Mystic Messenger: Jaehee Route Days 5-7
Apr. 17th, 2019 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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AT LAST. JAEHEE. OVERWORKED KUUDERE OF MY HEART.
I'm enjoying it so far, even if she's a little shippier with Zen than I like.
So if my failed attempt at Yoosung's bad ends taught me anything, it's that I have limited patience for spending days waiting around doing nothing or retreading seen scenes.
I have thus decided to spend 100 hourglasses to skip the first four days of the common route and start on day 5 with Jaehee. But since I can't do that until tomorrow, it's time for FUN WITH NUMBERS
I currently have 122 hourglasses, about 50 of which I earned over Yoosung's route. If I want to buy more later, 300 hourglasses cost $11, with a slight discount if you buy more in bulk.
Here's all the things you can spend hourglasses on. I find it amusing that basic things like unlocking a missed chat cost more in the DLC, I guess being willing to fork out for the DLC is like a whale filter. (Though the fact there's a (large) upper limit to what you can spend makes this less whale-focussed than many other freemium games)
I definitely want to unlock Seven and Jumin (80) and probably V and Ray (550!)
I probably want to skip each version of the common route once I've seen it, so that's 100*4.
Total: 1030
Amount I expect to earn in that time: 122 + 5*50 = 372
Meanwhile the DLCs vary from 20 hourglasses each to SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY. And there's nine epilogues, all costing 20 hourglasses each.
Nnng. So. What I think I'll do is watch Yoosung's epilogue, to see if I like them, and play Jaehee's route. At that point I can either decide I don't like the game enough to spend real money on it, or spend $34 for 1000 hourglasses to unlock everything I want and have a little left over for epilogues/DLCs etc. *mutters about how much happier I'd have been just paying $35 up front for a regular game*
OK, enough numbers, time for cute girls!
I think I want MC to be 23: just a little younger than Jaehee's 25. Looking at what names were popular around the time of her birth, let's go for... ha! Sulki, which means wisdom (the meaning of my original name)
Now, what icon to use? Here's the in-game choices but as I now know she's going to be pale with long dark hair regardless.
Oh hey, I can prepare by replaying some of the day 1-4 chats and calls with Jaehee from the history. All at once! Skipping anything I'm not interested in!! LUXURY.
I only get to make choices I made before, but since I was hitting on Jaehee as well as Yoosung that's fine. Maybe I should replay these days for Zen, though, it'll be a very different mindset if I actually flirt back.
Damn, I photoshopped glasses onto the long haired default icon and got the image onto the emulator, but can't figure out how to get the game to load it :( *uses the long haired default and feels hard done by*
Here's my tragically unused masterpiece:
Haaaa I was wondering how the emails would be handled: all 17 you get during the common route are sitting unanswered in my inbox. That's a problem for not-awake-at-midnight Sean!
...awake-at-7am-Sean also can't be bothered >.>
Aww, that's right, at the end of the common route Yoosung backslid into playing LoLoL all the time. I'm going to feel bad not being able to help him out.
Oh mannn they are leaning into the dynamic where Jumin is a shitty boss and Jaehee is stoic. The choices are like "That sounds very difficult Jaehee" vs "LOL Jumin you're so funny when you're mean ^^" HMMMMMM I think I can manage without a walkthrough for now.
*is overcome with Jaehee feels, Yoosung what Yoosung*
Haaaa. And here we come to needing to pretend to be a Zen fangirl (I just...couldn't bring myself to roleplay a sincere one, not when I have to do his actual route next) Why yes, Jaehee, I would LOVE your extra Zen merchandise. BECAUSE IT IS FROM YOOOOOOUUUUU
My plan to roleplay this MC as a bit yandere for Jaehee is working out quite well so far. Like, afaict the route is not overtly romantic, but MC's obsessed enough that just being a close friend will be enough for a while (and then post-canon they get together, obviously)
A phonecall from Seven where he's in high-voiced girl mode since he had to dress as a maid for a "secret mission"?? He asks MC for eyeshadow advice then says she should get to know Jaehee since they're both actually girls. I am quite curious to learn what's going on with Seven and gender.
SIIIIGH ok time to make myself a list of guests and tick off the ones I've seen (note: the video has spoilers). I'm trying not to read the ones I haven't seen already but some jumped out at me:
Chef RamG is clearly Gordon Ramsey.
