Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Love Make the World Go Round
The morning sun streamed through the windows of the high school hallway. A pink-haired young lady stared back at you, a fateful first encounter.
YUU HATORI: “Who are you?”
-> Brace yourself and tell her who you are
- Sorry for bumping into you, but I have somewhere else to be right now.
- Run away to the infirmary… your heart is bumping too hard. Maybe it is a heart attack?
- Stand there, stunned by the girl's beauty.
‘Yuu Hatori… so, this is my next target.’ Affirming his objective in his mind, <Keima> introduced himself to his capture target.
<Keima>: “I don’t think I have seen you before. My name is <Keima>. Most of my friends call me that.”
That is how they met. In the school hallway. Believe it or not, that is the love at first sight to <Keima>... That was how their romance started, shifting from passing strangers to something more.
Dusk fell over the neighborhood playground. A chance encounter, or perhaps a calculated stalking effort on <Keima>’s part. Yuu Hatori sat slowly swinging on the playground swing as she noticed <Keima> approaching.
YUU HATORI: “How did you know where I was…?”
- I didn’t. I am just walking home.
- I have been following you
- Maybe you are the one who has been following me?
-> It must have been fate that drew us together.
‘Resistance is futile. I can already see the ending.’ The coincidences that are preemptive, this meeting is indeed fated to happen.
<Keima>: “We bump into each other quite often, huh? Perhaps this is fate drawing us together.”
The boy spoke with a stutter, the words tumbling out like a slip of the tongue, an intrusive thought spilling out of control. <Keima> shook, burning up with the embarrassment of his chuunibyou phase. But the girl's laughing smile was a beauty that only amplified the boy's redness, turning his face the color of a ripe tomato.
This playground became their regular spot after school. It was a sanctuary for both of them. Day in and day out, through chance and sometimes deliberation, the feelings in the girl's heart began to blossom.
Shy, but having finally made up her mind in this shared sanctuary, Yuu Hatori gathered all her courage to confess to <Keima>. It was a well-paved destiny for the boy who had always openly expressed his feelings, merely waiting for her reciprocation.
YUU HATORI: “I… I… I LOVE YOU!!”
The digital sound of doves fluttering their wings. The synthesized rustle of wind blowing through a girl's long hair. All of it emanated from a small handheld PFP device as Keima brought a hand up to adjust his glasses.
‘With this, I have conquered my 10,000th heroine! There is no dating sim that I cannot complete. Fuhahahaha!’
The number might sound ridiculous, but this was a genuine milestone, a staggering statistic rather than just a figure of speech.
‘My own power sends a shiver down my spine.’
Okay, that one was definitely a figure of speech. However, there was actually something present that should normally send a shiver down the spine of someone in his predicament. Looming over him stood a woman with straight, neck-length hair, impatiently tapping her pointer stick. She was glaring down at the troubled kid who had been entirely ignoring her class—an ongoing offense for the past half hour.
Keima, finished adjusting his glasses, finally noticed the shadow looming over him. He looked up and met his teacher's eyes.
“Are you enjoying your game, Katsuragi-kun? What could possibly be more fun than your homeroom teacher, hmm?” Yui Nikaido asked, her tone suggesting this was a regular occurrence. And lo and behold, it was a daily routine.
Keima crossed his arms and thought deeply upon the inquiry, while Nikaido patiently waited for whatever response the boy playing games in her homeroom would conjure up.
“I have just compared your lesson with all the games that I know. There are 5,012 titles that are more entertaining than this lesson.” The number sounded completely made up, but much like his capture target statistics, Keima did not fabricate numbers, nor did he make excuses for his transgression. “There are 15 titles which are about the same. And there is 1 title which is more boring than this lesson.”
Even among games, there was apparently a 1-in-5,000 chance of finding something worse than taking a class.
“Hmm. And the title of that one is?” She gave off a cool teacher vibe, actually giving the student a chance to speak his mind—a very tolerant and thoughtful educator.
“Sorry, but could you wait until I reach the save point?” Keima replied, returning his focus strictly to the PFP.
It was at this precise moment that the benevolent teacher's patience collided with the student's sheer audacity, resulting in a flurry of textbooks and fists descending upon him as the price of his hubris.
Walking down the busy school hallway with a thoroughly battered face from the incident moments prior, Keima Katsuragi—a young man with brown hair and matching eyes—still couldn’t make sense of what was so wrong with his behavior.
