[Kanzaki Sou’s Favorability Value towards Kondo Haruka:]
The number below wasn’t the familiar “50”.
It had indeed refreshed, but the new Favorability Value left Xiao Chun Miura unsure whether to be happy or confused.
[45]
Two clear digits appeared where “50” used to be.
“……”
Xiao Chun Miura rubbed her eyes, leaned in closer, and looked again.
It was definitely 45.
——It’s decreased……
As long as the meaning of the numbers remains unchanged, and 50 is still greater than 45.
Xiao Chun Miura’s heart grew hot.
That stubborn number… the one that at first made her relieved it wasn’t increasing, and later frustrated that it wouldn’t go down.
——It really went down!
Even though it was only 5 points, which seemed insignificant compared to the total, it was a real, tangible change!
“……It really… decreased…!”
Xiao Chun Miura muttered, her excitement barely concealed in her voice.
A wave of indescribable joy swept through her entire body at that moment.
It felt like wandering aimlessly in a dark tunnel for ages, then finally seeing a glimmer of light at the end.
Her efforts weren’t in vain!
Xiao Chun Miura clenched her fists.
Everything she’d done for Kanzaki Sou, all those embarrassing moments of social death, the days of being targeted by Kondo Haruka…
They all meant something!
——The Favorability Value of Kanzaki Sou towards Kondo Haruka decreased!
This way, the possibility of him entering Kondo Haruka’s Personal Route also truly dropped—this was her guarantee for survival!
“Thank goodness… thank goodness!”
Xiao Chun Miura couldn’t help but smile, first silently grinning, then bursting into laughter.
It felt as if all the gloom that had pressed on her heart these past days was completely swept away by the faint glow of this number.
However, in this area where even time seemed to have stopped, the girl’s clear laughter sounded especially out of place.
——Apparently, even the System thought so.
This joy wasn’t allowed to last long.
Yet, her happiness didn’t last very long.
……Just as Xiao Chun Miura was at her happiest and most relaxed, new text appeared on the floating display in front of her.
[To prevent being blamed later for not giving advance notice O.O]
[I have judged it necessary to convey the following information.]
“……What?”
The moment those words appeared, Xiao Chun Miura’s smile froze on her face.
She really had let herself get carried away…
When the System checked the Goodwill Interface earlier, it said, “One good news, one bad news.”
The bad news was probably that the data on the Goodwill Interface hadn’t been updated for a long time… meaning the information was outdated—if her luck was bad, the Favorability Value might have increased rather than decreased;
For her own survival, an “unexpected change in Favorability Value” was a significant crisis.
Still, fortunately, it seemed that the Favorability Value of Kanzaki Sou towards Kondo Haruka had decreased.
That was probably the good news the System mentioned.
……But somehow, Xiao Chun Miura had a bad feeling about what the System was going to say next.
She narrowed her eyes.
——As it turned out, her instincts were correct.
[The way to determine entry into a Personal Route is—simply put, it depends on certain Key Choice Points.]
[Even if the Favorability Value of Kanzaki Sou towards Kondo Haruka drops to 20 now, as long as the “Key Choice Point” can still be triggered,]
[Once Kanzaki Sou makes the correct choice, the Favorability Value can still increase dramatically.]
[Just one more step to enter the route… That’s exactly what this means U.U]
“……”
——No, that’s exactly right.
After her initial shock, Xiao Chun Miura surprisingly accepted the System’s explanation smoothly.
……In fact, this was how some text-based romance adventure games were designed.
The structure of the route system and Favorability Value accumulation… varied from game to game.
Some games were designed so that… the Protagonist accumulated Favorability Value with the Heroine through multiple Choice Branches, and after a comprehensive event in the Common Route—such as the School Festival—they would tally the Favorability Values of the Heroines to decide which Personal Route the Protagonist would enter.
……These were usually older systems, designed to enhance immersion and realism by “simulating true romance” as much as possible—a classic example was lovely*cation, where you could buy items on the map to increase the Protagonist’s stats and thus accumulate Favorability Value with various Heroines under different conditions, ultimately determining whether the route was cleared and entering the Personal Route.
On the other hand, some games judged which Personal Route the Protagonist would enter based solely on the number of times they chose the same Heroine in a few Key Choice Points.
This was the style of more modern works, which aimed to emphasize the romance in the story while reducing the complexity of the route system.
Some works even tied the entry into a Personal Route to a single Choice Branch… usually at the end of the Common Route, or sometimes even at the very beginning of the game.
Certain story-driven, linear games also set such Key Choices for different Heroines… whether the player wished to enter the Personal Route at that point or continue with the main plot, the direction of the choice was clear, reducing unnecessary guessing and strategy.
The typical example of this was Cursed Wings’ Eustia.
……The game world Xiao Chun Miura now found herself in, **Brilliant and Shining! The Love Story of Starshine Academy**, allowed entry into Personal Routes both by accumulating Favorability Value and through Key Choice Points.
Because it emphasized both a “real romance experience” and linear story progression…
The girl understood the System’s explanation, and the joy in her heart quietly dissipated.
[No matter what the current value is, it will rise dramatically after the Sports Day.]
Rather than being doused with cold water, it was more like Xiao Chun Miura was made to realize something she’d consciously ignored.
Without noticing, she’d begun to think that lowering the Favorability Value between Kanzaki Sou and Kondo Haruka would be enough.
But just as the System said.
……The real turning point was the Sports Day.
And now, she had to work hard again, with all the “errors” corrected.
……If her previous efforts had really all gone to waste, Xiao Chun Miura would definitely feel discouraged.
But fortunately, as the System explained, fixing mistakes didn’t mean resetting everything to zero—the bond she had established with Kanzaki Sou didn’t need to start over.
Otherwise, she absolutely wouldn’t accept it.
……And precisely because of that unwillingness, a powerful emotion surged from the depths of Xiao Chun Miura’s heart.
“……Sports Day.”
“I remember during the Sports Day, there was a Choice Branch involving Kanzaki Sou and Kondo Haruka……”
“If I can prevent him from choosing Kondo Haruka’s side at that time, wouldn’t that completely block the possibility of Kanzaki Sou entering Kondo Haruka’s Personal Route?”
“Of course, that’s only if I also keep their Favorability Value from getting too high.”
[O.O……]
[Correct.]
The System gave Xiao Chun Miura a clear answer after a simple check.
“……I see, that’s good.”
Images from the game appeared in the girl’s mind.
The playground… red-and-white teams… cheers…
The scenes from her memory unfolded in order, from the beginning to the end of the Sports Day…
Then, a blurry image in Xiao Chun Miura’s mind gradually sharpened.
She opened her eyes slightly and unconsciously rubbed her chin.
“…….What happened after that?”
She still couldn’t remember the critical part.