man she fell in love with is a proper gentleman. She left her old life and moved to the fairy village, a place where only spirits live. It's a beautiful place, just up the river, you can't miss it. Now I have to go, my friends are calling me. I'll just leave by saying that love is a wonderful thing. Even if you don't believe me, I don't care."
The old man leaves.
"What on Earth was that man going on about?", you ask.
"We get those kinds of loonies all over the slums", says Rom. "Don't mind them. More importantly, Felt is very important to me. I won't allow you to hurt her in any way."
"What are you on about?", asks Emilia.
"Felt is my adoptive daughter. Now that her mother's dead, I'm all she's got."
"Listen, Rom, we don't want to hurt Felt. We just need to retrieve that medallion. If we need to pay, we'll pay."
You hear someone approaching you from a nearby bridge. Emilia and you turn towards the noise. You see a young small teenager with blond hair and big eyes, who seems very athletic overall. She has a dagger hanging from her belt. The teenage girl approaches you carefully. The teenager seems afraid, but she also looks determined.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"My name is Subaru. I'm looking for a girl called Felt. I want to help her."
The girl takes a step back.
"Help her how?"
"I want to relieve her of the weight of a valuable item she's stolen", you say.
The girl seems to relax. She sits down on the floor, hugging her knees. She seems very tired all of a sudden.
"So you're not here to kill her?"
"No, we just want to talk."
The girl extends her hand.
"How much are you ready to pay for it?", the girl says.
"So you are Felt?", you ask.
"Yes."
"... How much are you looking for?"
"I'd like an even 1000 gold coins."
You blink in surprise. For a poor orphan teenager, that's an awful lot of money. You wonder if this girl is worth it.
"That sounds like a very large amount of money", you say.
"It is, but I think you'll find it worthwhile."
Emilia speaks in anger.
"I have a different idea", Emilia says. She raises her hands and a cold mist forms in front of them. The mist coalesces into sharp, fist-sized ice shards which point towards the teenage girl Felt. "Give me my medallion or else I'll turn you into a statue of ice."
Felt's eyes widen in fright, but then she shows a smile.
"You're that princess aren't you?" Felt says. "I've heard about you. But wait a second, you have silver hair, and you look like an elf... Don't tell me that you are...!"
Felt snaps her fingers and a fireball appears in her hand.
"I'll give you one last chance. Give me the medallion or else..."
"I recognize you now! You're that princess who is also an infamous wizard. I've heard about you!"
"Give me my medallion!", Emilia says, raising her hands, which are now filled with shimmering, molten ice shards.
You step forward and raise your hands out to try to calm Emilia and Felt down.
"Please, you two! Nobody needs to die! Felt, please! Emilia is serious, and she must have backing beyond just her own ice-based powers. You could steal some other stuff! Just give Emilia her medallion!"
Felt seems confused by this.
"Why should I trust you? You're obviously on her side."
You think quickly.
"I'm not on anybody's side in general. Or in everybody's side, depending on how you look at it. I came to this world just a few days ago. I'm not from this world, I came from Earth, which is another planet, maybe in another dimension. What I meant to say is that there's crazier shit out there that just returning a medallion you stole back to the person who you stole it from, and that person, Emilia, happens to be a powerful magician who can thrust ice shards into you!"
"He's telling the truth. I'm not going to hurt you. Please, just return the medallion."
"Fine!" Felt screams out, and angrily flings the medallion out of her pocket and onto the ground. Emilia picks it up, and Felt backs off.
"Here," She hisses. "Take it. I don't want anything to do with this nonsense."
"Thank you. You're lucky I'm a forgiving person."
You look at the giant Rom, who stares at you both gravely.
"I think it's about time we leave this place, Emilia", you say to her.
"Yes, please! I don't want to stay here anymore!" She yells.
"You're free to go", you tell Felt.
She backs away, and as you turn around to leave, she manages to blurt out:
"Assassins are coming for you. You'll be killed tomorrow night."
Emilia's expression drops.
"What? What does she mean?" Emilia asks.
"Felt, please tell us what you know. How are you sure that assassins are coming for Emilia?"
"I dunno, I just saw a group of people going into a tavern and they were all dressed in black. One them had long, silver hair. They all seemed to be wearing very dark shades, even inside the tavern. I... Think they're coming to kill you."
Felt seems like she wants to say something else.
"What else do you know?"
"Nothing", Felt replies.
"This must be an empty threat. Felt is a teenager, after all. Let's leave the slums, Emilia. Consider this job done."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Let's go get some ice cream."
Emilia nods, and turns to leave. You turn around, and head in the direction of the exit. As you pass Felt, you say:
"Thanks for the help."
"What are you talking about? I didn't help you."
"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have known about the assassins. Goodbye, Felt."
Emilia is careful to hide her medallion in her outfit so it doesn't get stolen again any time soon.
You return to the inn in the downtown area of the capital, a much safer place than the slums. Both Emilia and you are very tired. You go to the dining area of the inn and sit down in front of a table.
"I'm really hungry", you say. "I don't remember the last time I ate."
"Well, I got some money. I'll go buy something."
Emilia goes to the counter to order food, and you wait for her to come back. Food never tastes as good as it does in those moments when you're starving. Once you're done with your meal, you reach for your wallet, but you remember that it got stolen by those thugs who assaulted you, and even if you had the wallet with you, you wouldn't be able to pay for the food with money from Earth.
Sheepishly, you inform Emilia that you have no money to pay for dinner. Emilia looks up at you, and says:
"I was just going to say that if we pool our money together, we'd have enough for a dinner."
"What happens if I don't have any money either?"
"Then I guess we'll dine for free. I can always steal the food without getting caught, anyway."
"Oh, please", you ask Emilia. "We've already had enough trouble already. Please sit down, enjoy your dinner, and pay for both our dinners afterwards. I'm sure you have far more money than me."
"I feel like this is a play", you say. "I've fallen into some strange world and am trapped in a play."
You sit down on a chair in the dining room with Emilia.
"So, this is what... What's the word?" You ask.
"Real life?", suggests Emilia.
"Yeah, that... It feels weird. I feel like I'm in a dream."
"You are in a dream. You just have one with rules."
You look in Emilia's direction, blinking. Then you shake your head vigorously.
"Oh no! I'm getting a headache!", you exclaim, pressing your hands against your temples.
"Tell me about it", she says. "I've been getting headaches for as long as I can remember."
"Let's stop talking in favor of the delicious dinner.", you say.
You dig into your food, devouring it mindlessly, as does Emilia. It's wonderful.
You eat happily for a few minutes, until you remember that you're a gentleman. Pulling up the sleeve of your jacket, you see an analog watch embedded into your wrist.
"Have you ever seen something like this watch I have on my wrist? It's a technological device from back on Earth. I doubt you have them on this fantasy world of yours."
"I've actually never seen such a thing", Emilia says.
Emilia turns to her food, and keeps eating, with Puck, her cat spirit, being happy about getting more food. You eat a few more bites, then put your silverware down on your plate.
"So, you're a spirit, right?" You say.
"Yep. What gave it away?", says Puck.
"Well, you are a talking cat who hangs out with Emilia, who is a mage, and you are also mostly transparent at times. I didn't meet many talking cats back when I lived on Earth.", you say.
"Yes, yes. I know all about my circumstances. Stop wasting time and ask me the real questions you want to ask."
"Okay then, did you help Emilia get her magic?"
"Well... Sort of."
"What does 'sort of' mean?"
"It means that while I wasn't directly helping her, my actions helped lead to her getting her powers. So in a way, yes, I helped. Are you going to eat that?"
You look down at your plate, where some sort of roasted chicken sits. You're no longer hungry. You push the plate towards Emilia, who takes a piece of chicken and eats it.
"What are you going to do now that you have your medallion, Emilia? Do you live in this city, if you don't mind me asking?", you ask.
"I'm actually going to go back to the mansion where I live. It's a day and a half away in a dragon carriage", Emilia says.
"Oh, you live in a mansion! Does the mansion belong to you?", you ask.
"No, it belongs to another wealthy lord. He lets some people live in the mansion as part of a deal."
"What's the lord's name?"
"Roswaal."
You feel a sudden chill go through you.
"Something wrong?", Emilia asks.
"No... Nothing...", you say.
In truth, something is wrong. You feel anxious.
"Listen, Emilia", you say. "I don't know if I look the part, but I'm broke, as in I have no money, and no place to live. Is the any chance that you can help me?"
"Oh geez. I'm not sure, but let me think... You could come with me to the mansion and talk to the master of the house, Lord Roswaal. He's a bit eccentric and has some weird obsessions, but he's nice overall. If you can convince him that you're trustworthy, then maybe he'll let you stay."
"Perfect. Let's go right now. I don't want to waste any time."
You walk towards the door with Emilia. You can feel Puck zipping around you in excitement.
"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather wait until tomorrow? It's getting late. Leaving on a dragon carriage would be safer in the morning."
"You know better than me. Let's wait for the morning then."
Emilia pays for separate rooms at the inn. At the next morning you both take a shower, and when you feel ready Emilia guides you to a store where she rents a dragon carriage. Before you know it you are sitting next to Emilia as she guides the reins of the carriage out of Lugunica, the capital of the Kingdom of Lugunica, towards the mansion of lord Roswaal, which is still a day and a half away.
An attempt to roleplay through "Kanojo Okarishimasu" with the GPT-3 story generator
I subscribed to the monthly model at the website (click for the link) that includes the cutting-edge GPT-3 deep learning algorithm, and I'm having so much fun with it that I turned into a kid again. The custom story development model asks you to enter a story prompt to begin with, and then you can, if you want, add backstory to the story world that the AI will use to figure out what plot points and dialogues to generate.
This time I started with the premise of the popular manga series I read recently, "Kanojo Okarishimasu", and it developed into such a mesmerizingly retarded, NSFW piece of fanfiction that it had me giggling every couple of minutes.
In general, the parts of the story that I must introduce myself come after the " > " symbol. However, the AI occasionally either suggests plot developments you aren't onboard with, or does (surprisingly rarely overall) stuff like calling the protagonist with different names, so I had to alter those parts (and the AI integrates the corrections). Most of the time I forgot I was dealing with a machine; this is as close to Turing ready as I've ever experienced. The entire thing is under these words.
This time I started with the premise of the popular manga series I read recently, "Kanojo Okarishimasu", and it developed into such a mesmerizingly retarded, NSFW piece of fanfiction that it had me giggling every couple of minutes.
In general, the parts of the story that I must introduce myself come after the " > " symbol. However, the AI occasionally either suggests plot developments you aren't onboard with, or does (surprisingly rarely overall) stuff like calling the protagonist with different names, so I had to alter those parts (and the AI integrates the corrections). Most of the time I forgot I was dealing with a machine; this is as close to Turing ready as I've ever experienced. The entire thing is under these words.
You are Kazuya, an eighteen year old freshman at college, where you study business. You are a virgin and has had very little luck with the ladies so far, but somehow you managed to date Mami, a very cute, short-haired blond girl who seemed slutty. However, after a month of trying to have sex with her, she dumped you for another guy. You've been depressed ever since, holed up at your dingy apartment, and you masturbate whenever you aren't crying. One of those days, browsing the internet while heartbroken, you come across the advertisement for an agency where you can rent a fake girlfriend to go on platonic dates. You browse through them and you see one that catches your eyes: she's a beauty called Chizuru Mizuhara. You rent her services and choose to meet up in Shibuya, as you live in Tokyo.
You wait for her feeling uncomfortable. "This was a mistake", you think. "No way the girl is going to even look as hot as she looked in those promotional photos."
However, Chizuru, the rental girlfriend, shows up in front of you. She greets you with a lovely voice and a beaming smile. She's a total bombshell, a ten out of ten. Any guy would adore to have this girl for a girlfriend. You stammer a greeting back. Chizuru asks you for the money in advance, and once she has pocketed it, she says, "Shall we begin our date, then?".
"Sure", you reply.
Chizuru leads you to a cafe and orders coffee. You sit down at a table near her and start talking about everything; your life, school, family...you don't know what else to say. The two of you talk for hours until it gets dark. You wish to know more about Chizuru as a person, and you hope that she will open up, as you feel yourself becoming more and more interested in this beaming, gorgeous girl.
> You say "Tell me about yourself, Chizuru. Do you like working as a rental girlfriend?"