‘I’m not bothering anyone when I play games. Why should I get beaten up’
Devoting his entire focus back to his PFP, the seventeen-year-old boy simply tuned out the noise. He was remarkably adept at all earthly subjects: Japanese, math, social studies, English, and art. Yet, he somehow failed entirely when it came to grasping general ethics and how to behave in the real world.
...Or perhaps, he was simply beyond earthly concerns.
But alas he does have a fascination and interest in girl as you would expect from any boys his age.
"OTAMEGANE!"
A loud voice echoed down the hall, shouting a portmanteau of otaku and megane (glasses)—a rather creative way to call someone a four-eyed dweeb.
Thump, thump, thump, thump. The sound of rapid footsteps approached from the far end of the hallway, accompanied by the cheerful voice of a fiercely athletic girl.
“Hey Hey Hey”
Keima saw her approaching, noting her complete lack of deceleration. It was a girl from his class, Ayumi Takahara. The short, dark-haired track star was running full speed toward him, her head down like a bull rushing a matador.
Smack! Bam!
A brutal collision occurred. To be more specific, the boy was entirely run over, followed immediately by a loud bam as the girl crashed headfirst into a concrete pillar, finally bringing her velocity to zero.
“AHH MY PFP”
There was a singular casualty: the poor PFP caught in the crossfire. Its demise would be mourned by Keima alone, and likely celebrated by the majority of the school's faculty.
“Sorry sorry, I ran too fast and couldn’t hit the brakes.”
A cheerful apology paired with a bright smile. The very image of sincerity—note the heavy sarcasm. This was Ayumi Takahara, a second-year in Class 2-B, same as Keima. She wore the standard Mai High school girl's uniform, which was obviously different from Keima's uniform since Keima wasn't a girl. Heck, why even bring that up? It wasn't like Keima would ever find himself wearing a girl's uniform or anything.
Keima regained his bearings and proceeded to completely ignore her. He didn't even attempt to help her up from an accident she was solely responsible for causing. You see, this was among the type of girl that Keima had absolutely zero interest in.
“Hey Otameganee– can you clean the rooftop today?” Keima glanced back at the girl. She came bearing a request, almost like a chance encounter in a dating sim. But this was reality, and Keima knew that all too well.
“It our turn to do the cleaning today right? But unlike you I am very busy sooo” The real girl force that cannot be reason with unlike in the sanctity of the game world where everything have it reason.
"You’re saying I’m not busy?" He had gaming to do, after all. He was a very busy man. Keima replied flatly, turning his face away to express his total disinterest.
‘She’s got some nerve! Knocking into me and making fun of me while asking for a favor at the same time!’
Keima straightened himself up. Dusting off his now thoroughly disheveled uniform, he prepared to declare his absolute, unwavering decision.
"Don’t screw with me! I absolutely refuse!"
Pushing his glasses up his nose, the lenses flashing with absolute, dramatic seriousness, he faced the girl who was...
...No longer there.
In her place stood a sweeping broom, accompanied by a sticky note that read: "ALL YOURS <3"
|Rooftop|
Under the evening sky, Keima stood alone on the school rooftop, fulfilling his cleaning duty. It might have looked like he was complying with Ayumi's forceful request, but in reality, he was simply doing his part since he actually was assigned to cleaning duty today, just as she had said.
‘Damn… What an unreasonable girl.’
With the calm, rhythmic swish, swish of the broom against the concrete rooftop floor, Keima started to reflect on his worldview.
‘She should learn from the girls in the game world! Those perfect, beautiful, imaginary beings.’
That's right... my earlier statement regarding Keima's "fascination with girls" might have been a bit misleading, making this an opportune time to clarify. Keima Katsuragi is exclusively interested in, and attracted to, girls from video games.
‘Reality is just a shitty game’
This was the conclusion he always reached when comparing the chaotic mess of reality to the flawless perfection of a 2D world.
Finishing his reflections along with his cleaning duties, Keima claimed his regular spot on the rooftop bench and turned on his PFP.
Among all the locations in the school, the rooftop had one specific specialty: it boasted the strongest Wi-Fi signal. Naturally, Keima always made full use of this property.
*Beep*
PFP MAILGIRL: “YOU”VE GOT MAIL”
‘Hah… today's entreaties from my lost lambs.’
On the PFP screen, an animated mail girl delivered a letter. Next to her, a notification badge displayed a staggering 812 unread messages.
[Good Morning GOD OF CONQUEST, previously your advice was a godsend (≖‿≖) however this lost lamb has stumbled once more. This time I am stuck trying to raise a parameter in a game called “AKIRO” SOS...]