"Sherlocking" is very clearly Benedict Cumberbatch. "As they always say, the husband is last to know. He's completely unaware of the fact that his assistant Watt is his enemy, Nupin."
THE PLANET PLUTO
C. THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE. '"Hello, world!" is its most confident remark. But nowadays it's starting to feel nervous since other languages seem to get more popular.' Look at it's cute little face!
Santa Claus (@mrsanta)
"The man who gives out presents once a year wearing red clothes."
"Legendary spy. It's been said that all his missions leave a trail of blood." Uh.
WAIT. The wiki has a little video of CGs and stuff that plays in the corner of the screen. WAS THAT MC IN BED WITH RIKA?? *closes the video before I get more spoilers, but ooooh*
Aww a chat with Zen where he just rants about how bad of a boss Jumin is and how Jaehee deserves better. "It would be nice for you to encourage her, since you're a girl too. I don't know Jaehee that well and I'm not close to her."
These guys could stand to be less gender essentialist but I'll take the support for my ship lol.
A phonecall from Jaehee! "Sorry, I called you by mistake, perhaps I was subconsciously thinking of you." "I can be cold at first but I would like us to become friends". JAEHEEE
Just as everyone was a little disproportionately invested in Yoosung on his route, everyone but Jumin is more vocally sympathetic to Jaehee's troubles on this one. I'm enjoying it. She deserves the support!!
Whenever things at work get hectic Jumin de-stresses by getting the whole company to do dumbass things like a meerkat beauty contest, which just makes everyone but him even more stressed when they can least afford it. Last year Jaehee nearly collapsed from overwork and ended up in hospital ;_;
Hopefully Jumin's route won't require me to be ok with all this :/ (Jumin himself I find weirdly charming despite everything. Maybe it's because he has the hottest sprite >.>)
Jaehee calls just to hear MC's voice when she's depressed ;_; Before her mother died, she taught Jaehee to be kind, but now all her warmth has been stolen by the corporate system.
I've had a few chances to suggest there might be something going on between Zen and Jaehee which I have not taken. They did talk about how much they respect each other, but I think Jaehee is happy having a sort of...distant celebrity crush on Zen while also getting along with him as a friendly acquaintance.
(I also had the chance to express interest in Zen myself a few times but lol no)
There's an upcoming chat called "Jaehee and love" and a call called "I'm not really interested in seeing anyone". It's ok, Jaehee, working through compulsory heterosexuality to realise you're only into dating women can take time.
(she spends a little too much time coo-ing over how hot Zen's body is to be a Kinsey 6, but doesn't seem interested in dating him, or any other dude)
But first "Life that pursuits happiness". The translation of this game is mostly good but needs another run of the proofreader.
Jaehee posts this amazing photo of herself, to show how much babysitting Jumin's cat again is messing with her life:
Seven: Give the cat to me :D
MC: She'd get fired
Seven: Then she'd be free of the cat AND her job!
Jaehee: Free to be homeless :/ It would be nice if it was that easy, but I live in a capitalistic world.
Seven: A visual novel gives you at least two options but being a slave to money only gives you one option ;_;
haha, game :P
oops couldn't resist playing along with Seven's maths joke, which Jaehee did not appreciate. Not into cats or maths jokes, and yet...so perfect...
Jaehee <3
Seven says something I didn't write down about all the guys she knows being useless.
Seven: Yoosung's already fallen with the LoLoLoL tournament, I'm already married to the world of binary numbers, and Jumin's gay.
Jaehee: Mr Han is not gay.
Headcanon: one day Jumin randomly pontificated to her about what he wants in a girlfriend, not in a flirty way, just randomly oversharing. Jaehee was very glad to find out she's not his type.
Seven: If you leave it too late you'll end up in a loveless marriage organised by meeting. Time's running out you know.
Jaehee: I am aware that I am getting older :/
SHE'S TWENTY FIVE
Jaehee: I am not very interested in dating. I gave it up. If there's one thing I do want, rather than dating...it would be a friend I could talk to.
JAEHEE. JAEHEE YOU USELESS LESBIAN. LET MC LOVE YOU.
(Ok, she could be aroace. But for lesbian suits me better)
MC: I can be that friend!