"I'm sorry, I don't have much time left to tell you about myself," Chizuru replies. "My name is Chizuru Mizuhara, and I am a student at a local college."
"What kind of school did you attend?"
"It's a private high school. My class was very popular there."
"How old are you?"
Chizuru looks down at her phone and says, "Nineteen."
> You say "You are nineteen, so you are a year older than me. Are you a sophomore at college?"
"No, I'm a junior. I learned English at an English school when I was younger, so it's been a breeze for me. Now, let's get on with the date--I don't have much time left."
Chizuru takes another sip of coffee and asks you about yourself, to which you reply.
> You say "I feel like I can be honest with you. Recently my girlfriend left me, and I felt heartbroken. Although I had been with her for just a month, this is the hardest pain I've ever felt. I was feeling so lonely that I figured that going on a fake date with a rental girlfriend wasn't a bad idea. And I think it was a good idea after all, given that I'm glad that I can speak and just be with someone instead of hiding in my apartment."
"I'm sorry to hear that. I am glad you feel comfortable enough to share it with me, though."
You are stunned. You quickly glance at her face and see that she looks directly into your eyes, and smiles softly.
"Thanks," you say in a quiet voice, still looking into her eyes. You turn your face away and look down on the table.
"What now?" Chizuru asks.
> You say "It's getting late, but I still paid for an hour more. Let's take a walk on the riverwalk."
"I'd like that." Chizuru takes your hand in hers.
"Oh, um, sorry," you say. "It's just that the pillow talk caused me to feel lonely again, so I wanted to do something to make myself feel better."
"Don't worry about it, then. Are you ready to go?" You nod, and you get up from the table with her. The two of you walk out of the coffee shop together.
> You enjoy the warm feeling of Chizuru's hand on yours, and you love the feeling of being so close to a gorgeous girl as you take a walk in the darkening day.
You reach the riverwalk and begin to walk along it, the two of you side by side. The sun has now set, and the sky is dark blue. You feel a chill in the air, and Chizuru squeezes your hand.
"You have been so sweet to me today," she says to you, "and I've enjoyed your company. Thank you for taking a walk with me." Her other hand comes up to hold yours.
> You say "This work of yours as a rental girlfriend can't be without troubles. I'm sure that all the guys you go out with fall in love with you, and yet they aren't allowed to love you."
"How did you know?" Chizuru asks.
"I could tell just by the way you talk about your work and how you refer to the men you go out with. You're clearly hesitant to use the word 'love', for instance, as if you can't bring yourself to say it."
"You're right," she says. "Most of them do fall in love with me. I am expected to do two weeks with them, and they try to make it hard for me to leave at the end of those two weeks. It's only natural that they fall in love after spending so much time together."
You nod, and the two of you continue your walk. Soon, you find yourself in front of a small theatre.
"Here we are," Chizuru says. "Do you want to go in?"
> You say "Can we really go see a play in the theatre now? It's going to last more than the hours I've rented your services."
"You don't have to worry about that," Chizuru says, smiling. "I can easily extend your hours for free."
You enter the theatre. Inside, you see a stage, with curtains on either side of it. There is no one in the audience seats, and no one backstage preparing for the play, at least that you can tell.
"Don't they have anyone working here?" you ask.
"No," Chizuru says.
> You say "Why did you want us to enter the theatre then?"
"I'll show you," Chizuru says.
She takes you by the hand, and leads you onto the stage. When you step on it, a trapdoor opens up from beneath you, and you fall through it. Chizuru drops as well. You fall for about ten seconds before crashing into something solid. Chizuru lands in your arms. You stand up, taking a head count to ensure that neither of you is seriously hurt. You are both fine.
You look around to see that you are now in a basement, which is completely dark except for the few rays of daylight coming from the trapdoor. There is a staircase leading back up, and the room has several shelves stacked with lit candles.
"What is this place?" you ask.
"A small wine cellar, among other things," Chizuru says.
> You say "Do you tend to bring the men that rent your services here? Is this part of the package, a sort of romantic, old-fashioned fall through a trapdoor into a basement lined with lit candles?"
"I've never brought anyone here before," Chizuru says. "This place used to be my grandfather's... I suppose it still is, in a way. He used it to store alcohol, but he also enjoyed spending time down here meditating. That's what this place was for, at least for him. Nobody else knows that it's here. I come here from time to time."
> You say "Is your grandfather still alive?"
"No, he died a while ago," Chizuru says.
You take a moment to stare at Chizuru's face in the candlelight, and are shocked by how beautiful her face is right now. She looks away shyly.
"I like this place," Chizuru says.
> You say "I suppose that you would be attracted to theatres and places such as those in general. You likely have to act constantly on a fake date to please your customers."
"No, actually," Chizuru says. "This is my first time doing this, and I have to admit, I'm not really a fan of it. Most of my other dates are boring business dinners."
You laugh nervously.
"What about you?" Chizuru asks. "How come you're so nervous? It's just me, after all."
You try to think of an answer.
> You say "I'm nervous because I've only dated one girl, and it only lasted for a month. I have never been a guy who could interact with girls easily, which is why I guess I had to resort to paying for it. But I glad I got to meet you in any case."
The expression on Chizuru's face turns to one of anguish.
"I'm so sorry," she says in a low voice. "I've taken advantage of you, and made you uncomfortable. I'm not supposed to interact with customers past the hours they pay for my services, and yet here I am, with someone I've met this afternoon for the first time, in a place that holds special meaning for me."
> You say "Don't be sorry. What would you like to do now? You must have brought me here for a reason."
Chizuru smiles at you sadly.
"I did," she says. "Though I'm unsure in what way. Am I being selfish, or do you want something else?"
You consider your options for a moment.
> You say "If this were a real date, I would love to end it kissing you. Am I allowed to, even though you are a rental girlfriend?"
Chizuru's expression turns to one of shock. She opens her mouth as if to say something, but stops herself.
"I... I don't know," she says. "I don't want to get you in trouble with my work, but... the thought is very tempting."
You lean forward and kiss Chizuru. She gives no resistance, but instead shuts her eyes and hugs you tightly. Her lips are soft, and you feel the warmth of her cheek against yours. It is a short kiss, but it is enough to make you blush.
"What now?" you ask.
"I have to go," she says, turning around to quickly gather her belongings. "Sorry."
You watch as Chizuru picks up her knapsack and hurries out of the room. You don't even have time to say goodbye before she leaves.
You exit the theatre and stand in the darkened streets while your heart almost beats out of your chest. You had never met someone so alluring and lovely as Chizuru Mizuhara. You wish to meet her over and over again, and yet she clearly regrets having gone so far with a client.
You will have to wait until the next job.
Your love story with Chizuru begins now, you suppose.
> You go back to your apartment and sleep.
You walk out of the front doors of the theatre and into the night. Your steps are light and quick, as the cool air gently hits your face. You feel like you could fly. The romance of it all! It is almost enough to make you forget that you once again parted with money.
The streets are mostly empty at this time, but even so, you walk quickly towards your apartment. You are paranoid someone recognized you during your fake date with Chizuru, and that anyone might find out you rented the services of a fake girlfriend.
> You walk to your dingy apartment and sleep, as you need to wake up early tomorrow to go to your college classes.
You reach your apartment and climb up to your room. After you take off your clothes, you climb into bed, and fall asleep almost instantly.
You wake up early in the morning and prepare to go to class. You know this is a serious matter, as failing to go to class can result in failing the class itself, which would then affect your ability to pay for Chizuru's services. After quickly eating some leftover boiled eggs, you set out on your way.
You arrive at the college and sign in with the professor, who doesn't even bother glancing at you because a huge group of students arrived late. The class consists of only ten students, and as such the professor makes it very easy for you to pass simply by ignoring any errors you make.
After class, you meet with your good friends Kibe and Ken. You spot your ex walking with some college friends around campus, and your heart sinks. Kibe attempts to cheer you up.
> You say "I was with Mami for a month. It shouldn't hurt this much, but I truly cared for her. This sucks."
"Ah, you'll be fine man. Probably get over her soon." Kibe says, as Ken nods in agreement.
By the end of the week, you feel slightly better. Mami had begun dating another guy in your class, and you were happy for her, but a part of you couldn't help but feel jealous and hurt by that. You have not seen Chizuru since the fake date, and you aren't sure if you should. She likely regrets going so far as kissing a client. However, you admit to yourself that you never felt such a connection with anybody.
> You rent the services of Chizuru again, and meet in downtown Tokyo.
You decide that even though you haven't seen Chizuru in a week, that doesn't mean she isn't thinking about you. As you wait for her in the meeting place, you are worried whether her attitude will suggest that she regrets how you both ended up kissing. She arrives looking so beautiful and stylish that every man glances at her, wishing they were the ones meeting her. They don't know, of course, that you are paying for her services.
Chizuru greets you with a beaming smile, as if she had never shown you her anguished side.
> You say "It's so good to see you again, Chizuru. I was doubting on whether I could rent your services again, given how the last time ended. Are you okay with us meeting again?"
"Of course I am! You were one of my best clients ever. So why were you unsure about meeting again?" Chizuru asks in surprise.
"Well, you seemed pretty distressed when we last parted, and I worried that you might not wish to meet with me anymore."
Chizuru looks down for a moment before continuing.
"About that, I was sort of regretful for how I reacted. I'm pretty sure you're a nice guy and all..."
> You give her the money to pay for the fake date.
You pull out the wad of cash and give it to Chizuru, who smiles as she takes it. Her mood changes instantly, like flipping a switch.
"Oh you shouldn't have! I suppose you've got another couple hours free?"
"Yeah, why?"
Chizuru looks around and then speaks quietly.
"Come on, let's go to your place."
"Erm, what for?" you ask in shock.
"You know..."
> You hold Chizuru's hand and take the train back to your dingy apartment.
You hold Chizuru's hand as you make the hour-long commute to your apartment. She looks a bit uncomfortable when you do this in the crowded train, but doesn't say anything. You feel pretty uncomfortable with this too but, well, you're just going to have to endure it for now.
When you arrive at your apartment complex, you lead Chizuru to your door and fish out your keys. You notice Chizuru's shocked and confused expression.
"Wait a second," she says. "Do you truly live here? I live next door!"
> You say "You must be kidding. What are the odds that you live in the apartment next door?"
"You must be kidding. What are the odds that you live in the apartment next door?"
"I dunno," Chizuru says, "I just moved in a week ago. I thought it was really weird that none of the other neighbors said anything about me moving in."
You unlock your door and hold it open for Chizuru, who walks inside. She looks around your sparsely furnished apartment.
> You say "I'm sorry about the mess. I hadn't expected such a gorgeous girl to enter my apartment any time soon. Please, make yourself comfortable. Do you want a coffee?"
"If I have to make myself comfortable, that would mean you'd need to buy more furniture. I'll pass on the coffee."
You laugh.
"Looks like you could use some furniture," Chizuru says with a laugh.
"Well, yeah. But I'm broke. I don't even have enough for rent this month."
Chizuru frowns and sits down on the carpet. She motions for you to sit down next to her; you comply.
> You hold her hand and ask her how she feels regarding how your first date together ended, how you both kissed.
You're a little nervous as you hold Chizuru's hand, but she doesn't seem to mind. You've never been in love before, but if this is how it feels, then you like it.
"So…how are you feeling?" you ask.
"I'm feeling just fine," she says with a smile. "Never been better."
"That's good to hear. There's something I need to say, Chizuru. Something I should've said a long time ago."
"I love you," you say. "I have for quite some time now."
Chizuru's eyes widen in surprise, and her smile disappears. You stare at her, waiting for a response, but she doesn't say anything.
"But you've only met me twice!", she says.
"That doesn't matter when it comes to love. Otherwise I wouldn't have fallen for you as hard as I did."
"I don't want to lose you," Chizuru says, keeping her eyes fixed on the carpet. "But…I also don't want to lead you on."
> You say "I barely know anything about you except how you showed me through acting as a perfect girlfriend. What do you like to do, what are you interested in?"
"What do you want to know?", she asks, with a laugh.
"Everything", you answer.
"I like the outdoors, I guess. I like spending time outside when I can. I like reading, and books in general. I like my acting class, which is a funny thing to like considering that I'm way too shy to do it professionally. I think that's about it."
"What are your dreams? Ambitions? Do you want to become a professional actress? Do you want to get married? Do you want kids?"
