SWNOVELXO 1 - I Obtained a Demon Sword.
Do you know what?
In manga, it’s common knowledge that when a character draws a sword, their ability activates.
Of course, what I’m playing now isn’t a manga but a visual novel game titled [Apocalypse Love Comedy], and there was only one protagonist character who was a swordsman with special abilities, but that was fine.
A demon sword (魔劍) that can slice through anything.
A game where a protagonist with special abilities clearly forms a harem of beautiful girls and saves the world—isn’t that truly appealing?
Yes, if it had been full of lovey-dovey scenes like the game title suggested, and if it had been a witty game, that would have been the case.
If it had plenty of service scenes like a proper visual novel and easy gameplay, it really would have been a godly game, but…
[…Is it really the apocalypse after all.]
The visual novel protagonist, who had a gallant impression when first starting the game, was now looking up at the darkened sky with a face fallen into despair.
Dragons and giants that bring about the apocalypse were emerging from the dark clouds.
Even one of them appearing would result in a bad ending, but the sky above Tokyo, the setting of the visual novel, was already filled with all sorts of monsters.
I tried commanding him to quickly defeat the monsters, but the protagonist character didn’t budge.
The demon sword that could slice through anything was broken in half, rolling on the ground, and the female characters who were the protagonist’s companions had either all betrayed him or were already dead.
[If there’s a next life…]
The protagonist, who had been muttering with an empty gaze, soon closed his eyes.
A giant shadow enveloped his entire body, and a thunderous voice came immediately after.
BOOM—!
The giant’s foot trampled the city.
[Bad Ending!]
It was the 132nd bad ending.
Forget about a happy ending—I hadn’t even experienced a single service scene or couple formation event.
I was starting to get confused about whether I was playing a cute girl conquest game or one of the world’s toughest raid games.
“…Who the hell recommended this piece of garbage game? Shit, why did I even buy this?”
I was fooled by the pretty female characters on the sign and the impressive monster artwork.
Date the most gorgeous beauties in a simulation, and defeat grotesque monsters.
It’s killing two birds with one stone, isn’t it?
…Of course, the big problem was that none of it worked out as I thought.
Well, I wasn’t particularly lonely.
Looking around the internet, I could find many other ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ comrades besides myself.
[Damn, who recommended this?]
Barely passed chapter 1, but can’t get past chapter 2…
Someone mentioned before that there are fifteen episodes.
Don’t tell me you have to clear all fifteen episodes to see one adult scene for each main character?
For real?
Who recommended this trash game;;
Anonymous1 – Yes, aren’t you the one who paid 25,900 won for this trash? This is the path you chose, right?
ㄴDamn it.
Anonymous2 – Still, do you agree Eris is the official wife?
ㄴNowayHotaru is the official wife~
Anonymous3 – If you think of it as a Souls-type game rather than a visual novel, it’s easier on your mind. The artwork is surprisingly good, yes…
ㄴNo, I came to play a cute girl game… this is just all about the artwork.
ㄴAnonymous1 – Yes, aren’t you the one who paid 25,900 won for this trash? This is the path you chose, right?
ㄴDamn it, stop it.
“Hmm, it’s always a mess.”
Usually, in visual novel communities, comments like which female character is the prettiest or most arousing are abundant, but here in the ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ community, there were only the whining voices of users who encountered bad endings and the gameplay records of those seriously trying to beat the game.
The so-called whiners and the sages.
Just how do you move on to the next chapter?
How much sincerity do you need to pour in to see the affection scene of your favorite character?
I was among the sages who were seriously discussing such matters.
It wasn’t so much that I wanted to see the adult scene of a particular character, but rather a stubbornly bundled determination.
For me, who started this game with a romantic notion about being a demon swordsman, this was a huge challenge.
‘I will definitely beat this trash game.’
Even though it had already been a month since its release, no one in the world had cleared it, so I was beginning to doubt whether it was even possible to beat in the first place, but there weren’t any other games I was interested in lately, so I just kept playing.
[Bad Ending!]
“Ah, damn it.”
I collected the 133rd bad ending.
This time, I died after being hit by the fearsome fire breathed out by the apocalyptic dragon.
And so, my playtime accumulated bit by bit.
‧
‧
‧
‧
[Bad Ending!]
“…Huh.”
By now, with the collection of the 250th bad ending, two months had passed since the release of ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’.