Jaehee: Oh I thought that too. If we could meet in person, I'd love to become good friends with you.
And then she messages "I realise I've never talked about those things with anyone else"
Hmm, "I really enjoyed it, tell me more!" vs "I hope you find a friend to talk to, bye". GOSH HOW WILL I DECIDE
She's so happy to have someone to talk to ;_;
Yoosung: We've all given up on dating, but Jaehee can't wait too long since she's a woman.
MC: That's prejudiced >:(
Me: YOU TELL 'EM MC
Yoosung: ...oh, is it?
Zen: She said she's happy just watching my musicals...but they're not that good.
Yoosung: She's a huge fan of yours!
Zen: She is?!
Omg Zen how did you not notice.
Yoosung: Do you think she's attractive, Zen?
Me: *slams "I think she's extremely attractive" button*
Jaehee, offscreen: *gives MC a shiny yellow hourglass of approval*
Zen: I don't really care about looks but I think she's beautiful. She has a good career, and seems better than me at everything. I don't even have a stable income but my semi-popularity makes it easy for me to get narcissistic. Jaehee's much more secure.
Yoosung: What do you think about dating her?
Haaa I have the option to reply "What about me?" but I think it means "what about Zen dating me".
Zen: I think she'd be better off with someone stable, like her. I never really thought of her that way...but I do think she's amazing.
Awwww. I almost ship you two! BUT JAEHEE IS MINE.
Oops, lost a Jaehee heart for inviting Zen's fanclub to the party ;_;
Jumin: I do feel like I was too harsh on Assistant Kang this morning.
Me: Aw, Jumin, you're not all bad.
Jumin: Of course I have no plans to apologise. I would rather use the energy to work.
Me: NEVER MIND
MC: Not apologising requires energy too.
Jumin: I was right, you are fond of Assistant Kang. Do you also wish for her to see someone?
Me: YES. ME.
MC: I want her to be happy, whether or not it involves dating.
Jumin: Yes, I think she needs a friend more than a lover. But her personal life has nothing to do with me. More importantly, I have this cherry supplier...
(Cheritz loves their cherry references)
End of day 5! I have 30 hourglasses, not bad.
Yep, Zen has hurt his ankle again. Jaehee freaks out a bit but Seven and MC calm her down. Haaa and then Zen calls MC to make sure MC isn't SKIPPING MEALS DUE TO WORRY ABOUT HIM. MC says she's more concerned about Jaehee
Zen: Please take care of her for me. There's an invisible wall between us...you're closer to her.
Me: Aw.
Zen: And don't frown with worry for me! You're prettier when you smile.
Me: ...yeah, dude, I think she'll manage.
Yoosung explains Zen's angsty backstory: his parents wanted him to be a doctor, so he ran away in middle school to become a singer/actor. He's been alone for a lot of his life, so wouldn't it be nice if MC or Jaehee went to visit him?
WHAT ABOUT YOU, YOOSUNG? ZEN BARELY KNOW MC. JAEHEE HAS WORK. YOU SIT AROUND PLAYING VIDEO GAMES ALL DAY.
"I'm sure Zen would hate it if I visit him because I'm a guy"??? Ah, ok, "He's really sexist, though he pretends not to be".
Jaehee rings MC just to hear her voice?? Gosh.
Jaehee: I was thinking of visiting Zen in hospital
Jumin: I'd like to be generous and let you go, but my father gave me a new project with no warning that I'm too busy to do, then went off to Hawaii with his new girlfriend :/
Jaehee: I am also too busy. If it's not too impolite, I'd like to decline.
Jumin: Sorry, but no. You'll be well rewarded afterwards. Just slack off and do a bad job, then my father won't do this again.
Jaehee: Slack...off... D:
Jaehee messages MC saying Jumin got her a sandwich while she's working through her lunch break.
MC: A sandwich?! You deserve a feast!!
Jaehee: That takes a long time to eat. But it's nice if you're sharing...I'd like to have a feast if I was eating with you...
Jaeheeeeee
I'm more into this than I was into Yoosung (who was nice enough but...idk. Too normal?) but I'm glad I waited until I could make a MC with the right mindset to enjoy this dynamic properly.
Awww. Yoosung offers to go to Zen's house to help him out until his leg heals and sure enough Zen says it would be gross to be helped by a guy.
