Chapter 19: Shocking

Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players 

Chapter 19: Shocking

Although Wu Tian had not been working as a game editor for very long, he had played quite a few games.

Based on what he had seen of Undertale so far, Wu Tian could already clearly sense some of its characteristics.

First was the game's quality. Of course, he wasn't talking about the content, but simply its external qualities, such as the graphics and controls.

As far as Wu Tian was concerned, Undertale was merely passable in that regard, not much different from an ordinary indie game.

But when it came to the content, Wu Tian could only say that, based on his experience so far, Undertale was rather underwhelming.

The puzzle sections—even though they were only puzzles from the tutorial area—were extremely dull.

All you did was push rocks and pull levers.

As for the combat system, the game provided options such as showing mercy during battles.

Players could choose not to kill monsters.

Based on Wu Tian's experience with games, this was nothing more than an honor-value system.

A high honor value would lead to a preferred ending, while a low honor value would result in a bad ending.

There was nothing particularly special about it. Even the game's story felt like a standard dungeon-crawling template: enter a dungeon and fight monsters.

After killing a few minor monsters blocking his path, Wu Tian continued onward after reading the battle prompts, without giving it much thought.

As a game editor, his approach was to play through the game first and see how the overall experience felt.

Although the monsters could be dealt with peacefully, Wu Tian still chose the simplest method: fighting.

After all, it was an RPG. Wasn't fighting monsters and leveling up completely normal?

As he continued forward, the game's goat mother frequently appeared, asking what the protagonist liked to eat and what he was allergic to.

But as he explored further, Wu Tian gently sighed and shook his head.

He had a feeling that the appearance of Mirror had simply been an accident.

After all, Undertale currently felt like a rather tasteless experience to him. It was playable, but there was nothing that truly caught his eye.

There was nothing left to explore in the entire castle. There were no ingenious puzzles to make him go, "Wow," and no particularly striking developments in the story.

All he had done was discover the entrance leading to the underground world.

But the mother goat, Toriel, who had previously rescued the protagonist, stopped him from leaving. She told him that if he wanted to go, he would first have to prove that he could protect himself.

Just like the previous battles, Toriel's battle also offered the option to show mercy.

Unlike the ordinary monsters, Wu Tian actually rather liked this goat mother.

So he did not attack her. However, he soon discovered that selecting "Mercy" didn't seem to have any effect.

He clicked it several times, but Toriel continued attacking him.

So did he have no choice but to fight back?

Or would there be some kind of scripted death sequence, where he reduced Toriel's HP to zero and triggered an event?

Wu Tian wondered to himself as he tried attacking Toriel.

The first hit took away roughly one-tenth of her health.

The second hit removed another small portion.

But when he landed the third blow, something that left Wu Tian stunned happened.

Toriel's entire health bar was instantly emptied by that attack.

The slain Toriel dropped to one knee. Even then, she was still concerned about the protagonist, urging him to leave as quickly as possible.

Then her body shattered into pieces and disappeared into the air.

"What just happened? Why did she die? Isn't this supposed to be the kind of route determined by the preference system? Or am I supposed to keep choosing Mercy?"

Although the game gave him no indication, as an experienced gamer, Wu Tian quickly thought of another possibility.

To test his theory, Wu Tian loaded an earlier save.

Following the same sequence as before, he started the battle again.

This time, Wu Tian did not attack. Instead, he repeatedly selected Mercy.

As the turns progressed, Toriel's attacks became increasingly fierce. Wu Tian accidentally collided with one of them.

His HP dropped until only a sliver remained.

But what happened next confirmed Wu Tian's suspicion.

In the game, Toriel's attacks were actually deliberately avoiding the heart representing the protagonist.

Wu Tian even tried deliberately stepping into the attacks, but Toriel dodged them every time.

"Sure enough, that's how it works! The game makes the player wait for a certain number of turns, but the goat mother won't actually kill the player."

"Compared with the earlier route where the goat mother was killed, there's actually a certain irony to it. Especially when you consider that her attacks deliberately avoid the player. In that respect, it's somewhat similar to the story in Mirror—an exploration of good and evil, morality, and human nature."

As a game editor, Wu Tian also evaluated the game from a deeper perspective.

After dodging Toriel's attacks and selecting "Mercy" fourteen times in a row, Wu Tian listened to the lighthearted music and watched the scene that played after the battle ended. He shook his head.

This time, when the protagonist insisted on leaving, Toriel finally stopped trying to prevent her from going. Instead, she gently embraced the protagonist and personally escorted her out of the castle.

"He's still a new game designer, after all. The trigger conditions for this scene are still too crude. You literally have to click Mercy this many times in a row. I understand that the point is to prevent the player from noticing, but..."

Wu Tian shook his head.

"And if the intention is to keep the player from noticing, then having the attacks deliberately dodge the player actually gives it away. It basically tells the player outright that this is a scripted death sequence. That's like taking off your pants just to fart."

Thinking about the design of the battle with Toriel, Wu Tian couldn't help criticizing this aspect as well.

In his opinion, using either one of these design elements on its own would have been acceptable.

But using both at the same time had the opposite effect.

However, the scene that followed left Wu Tian completely stunned in his chair.

Because what happened next completely overturned his previous judgment!

The little flower that had tried to kill the protagonist earlier appeared once again.

But what shocked Wu Tian wasn't the flower itself.

It was what the flower said.

【Smart! Very~ very~ smart!!】

【You really think you're pretty clever, don't you?】

【In this world, it's either kill or be killed!】

【That's why you're free to do whatever you want.】

【You're having a great time, aren't you?】

【Because you just spared someone's life?】

【Hehehe~ but don't act so damn self-righteous!】

【Because... I know everything. I know what you've done!】

【You've already killed her!】

【But then you regretted it, so you went back into the past and decided to do it all over again.】

【Hahahaha~ You're such a naive idiot. Do you really think you're the only creature with this kind of power?】

【This power to reshape the world... comes entirely from the determination within you—the power to play God, the power to save.】

【I thought I was the only one who possessed that kind of power, but... I can no longer save.】

【Clearly, your desire for this world surpasses mine.】

【Fine, fine. While you still have this power, enjoy yourself.】

【I'll be watching you the whole time!】

【Hehehehe~~】