[Greetings (＾▽＾)ノ GOD OF CONQUEST! I always use your site for guidance. This time I have a question about “Ghost, Ghost Panic”...]
[GOD OF CONQUEST! I cannot complete these games as fast as you do…]
[GOD, Please Save Me…]
Reality was just a trivial world. This was the domain where Keima's true self sat upon his throne. The great deity known throughout the gaming world as...
THE GOD OF CONQUEST.
THE GOD OF CONQUEST had no reason to take part in the absurd and unreasonable real world.
THE GOD OF CONQUEST IS THE GOD OF THE GAME WORLD!!
Sitting upon his throne—albeit an imaginary one, since in reality, Keima was just slouching on a bench—he began replying to his lost lambs, entirely in his element.
[Good Morning!! This is the GOD OF CONQUEST!! “AKIRO” is a really great game!! As for a tip on it...]
[Nice to meet you!! This is the GOD OF CONQUEST!! “Ghost, Ghost Panic”, right?! Everyone seems to have trouble with that one! Here is the solution to your peril...]
[Nice to meet you! With practice, you will get faster, but your comprehension won’t come anywhere close to me, THE GOD OF CONQUEST! Teehee…]
[You prayed to the right Deity, my child.]
“Hehe... hehehe...”
There was a massive backlog stacked up since the morning, but it was the duty of a deity to listen to his believers. And so, Keima did exactly that with fervent fervor.
Email after email, his fingers danced across the PFP's portable keyboard with a lightning speed that transcended mere human comprehension. He dispatched reply after reply, entirely divorced from the real world around him.
It was just as he hit 'send' on his 400th reply that the real world decided it wasn't quite done with him yet.
“Nii-sama!! A package arrived for you this morning, so I received it for you!”
Another loud voice echoed across the concrete. This one belonged to a girl with long, flowing dark hair, wearing a signature headband adorned with a quirky smiley-face accessory. She rushed up to him, presenting a parcel with absolute, 100% genuine sincerity.
This was Eri Katsuragi, a third-year student from Class 3-C at Mai Middle School. And lo and behold, she was Keima Katsuragi's biological, flesh-and-blood, utterly airheaded little sister.
“A package for me?”
That morning, Keima had gone to school as scheduled, but Eri had overslept. A good brother might have woken her up so they could walk together. An even better brother, Keima reasoned, would let the girl enjoy her sleep and learn from her own mistakes—allowing him to leave early in peace.
Connecting the dots, Keima realized the package must have arrived just as Eri was frantically rushing out the door. Since the middle school building was completely separate and she was already running late, she hadn't had the time to track him down earlier. Instead, she had held onto it all day, waiting until she knew exactly where to find him during his afternoon cleaning duty.
Much like a dutiful sister delivering a forgotten bento box, Eri beamed as she handed the small parcel over to Keima. He took it and inspected the label. The recipient was addressed simply to THE GOD OF CONQUEST, and the sender was listed as the game studio Galglobe. Seeing the familiar studio name, a certain email from about two days ago immediately clicked in his mind.
Meanwhile, Eri—armed with a relentlessly sunny disposition and a borderline obsessive compulsion for cleanliness—spotted the broom Keima had discarded by the bench. Her eyes practically sparkled. Humming happily, she snatched it up and began vigorously sweeping the concrete floor. She took immense joy in taking over the cleaning duty, perfectly content to scrub the rooftop while leaving her brother in peace to unpack his mysterious delivery.
With the rhythmic swish, swish of Eri’s broom providing a surprisingly peaceful background track, Keima sat back down on the rooftop bench. He placed the small parcel on his lap. Before tearing into the cardboard, he wanted to refresh his memory.
He flipped open his PFP and swiftly navigated away from his massive inbox, diving into his archived correspondence. His thumbs flew across the directional pad until he found the specific message from two days ago.
It was a formal request, one that properly acknowledged his divine status.
[
Subject: Inquiry & Early Access Review Request: The World God Only Knows To: The God of Conquest From: Development Team, Galglobe Studio
Dear God of Conquest,
We hope this message finds you well.
We are Galglobe, a newly established development studio born from a profound love for the dating simulation genre. For years, our team has quietly followed your site, studying your reviews, your route guides, and your unparalleled reputation within the galge industry.
It is with this deep respect that we reach out to you today. We are preparing to launch our debut title, and it would be an absolute honor if you would serve as our playtester and provide us with your invaluable insight.
We humbly request a secure shipping address where we can mail you a physical master disc of the game, optimized specifically for the PFP device.
