Lovers: Boarding School

strategy_

"RL" Violet stared at the screen in front of her, her glasses sitting at the edge of her nose and her hair damp from a late night shower. On the monitor glowing in violet, neon text was the word:

--> continue

There were no other menu options, no video snippets of the game play, no character route choices--nothing. All there was was a button that looked more like an omen than a greeting, goading her to play more but at the same time warning her. What it was warning her of she did not know.

After Violet finished the intro to Lovers: Boarding School, she went about her usual routine; eating lunch, going grocery shopping, finishing her commissions she procrastinated on at the last minute, eating dinner, showering, and checking her daily expenses. A cup of lukewarm chamomile tea was at her side as was a book she was planning on finishing. But throughout her boring, ordinary day she couldn't help but think about the game.

There were a lot of things that she didn't understand about LBS. Was it a romance game? A mystery game? A horror game? Why have mindblowingly beautiful graphics but have the simplest, most minimalist gaming system she'd ever witnessed? Why was she allowed only three lives? What happens when she loses a life?

And most importantly: what was that thing she saw through the window after Jack had left her at her dorm?

Violet was no stranger to horror games but she was in no way a fan of them. The girl liked her thrills but she didn't want them coming from unsolicited games she felt could actually harm her. Or murder her.

She shuddered. Violet considered herself a strong--even brave-- person, but she still found herself wrapped in a thick blanket with the lights in her apartment all turned on. Even her bathroom lights glowed from behind a closed door.

"It's just a game," she muttered as she sipped her cooled tea. The words were starting to sound like a prayer than a reassurance the more she said them.

Violet occupied her mind with other, more important things, like if she wanted to continue playing the game or erase it from her computer and attempt online dating again like her married sister and cousins. She sighed. Knowing herself, she knew she would choose the former every single time.

Despite being irked by their two-dimensional cardboard roles, the playable characters definitely sold her on the game. And if she had the choice to romance a RL celebrity or Mr. "Man of your Wet Dreams", Reinhart, should would chose the hot teacher without a hint of hesitation.

Violet sighed, this time longingly. She would've continued LBS just for him but there was something preventing her from jumping back into the game and back into Mr. Reinhart's virtual English class.

While she was in his class, Violet checked (and re-re-checked) Mr. Reinhart's LG, and just like "Ice King" James' LG, she was denied access from viewing the number of hearts--and affection--he had for Violet. She was incredibly disappointed when all she saw was a black rectangular block instead of the heart slots that floated above the heads of  "Smirking Bad Boy" Gin and "Jock with a Gold Heart" Jack.

In an ideal situation she would've of played their routes with Mr. Reinhart first, Jack second, Gin third, and James in dead last (in a more ideal situation, she would've avoided James' route and replayed Mr. Reinhart's into oblivion. Or at least until she grew bored of him).

From her previous experience with these kinds of games, Violet deduced that inaccessible character stats meant that she had to play the characters who're available for viewing first before unlocking the others. Which meant that Mr. Reinhart--Gabriel--wasn't available until she finished a route--or more. Considering how amazing of a character Mr. Reinhart was at first play there was a possible chance that his route would be attainable if she trudged through the other three characters' routes first.

If that was the course of the game, then the order of her conquests would be Jack --> Gin --> James (unfortunately) --> Mr. Reinhart.

However, there was a third possibility to how the game might operate. Since there were no character route choices right after she finished the games' intro, the game could be one of those rare unicorns where the player can seduce two, three, or all the characters at the same time.

A harem game.

Then again, those games reach a certain point where, based on the decisions a player makes, they diverge and the game ends up directing the player to a singular character route.

Violet rubbed her chin and stared at the screen with her lips pursed. She reached for her IMG headset, her fingers brushing the visor's black glass.

That single glowing button made her mind go wild with speculation while offering her nothing in return. Violet started to think that the button wasn't just a button. Maybe it was a reflection of those nameless desires that slithered below her consciousness but never broke the surface. Maybe there were no other options because it knew her decision before she admitted to it herself.

Violet stared at the screen once again, trying to find answers to the questions that clouded her thoughts like a storm. But all that was ever on the screen was:

  --> continue