"I don't know…", she answers. "Maybe, if I absolutely had to choose between those three, I'd say getting married and having kids…"
"Why would you say that?"
"Because I've never been very motivated about anything. School, studies… nothing ever interested me a lot. My grandparents… they always wanted me to become a doctor. I sort of failed them. It's why I'm here, because I don't want to disappoint them even more by dropping out."
"Do you think you're cut out to be an actress?"
"Maybe… but I don't feel it. I think I could be. But I'm not sure. Have you ever felt something was meant for you, and everything came easy? No struggle needed?
> You say "Unfortunately, I've never felt that way. I went to college to study business because I'm going to inherit the family's liquor store. I don't particularly want to, but having a secure source of income in the future is a blessing. I'm so jealous of you, that you have something you are naturally good at."
Chizuru gives you a strange smile.
"How do you know if you are talented at something, or if you'll enjoy it, if you've never tried it before?"
"Talent can be measured. Some people have it, and some don't. The ones who do are the ones who go places."
You sense that Chizuru doesn't exactly agree with your views.
"Sometimes, it's not about how much talent you have. It's about working hard to reach your goals", Chizuru says.
"And how do you know if you've reached your goals then?"
"You'll know."
"That sounds like a load of bullshit."
"Maybe it is. But I still believe it to be true."
Chizuru shrugs, as if to hurry up and change the topic. You comply.
"What about you? What do your parents do?" Chizuru asks.
"My father works in a liquor store, and my mother is unemployed."
"Do you get along with your parents?
> You say "I don't really have much of a relationship with either of my parents. My father is the stern, morose type. He's hit me a few times, often after jumping to conclusions. My mother is as meek as a mouse. The only strong figure in my life is my grandmother, who is a steamroller of a person, and usually is in charge of the liquor store. If she had met you and believed you to be my actual girlfriend, she would have been overjoyed and would have wanted us to marry immediately. I don't think my family sees me as the kind of guy who can bring home a girl."
"Hm. Well I'm pretty sure that if I actually was your girlfriend, you would have no problems with my family."
"That's because you're an exception. You would be able to convince a troop of angry monkeys to form a civil and nonviolent society with the power of your words alone."
"So... basically, I'm as persuasive as a Jedi?"
"Exactly!"
"I love it when you compliment me like that. So, you wouldn't have had any problems with my family."
"Do you get along well with your parents?", you ask Chizuru.
"My father left when I was just a baby," Chizuru says, "and my mother died some time later. I never properly met them, really, I was just too young. My grandparents raised me."
"I'm so sorry, Chizuru." "Don't be. I hardly even remember them. Especially not my mom, since she died when I was really young. When I was little, around six or seven years old, I asked my grandparents who they were, and they said they were my mom and dad. It made sense to me at the time, and so that's what they've been to me ever since. When I think about them as my mom and dad, it's with the utmost respect."
> You say "So your grandmother is your only family member who remains alive?"
"Yes, I am an orphan."
You are silent for a bit.
"How do you feel after what happened to you, Chizuru?", you ask. "I can't imagine the damage it must produce in a person to have been set up for life like that."
"It's not easy. I didn't know where to turn, who to trust. My thoughts were a mess, and even after I kissed you I couldn't rest. Right now, I'm still anxious at times."
"You always have me, Chizuru."
You hold her hand. It's cold and clammy. She smiles at you weakly.
"I know..."
"You need someone reliable in your life. Someone like myself."
> You lean over to kiss Chizuru's lips softly.
You kiss Chizuru's lips softly. Her eyes widen in surprise.
"Kazuya, I... I...." she can't seem to complete her sentence.
You hold Chizuru tightly, stroking her hair with your hand. She is warm and soft. You can smell the faint scent of her perfume as you gently plant tiny kisses on her cheek and neck. She is now trembling, but not in fear--in anticipation.
> You say "It must be hard for you to be close to someone. All you've known is being abandoned, people who should care for you leaving you behind. I suppose that your work as a rental girlfriend must be comfortable in that regard, isn't it? You act like a perfect girlfriend and just maintain surface level relationships with men who aren't allowed to touch you. You keep your pain hidden deep inside."
"Can you promise me something?"
"Anything for you, Chizuru."
"You have to promise me that you will never leave me behind. Even if circumstances turn out that we have to separate, you can't leave me."
"I promise I will never leave you behind, even if I am forced to leave this world."
Chizuru sighs and takes a deep breath as she stares at your eyes.
"I love you."
> You kiss Chizuru passionately while caressing her naked back under her blouse.
You take Chizuru by the hand and lead her to your bedroom.
She looks at you nervously, but follows you all the same. Her hands are shaking, and she keeps biting her lower lip. It's obvious that she is not very experienced in these matters, but given that she works as a rental girlfriend, she probably had to practice a bit with her previous clients.
"I'm a bit inexperienced. If I do something wrong, please tell me," Chizuru says a bit nervously.
"It's nothing. Just relax, I will instruct you along the way."
It's obvious that Chizuru hasn't told you everything about herself. You hope she will do so in the future. But that can wait. Right now, there are more important things to do.
You kiss her while undressing her, and she does the same to you. Her hands explore your body as your hands explore hers. You take off her shirt while she takes off her bra, revealing her firm breasts. You caress and squeeze them a bit, while your mouth goes to suck on them.
You lick and nibble, gently biting on her nipples, which causes Chizuru to moan softly. Her body's arousal lets you become more aroused as well, and your cock is already at full mast. You take off her skirt and panties, to reveal her wet goddess cave.
> You push Chizuru on the bed and go down on her, licking her naughty parts with dedication.
Her inner thighs are sensitive, and she reacts positively to nibbling and sucking on them. In the same time, you caress her outer labia and the hood of her clitoris.
Chizuru's sweet honey begins to flow out, and you eagerly lap it up. Her legs begin to tremble, and she moans louder as you explore with your fingers as well. You insert your middle finger inside her, and begin to thrust it in and out. You move your mouth to suck on her clit, as your tongue lashes at it.
"Ahh! I'm... I'm coming!"
You keep stimulating her precious flower as she squirms and shakes in ecstasy, the overflow of her orgasm causing your face to become wet. You chuckle a bit as you enjoy the taste of her.
"S-Stop it... I'm still sensitive..."
You pull back and smile at Chizuru, who smiles back.
"You looked like you were really enjoying yourself."
"I was! You're really good at that."
"Eh... I'm surprised, to be honest. I've never done this before. I guess all that relentless masturbating to hentai paid off."
"Well if you ever want to do this again, then prepare to have your head bitten off."
"I'll keep that in mind. However, it's about time I carefully ram my malignant cockmonster into your moist cave system."
"Sure, go ahead."
You position yourself over Chizuru and enter her, causing her to gasp.
"Ahh... That feels good. Come a little closer... Yeah, like that..."
You press your chest on hers and stare into her eyes as you begin to thrust. You kiss her lovingly, which causes her to smile. You put your hands around her petite body and squeezes her butt and breasts as you vigorously thrust into her.
"Ahh! Harder! Go deeper! Yes! That's it!"
You begin going faster and faster, as the bed begins to screech and knock against the wall. You feel your end coming nearer, and you allow yourself to spray your semen into Chizurus womb.
"AHH!"
Afterwards you collapse next to her, and she cuddles up to you. You lie like this for a few minutes, before Chizuru makes an announcement.
"I'm pregnant."
"... Yeah, I kind of figured."
"I'm sorry, but I can't continue our relationship."
"Oh..."
"But we can still see each other. I just won't live with you. Let's stay in contact. Bye."
She gets up and puts on her clothes and quickly runs out the door, at which point you hear a 'beep' noise. A message appears before your eyes.
"Would you like to send Chizuru a message?"
You pause for a second before nodding vigorously.
"Send message:"
"I still love you."
You hit send, and lie in your bed for a few minutes while staring at the ceiling. Eventually, you get up and walk to the bathroom. You hear your cellphone beeping, and you run back thinking that it must be Chizuru. However, it's your ex Mami. The message asks whether you can meet in a coffee shop near your college campus in an hour and a half.
> You dress up nicely and go to the coffee shop near campus, to meet with your ex Mami.
You go and dress up, putting on a white button-down shirt and some gray slacks. You walk to the coffee shop. When you arrive, Mami is already there.
"H-hey..."
"Hey..."
You both are silent for a bit.
"What do you think of Chizuru?", Mami asks.
"What the hell? How do you know her?"
"I don't. I was setting up a trap, so I did some research on you, and your girlfriend popped up."
"Trap? What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that you're dating an under-aged girl."
"Are you nuts? Chizuru is nineteen! She's older than me!"
"Yeah, but her identification says she's twenty."
"What? That's stupid. I know for a fact that she just became nineteen not too long ago."
"Well her identification says different, and that's the only evidence that counts in this situation. You're going down."
"You can't be serious..."
"Oh, I am."
Mami stands up, and you follow.
"So your plan is to tell the police on me for dating an underage person, even though Chizuru is an adult and even older than myself?"
"Thats right. You're going down, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Mami turns the corner, but you follow her. She realizes you haven't relented, and begins to walk faster, but you keep the pace up. She turns the corner, and begins to run.
"Oh no. You don't get to turn the next corner. It's over."
You begin to run after her, and as you do, you get a call on your cell phone. You stop for a second, and look at the screen. It's Chizuru. She's calling at a bad time, but you have to take the call.
"Hello? Chizuru?"
"Kazuya? Are you close to the campus?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Come over here. Quick."
"I can't right now. I'll have to call you back", you say.
> You keep following Mami to wherever she's going, hoping to catch her alone.
"Hello? Chizuru? I can't talk right now. I've got some business to take care of."
"Wait, don't hang up!"
But you do hang up, and keep following Mami. She seems to have realized you were talking on the phone, and begins to walk faster. You pull up your own pace, and begin to run after her.
> You say "You can run but you can't hide, Mami! You won't get away with saying I'm dating an underage person when that person is an adult! That's a leap of logic I'm not prepared to tolerate."
You say, panting a little from the run.
"What?"
"You heard me. Chizuru is an adult and you're lying about our relationship."
"I... I wasn't fully aware of your past, but that's not the main point."
Mami takes out her phone, and calls someone for a ride. As she does, you call your own, and tell Chizuru where you are. She sounds relieved to hear your voice.
> You say "Never mind what happened to me, why did you want to meet with me in the campus, Chizuru?"
You say, and she begins to explain that she wanted to meet up with you because she had lied about being pregnant. "I'm sorry, I freaked out. We are moving too fast. I've met you twice and we've already declared to be in love with each other. We even had sex and you came into me! Maybe I'll get pregnant from this."
"Then I'll take full responsibility. I'm Japanese, you see."
"I don't want to hold you back from becoming a doctor, or having sex with other girls, or whatever it is you want to do. You're young and I'm young too, but probably less young than you think. Well, maybe more young, but we should take some time to know each other better before moving in together."
You silently sit there and listen to her rant about the situation you're in right now.
> You say "Chizuru, do you know a person by the name of Mami? She's my ex, and we just had a confusing encounter in which she accused me of being a pedophile for dating you. Do you know what that was all about?"
Chizuru looks at you in silence for a few seconds as she thinks about her answer. Then, she speaks.
"That explains it."
"What does it explain?"
"I saw your ex-girlfriend and a blonde girl spying on us when we met in Shibuya last week, when you rented me for the first time."
"What!? How do you know my ex-girlfriend Mami to begin with?"
"Well..."
You're starting to get frustrated and raise your voice a bit. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I read your text messages when you changed phones last week."
You sigh and run your hand through your hair as you think of how to respond. You decide honesty may work. "So you know my deepest, darkest secrets?"
"Not really," she says with a smile. "Just that you want to have sex with me."
"We already have, though. Hardly a major revelation." You smile back at her, then continue. "But yeah, it looks like my ex was spying on us. Why the hell would she do that? I thought she was an innocent, nerdy girl."
"Perhaps she is, in comparison to me," Chizuru says with a smirk. "Although maybe, deep down, she isn't. I don't know her."
Your response is cut short by the arrival of your food. You have a quick meal of soup and rice, then pay and leave.
"Well, I guess I should get going," Chizuru says. "I've still got school tomorrow, even if you don't."
You raise an eyebrow. "I do have classes tomorrow, though. Are you actually going to class in the morning?"
She blushes a bit and smiles sheepishly. "Maybe not."