Please reply to this email with your preferred delivery location. We guarantee that your personal information will be kept strictly confidential and used solely for the purpose of dispatching this package.
Sincerely,
Dokuro Skull
Head of Development
Galglobe Studio
]
‘The World God Only Knows…’ Keima mused, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth as he stared at the screen.
It was an incredibly presumptuous title for a debut game, but he had to admit, the development team certainly knew how to show proper reverence. They understood the hierarchy of the gaming world. Seeking the blessing of the God of Conquest before releasing a title into the wild was only natural for a studio that truly cared about their craft.
As for the name of the sender—Dokuro Skull—it was a ridiculously edgy handle, but game developers using bizarre aliases was entirely par for the course in this industry. He hadn't thought twice about sending them his address. A free, early-access master disc optimized for his beloved PFP was an offering he was more than willing to accept.
Satisfied with his recollection, Keima closed his PFP and turned his full attention to the physical box resting on his lap. The sound of Eri’s joyful sweeping continued nearby, leaving him in perfect, uninterrupted peace to inspect the offering from his newest believers.
With practiced precision, he slipped his finger under the tape and popped the cardboard flaps open.
Inside rested a standard PFP game case, but its appearance was jarringly stark. Keima lifted it out, his brow furrowing slightly at the minimalist design. There was no vibrant illustration of a blushing heroine. There was no meticulously rendered background or flashy parameter icons to hint at the game's mechanics.
In an industry where the cover art served as the ultimate hook—where a single captivating glance from a beautifully drawn capture target was required to appeal to the general audience—shipping a blank case with only the game title was a remarkably bold choice.
‘Well, I suppose this is just the prototype master disc,’ Keima rationalized, turning the case over in his hands. ‘They likely haven't finalized the promotional artwork yet. Once I see what they have inside, I’ll be sure to recommend a proper cover art direction for their official release.’
The front of the case bore nothing but the title itself, striking in its elegant simplicity. Bold, crimson kanji dominated the center, accented by a subtle, glowing golden wing motif radiating from the first character. Underlining the bold red text was an intricate, textured golden skeleton key, completing the emblem with the English subtitle, The World God Only Knows, printed neatly beneath it.
Flipping the case to the back revealed an absolute void. There was no character synopsis, no voice cast list, and absolutely no hint of the game's premise.
‘A true blind run,’ Keima thought, a confident smirk returning to his face. ‘It has been a while since a studio dared to challenge me without handing over a manual first.’
While Eri continued her joyful sweeping in the background, her humming perfectly in tune with the rhythmic swish, swish of the broom against the concrete, Keima cracked the plastic case open. He pulled out the proprietary optical disc, its surface completely devoid of any label, and slotted it into the back of his PFP.
He pressed the power button, adjusting his glasses as the screen faded to black, fully prepared to conquer another digital maidens awaited him inside.
The PFP’s optical drive whirred to life with a familiar, comforting hum as it read the blank disc. Before diving straight into a new title, Keima always checked the game data—a meticulous habit born from years of managing the strictly limited memory space of his beloved handheld device.
He navigated to the system's storage properties.
Total File Size: 1.79 GB.
Keima nodded approvingly, pushing his glasses up his nose. In an era where amateur developers bloated their visual novels with uncompressed audio files and incredibly sloppy asset management, Galglobe had managed to pack their entire debut title right up to the absolute maximum limit of a standard PFP disc.
Satisfied that his PFP wouldn't crash from poor memory allocation, Keima clicked 'Start'.
|Game Intro Sequence|
The screen faded to black before a solitary line of crisp text appeared, anchoring a stark, minimalist loading screen.
GOD ONLY KNOWS
LOADING 000%
A rhythmic, electronic thump pulsed through the handheld's tiny speakers. Keima watched with growing intrigue as the counter ticked upward from zero. Color him surprised—despite the barren, unbranded packaging of the physical box, Galglobe had clearly allocated enough budget for a dedicated what seem to be opening cinematic.
The instrumental beat accelerated in tandem with the loading bar. Intentional digital glitches sliced across the dark screen, flashing brief, fragmented silhouettes of the game's potential capture targets. It was a stylish, deliberate tease that successfully hooked the God of Conquest's undivided attention.
GOD ONLY KNOWS
LOADING 100%
The moment the meter capped, the visual complexity abruptly shattered. The numbers exploded, the '1's and '0's stretching exponentially across the display. They multiplied into a cascading stream of data, weaving together to form the glowing silhouette of a massive endless circuit tree against the backdrop.