Seven finds out a hacker has broken into the security system but thus far there's no mention of a bomb. He rings MC to make sure she's ok and remind her that if she opens any of the drawers etc an alarm will go off. WHY IS SHE IN THE APARTMENT AT ALL??
...and now my dialogue options are "Call me more often" and "I love you Seven"??? Uh. Just when I was enjoying the game no longer pressuring me to be into Zen...
He feels like the sort who'd take "I love you" as a joke...ha, sure enough he replies "Even if you say you love me I won't buy you burritos".
Also, the numbers in his nickname are said in English, as "Seven Zero Seven". Which makes his name much easier to recognise in conversation than if it was...wow, ok, Korean has multiple ways of saying seven? Not sure if I like Chil or Ilgop more as a name, haha.
Seven and MC try to persuade Jaehee to visit Zen, who clearly wants to but is worried it would be inappropriate.
Flashback to child!Jaehee waiting for her mother to come out of surgery after a car accident. The nurse tells her everything will be ok but we know it wasn't :(
Jaehee: Seven teases me about Zen but doesn't understand the joy and sorrow that comes from the smallest gesture of an actor you admire.
MC: I'm always happy from every gesture you make >///<
Jaehee: That's what I wanted to tell you. I thought I was the only one...I'll try to make sure the joys don't turn into sorrow :)
Me; :D
Zen: Jaehee, if you come to visit this late at night I might take it the wrong way ;)
Jaehee: That was not my intention D:
Zen: Just kidding. I know you're just worried about me. But I really don't need twelve extra bodyguards. And how could a delicate woman like you protect me?
Jaehee, literally sparkling with determination: I have a black belt in judo. If something happens to you and you can no longer act...I'll have nothing left to be happy about.
Ze: Uh?
Jaehee ;_;
The bad end version of this scene is called "A very private visit". HMMMM. At first I was thinking "Does Jaehee sleep with Zen?!" but then I remembered that the bad choices tend to involve MC expressing interest in Zen herself, and wanting to visit him instead of Jaehee. So maybe she sleeps with Zen and things get weird for everyone.
Good thing this MC wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole, lol.
Random note: containing "lol" is a strong marker for Jaehee disliking a choice, while a tilde at the end is a strong marker for her liking it. That tripped me up a few times, since I'm used to tildes indicating sarcasm, but they clearly mean something else in this context...like a milder version of a smiley, maybe?
Aw, Zen says he hasn't had anyone look after him when he was sick since he was a kid.
Jaehee: When I saw Zen's face all my worries melted away
Me: :(
Jaehee: It would have been nice if you could have come too
Me: :)
She's planning on staying up all night to watch over him while she does work? JAEHEE
End of Day 6!
Haha Yoosung get VERY EXCITEDLY SHIPPY about Jaehee staying at Zen's overnight.
Jaehee comes into chat at 2am, having just finished the day's work, saying all Zen has in his fridge is water and beer, and maybe she should visit him from time to time with home cooked meals. I'm not sure what the game wants me to say but I am going to say she has too much work. Come on, Jaehee, you don't even have time to cook for yourself.
I understand why the one f/f path isn't overtly romantic, since this isn't the kind of game that has friendship versions of paths and a lot of players won't be into that. But it would have been nice if this and Ozmafia didn't spend so much of the path with the girl being so focussed on a dude :/ I mean Jaehee and Zen aren't interested in dating each other, but there's still...a vibe.
Flashback to Jaehee's aunt telling her uncle it's too much hassle to look after teen!orphan!Jaehee. "It's all her mother's fault for falling in love with a much older man and not thinking practically. And Jaehee's in ninth grade, she'd have been married already in old times".
A phonecall from Jaehee where she feels sorry for Zen being estranged from his family and not looking after himself. She makes sure MC is looking after herself too.
Zen's icon is now the breakfast Jaehee made for him. He likes feeling cared for, but hopes she's gone home to sleep.
Jumin: Have you forgotten that my assistant has a job >:(
MC: She needs a vacation.
Jumin: Vacations are for when we're not busy. And she spent all her vacation time going to Zen's musicals.
Zen: Oh.... You should thank her for her hard work.
Jumin: I thank my employees with money.