There had been progress during that time, but I had only cleared about half of the episodes, and after getting beaten hundreds of times by enemies that kept getting stronger, I came to a conclusion.
[Hello! I’m Kitagawa Kenichi!]
A bright 17-year-old.
A male high school student with a strong impression and orange hair who seemed to be the protagonist.
If this had been a normal visual novel, he would have been the alpha male, but now, two months after release, ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ was one of the world’s most notorious garbage games.
This guy, who had just enrolled in this school that should rightfully be called a demon realm, wasn’t going to cut it.
‘What? A demon sword that can slice through any ability? Wow, that’s super cool!’
This character, whom I had been enthusiastic about when I first started, was impossible to use.
It was impossible to clear this game with a demon sword that had an ability-nullifying feature attached.
I realized that just now.
“Shit, what a garbage game.”
Ding—!
“…?”
Just as I was starting to think about quitting the game, a notification arrived.
What is it? I had disabled all messengers to concentrate on the game…
Opening the message with furrowed brows, it was a notice from the game I had pre-subscribed to notifications for.
Currently, there was only one game for which I had set up notifications.
[Hello, dear players. Due to your enthusiastic support, we, the creators of ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’, have decided to release DLC, a game expansion pack…]
To summarize, because you guys are so bad at the game and can’t beat it, we’re releasing an expansion pack that makes the game much easier to progress.
“What the hell?”
I had a gut feeling.
These bastards got greedy, made the main game difficult, and now they’re releasing an expansion pack.
Feeling quite heated, I quickly scrolled through the expansion pack patch details, skimming through them.
“…Oh.”
There are this many patches?
There were many characters and events that would be added just by downloading the DLC, the expansion pack.
Also, weapons with special abilities too!
“…No way, there’s a sword that cuts through space, and even a sword that cuts through time?” blBKbTZURHcvajZCSjRqSEtRUUNCcXo4MkNrOUd1eFVZa2Q0TGtNNmF0SFlxLzlEMnJ6bExoM0lqclhIbVBUWA
All of this could be experienced for just 15,000 won.
After nervously biting my nails and deliberating, I decided to become a happy sucker after much internal conflict.
I’ve already wasted two months, if I could be happy for just fifteen thousand…!
“…I’ll gladly be a sucker!”
After immediately purchasing and downloading the expansion pack, I launched the game.
My goal wasn’t to clear the game… but to get the time-stop sword!
While the space-cutting sword was also cool, I thought controlling time was more awesome.
Later on, when you become overpowered, you might be able to vaguely cut through space, but you can never cut through time, even later on!!!
Anyway, I memorized the information of the character listed as the owner of the time-stop sword.
There weren’t specific settings written down, just what kind of events you might encounter.
So, this character’s name is…
“Ichimaru Shiki.”
The moment I uttered it, my vision went dark.
How long had I been unconscious?
“Kyaaaah!”
I was startled by a sudden piercing scream and opened my eyes.
What entered my vision wasn’t my dark room and large monitor, but an unexpected mountain forest.
It was a scene of black wolves the size of houses pouncing on a girl in a school uniform.
‘…What is this?’
An incomprehensible scene far from my ordinary life. It was like a scene you’d only see in a game event.
For instance, the garbage game ‘Apocalypse Love Comedy’ that I had been playing until just now…
Just as I was feeling a sense of déjà vu, the girl being pounced on by the wolf screamed once more, and while my mind was dazed, my body moved automatically as if familiar with the situation.
—Swoosh.
I drew the sword at my waist.
This too was a long sword far from everyday life, one that might have been used during the Warring States period.
As the full moon light reflected off the blade, the ability activated.
—At that moment, everything stopped.
As proof, the girl who had been desperately screaming froze in place.
The piercing scream could no longer be heard.
Thump, thump, thump, the wolves that had been running on all fours toward the girl also stopped in mid-air.
As if under a petrification spell, they stood still in place.
No, if they had simply turned to stone, they would have fallen to the ground immediately, so it was truly close to a stop.
Yes, time had stopped.
Realizing this fact, I joyfully exclaimed at this amazing situation.
“Oh? Everyone has stopped moving?”
…?
What’s this?
After rubbing my lips that had uttered strange words on their own, I soon realized.
It seems that not only did I obtain the time-stop sword, but my body had also changed.
Many things seemed to have changed.