> You say "Yeah, because I was thinking that we should hide in my apartment and fuck like gremlins until our private parts wither off."
"Yeah, because I was thinking that we should hide in my apartment and fuck like gremlins until our private parts wither off," you reply.
Chizuru's eyes widen. "Well, I still have to attend my acting classes."
You stop to think for a moment. "Listen, Chizuru," you say, "I think we need to take this slow, despite my statement mere seconds ago, and that I shot my semen inside your fertile womb around an hour ago. What are we going to do if you actually get pregnant?"
"You said you were going to take responsibility."
"I was joking", you say. "I don't want kids. I was being irresponsible."
"Stop lying. You're bad at it", Chizuru says with a roll of her eyes. "You are surprisingly resistant to my charms, but I can see that you genuinely don't want children. That's good. Neither do I. So, we're in agreement."
"Good. Glad that's settled."
> You are feeling too confused, so you tell Chizuru that you want to part ways for a bit. You wander off to some public park near campus.
"What am I doing with my love life?" you think.
You're a virgin saving yourself for the right girl. Unfortunately, you're also a delusional loser who is incapable of maintaining a healthy relationship. You've got no one to blame but yourself.
"Fuck, that was pathetic," you say. "Wait a second, I failed at being a virgin around an hour ago! That's a load off my back, and other parts."
> You sit in a bench of a public park and call your childhood friend Kibe for some support.
"Hello?" Kibe answers.
"Kibe, it's me, Kazuya."
"Oh, shit, Kazuya! How's it hangin' man?"
"I'm doing good. Just calling to tell you that I lost my virginity!"
"You did? With who?"
"It was... with Chizuru. I don't remember her last name."
"The acting girl? Damn, didn't think you'd actually go through with it."
"Neither did I." You realize, and gasp in shock. "Wait a second," you say, "how do you know Chizuru?"
"She's in one of my classes."
"What? Which one?"
"Introduction to Law."
You feel faint, and sit down on the bench.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" you ask.
"I was going to, a couple of times, but I thought you knew. Are we not friends anymore if I'm telling you this stuff now?"
You ignore the question, and call Chizuru immediately. She picks up after three rings.
> You say "Chizuru, is it true you go to class with my childhood friend Kibe, who is balding? It is extremely important to realize that he's going bald."
"Yes, it's true. Why do you ask?" Chizuru asks.
"I'm coming over right now." You hang up the phone and head to Chizuru's apartment.
When you get there, she's wearing a blue dress and is looking from her window. She turns around when she hears you come in. "Kazuya, what brings you here?"
> You say "I want to fuck the baldness out of you. I'm not going bald."
"I'm going bald." You say, pointing to your head.
"Kazuya, you're only 19. It's too early for you to go bald."
You notice Chizuru's hand on your crotch.
"Kazuya, do you want to have sex?"
You don't even answer; you just pull up your shirt and take off your pants, leaving you in just your boxer shorts.
"Oh, Kazuya..."
> You say "I didn't actually want to have sex. I was joking."
"Oh, that's a shame." You hear Chizuru say.
"I didn't actually want to have sex. I was joking." You shout.
"Really? I could have sworn you wanted to fuck me."
"I actually came here to apologize for that."
"Apologize? Why?"
"Because it was wrong of me to say such a thing. It was disrespectful and rude of me, and I'm sorry."
"But you were already here when you stated that you wanted to fuck me", Chizuru says.
"That's right."
"Then, isn't it true that saying 'I'm sorry' is something that's done too late?"
"What are you getting at?" You ask.
You see Chizuru's hand pulling down your boxer shorts. Her face meets with your crotch, and she gives you a blowjob. You are surprised, to say the least.
"Chizuru! What are you doing?!" You shout, trying to get her off of you. "It's still stained with your inside juices!"
"Doesn't matter. It's your fault for coming inside of me." You can hear the smile in her voice.
"What matters is that you're willing to do this for me. But I didn't ask for it, so please stop." You say, and pull Chizuru off of your dick.
Chizuru frowns, and wipes her mouth. "Oh well. I tried my best."
> You say "Listen, Chizuru, coming inside of you and receiving a blowjob is about all I can tolerate from you today. I'm going home, which is next door."
"Wait, so you're just going to leave?" You hear Chizuru say as you put on your pants and shoes.
"Yes."
"May I ask why?"
You sigh. "You're relentless."
"Sorry, that's just how I am."
You remember how you once found a lost puppy, and how it followed you home. You also remember that you ended up taking it to a shelter soon after.
"Because I don't want to go through the hassle of convincing you that I'm not interested, after all that talking." You open the door and step outside.
"Well, will you come back?" Chizuru asks.
"You can count on it", you respond, and then slam the door.
2 hours later...
You knock on the door.
"I'm coming", you hear Chizuru say from inside.
"So will I", you say. As Chizuru offers you one of her beaming smiles, you despair at the mess that is your life.
An attempt to roleplay through "Oyasumi Punpun" with the GPT-3 story generator
The advanced language processing AI, called GPT-3, that the AI Dungeon website uses is one of the most interesting stuff I've found out maybe ever. You can start custom story prompts and the AI goes with it, but you can also add some facts about the story world so it doesn't have to make up every little detail. The following is the story I created using my favorite manga series as the story prompt. There are some relatively early spoilers for the manga "Oyasumi Punpun", so be careful if you haven't read it and intend to do so at some point.
In most of the cases, everything that comes in the same line after the symbol " > " is what I had to input for the AI to produce the next few lines of story. However, in some cases the AI tried to direct the story into directions I wasn't pleased with; you can edit and contradict what the AI has produced in order to steer it a bit, and I had to do that like two or three times. Otherwise, the AI is insanely good at creating entertaining material.
In most of the cases, everything that comes in the same line after the symbol " > " is what I had to input for the AI to produce the next few lines of story. However, in some cases the AI tried to direct the story into directions I wasn't pleased with; you can edit and contradict what the AI has produced in order to steer it a bit, and I had to do that like two or three times. Otherwise, the AI is insanely good at creating entertaining material.
You are called Punpun, and you are a twenty two years old man living in Tokyo, Japan. You didn't go to college, and you work part-time jobs while you study how to become a real state agent. You had a terrible family life: your mother never wanted you to be alive and even attempted to kill you twice, and once she attacked your father with a knife. Your father defended himself from the attack, but that broke the family, and you ended up living with your uncle Yuuichi. The best thing about your life was that you met the love of your life Aiko Tanaka. You met Aiko in school, and she was a love at first sight. However, you were too weak to pursue her love properly or even hold the promises you made with her, and you ended up rejecting her in middle school. In the present you go through life not caring about anything that happens, not connecting with people, indifferent to everything, and incapable of looking forward to the future. You have been depressed for as long as you remember. However, one day in the train you see Aiko standing on the train station looking as lost and forlorn as she always was as a child, and your heart beats like it hadn't done in your life since the last time you saw Aiko. You realize that your entire life had been on pause until you met Aiko again. You exit in the next station and run to the train station where Aiko had been, but she's gone. From then on, almost every afternoon after work you've wandered the streets of Tokyo hoping to run into Aiko. But nothing ever comes.
One night you find yourself alone in an abandoned building with no idea what to do next. Suddenly, a voice calls out to you "Punpun! Are you here?" You turn around and see a young girl wearing glasses sitting on the floor staring at you. She has short black hair and wears a white shirt with red stripes, jeans, and brown boots.
> You say "I am Punpun, yes, but I don't recognize you."
"I'm sorry, I don't recognize you either," says the girl. "What are you doing here? Did someone hurt you?"
"No, I just...I don't know..." You stammer.
"Do you want to talk about it?" asks the girl.
"Well yeah, but why did you say you don't recognize me if you called me by my name? You obviously know who I am."
The girl looks at you and smiles.
> You say "Please, I'm not in the mood to play games. Either you tell me who you are and how you know me, or I'm leaving."
"Ok, fine," the girl says. "I'm your conscience."
"My conscience?"
"Yeah, that's what I said! Anyway, let's start from the beginning. Why are you here? What's happening in your life? What..."
"Hold on! You're my conscience? Does that mean I'm dead?"
"Yeah, of course! Don't you remember the traffic accident you had one month ago? You died, and now you're here!"
> You say "Do you mean that seeing Aiko in the train station didn't happen? It was too good to be true, I suppose, thinking that Aiko would come back to my life."
"Aiko? Is that the girl you were waiting for at the train station?"
"What do you mean, 'the girl I was waiting for'?"
"The girl you were waiting for at the train station? Didn't you know? That was her. Aiko."
"No, I didn't know. It can't be her, though. She's dead."
"Yeah, she died years ago."
You fall silent and lower your gaze to the floor.
> You say "If we both are dead, can we meet then, as spirits? Can be exist together in this state, even though we weren't able to be together in life?"
"Yeah, we can be together. Come on, let's leave this place."
The girl stands up, and you follow her. When you step outside the abandoned building, you find yourself in a city you don't recognize. You look at your reflection in a store window, and you're surprised to see that you're transparent; the city streets are visible through your body. The girl turns to you.
"This is it," she says.
> You say "But you are not Aiko. What do you mean that we can be together? Who are you?"
"You can see me. You can hear me. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"Sure, but..."
"So what if I'm not Aiko? I'm the only one who can reach out to you. The living can't see or hear the dead. They can only guess at the existence of their souls by the pain of their absence.
> You say "You told me that my dear Aiko died years ago. How did she die, and where?"
"She was crying over you, in a room full of scented candles. She killed herself with carbon monoxide."
You remember back to that day. She had seemed so emotionless when she saw you then. You had wondered why she didn't say anything, act like she was happy to see you, but now it all made sense.
> You say "I suppose I had repressed knowing that Aiko had killed herself. If Aiko doesn't exist in this world, I have no reason to live either. How did I manage to survive these last few years in a world without the only person I've ever cared about?"
"Well, you haven't been eating very well. Didn't you notice how everything you eat tastes kind of bland?"
"I suppose I have," you say thoughtfully.
"Once you die, your spirit will vanish from this world. There's nothing keeping you here now. But take solace in the fact that she loved you."
> You say "How much time do I have to exist as a spirit before I vanish forever?"
"I don't know. I've never seen a spirit as sad as you. Goodbye, Punpun."
As the girl disappears, you feel a sharp pain in your chest, and suddenly everything becomes clearer. You can hear the birds flying overhead and smell the flowers by the sidewalk.
You sink to your knees, and someone who looks like a businessman helps you up before walking on.
"Don't worry friend," you whisper to no one. "I'm not sad anymore."
> You search on the internet for the obituary of your beloved Aiko Tanaka.
"I'm sorry to hear that," you say softly.
"Why are you apologizing to me?" the girl asks.
"It's just an expression. I'm not apologizing to you, I'm apologizing to the dead girl I was in love with."
The girl stares at you for a moment, and then shrugs her shoulders.
"That's so weird."
> You go back to your apartment and try to gather your thoughts, figure out what you are going to do now that it seems that Aiko is dead.
The next day you wake up early in the morning, and you've never been more awake in all your life. You shower and change into some fresh clothes, and then head out to search for a job.
You find a job as a part-time waiter. It's nothing fancy, but at least it gets you out of the house and is easy to do between music practice (you haven't played since you met Aiko).
> You say "It doesn't seem that I'm actually dead if I can find a job. I should call Sachi and tell her about what happened to me, in case I've completely lost my mind."
You take out your cell phone and call Sachi's phone. It rings several times before she picks up. "Hello," her voice is soft and chipper, as usual.
"Sachi, it's Pun-," you are about to say before she rudely interrupts you.
"Look, if this is some guy calling to sell me Internet subscriptions I'll have you know I already have a provider.
> You say "Sachi, it's good to hear your voice. As I attempted to say, I'm Punpun. Can I meet you somewhere? I haven't been doing well recently, worse than usual, and I need someone I trust to clear my head."
"That's a bit forward, don't you think?" Sachi says.
"I suppose it is, but I'm desperate here. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."
You hear a sigh from the other end of the line. "I suppose it can't hurt to meet an old friend. Where do you want to meet?"
"What are you doing now?"
"Nothing important. I was just going out to buy new shoes," she says.
> You meet Sachi in some public park in order to have a talk.
You wait for Sachi in a public park. When you see her approaching, you begin to feel awful. You have felt so confused recently, and that hallucination, or whatever it was, has pushed you over the edge. You can barely tell what is real anymore. Sachi is looking like her usual composed, mature self, although the bags under her eyes suggest that she's been overworking herself.