LOADING 100100101110110100111100011101010000111100110110100001110010101
‘Cybernetic motifs mixed with choral instrumentation...’ Keima analyzed, meticulously cataloging the artistic choices for his eventual review. ‘The visuals suggest a modern or sci-fi setting, quite a subversion for the title and does provide a remarkable hook.’
As a studio that had specifically requested his divine insight, they deserved his full critical attention. While Keima could easily deploy his god-tier speedreading and blitz through the prologue in a matter of seconds, he decided against his usual speedrun tactics. After suffering through the unreasonable physical assaults and general chaos of the 3D world that morning, he was more than happy to sit back, let the intro roll, and savor this meticulously crafted digital sanctuary at his leisure.
The choral vocals swelled in the background as the camera’s POV plunged deeper into the glowing circuitry. The main track kicked in, syncing perfectly with a rapid visual flight through various digital icons. Developer credits wove themselves seamlessly into the environment, rendered in a heavily stylized, digitized font.
“Love is such a sweet illusion (Let’s come together)
Can’t seem to stop my imagination (Goes on forever)”
‘Throughout the sequence, the silhouette of a PFP device keeps flashing at the center of the screen,’ Keima observed, his analytical mind already dissecting the game's core themes. ‘It must be an integral item for the plot, which perfectly justifies the circuit board motif. The vocal mix is incredibly crisp, too; top-tier sound design.’ He was infinitely glad he had plugged in his earphones the moment the title screen dropped, ensuring not a single note of the high-fidelity experience was lost.
“What a ridiculous situation (Another matter)
But I can’t deny I’m faced with a tricky temptation.”
As the beat shifted its tempo, the first female character made her grand entrance. She descended from the digital sky amidst a flurry of pink cherry blossoms, draped in a flowing hagoromo raiment and sporting a highly distinctive skull hairpin.
‘A goddess archetype, perhaps? Or some sort of supernatural envoy?’ Keima analyzed, his eyes tracking her fluid animation. ‘A very strong first impression.’
Yet, as he scrutinized her perfectly rendered features, a sudden, uncanny sense of familiarity nagged at his brain. Filtered through the flawless lens of the game's 2D art style, the heroine's character design bore a striking, almost absurd resemblance to his own airheaded little sister.
‘Wait a minute…’ Keima thought, his brow furrowing slightly behind his glasses. ‘Aside from the fact that this girl has her hair tied up in a ponytail, the facial proportions and general aesthetic are practically identical to Eri… I suddenly felt like this girl will bring me a lot of headache already.’
He paused his analysis for a fraction of a second, acutely aware of the flesh-and-blood girl happily humming to the side.
‘Is it a coincidence? well Galglobe does suddenly make me feel like this one shift from goddess archetype down to little sister archetype fast but well that is a personal circumstance on my part.’ Keima rationalized, instantly separating his mundane reality from the perfection of the game. ‘Well, whatever the case, the 2D version is obviously vastly superior.’
“In the world that keep on changing
Don’t know why my heart is aching”
‘The Eri-lookalike strikes a cute, energetic pose, framed exactly like a standard character introduction card,’ Keima noted, his analytical mind dissecting the presentation. ‘So, this is where they introduce the primary capture target... Wait, never mind. She just got swept aside.’
The bubbly heroine was abruptly replaced by a breathtakingly angelic cinematic. A pantheon of ethereal, winged girls seemed to ascend toward the heavens, bathed in a divine, glowing light.
Click.
Keima instinctively hit the screenshot button on his PFP device. ‘What a fitting visual for the God of Conquest. That is definitely going to be my new wallpaper, or perhaps a thumbnail for the review page.’
“Gotta handle it no more hesitation.
There can be no turning back”
The camera rapidly zoomed through a dynamic montage of four distinct girls. ‘Four early capture targets?’ Keima assessed, instantly categorizing them by their visual cues. ‘We have the energetic looking, the haughty looking, the radiant looking, and the quiet, shy looking. Classic, generic archetypes.’
However, a specific detail caught his eye. They were all wearing the exact same school uniform, and the design bore an uncanny, almost identical resemblance to the uniforms at Mai High.
‘So the setting appears to be a school dating sim. It seems the art team drew heavy inspiration from my own school’s uniform,’ Keima deduced with a dismissive shrug, entirely missing the reality-bending implications playing out in front of him. ‘What a massive coincidence. to think that they are going with our private school uniform design’
As the sequence reached its crescendo, Japanese text faded onto the screen over the silhouette of a PFP device:
オープニングテーマ:
God only knows 第三幕
Oratorio The World God Only Knows
作詞:西田恵美/作曲:前口涉·木村香真良/編曲:前口渉
(ジェネオン·ユニバーサル·エンターテイメント)
The console spun in all its righteous, digitized glory as the title of the game—or rather, the title of the opening track—made its grand appearance.