MC: Use your words, Jumin
Zen: It's amazing how much she did for me here in a few hours. How did she have time to organise my bathroom and buy fruit?
Jumin, in a cat shaped bubble: What if I went to your house and brought you cigs and fruit. Would you think I was a good person?
Zen: Are you high?!
Jumin: You've alway refused my help. So why are you accepting hers?
Zen: Your help always feels bad. And I didn't ask for hers, I just didn't feel able to say no.
Jumin: You're weak to women. Just control your instincts and don't do something stupid.
Zen: I would never! We're too different. She's from a good background with a good education.
Jumin: She's not from a good background. But it's not my place to talk about. Get better soon so she can get back to work.
Zen: Ok. Thanks for lending me Jaehee.
Jumin: I lent you security guards, she went because she wanted to.
For someone so full of himself Zen is weirdly resistant to realising how much Jaehee likes him. BUT THAT SUITS ME FINE.
CG: Jaehee looking badass in a business suit gives a presentation on the new project Jumin wants her to slack off on: a coffee shop chain.
Worker: An assistant leading the team?!
Jaehee: If you have a problem with that, you shouldn't have done so badly we needed to step in to fix your mistakes ^_^
Jahee to MC: Everyone kept making snide remarks, it was quite upsetting. You're the only person I can tell this to...
MC: Give me a thread and needle!!! I'll stitch up their mouths!
Jaehee: Heehee
This game is giving me more material for yandere!MC than I was expecting :D
Jaehee: I plan to go to Zen's this afternoon after seeing his empty fridge
Choice: "My fridge is empty too" "You'd make such a good wife"
Welp, same sex marriage isn't legalised in Korea, so...
Jaehee: Oh no, it would be fun to come to your house and cook something. If only I knew the address...
I love how the game glosses over the fact that MC could just...tell them where she lives...
Jumin: I'm thinking of relieving my stress by starting a chain of cat hotels with profits going to help homeless cats.
MC: That's more work for Jaehee >:(
Jumin: She can think of it as being for the good of the cats! Anyway, tell me if you have any ideas and I'll listen.
MC: LESS. WORK. FOR. JAEHEE.
Jumin: The more she works the more she gets paid. I should increase her workload for her benefit.
DAMMIT JUMIN >:(
Jaehee is surprised to find herself enjoying all the research she's doing into coffee. But in the end, Jumin's name will be the one on the shops and she'll have to move onto whatever project comes next.
Zen grabs the groceries Jaehee brought and says he'll do the cooking.
STOP BEING CUTE YOU TWO
Seven traced the hacking back to the "Mint Eye" organisation and V told him to just...call them up, so he did. Guess we're not having BOMBS and INFILTRATION for the girly path. And I guess the bomb etc made V look shadier as part of Yoosung's angsty backstory. Jaehee doesn't really care about V.
V is flying back to meet with Mint Eye, and Seven plans to secretly watch just in case V is in danger.
Zen and MC bond about how charming and talented Jaehee is, since Zen's been getting to know her better.
Yoosung: You care about Jaehee a lot, MC, I'm a little jealous.
Zen: She's only that way with Jaehee. Us men just weren't attractive enough.
Yoosung: Well we do all suck.
MC does not deny it :D
Goddamn Jumin gives Jaehee two days to prepare a presentation on the damn cat hotel thing (that she hates), telling her to delegate the coffee franchise project (that she actually likes) if she has to. Seeing how upset she is, Zen tells her to do what makes her happy.
Jaehee: It's work. It's not meant to make me happy.
Zen: My work makes me happy. I have to compromise and do boring roles sometimes. But if a role calls to me, I make sure to grab it.
Jaehee: You can do that. But I'm replaceable. And I don't like how society views the unemployed.
Zen: What matters is what you think...ah, but am I being too nosy?
Jaehee: No, you've given me something to think about.
Awww and then he rings MC for advice on how to help Jaehee? Oh no this is really cute. "She could soar to the sky if it wasn't for that devil Jumin."
I guess this will all make it easier to imagine the Zen route as Zen/MC/Jaehee...
Oh man so Zen decides the best way to help Jaehee is to get Seven to prepare the cat hotel presentation. HMM.
*peeks ahead to see if the next chat is a 3am HELL NO from Jaehee*
...yep, "I can do it by myself" with Jaehee and Seven at 1am, followed by "Ridiculous idea" with Jumin at 8am.