> You say "It's good to see you, Sachi. How you've been in these last few months?"
"I'm making a manga of the story you told me about your childhood, and that girl you used to be in love with, Aiko Tanaka. I guess I've been working too much, and feeling a bit lonely the rest of the time. We should have called each other in the meantime."
> You say "About Aiko... About two weeks ago I saw her at a train station, and since then I've tried to find her. One of those days I experienced what seemed like a very vivid hallucination in which a girl told me I was dead, and that Aiko had killed herself years ago. Since then I've tried to search for Aiko's obituary, proof of her being dead, but I haven't found it, or maybe I'm not capable of looking properly since maybe finding the obituary would make me lose my will to live. I need help, Sachi."
"I'm glad you're telling me all this, for I've noticed some changes in your behavior since that day we parted ways. Well, let's start looking for the obituary then!"
Sachi pulls her phone out of her pocket and starts searching for something on the internet.
> You wait with your eyes closed until Sachi tells you whether she's found the obituary or not.
You close your eyes, and wait in silence for several minutes. When you open them again, Sachi is standing in front of you, with a frown on her face. She seems somehow disappointed.
"I'm sorry Punpun," she says. "I really wanted to help you. I need to go now."
She turns around and walks away from you without saying another word. You feel empty and hopeless inside. Maybe you've seen things that simply weren't there.
> You say "Please, Sachi, tell me whether you've found the obituary or not! Is Aiko dead?"
Sachi turns around to face you, looking very pained.
"I'm sorry, Punpun. I really can't say any more than what I've told you already. I need to go now."
She hurries down the bridge and out of your field of vision. Her figure starts to get smaller and smaller in the distance until it disappears altogether. The sky is not a pretty sight today.
> You go to an internet cafe and search carefully on the internet for Aiko Tanaka's obituary, to make sure whether she's dead or not.
You head to the closest internet cafe and search carefully on the internet for Aika Tanaka's obituary, to make sure whether she's dead or not. Unfortunately, you find no results. Not even a name like that has appeared in your search results. You don't know what to do now.
Even if you found her obituary, you don't know whether you should go or not.
> You call your uncle Yuuichi to see if he can help you in your confused state.
You call your uncle. After a few rings, you hear his voice on the other side of the phone.
"Hello?"
"Uncle, it's me, Punpun."
"Punpun? What is it? Did you just wake up or something? It's pretty late."
You take a moment to gather your thoughts before speaking again.
"Have you ever heard about Aika Tanaka's obituary?"
"Who is Aiko Tanaka?", says your uncle. "I don't recall ever hearing that name."
You realize that you never told your uncle about the love of your life, Aiko. You always kept her memory to yourself, and your uncle didn't even know you were in love. Maybe if he knew he would have associated your constant depression to having left Aiko behind.
> You say "I never told you about Aiko. It's someone I've been in love with since middle school. I recently saw her on a train station and since then I think I might have gone insane. I'm looking for her every day without success, and one of those days I had a hallucination that I had died, and in the hallucination a girl told me that Aiko had died as well. I have been attempting to figure out, find any proof, if Aiko is actually dead, but I can't find anything of hers on the internet, and I never found out where she lives!"
You stop for a second, trying to figure out if there is anything else you should tell him. You come to the conclusion that this is enough information to go on. You wait for your uncle to say something.
"You think she's dead...", he says.
"Uncle, have you heard of an Aiko Tanaka dying?"
"Hm... I don't think I have, sorry."
> You thank your uncle for talking to you, and hang up. Afterwards you go home and attempt to get some sleep.
You roll out of bed in the morning, and get yourself ready as you do every morning. Once you're done, you head out of the apartment, and onto the streets. It's a nice day outside, and you feel a strange sense of calm after yesterday's frenzy of emotions and events.
You feel a sharp pain in your chest as you have a heart attack. Your last words are "I wonder if that crazy girl has found Aiko yet..."
> You call out for help to passerbies, for them to call an ambulance.
You cough out the words "help me", and attempt to stand up. You're dizzy, disoriented. You panic, not knowing what is happening. The surroundings seem to spin around you, and you fall onto the ground, collapsing.
You try to scream for help, but you can't muster the strength to do so. Your body feels weak, your mind feels empty, and your vision is blurry.
> You try to calm yourself, because this must be a panic attack.
The world becomes shrouded in darkness, as your eyes close.
A familiar girl stands over you. She has long brown hair, and her face is covered by a surgical mask. She smiles at you, and helps you up.
Your vision is blurry, so you can't tell who the girl is. Her voice sounds very familiar, but you're not quite sure in your current state of mind.
"Am I in the hospital?", you say. "If not, who are you?"
The girl in a surgical mask doesn't reply to you. She just stands there staring at you with a look of pity.
You try to move, but you feel a sharp pain in your chest. You remember the pain from earlier all too well. It's the pain of a heart attack.
"Hey, wait! What's going on here?!", you say to the girl in a surgical mask.
The girl doesn't say anything. She just shakes her head slowly from side to side.
You find yourself unable to move at all now.
> You say "Please, help me! Tell me what's going on! Have I actually had a heart attack!? Have I been brought to a hospital!?"
The girl nods slowly.
"I've had a heart attack... I haven't been brought to a hospital... I'm dead, aren't I?"
The girl nods again.
"Unbelievable... I've had a heart attack, and now I'm dead... Is this the afterlife? Am I going to heaven?"
Again, the girl shakes her head. She reaches her hand into her pocket, and pulls out her iPhone. She opens up the "maps"
> You say "I already had a hallucination in which I believed that I was dead, and that Aiko was dead as well. This must be another hallucination. I've really lost my damn mind, haven't I? I need to be hospitalized, or sent to a psychiatric institution or something like that."
The girl begins to type on her phone.
"You're not imagining any of this. I'm sending you a link. Please, open it up."
You follow the girl's instructions and open up the link she sent you. On your phone, you see a news article from "The Daily Mail", with a headline that reads: "Man witnesses girlfriend's fatal heart attack, but does nothing; later dies in his home from a heart attack".
> You say "How the hell would a ghost be able to open a link on his phone? Do you figure that ghosts can operate cellphones?"
The girl smiles and nods. She begins to type again on her phone. She shows you the screen on which she is texting.
"My friend, do you see this message that says 'In tray'? That's a reminder to throw out the trash. Do ghosts need to throw out trash?"
You begin to feel very dizzy. Your hands are shaking rather badly. It's hard to concentrate on anything except the pain in your chest and your shortness of breath.
> You say "I am ready to believe that I've had a heart attack. It seems like the most reasonable possible fact of everything that has been happening to me recently. I'm just going to close my eyes and rest as much as I need, and maybe the next time I wake up everything won't be so crazy."
You close your eyes. When you wake up, you open your eyes and sit straight up in bed. You look over at the alarm clock on your nightstand, and it reads "12:00". After pushing yourself out of bed, you walk to the bathroom and sit down on the toilet. There, you begin to urinate, while thinking about the life you've lived so far.
> You figure out where you are.
After finishing your business on the toilet, you stand up and go to look at yourself in the mirror. You see a pale, skinny man with messy black hair and bags under his eyes. You are wearing a plain gray shirt and some unflattering blue shorts. After looking at yourself in the mirror for a while, you turn on the faucet and splash water into your face. The cool water wakes you up a bit, but you still feel exhausted.
> You take your own temperature to have some tangible proof of being alive.
After finishing up on the toilet, you go to retrieve a thermometer from your medicine cabinet. After looking for a bit, you find one that is still in its box and has the word "Basal" written on the front. You open up the package and take out the thermometer, then put in into your ear after setting it to "ear". After sitting there in silence for a good two to three minutes, you take it out and look at its screen.
The thermometer gives you a normal reading. It seems you are alive after all, which means that you have suffered two major panic attacks and experienced two complex hallucinations in a short period of time. You decide to call your uncle, as he should be able to help you through this.
> You call your uncle Yuuichi again to ask for help with your recent panic attacks and fragile mental state.
As soon as you pick up your phone to dial the number your uncle's face flashes on the screen, and you immediately decide not to call. Instead, you decide to send him a message.
> You write in the message that you want to meet in person with your uncle Yuuichi and his girlfriend.
You take a seat on your bed and wait for a reply. After about half an hour, your phone goes off. It's a reply from your uncle.
"Sure thing. Come on over," he writes.
You stand up and exit your room to head downstairs to exit your house. As soon as you reach the end of the stairway, however, you decide that you don't really want to leave the house.
> You force yourself to leave the house and take a train to your uncle's house.
You exit the train and begin down the sidewalk towards your uncle's house. You're not sure why you're even bothering to do this, considering how you feel. It's not like they can help you if nobody else has been able to.
The sun is shining on a bright blue sky, there are kids laughing as they run about and play with a red rubber ball, couples are cuddling on park benches, and everyone in general seems happy.
> You ignore what's going on in the streets and instead just reach your uncle's home, as you need to speak with them in person.
You walk up the steps to your uncle's house and knock on the door. In a few moments, a woman with long red hair in a ponytail that touches her waist answers. Her hair is slightly wavy and it shines as the sun bounces of its flows. Her eyes, however, show her tiredness.
"Hey there, Punpun," she says. "It's so nice to see you."
She's your uncle's girlfriend, Midori. It's hard for you to look her in the eye after the last time you were alone together. In a moment of loneliness she had pushed you into having sex with her. It was with her that you lost your virginity. Since then, everything has been awkward with both Midori and your uncle in general, and you have avoided most of her calls. But today you too confused and in a terrible mental state to worry about that.
> You say "Nice to see you as well, Midori. I'm sorry I haven't been answering your calls or your texts as much as I probably should. I didn't want to speak to anybody. But these past few days I'm doing really bad, and I need the help of both of you to figure out if I've lost my mind or if something real is going on."
She gives you a sad look and hugs you.
"It's OK, I understand. If it makes you feel any better, my mother verbally abused me when she came back from her trip to the supermarket earlier this week."
You lift your head up in surprise.
"But... That's horrible! I'm so sorry!"
"Don't be," she says with a faint smile, "She's the crazy one for choosing to stay here after all that's happened."
> You say "How are things going with you and my uncle Yuuichi?"
"Oh, don't worry about that," she says to you. "I think I'm going to work things out with him."
That's certainly unexpected.
"Are you sure?" you ask her. "I figured that..."
"We've been through a lot, and we can get through this," she says to you.
> You tell Midori that you saw Aiko Tanaka, the love of your life, in a train station a couple of weeks ago, and that since then you feel as if you've gone insane. You have been looking for her by wandering the streets, and you suffered two big hallucinations in which some girls told you that you were dead, and that Aiko was dead as well. You need Midori and your uncle to figure out whether you have gone crazy.
"I'm OK, but since a couple of weeks ago I have been having some mental issues," you tell her. "I'm seeing things that don't make sense, like the girl in the train station... I don't know if she's dead like I've been told, and I don't know where she lives nor her phone number, so I can't find out."
Midori seems disturbed, and stops to think about it.
> You say "I'm not sure how you and my uncle would be able to help me, but any way you could, please do so. I'm at my wits end here."
She takes some time to think about it.
"I think I know how to help you," she says.
She takes out her cell phone, and searches up "hallucinations," and shows you a Wikipedia page on the topic. The symptoms are pretty much exactly what's happened to you.
"Seems like you're having hallucinations," she says. "The only advice they give is to seek medical attention."
> You say "You are right, I need some medical help. I'm sorry to have involved you before I went to the hospital. I guess I was afraid of what they could tell me there. I'm going to leave straight to a hospital."
You find a taxi, and head to the nearest hospital with it. You find yourself there in no time. You go to the emergency room, and tell a nurse there that you are very anxious about your health. They lead you back to a room with a bunch of other people who are ill. After a few hours of waiting, they call you back.
She asks you some simple questions about your medical history, and then brings in a team of people with a portable ultrasound machine.
> You let the doctors figure out if you have been experiencing hallucinations.
"I was having some issues with my mental health a few weeks ago, but I thought I had worked through them," you tell the doctor.
"Ah, I see," she says. "You were worried about your hallucinations and their impact on your physical condition, since the two were linked to each other."
The doctor tells some of her students to go work on another person while she looks you over.