‘An oratorio,’ Keima mused, appreciating the sheer, unapologetic theatricality of the presentation. ‘They really went all out for this.’
“God only knows “ My mind is as free as the wind. But now what I should do is to fall in love.” “
The background intentionally glitched as the perspective shifted to follow a seemingly faceless male protagonist walking down a vibrant digital street. Scenes flashed in a rapid, disorienting montage around him. The protagonist wore a male uniform remarkably similar to Mai High’s, and he walked with his head down, completely absorbed in a PFP, utterly undisturbed by the chaotic world shifting around him.
‘They did well with the gamer archetype,’ Keima noted approvingly. ‘A protagonist like this will be incredibly intuitive for me to immerse myself in. And the lyrics directly referencing the title... they definitely commissioned a custom track specifically for this game.’
“God only knows “ I don’t need that kind of real things. Feels like I lost in the labyrinth.” “
The camera zoomed into a stark side profile of the faceless, bespectacled protagonist. He walked past surreal street signs—one pointing toward "2D" and another pointing in the opposite direction toward "3D."
A nagging feeling began to claw at the back of Keima’s mind. It was a strange, localized dissonance, as if his brain was struggling to categorize a piece of information that was simultaneously obvious and entirely impossible. Yet, he couldn't quite find a logical thread to latch onto, leaving the thought lost in a mental maze.
“God only knows “There must be the meaning of life. Somehow unexpected happenings thrill me.” “
The cinematic tightened into an extreme close-up of the protagonist's blank face. He slowly lifted his PFP, and the device seemed to float upward toward the sky.
‘A faceless protagonist for player immersion. well his overall posture and silhouette are just like me for real.’
“God only knows “Just believe in myself and my dream. Anyone could be a hero and heroine”
The sequence crescendoed as the title card from the physical box returned to the screen, glowing with a soft, ethereal light. Beneath the elegant crimson kanji, a blinking prompt finally appeared:
PRESS TO START
The cinematic transitioned flawlessly into the main menu.
‘Overall, an exceptionally well-crafted intro,’ Keima concluded, mentally drafting his preliminary review. ‘If anything, the sheer quality and lack of visible gameplay mechanics make it feel more like an anime opening than a standard game intro. Personal bias aside—and perhaps overlooking a slightly uncanny, creeping sense of déjà vu—I would rate it a 10/10 purely on anticipation.’
It was crucial to have initial impressions prepared, and Keima always documented his thoughts thoroughly. He would definitely reference this opening sequence again once he completed his conquest, using it as a baseline for his final evaluation.
‘For now... let the game begin.’
Keima straightened his posture, took a quiet breath, and pressed the (II) button.
Please name your character: < _ >
Right after getting 'Start', Keima immediately dove into the configuration menu, meticulously dialing all graphical settings to their absolute maximum for review purposes. Upon officially selecting a New Game, he was greeted with the standard galge staple: the protagonist naming prompt.
Please name your character : <Keima>
‘Nothing particularly noteworthy yet,’ Keima thought, quickly typing his own name. ‘Combining a faceless protagonist with a custom player name is textbook immersion building.’
The screen dimmed into a brief loading phase before fading up on a dark, gloomy landscape dominated by an orange, magma-like river. Crisp text scrolled across the top of the display. (II)
| Netherworld Constitutional Ministry - Far East Branch |
Demon A: “The capture rate is still 3%!!”
Demon B: “The Buddy’s fate is still unknown…”
Demon C: “The runaway spirit in Europe is currently…”
Demon A: “Kick your buddy’s ass and make him work!!”
‘Oh... a demonic bureaucracy?’ Keima mused, his thumb steadily tapping the action button to advance the text. ‘Given the angel-like character in the opening, I shouldn't be surprised by the inclusion of a demon faction meddling in a high school setting. It seems this version of Hell is struggling with runaway spirits, their role are likely to revolve around overseeing souls.’
He paid close attention to the character sprites on screen. The demons were depicted merely as cloaked silhouettes, hinting at a humanoid shape without blowing the game's art budget on minor NPCs. Keima meticulously filed these worldbuilding details away in his mind, analyzing the narrative consistency of Galglobe's debut title. (II)
Demon Janitor: [SFX: Rapid footsteps] “Sorry I’m late”
Chief Demon: “Elsie!! What’s with that broomstick?! How long do you intend to act like a janitor?!!”