Anyway, that's the end of day 7! I am at 44 hourglasses. If I don't fast forward through the common route for Zen, by the end of his route I should have the 80 I need to unlock Seven and Jumin. I'll have to buy some to unlock V and Ray, but I like the idea of coasting on for free as long as I can.
AT LAST. JAEHEE. OVERWORKED KUUDERE OF MY HEART.
I'm enjoying it so far, even if she's a little shippier with Zen than I like.
So if my failed attempt at Yoosung's bad ends taught me anything, it's that I have limited patience for spending days waiting around doing nothing or retreading seen scenes.
I have thus decided to spend 100 hourglasses to skip the first four days of the common route and start on day 5 with Jaehee. But since I can't do that until tomorrow, it's time for FUN WITH NUMBERS
I currently have 122 hourglasses, about 50 of which I earned over Yoosung's route. If I want to buy more later, 300 hourglasses cost $11, with a slight discount if you buy more in bulk.
Here's all the things you can spend hourglasses on. I find it amusing that basic things like unlocking a missed chat cost more in the DLC, I guess being willing to fork out for the DLC is like a whale filter. (Though the fact there's a (large) upper limit to what you can spend makes this less whale-focussed than many other freemium games)
I definitely want to unlock Seven and Jumin (80) and probably V and Ray (550!)
I probably want to skip each version of the common route once I've seen it, so that's 100*4.
Total: 1030
Amount I expect to earn in that time: 122 + 5*50 = 372
Meanwhile the DLCs vary from 20 hourglasses each to SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY. And there's nine epilogues, all costing 20 hourglasses each.
Nnng. So. What I think I'll do is watch Yoosung's epilogue, to see if I like them, and play Jaehee's route. At that point I can either decide I don't like the game enough to spend real money on it, or spend $34 for 1000 hourglasses to unlock everything I want and have a little left over for epilogues/DLCs etc. *mutters about how much happier I'd have been just paying $35 up front for a regular game*
OK, enough numbers, time for cute girls!
I think I want MC to be 23: just a little younger than Jaehee's 25. Looking at what names were popular around the time of her birth, let's go for... ha! Sulki, which means wisdom (the meaning of my original name)
Now, what icon to use? Here's the in-game choices but as I now know she's going to be pale with long dark hair regardless.
Oh hey, I can prepare by replaying some of the day 1-4 chats and calls with Jaehee from the history. All at once! Skipping anything I'm not interested in!! LUXURY.
I only get to make choices I made before, but since I was hitting on Jaehee as well as Yoosung that's fine. Maybe I should replay these days for Zen, though, it'll be a very different mindset if I actually flirt back.
Damn, I photoshopped glasses onto the long haired default icon and got the image onto the emulator, but can't figure out how to get the game to load it :( *uses the long haired default and feels hard done by*
Here's my tragically unused masterpiece:
Haaaa I was wondering how the emails would be handled: all 17 you get during the common route are sitting unanswered in my inbox. That's a problem for not-awake-at-midnight Sean!
...awake-at-7am-Sean also can't be bothered >.>
Aww, that's right, at the end of the common route Yoosung backslid into playing LoLoL all the time. I'm going to feel bad not being able to help him out.
Oh mannn they are leaning into the dynamic where Jumin is a shitty boss and Jaehee is stoic. The choices are like "That sounds very difficult Jaehee" vs "LOL Jumin you're so funny when you're mean ^^" HMMMMMM I think I can manage without a walkthrough for now.
*is overcome with Jaehee feels, Yoosung what Yoosung*
Haaaa. And here we come to needing to pretend to be a Zen fangirl (I just...couldn't bring myself to roleplay a sincere one, not when I have to do his actual route next) Why yes, Jaehee, I would LOVE your extra Zen merchandise. BECAUSE IT IS FROM YOOOOOOUUUUU
My plan to roleplay this MC as a bit yandere for Jaehee is working out quite well so far. Like, afaict the route is not overtly romantic, but MC's obsessed enough that just being a close friend will be enough for a while (and then post-canon they get together, obviously)
A phonecall from Seven where he's in high-voiced girl mode since he had to dress as a maid for a "secret mission"?? He asks MC for eyeshadow advice then says she should get to know Jaehee since they're both actually girls. I am quite curious to learn what's going on with Seven and gender.