> You let the doctor examine you.
The doctor begins by looking into your ears and throat, then he checks your blood pressure. Finally, she tells you to lie on your back as she uses the ultrasound machine on your belly. She moves the ultrasound around for a few minutes, then stops.
"Well, it seems you were right to come in," she says. "You're around twenty weeks, give or take a few days."
You feel a rush of emotions as the reality sets in.
> You say "But I'm a man!"
"This is a fairly common issue for transgender men, particularly those who start hormone therapy at your age," she explains. "We'll need to do a pelvic exam to be sure about the nature of the pregnancies, but it's very likely that you're carrying multiple fertilized eggs."
The doctor spends a few minutes putting on gloves and preparing herself, before she begins the exam. It only takes a couple of minutes before she finds what she's looking for.
> You jump from the examination table and yell at the doctor that she must be insane. You flee from the hospital.
"It's alright, it's alright," she says. "I initially had the same reaction when this happened to me. You'll have to make a few adjustments in your life, but I'm confident you'll be able to do it."
The doctor tells you that you're experiencing pseudocyesis, which is the sensation of being pregnant despite not having a child inside you.
> You say "You are a crook! I'm not pregnant, and I don't believe myself to be pregnant! I have some psychiatric issue that is in no way related to a pregnancy!"
You stand up and begin shouting. The doctor sighs and looks at you.
"I don't know why you're trying to pretend that you aren't pregnant. If you let yourself accept it you'll feel much better, I promise."
You stand there, shaking as the doctor looks at you worriedly.
> You fly into a rage and pummel the doctor in the face.
You jump on the doctor, and begin throwing fists at her. She tries to stop you, but you've got crazy pregnant woman strength going for you, and manage to injure her quite badly. The two large orderlies burst through the door to grab you off of her.
You continue to shout about how there's no way you're pregnant as they drag you away. You soon find yourself involuntarily committed to a mental institution.
November 6, 2020
An interactive story generator based on the GPT-3 algorithm
Some madlads have somehow taken the GPT-3 algorithm of artificial intelligence, which is one of the most revolutionary ever created in language processing, and used it in a website to generate interactive stories as if the artificial intelligence was a dungeon master directing your campaign. I attempted a few tries, and the one found in this link is the first run I've attempted somewhat seriously. It's almost unbelievable how well it works. Try your own in the main website.
I'll post the story generated. Have in mind that beyond the story prompt and the orders I introduced (actions and dialogue coming from the protagonist), everything else was produced by the artificial intelligence:
I'll post the story generated. Have in mind that beyond the story prompt and the orders I introduced (actions and dialogue coming from the protagonist), everything else was produced by the artificial intelligence:
You are Kirochka Koliaevna, a space pilot that handles delivering cargo and personnel from a space station to nearby planets and outposts. You are considering taking a ship without permission to go in a exploratory mission with your friend the scientist Mara Hilderin. You have just boarded a spaceship along with your friend Mara and are piloting it towards a nearby barren planet that has an unexplored alien outpost.
Suddenly you notice a large metal object hovering near the edge of the atmosphere of this planet. It is clearly not part of any spacecraft and appears to be some sort of weapon or drone.
> You scan the large metal object with the ship's capabilities.
You quickly activate the ship's weapons systems and begin scanning the metallic object. The craft begins to shake violently as you attempt to get a clear view of what exactly is on board.
> You ask to your friend Mara Hilderin how she thinks you should approach this unknown metal object.
"I think we should prepare ourselves for an attack, I advise you to ready the turrets and arm our torpedoes." She says calmly.
> You ready the turrents and arm the torpedoes to attack the large metal object.
The ship's turrets are now controlled by the pilot automatics and the torpedoes are armed. However if you want to use them you must leave your seat and get to the turrets, a dangerous proposition.
> You say "Mara, get to the turrets to shoot at the large metal object."
You stare in amazement as Mara leaves her seat and enter the turret to shoot at the large metal object.
"Argh, what are you doing? You are supposed to stay in the chair!"
> You tell Mara to shoot with the turrets at the large metal object, while you also shoot a torpedo at the object.
The large object has suddenly begun to move, Mara begins shooting at it and hits it, but she doesn't cause any damage. You shoot a torpedo from the front and it explodes in front of the large metal object.
> You say "Mara, I don't think we'll be able to destroy this object. It's better if I simply pilot our ship away to the surface of the planet!"
The metal object suddenly begins to move toward your ship, and it's too close to avoid it.
> You yell at Mara to brace for impact, but also execute evasive maneuvers with your spaceship.
The large object hits the ship, damaging some of the equipment. You pilots begin to scream and you find yourself falling from your chair.
"Aaahhh!"
> You say "Are you okay, Mara? Have you suffered any damage?"
The ship continues to fall towards the planet. She stands up and faces the other pilot, whose face is covered in blood.
> You jump on the pilot's seat and steer the ship to land safely on the barren planet.
The ship has taken great damage, but it's not destroyed. You use the remaining thrusters to land on the planet.
> You check the status of the ship to figure out if it has suffered damage that cannot be repaired.
The ship has suffered great damage, you are pretty sure that there is nothing more that Mara or you can do to repair it.
> You say "Mara, we are in trouble. I cannot repair the ship in the state it's in, and we can't radio the space station or else they'll know we stole the damn ship!"
The space station suddenly appears in the horizon. It's a surveillance satellite disguised as an asteroid.
Mara sits down in shock, and you actually find yourself doing the same thing.
> You look around the landing site to figure out the visible landmarks on this barren planet.
Other than the river you can see a few hills in the distance and some rocks, but aside from that it's just barren dirt, sand and rocks.
> You say "Mara, are we far away from the alien outpost we came to explore?"
Mara thinks for a moment, looks at the hills in the distance and says "I think we are".
> You say "In which direction do you figure that the alien outpost is?"
Mara points to the hill in front of us.
You hear a noise and find yourself looking at the metal sentry robot through the window.
> You walk to the hill where the alien outpost is supposed to be located.
The metal sentry robot begins to shoot a green laser beam, which bounces from one side of the ship to the other. However, it has failed to hit either Mara or you, who are the only ones who came on the ship.
> You say "Mara, do you have a weapon to attack this sentry robot?"
She opens her backpack and shows you that all she has is a flashlight.
She looks at the sentry robot through the window and begins to yell at the top of her lungs.
> You grab Mara by the arm and run towards the alien outpost on the hill.
As you are running, you find yourself getting tired and panting.
You think about how it's been a while since you had a proper meal.
> You say "I am hungry, but it's no time to think about food! We have to get inside that alien outpost before the sentry robot murders us!"
You tell Mara in a loud voice to run faster, but she's already running as fast as she can.
The sentry robot is very close to you.
> You get inside the alien outpost and try to hide from the sentry that pursues you.
You enter the building and find nothing but a dark hallway.
The green laser beam bounces from one side of the ship to the other as you hide in the hallway of the alien outpost.
> You say "Mara, I think we are not going to be able to return to the ship. We'll have to figure out what awaits us in the depths of this forsaken alien outpost."
You hit your head with your hand as you realize that you just ran inside the building without even thinking about a plan.
You look at Mara and see the fear in her eyes as she hugs herself.
> You embrace Mara and soothe her.
Kissing her on her cheek, you hold her in your arm for a moment.
You feel the warmth of her body and smell the scent of her hair.
> You say "I've always loved you, Mara. And here we are together, at the end of all things."
She looks at you and whispers "Let's explore this building."
You hold her hand and look around. The corridor is empty, but you can see a door at the end of it.
> You attempt to open the door at the end of the corridor.
As you put your hand on the door knob, you realize it's locked.
You have no way to open this door.
> You say "Mara, how do you figure that we'll be able to open this door? This is a dead end already!"
Mara stares at the door and looks at the lock.
She says to herself "I wish I had a bobby pin or something similar right now."
You stare at her, thinking about what she just said.
> You say "If I tear out one of my toenails, will you be able to fabricate a bobby pin out of it?"
She looks at you and says "You'll lose your ability to run away from the sentry!"
You pull out one of your toenails, and hand it to her.
> You say "Mara, please create a bobby pin with my torn toenail!"
Mara laughs and thanks you as she takes hold of your foot and starts working on your toenail.
When she finishes, she holds a bobby pin in her hand which looks a bit odd.
Take the bobby pin and open the locked door with it.
You grab the bobby pin and open the door.
You enter a large room with a giant metal contraption in the center.
There are two doors on either side of the room.
> You tell to Mara, who is a scientist, to figure out what's the metal contraption in the center.
You point at the contraption and ask Mara what that machine does.
Mara walks towards the machine and gives it a once over.
> You look for any markings to figure out what alien species might have built this outpost.
As you look at the contraptions, you discover an engraving in a script that you don't recognize.
The alien alphabet has nothing in common with any of the writing systems you know.
> You say "Mara, I don't recognize the alien script! It might actually belong to an undiscovered species."
Mara walks towards you and gives the contraption a second look.
She says "I'll try to figure out what it does."
> You say "Excuse me. I'll stop bothering you."
You stop talking, and she gets back to work.
The device consists of an engine connected to a metal box with a large amount of wiring connected to it.
Mara inspects the engine.
> You say "The contraption is an engine, then? Can you figure out how to start it?"
The device relies on electricity, and it seem to be hooked up to a generator located just under the metal box.
Mara inspects the box.
She says "I'll try to open this box."
> You help Mara to open the box.
As you open the box, a bright light blinds you both.
Mara screams in agony as the bright light fades away.
You find yourself floating in an endless void...
> You say "What the hell happened!? Mara, where are you!?"
Your voice reverberates through the void.
Suddenly, you hear Mara's voice from afar, screaming in agony.
"Mara? What's happening?"
> You find some recognizable landmarks in this void you are floating in.
You try to see something, but the only thing you can currently see is an endlessly long white line going through the void.
> You follow the line to see where it leads.
You try to follow the line, but it keeps getting farther away.
You can hear Mara screaming in the distance.
"Mara, where are you?"
Your voice keeps echoing through the void.
> You say "Mara, tell me where you are! We need to find each other!"
You hear her voice once again, but this time it is louder and clearer.
Mara screams "I'm stuck in an endless void! I don't know where I am!
> You figure out if you got blinded by the light, but you can touch the room's walls.
You feel nothing but air.
"Mara, I don't know where the walls are."
The silence continues for a while.
Then, you hear Mara's voice scream in pain once again.
> You say "Is this hell, or some kind of alien security system?"
Your joke makes Mara laugh.
"This isn't hell. We're still alive."
Mara starts laughing.
"How do you know?" you ask.
Mara laughs even harder.
> You yell for the alien intelligence that might be overseeing this situation to please forgive you and return you to the outpost.
You feel a wave of pain going through your head, and then...
You find yourself in the abandoned outpost, sitting inside the floor. You have returned to normal.
> You look whether Mara has returned as well.
After waiting for a few minutes, Mara finally shows up.
"What happened?" Mara asks. "I got thrown out of the outpost into some endless void."
You explain to her what occurred.
> You say "Was that a security system, Mara? Are we not supposed to touch the engine?"
"No, it was the 'Shattered Engine', an engine that runs on Dark matter."
Mara sits down next to you, staring into the void.
> You say "What is this engine supposed to do, sitting as it is on an alien outpost on a barren planet?"
"It's part of a probe. This outpost is just a probe that contains a number of automated ships with the sole purpose of spreading seeds on planets."
"Who is going to receive these seeds?
> You say "Mara, I arranged this mission so we could make some discovery that would further your career. Do you think this is valuable information?"
Mara looks into the void once more.
"We need to figure out how to return to our bodies. I don't know if this information is useful."
In fear, you start yelling.
> You say "Return to our bodies? What are you talking about, Mara? We got returned from the void! We are back at the outpost!"
"No, we are still in the void. But it seems like we have found a way to talk. We can use this ability to our advantage."
> You say "I have a feeling that we'll never escape this place."
"We need to try. If we stay, we'll suffer the same fate as the others."
Suddenly, you hear a loud voice coming from the direction of the probe.
> You listen to what that voice coming from the probe might be saying.
"You have been chosen to spread seeds in this galaxy. This probe contains the materials needed to construct ships that will spread life-bearing seeds on dead planets, allowing them to be inhabitable.
> You say "How are we supposed to spread those seeds? We can't even return to our bodies!"