Elsie: “Waaah, but without this, I can’t calm down!”
Unlike the silhouetted NPCs before them, these two were granted full, detailed character sprites. The girl, named 'Elsie', was the very same heroine who had descended in the opening cinematic wielding her hagoromo and broom. The Chief Demon, meanwhile, was depicted as a diminutive, cloaked figure with a literal skull for a face.
‘Great, their personalities are identical too,’ Keima sighed internally, his annoyance ticking up a notch. ‘It is genuinely impressive that the studio managed to fully voice the entire cast so far, but annoyingly enough, this Elsie’s manner of speaking is gratingly close to Eri’s.’
He shot a brief, involuntary glance at his sister, who was still actively sweeping the rooftop nearby. As a boy exclusively interested in video game girls, having this 2D sprite mirror his crappy reality so perfectly was deeply unsettling.
‘Yeah, I really don’t like this character very much. Too much annoying little sister energy. Still, it is a clever subversion—she is actually a demon rather than the angelic figure the intro suggested. Well the skull accessory should give that away. Noted.’ Keima press on for the dialogue of the intro to continue. (II)
Chief Demon: “This is the end of hell… a janitor becoming part of the runaway spirit squad.”
Elsie: “I-I’ll do my best!!”
Elsie: “Speaking of which, Chief Dokurou, is there really a human like that?”
‘Oh, a head developer cameo,’ Keima observed, immediately recalling the sender of the email: Dokuro Skull. ‘I doubt that naming convention is a coincidence. It’s an acceptable Easter egg; it isn't uncommon for indie studios to sneak their core staff members into the script.’ (II)
Elsie: “A human who can do as he pleases with the hearts if women…”
‘I can’ an amused inner thought sprang up as Keima fondly recalled the 10,000 maiden hearts he had already successfully conquered across his illustrious career. (II)
Chief Dokuro: “There is.”
Chief Dokuro: “His name is…”
Chief Dokuro: “The God of Conquest!!”
Keima’s thumb momentarily froze over the console.
‘Oh... they weren't kidding when they said they were fans,’ Keima mused, a distinct sense of pride swelling in his chest. ‘This might be the first studio inspired enough by my site to actually code a direct tribute into their game.’
It was deeply flattering. It also completely contextualized why they had sought out his specific insight. Honestly, if they were going to base their overarching protagonist around his legendary online persona, they really should have consulted him during the initial narrative design phase rather than waiting until the master disc was fully playable. Still, it was a genuinely surprising homage, and he could only hope they depicted his divine avatar with the mechanical grace and strategic brilliance he deserved… (II)
Chief Dokuro: “There is no better buddy than this!! Start by finding this man!!”
Elsie: “Yes, sir!! Elsea De Lute Irma, now departing to suppress runaway spirit.”
Chief Dokuro: “Oh, and send me a souvenir from the human world. A Billy Blanks DVD should do it.”
A small notification chimed at the top of the screen: [Billy Blanks DVD has been added to the Codex.]
Intrigued, Keima hit the (Start) button to open the menu journal and navigated to the newly unlocked Codex tab. In dense, lore-heavy games, a codex was an essential tool used to provide the player with vital or often trivial worldbuilding context.
‘Billy Blanks is the creator of Tae Bo and sells fitness videos...’ Keima read the entry, raising an eyebrow at the screen. ‘Their choice of trivia for the very first codex entry is oddly specific. Still, it acts as a seamless tutorial to teach the player how to access the glossary without breaking immersion. The comedy is okayish, I suppose.’ (II)
Elsie: “Are you still planning to lose more weight?”
The scene faded to black. The ambient audio shifted smoothly from the bubbling magma of the Netherworld to the bustling, nostalgic chatter of a morning school hallway. As the background faded in, Keima immediately noticed the architecture bore a striking, almost identical resemblance to his own Mai High. (II)
| Hajime High School |
YUI HATORI: “Who are you?
-> Brace yourself and tell her who you are
- Sorry for bumping into you, but I have somewhere else to be right now.
- Run away to the infirmary… your heart is bumping too hard. Maybe it is a heart attack?
- Stand there, stunned by the girl's beauty.
A character sprite slid onto the screen. It was a pink-haired young lady staring right back at him.
Keima paused, his thumb hovering over the directional pad.
