The romance movie we watched for the Trick House challenge was a textbook youth love story. Despite a lingering sense of déjà vu, I found it entertaining enough.
When I glanced over at Kuro to see how she was taking it, her expression was surprisingly grave. This wasn't the face of someone caught up in a sweet atmosphere; it was the face of the Honorary Chairman of the Seditch Magic Tool Commercial Association.
For Kuro, this was a golden opportunity to jumpstart the development of her video magic tools, so her intense focus made perfect sense. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she had a prototype finished the moment today's date ended.
"Mm, that was fun. The visuals were beautiful and really drew me in."
"You were watching it with quite the serious look on your face, Kuro."
"The movie was great, but I was also curious about how romance works in the otherworld. It was very educational! I suppose it’s obvious, but just because it’s another world doesn't mean love is that different over here."
"I guess so... Unless their values are fundamentally different, human emotions tend to follow similar patterns."
Magic and science were one thing, but when it came to the heart, there weren't many gaps just because we were in another world. Perhaps that was precisely why it could be so complicated.
"So, what’s next? I’m so excited!"
"I think you’re having the most fun out of all of us today, Kuro."
"Everything is so new to me, it’s refreshing. I’ve lived a very long time, so I really treasure chances to discover things I don't know."
It was a fair point. Kuro was easily over a hundred thousand years old; when it came to this world, she probably knew everything there was to know. But the otherworld was uncharted territory.
She’d likely heard stories from Noin-san and the former Hero-roles, but hearing about something and seeing it were two different things. Besides, even though it was the same Japan, there was a massive gulf between Noin-san’s knowledge and my own.
Judging by what she’d told me, Noin-san had been born over a century before my time. To her, modern-day Japan would be practically unrecognizable—a true unknown world.
"By the way, Kaito-kun, how do you get to the 2D world?"
"The 2D world? What do you mean?"
"Shiro mentioned it before. She said there was another world called 2D in the otherworld where you can quantify feelings like affection levels, right?"
"...U-Umm... How do I even start explaining this?"
It seemed Kuro thought "2D" was a place like the Demon Realm or the Human Realm. I’d suspected Shiro-san was the source of that "affection level" talk she’d been bringing up lately, but I hadn't realized she'd mentioned 2D as well.
"Explaining the technical side of the 'second dimension' is a bit much, so let's set that aside. Basically, it refers to the worlds found in stories and books. It isn't a place that actually exists."
"Eh? Really?! Then... what about affection levels?"
"You know what a game is, right? I think you’ve played a few before."
"Y-Yeah. Like the ones on that console Shiro gave you, right?"
I’d received a gaming device from Shiro-san for my birthday and had played a few things with Kuro. However, they were mostly party games or action titles; we had never touched a romance game.
Those were usually single-player experiences anyway, so they weren't really suited for playing together.
"Well, there are many genres of games. One is called a romance game, where you enjoy a pseudo-romance within a story. Affection levels are a common mechanic in those. It’s not something the characters in the story actually see; it’s just a number for the player to track their progress."
"I see... Then, is it true you get presents when you max out an affection level?"
"Some games work like that. If you build it up to a certain point, you might get an item that helps you in the game."
"Wow, I had no idea. It really is different hearing it from someone who actually knows the truth!"
Wait... come to think of it, why hadn't I explained this to her properly before? It occurred to me that this might have been another mental block caused by the contract between Eden-san and Shiro-san.
Now that the restrictions were relaxed, I could talk about it freely, but before now, the idea of explaining it simply never occurred to me. Of course, it could also just be that the topic never came up.
"So, what kind of game were you and Aoi-chan playing together?"
"The one I played with Aoi-chan was a bit special. It was an online game... This one gets a little complicated to explain too, but..."
"Tell me, tell me!"
Kuro was eager to learn, so I began explaining the world of gaming to her as we headed toward the next room. Since I’m a bit of a gamer myself, I ended up getting carried away once I started talking, but Kuro listened with a smile the whole time.
Maybe I should invite her to play some of the games I described next time.
Serious-senpai: "I never expected Kuro's misconceptions to finally be corrected here of all places... Wait, what?"
Machina: "Cut the beef and tofu into bite-sized pieces, slice the green onions diagonally, and remove the bases from the enoki and shiitake mushrooms... Then the garland chrysanthemum..."
Serious-senpai: "Is she seriously preparing sukiyaki right now?!"