"The ships of the probe contain the bodies of those that were chosen. By placing our bodies in the ships, we will be able to pilot them.
> You say "Place our bodies on those ships, so we can pilot them!"
"We don't have much time. Quickly, choose a ship to place your body in."
A dozen or so ships appear in front of you.
"I can't pilot all of these ships by myself."
> You choose the fastest looking ship to pilot.
As you inspect the ship, you see that it is made up of a strange brown material.
"It's made up of some tough material."
"This is great! We can use this to spread the seeds!"
> You jump into the ship and attempt to start its engine.
Once inside the cockpit, you are faced with a large screen.
"The screen is on. This is odd. It seems like the ship was prepared for us."
> You say "Mara, are you comfortably seated? We are going to escape this outpost as soon as possible."
"I'm ready to escape from this place. I can't find anything that seems like a control system."
"This all seems too easy. This ship is almost as if it was meant for us.
> You pilot the ship out of the barren planet.
"We're out! We're out!"
The probes screen shows a clear picture of the blackness of space, with thousands of tiny pinpricks of light from far away.
> You say "Mara, we are not going to do what that probe wanted us to. We are going to return to our space station and try to forget that I ever dragged you into this mission."
"I'm ready to return to the space station."
The engine of the ship suddenly flares up, propelling you away from the barren planet.
"We're out! We're out!"
> You as you pilot the ship into the space station's shipyard, you grab Mara and kiss her in the mouth.
"We're here!"
You and Mara exit the ship, to be greeted by several security guards.
"Who are you?
> You ask the guards whether they are going to arrest you for taking the ship without permission.
The guards all move away from you. You notice four big guards to surround the two of you.
"We aren't going to arrest you, but you'll have to come with us."
> You say "Very well, guards. Take us wherever you intend to take us. I need a rest anyway."
"Lead us to our destination."
The guards lead you and Mara into a private car of some sort.
"What's going on here?
> You say "A private car? A citizen has demanded to meet with us? Or is it a member of the military?"
"It's a citizen, demanding to meet with us."
The guards place you and Mara in the car, which speeds through the tunnels at an alarming rate.
> You say "Mara, don't worry. This mission was my idea. If they attempt to get you in trouble, I'll say it was my entire responsibility. You won't suffer for this."
"I won't suffer too much from this."
The car soon stops, and the door opens. A voice calls out to you.
"Come on, step outside the vehicle."
> You step out of the vehicle along with Mara, but demand to know who arranged this meeting.
You and Mara exit the car. You are in a place you've never been before, a place that was clearly not made for human use, with tight corridors and a strange, damp air.
> You say "What the hell is this? This is a human led operation? What species was this places made for?"
"The Craxil."
"CRAXY!" you hear a loud, screeching roar down one of the corridors.
> You say "Mara, is this an ambush? I can't tell, I'm too idiotic!"
"No, no ambush."
Suddenly, the owner of the voice appears in front of you: a tall, humanoid creature with grey skin and black spots.
> You say "So, mister Craxil, it seems that your kind has some kind of important position on the hierarchy of this space station."
"Craxil," the creature hisses in a low, rumbling tone.
"I have been given the honor of leading the Craxil to your location. The honor is mine, human.
> You say "Why did you want to meet with me specifically? I'm just a lowly pilot handling deliveries, and occasionally taking ships without permission on secretive missions to barren planets."
"The Craxil wishes to know what you humans seek out here."
"I wish to live."
"You already live. What does your kind seek out here?
> You say "We want to do what us humans do: colonize, exploit, destroy, and somehow turn everything we find into a sexual depravity."
"The Craxil understands."
The Craxil looks to Mara.
"The human speaks for you?"
"Yes, the human does speak for me.
> You say "Are you content with my explanation, Craxil?"
"The Craxil is content."
The Craxil slinks over to you, and begins speaking again.
"The Craxil finds your answer... satisfying."
October 27, 2020
Review of "Musume no Tomodachi", by Asami Hagiwara
Four stars.
Around a year and a half ago I read thirty chapters of this ongoing manga series, and just yesterday I remembered that the series existed and that I liked it quite a bit, so I read the rest up to chapter fifty three, which seems to be the latest. I searched the story by its name in GoodReads in order to review it, but it seems that the author, a certain Asami Hagiwara, doesn’t have any work registered on the site. I don't need a translator, however, to know that the title means something like "Monstrous Friend", given that musume means monster and tomodachi means friend (and no means no).
This is the story of a recently widowed Japanese man in his late thirties or early forties, who has a somewhat overwhelming job as a boss in a big furniture chain. When coming home he has to deal with his grieving high schooler daughter, who after her mother died decided that she might as well abandon everything and become a hikikomori. At work, the protagonist is pushed by outgoing coworkers to spend his evenings drinking or in general fraternizing, but he’s eager to either go home and try to communicate with his daughter, or just spend a couple quiet hours in some coffee shop thinking about stuff. Mostly because he needs to, he’s very worried about appearances, and when a coworker confides in him that he had cheated on his wife with a female coworker of theirs who is also married, the protagonist berates him for it.
One of those evenings spent in a quiet coffee shop, a group of half drunk workers from some other office bother the high school aged waitress flirting with her and preventing her from doing her job. He’s somewhat surprised to notice that she looks as if she wishes she wasn’t dealing with those people; considering her a kindred spirit, the protagonist calls her over to interrupt the situation. The girl understands his intention, and thanks him. The protagonist’s heart thumps; not only the girl is beautiful, but he clearly needs some contact beyond the bullshit of his job and the mess at home.
One of the protagonist’s daughter’s teachers calls him, something that I suppose happens often, to prod him into snapping his daughter out of her hikikomori state so she attends her high school classes. Overwhelmed, stressed nearly out of his mind, he sits for a moment on the steps in between stories of that high school. The waitress from the coffee shop, who is a student there, recognizes him and takes pity of his miserable demeanour. Turns out that she’s actually a childhood friend of the guy’s daughter. She offers to repay him for the kindness he showed her at the coffee shop, and asks for his instant messenger handle.
In the beginning she mostly brightens his day with messages of support as he’s working, but given that both want to help his daughter out of her hikikomori state, they meet in person a couple of times. The protagonist is very worried about being seen with a high schooler, and doesn’t want to accept how much he needs her kind words and her touch. She helps him open up about the stressful life he’s living, and as if holding a mirror to him, he realizes that he no longer knows why he’s been struggling so hard. He wants to run away from it all. A few days after that, she meets him during a lunch break at work and convinces him to take a train out of Tokyo. He can’t keep up with his change of behaviors and the emotions that she makes him feel, which he intends to resist. As she’s edging closer and closer to him, taking all kinds of liberties, he extricates himself briefly to the bathroom in order to hide an erection. He doesn’t want to allow himself to enjoy her contact as someone of his responsibilities and of his age. As they speak we understand that she feels tied down by some problems at home, and yearns for little else than to feel free without caring about what anybody thinks. He understands that going along with the feelings this girl is provoking in him will ruin his life, and in addition he believes that she’s just playing around. As they were to separate in some station, she confesses that she’s fallen in love with him, for the first time in her life.
We learn a bit about her family life. She lives alone with her half-crazy, strict mother who only cares about appearances, and who intends not only to mold her daughter into her image of a perfect duty-bound woman, but also is explicit about her wish for her daughter to never leave their home. The woman occasionally hits her daughter as well. We learn that the husband had enough of this shit and abandoned both of them.
A story about an exhausted worker in his late thirties or early forties who finds solace in the company of a sweet, somewhat clingy high schooler with daddy issues would easily fall into wish fulfillment territory; curiously, though, the author is a woman. The rest of the volumes published so far focus on whether it is better to fit in society and do what’s expected of you, or to pursue freedom and follow your instincts, and to what degree one could go in one direction or another. The protagonist, and to a lesser degree the high schooler, experience plenty of consequences for how they’ve decided to step out of what’s acceptable.
I’ll get into the details of what follows that introduction, but it seems that the spoiler tag doesn't work here, so consider yourself warned.
The protagonist’s daughter had blamed her father for working too much as her mother was dying; he clearly uses work in order to press down his real feelings. But having opened his heart a bit with the high schooler helps him open up to his daughter as well about how lonely he’s felt, and how much he wishes they could both have a normal relationship. The daughter identifies with him enough to make an effort to return to school, helped by the notes that her childhood friend took for her. However, due to some characteristic stuff that ends up in the protagonist’s possession, the daughter begins to get the idea that her childhood friend and her father are meeting, although her rational mind considers it impossible. Meanwhile, the protagonist wants to accept the feelings this high schooler causes in him. During a trip to the aquarium, her mother nearly catches them together, and he gets the first taste of how terrified the girl is of her family life, how much she wishes she could break from it all. The more time he spends with her, the more he wants to help and make her happy, putting this girl above caring for his own daughter. Unfortunately, as the daughter suspects, she asks them separately about whether they know each other and are meeting behind her back. They decide to lie, therefore taking a step they can’t take back.
The daughter finds her classes mostly overwhelming, being very introverted, but she manages to make a friend: some delinquent looking guy who is however very kind to her. Meanwhile, his father went from being consider an ace at work to a guy who could barely be relied on to arrive to a meeting in time or pay attention. The high schooler coprotagonist shows the danger she poses to the protagonist’s entire life by planning an afternoon at the protagonist’s house, partly wanting to spend time with his daughter as an excuse. She doesn’t seem to have any malice, but she doesn’t need to. Merely wanting to pursue whatever makes her heart race, which seems to be her main goal, can wreck the protagonist’s entire life.
The guy’s daughter suspects enough about her father and best friend that she confides in her half-delinquent friend, and the guy proposes that they go visit the coffee shop her friend works at, to figure out if they met that evening. All main characters, along with a young, female coworker of the protagonist he had met along the way, confront each other in front of the coffee shop, and the high schooler admits that she loves the protagonist and that they had been meeting each other behind their backs. The daughter flies into a rage and slaps her friend. The protagonist’s coworker excuses herself, disturbed. The protagonist feels as if his life is about to end. The daughter decides to run away from home for a bit, but she identifies enough with his need to run away from it all and find comfort in that girl’s willingness to love him that the daughter goes back home and at least can stand to be in each other’s presence.
Although initially the protagonist had decided to screw his head on straight and make sure he doesn’t lose his job, he faces that he’s grown to care very much, even love, that girl despite it all. When she messages him again, they meet on the streets and talk about what they mean to each other. We get interesting backstory on the girl’s mental state; she feels like a fish in a tank, and that image came from going to the aquarium with her father some years before; when she spoke about how beautiful the fish looked, her father said that they looked miserable, trapped in such a confined space. She identifies more with her absent father, and has ceased to care about most consequences to her somewhat reckless actions, given that they could potentially free her from what she feels is her set path in life.
The protagonist is forced to go on a work trip along with the young coworker, who is careful not to speak about the scene she witnessed in the turning point of this story, and the high schooler coprotagonist decides to show up at the hotel. At this point of the protagonist's feelings for her, he has little issue about making out with her, but he doesn’t want anyone from work to know she’s there.
The girl’s mother put together the pieces of a letter that her daughter had written to the protagonist but that eventually had decided to tear apart. Realizing that her daughter and this man are in a relationship, and caring little about whether it is consensual, she writes a complaint to his work to warn them that he’s dating a sixteen/seventeen year old and that they should fire such a deviant. He gets into trouble at work and has issues denying the allegations; in addition, whenever his young coworker decides to speak, he’ll likely get fired. Almost overwhelmed he meets the girl in a public park to open up about the situation with her mother. He wants to help her break free from her miserable home life, or stand up for herself against her mother at least. She ends up caring little that they are in public, and kisses him, but her mother had followed the girl. She catches them in the act. She attempts to restrain him and makes a huge scene. The police are called. Instead of defending the protagonist, the girl went into a daze and failed to contradict the accusations. So fast it makes the protagonist’s head spin, he is interrogated by two police officers who want to figure out whether he was accosting some underage stranger or whether they have some sort of consensual relationship, which apparently isn’t illegal over there, although it is frowned upon. Once the high schooler admits to a social worker, rather languidly and taking her time, that she loves him, they let them go.