‘Yui Hatori?’ he mused, leaning in slightly. ‘Her character design is incredibly similar to Yuu Hatori, the girl I conquered in my last game, though her hair has a slightly lighter tint. More importantly, she definitely didn't appear in the opening cinematic.’
Because he had meticulously cataloged the artistic choices and the brief, fragmented silhouettes of the potential capture targets during the intro sequence, Keima felt a sudden wave of analytical confusion. Dropping a completely unteased, visually derivative heroine as the very first route branch was a highly unconventional choice for a galge.
‘Is she a red herring? A disposable tutorial route before the real game begins?’ Keima pondered, finding this to be a very strange and abrupt place to force the player's first major dialogue choice.
‘They aren’t giving the player much context here. I wonder if this is just a typical illusion of choice moment to test the waters,’ Keima mused. Relying on his highly calculated route logic, he selected the option to simply introduce himself.
The screen switch to black for a moment with a dialogue box of the protagonist appearing.
[Keima]: “Yui Hatori… so this is my next target…”
‘Oh, so the protagonist is indeed heavily characterized as a gamer,’ Keima deduced, his interest piqued. ‘Given the context clues so far, is the player character explicitly supposed to be The God of Conquest? This transition seems focused on establishing the protagonist's mindset rather than formally introducing the heroine.’ (II)
The screen transitioned, loading a brand new background CG. Keima’s eyes narrowed slightly as the digital environment resolved into a twilight playground setting. The character sprite updated, and the text box completely dropped the "Yui" pseudonym, reverting to the truth.
YUI HATORI: “How did you know where I was…?”
-> I didn’t. I am just walking home.
- I have been following you
- Maybe you are the one who has been following me?
- It must have been fate that drew us together.
The scene appeared to be a direct homage to the exact game he had been playing during homeroom just this morning. Keima immediately recognized that the dialogue options were literally identical to his first playground encounter with Yuu Hatori. It was a fascinating, highly specific way for Galglobe to inject a parody, even if it was just a brief snippet of a scene.
Curious to test the mechanical boundaries of this homage, Keima deliberately selected a dialogue choice that, based on his pristine memory of the original title, would eventually lead to a failed conquest. (II)
The screen cut to black. A protagonist dialogue box abruptly popped up in the center of the void.
[Keima]: “I can’t see the ending through this route”
The screen instantly snapped right back to the twilight playground scene.
YUI HATORI: “How did you know where I was…?”
X I didn’t. I am just walking home.
- I have been following you
- Maybe you are the one who has been following me?
-> It must have been fate that drew us together.
‘A forced narrative loop,’ Keima observed, leaning back slightly. ‘An illusion of choice designed to keep the player locked on a specific path. While it temporarily restricts mechanical freedom, it actually characterizes the protagonist's obsessive need for the perfect route quite decently.’
Satisfied with his mechanical test, Keima navigated down and selected the correct, fateful option. (II)
The screen cut to black. A protagonist dialogue box abruptly popped up in the center of the void, displaying a line of text that felt remarkably familiar.
[Keima]: “Resistance is futile!! I can already see the ending!!”
The CG smoothly transitioned, jumping forward in the timeline to a beautifully rendered climax at the twilight playground.
YUI HATORI: “I… I… I LOVE YOU!!”
[Keima]: “Destiny is a one way street.”
The CG dynamically zoomed out, pulling back from the tearful confession to reveal a startlingly familiar framing: the game's faceless protagonist was sitting squarely in the middle of a bustling classroom, entirely ignoring a female teacher to play on his PFP device although there is an alteration as the in game version of PFP seem to be called PSP.
‘Okay, isn’t this exactly what happened this morning?’
The sheer, uncanny precision of the scene finally managed to crack Keima’s ironclad composure. His hyper-rational mind scrambled for a logical explanation. He began to suspect that a classmate might actually be in cahoots with Galglobe Studio, feeding them real-time data. But even a highly coordinated stalking effort wouldn't explain the impossible coincidence of the game perfectly replicating his internal dialogue and the specific retro title he had been playing just hours ago.
And then again a coincidence happening once or twice was understandable. For it to occur repeatedly—mirroring his reality down like this —was highly suspicious.
Slowly, Keima lifted his eyes from the glowing screen, his gaze darting across the concrete until it landed directly on Suspect Number One.
Eri was still just a few feet away, vigorously attacking the rooftop dirt with her broom. As if sensing his intense stare, she paused her joyful sweeping. Turning toward him, she flashed an impossibly bright, innocent smile and waved her hand enthusiastically.
‘What the Heck?!’
Continue…