Beginning to realize the damage she has caused by just wanting to be with someone, the girl meets her childhood friend, the daughter of the protagonist. Although the high schooler apologizes and wants to make amends with her friend, the daughter considers her a monster. The high schooler isn’t one to show much emotion; most of the time she seems almost as in a dreamlike state, but it’s clear that having hurt her friend has affected her a lot. Wanting also to run away from her overbearing, controlling mother, she calls the protagonist and apologizes for all the pain she has caused everyone, and that she will take a train and disappear from their lives. The protagonist faces that he’s grown to love this girl and that he wants her in his life, but as he was about to take a taxi to find the girl somehow, his daughter intercepts him. When he explains the situation, his daughter considers that he must have lost his mind, because he can’t seriously consider a relationship with her. She forces him to choose between his daughter or her former friend. To her shock and dismay, he opens up about how much he cares about the girl and that he’s not about to let her run away alone and in pain to who knows where. His daughter is left behind in such a pained state that she vomits.
That’s pretty much as far as this ongoing story has gone. I appreciate the care with which the author has handled some very difficult scenes. She decided to treat this situation as a psychological drama between generally well-meaning people instead of plenty of other routes it could have gone (I would have hated if the girl was treated as a malicious femme fatale type that wanted to ruin his life). The art on display is generally beautiful, with appropriately expressive characters. I’ll add some drawings or even full pages from the mangas.
I'm liking this series very much. Too bad I'll likely forget about it's existence until a year or so from now, and then I'll read around twenty chapters more.
Around a year and a half ago I read thirty chapters of this ongoing manga series, and just yesterday I remembered that the series existed and that I liked it quite a bit, so I read the rest up to chapter fifty three, which seems to be the latest. I searched the story by its name in GoodReads in order to review it, but it seems that the author, a certain Asami Hagiwara, doesn’t have any work registered on the site. I don't need a translator, however, to know that the title means something like "Monstrous Friend", given that musume means monster and tomodachi means friend (and no means no).
This is the story of a recently widowed Japanese man in his late thirties or early forties, who has a somewhat overwhelming job as a boss in a big furniture chain. When coming home he has to deal with his grieving high schooler daughter, who after her mother died decided that she might as well abandon everything and become a hikikomori. At work, the protagonist is pushed by outgoing coworkers to spend his evenings drinking or in general fraternizing, but he’s eager to either go home and try to communicate with his daughter, or just spend a couple quiet hours in some coffee shop thinking about stuff. Mostly because he needs to, he’s very worried about appearances, and when a coworker confides in him that he had cheated on his wife with a female coworker of theirs who is also married, the protagonist berates him for it.
One of those evenings spent in a quiet coffee shop, a group of half drunk workers from some other office bother the high school aged waitress flirting with her and preventing her from doing her job. He’s somewhat surprised to notice that she looks as if she wishes she wasn’t dealing with those people; considering her a kindred spirit, the protagonist calls her over to interrupt the situation. The girl understands his intention, and thanks him. The protagonist’s heart thumps; not only the girl is beautiful, but he clearly needs some contact beyond the bullshit of his job and the mess at home.
One of the protagonist’s daughter’s teachers calls him, something that I suppose happens often, to prod him into snapping his daughter out of her hikikomori state so she attends her high school classes. Overwhelmed, stressed nearly out of his mind, he sits for a moment on the steps in between stories of that high school. The waitress from the coffee shop, who is a student there, recognizes him and takes pity of his miserable demeanour. Turns out that she’s actually a childhood friend of the guy’s daughter. She offers to repay him for the kindness he showed her at the coffee shop, and asks for his instant messenger handle.
In the beginning she mostly brightens his day with messages of support as he’s working, but given that both want to help his daughter out of her hikikomori state, they meet in person a couple of times. The protagonist is very worried about being seen with a high schooler, and doesn’t want to accept how much he needs her kind words and her touch. She helps him open up about the stressful life he’s living, and as if holding a mirror to him, he realizes that he no longer knows why he’s been struggling so hard. He wants to run away from it all. A few days after that, she meets him during a lunch break at work and convinces him to take a train out of Tokyo. He can’t keep up with his change of behaviors and the emotions that she makes him feel, which he intends to resist. As she’s edging closer and closer to him, taking all kinds of liberties, he extricates himself briefly to the bathroom in order to hide an erection. He doesn’t want to allow himself to enjoy her contact as someone of his responsibilities and of his age. As they speak we understand that she feels tied down by some problems at home, and yearns for little else than to feel free without caring about what anybody thinks. He understands that going along with the feelings this girl is provoking in him will ruin his life, and in addition he believes that she’s just playing around. As they were to separate in some station, she confesses that she’s fallen in love with him, for the first time in her life.
We learn a bit about her family life. She lives alone with her half-crazy, strict mother who only cares about appearances, and who intends not only to mold her daughter into her image of a perfect duty-bound woman, but also is explicit about her wish for her daughter to never leave their home. The woman occasionally hits her daughter as well. We learn that the husband had enough of this shit and abandoned both of them.
A story about an exhausted worker in his late thirties or early forties who finds solace in the company of a sweet, somewhat clingy high schooler with daddy issues would easily fall into wish fulfillment territory; curiously, though, the author is a woman. The rest of the volumes published so far focus on whether it is better to fit in society and do what’s expected of you, or to pursue freedom and follow your instincts, and to what degree one could go in one direction or another. The protagonist, and to a lesser degree the high schooler, experience plenty of consequences for how they’ve decided to step out of what’s acceptable.
I’ll get into the details of what follows that introduction, but it seems that the spoiler tag doesn't work here, so consider yourself warned.
The protagonist’s daughter had blamed her father for working too much as her mother was dying; he clearly uses work in order to press down his real feelings. But having opened his heart a bit with the high schooler helps him open up to his daughter as well about how lonely he’s felt, and how much he wishes they could both have a normal relationship. The daughter identifies with him enough to make an effort to return to school, helped by the notes that her childhood friend took for her. However, due to some characteristic stuff that ends up in the protagonist’s possession, the daughter begins to get the idea that her childhood friend and her father are meeting, although her rational mind considers it impossible. Meanwhile, the protagonist wants to accept the feelings this high schooler causes in him. During a trip to the aquarium, her mother nearly catches them together, and he gets the first taste of how terrified the girl is of her family life, how much she wishes she could break from it all. The more time he spends with her, the more he wants to help and make her happy, putting this girl above caring for his own daughter. Unfortunately, as the daughter suspects, she asks them separately about whether they know each other and are meeting behind her back. They decide to lie, therefore taking a step they can’t take back.
The daughter finds her classes mostly overwhelming, being very introverted, but she manages to make a friend: some delinquent looking guy who is however very kind to her. Meanwhile, his father went from being consider an ace at work to a guy who could barely be relied on to arrive to a meeting in time or pay attention. The high schooler coprotagonist shows the danger she poses to the protagonist’s entire life by planning an afternoon at the protagonist’s house, partly wanting to spend time with his daughter as an excuse. She doesn’t seem to have any malice, but she doesn’t need to. Merely wanting to pursue whatever makes her heart race, which seems to be her main goal, can wreck the protagonist’s entire life.
The guy’s daughter suspects enough about her father and best friend that she confides in her half-delinquent friend, and the guy proposes that they go visit the coffee shop her friend works at, to figure out if they met that evening. All main characters, along with a young, female coworker of the protagonist he had met along the way, confront each other in front of the coffee shop, and the high schooler admits that she loves the protagonist and that they had been meeting each other behind their backs. The daughter flies into a rage and slaps her friend. The protagonist’s coworker excuses herself, disturbed. The protagonist feels as if his life is about to end. The daughter decides to run away from home for a bit, but she identifies enough with his need to run away from it all and find comfort in that girl’s willingness to love him that the daughter goes back home and at least can stand to be in each other’s presence.
Although initially the protagonist had decided to screw his head on straight and make sure he doesn’t lose his job, he faces that he’s grown to care very much, even love, that girl despite it all. When she messages him again, they meet on the streets and talk about what they mean to each other. We get interesting backstory on the girl’s mental state; she feels like a fish in a tank, and that image came from going to the aquarium with her father some years before; when she spoke about how beautiful the fish looked, her father said that they looked miserable, trapped in such a confined space. She identifies more with her absent father, and has ceased to care about most consequences to her somewhat reckless actions, given that they could potentially free her from what she feels is her set path in life.
The protagonist is forced to go on a work trip along with the young coworker, who is careful not to speak about the scene she witnessed in the turning point of this story, and the high schooler coprotagonist decides to show up at the hotel. At this point of the protagonist's feelings for her, he has little issue about making out with her, but he doesn’t want anyone from work to know she’s there.
The girl’s mother put together the pieces of a letter that her daughter had written to the protagonist but that eventually had decided to tear apart. Realizing that her daughter and this man are in a relationship, and caring little about whether it is consensual, she writes a complaint to his work to warn them that he’s dating a sixteen/seventeen year old and that they should fire such a deviant. He gets into trouble at work and has issues denying the allegations; in addition, whenever his young coworker decides to speak, he’ll likely get fired. Almost overwhelmed he meets the girl in a public park to open up about the situation with her mother. He wants to help her break free from her miserable home life, or stand up for herself against her mother at least. She ends up caring little that they are in public, and kisses him, but her mother had followed the girl. She catches them in the act. She attempts to restrain him and makes a huge scene. The police are called. Instead of defending the protagonist, the girl went into a daze and failed to contradict the accusations. So fast it makes the protagonist’s head spin, he is interrogated by two police officers who want to figure out whether he was accosting some underage stranger or whether they have some sort of consensual relationship, which apparently isn’t illegal over there, although it is frowned upon. Once the high schooler admits to a social worker, rather languidly and taking her time, that she loves him, they let them go.
Beginning to realize the damage she has caused by just wanting to be with someone, the girl meets her childhood friend, the daughter of the protagonist. Although the high schooler apologizes and wants to make amends with her friend, the daughter considers her a monster. The high schooler isn’t one to show much emotion; most of the time she seems almost as in a dreamlike state, but it’s clear that having hurt her friend has affected her a lot. Wanting also to run away from her overbearing, controlling mother, she calls the protagonist and apologizes for all the pain she has caused everyone, and that she will take a train and disappear from their lives. The protagonist faces that he’s grown to love this girl and that he wants her in his life, but as he was about to take a taxi to find the girl somehow, his daughter intercepts him. When he explains the situation, his daughter considers that he must have lost his mind, because he can’t seriously consider a relationship with her. She forces him to choose between his daughter or her former friend. To her shock and dismay, he opens up about how much he cares about the girl and that he’s not about to let her run away alone and in pain to who knows where. His daughter is left behind in such a pained state that she vomits.
That’s pretty much as far as this ongoing story has gone. I appreciate the care with which the author has handled some very difficult scenes. She decided to treat this situation as a psychological drama between generally well-meaning people instead of plenty of other routes it could have gone (I would have hated if the girl was treated as a malicious femme fatale type that wanted to ruin his life). The art on display is generally beautiful, with appropriately expressive characters. I’ll add some drawings or even full pages from the mangas.
I'm liking this series very much. Too bad I'll likely forget about it's existence until a year or so from now, and then I'll read around twenty chapters more.
October 23, 2020
Short-lived "vacation"
At ten in the morning on this friday (today) I was preparing to take a walk through some semi-quiet areas to read a bit more, but I got a call from work saying that I needed to go in right now because a coworker would stay at home due to possibly having caught this Covid shit. I suppose anyone would get mad at having ahead of him a regular day of leisure, of a "vacation" that was supposed to span at least two or three more weeks, only to be told that you have to drop what you are doing and run to work right at that moment, but in my particular case, with the peculiar neurological condition I was born with, such a sudden change of plans takes a chunk out of my soul. The worker from HR told me that I was supposed to get to the office as soon as possible, but that she didn't know any other details of my contract. Turns out I'm working tomorrow saturday, and then at least from monday to friday of next week.
I must suppose that having a job, even one this unreliable, would be something to celebrate during these times, and in a country ruled by an alliance of socialists and communists who are running the economy straight into the planet's core, but I still feel like throwing it all away and disappearing. I never signed into this being an adult garbage, nor do I want any part of it. I was enjoying that Ikit Claw campaign on TWW2, too.
I must suppose that having a job, even one this unreliable, would be something to celebrate during these times, and in a country ruled by an alliance of socialists and communists who are running the economy straight into the planet's core, but I still feel like throwing it all away and disappearing. I never signed into this being an adult garbage, nor do I want any part of it. I was enjoying that Ikit Claw campaign on TWW2, too.