SIIIIGH ok time to make myself a list of guests and tick off the ones I've seen (note: the video has spoilers). I'm trying not to read the ones I haven't seen already but some jumped out at me:
Chef RamG is clearly Gordon Ramsey.
"Sherlocking" is very clearly Benedict Cumberbatch. "As they always say, the husband is last to know. He's completely unaware of the fact that his assistant Watt is his enemy, Nupin."
THE PLANET PLUTO
C. THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE. '"Hello, world!" is its most confident remark. But nowadays it's starting to feel nervous since other languages seem to get more popular.' Look at it's cute little face!
Santa Claus (@mrsanta)
"The man who gives out presents once a year wearing red clothes."
"Legendary spy. It's been said that all his missions leave a trail of blood." Uh.
WAIT. The wiki has a little video of CGs and stuff that plays in the corner of the screen. WAS THAT MC IN BED WITH RIKA?? *closes the video before I get more spoilers, but ooooh*
Aww a chat with Zen where he just rants about how bad of a boss Jumin is and how Jaehee deserves better. "It would be nice for you to encourage her, since you're a girl too. I don't know Jaehee that well and I'm not close to her."
These guys could stand to be less gender essentialist but I'll take the support for my ship lol.
A phonecall from Jaehee! "Sorry, I called you by mistake, perhaps I was subconsciously thinking of you." "I can be cold at first but I would like us to become friends". JAEHEEE
Just as everyone was a little disproportionately invested in Yoosung on his route, everyone but Jumin is more vocally sympathetic to Jaehee's troubles on this one. I'm enjoying it. She deserves the support!!
Whenever things at work get hectic Jumin de-stresses by getting the whole company to do dumbass things like a meerkat beauty contest, which just makes everyone but him even more stressed when they can least afford it. Last year Jaehee nearly collapsed from overwork and ended up in hospital ;_;
Hopefully Jumin's route won't require me to be ok with all this :/ (Jumin himself I find weirdly charming despite everything. Maybe it's because he has the hottest sprite >.>)
Jaehee calls just to hear MC's voice when she's depressed ;_; Before her mother died, she taught Jaehee to be kind, but now all her warmth has been stolen by the corporate system.
I've had a few chances to suggest there might be something going on between Zen and Jaehee which I have not taken. They did talk about how much they respect each other, but I think Jaehee is happy having a sort of...distant celebrity crush on Zen while also getting along with him as a friendly acquaintance.
(I also had the chance to express interest in Zen myself a few times but lol no)
There's an upcoming chat called "Jaehee and love" and a call called "I'm not really interested in seeing anyone". It's ok, Jaehee, working through compulsory heterosexuality to realise you're only into dating women can take time.
(she spends a little too much time coo-ing over how hot Zen's body is to be a Kinsey 6, but doesn't seem interested in dating him, or any other dude)
But first "Life that pursuits happiness". The translation of this game is mostly good but needs another run of the proofreader.
Jaehee posts this amazing photo of herself, to show how much babysitting Jumin's cat again is messing with her life:
Seven: Give the cat to me :D
MC: She'd get fired
Seven: Then she'd be free of the cat AND her job!
Jaehee: Free to be homeless :/ It would be nice if it was that easy, but I live in a capitalistic world.
Seven: A visual novel gives you at least two options but being a slave to money only gives you one option ;_;
haha, game :P
oops couldn't resist playing along with Seven's maths joke, which Jaehee did not appreciate. Not into cats or maths jokes, and yet...so perfect...
Jaehee <3
Seven says something I didn't write down about all the guys she knows being useless.
Seven: Yoosung's already fallen with the LoLoLoL tournament, I'm already married to the world of binary numbers, and Jumin's gay.
Jaehee: Mr Han is not gay.
Headcanon: one day Jumin randomly pontificated to her about what he wants in a girlfriend, not in a flirty way, just randomly oversharing. Jaehee was very glad to find out she's not his type.
Seven: If you leave it too late you'll end up in a loveless marriage organised by meeting. Time's running out you know.
Jaehee: I am aware that I am getting older :/
SHE'S TWENTY FIVE
Jaehee: I am not very interested in dating. I gave it up. If there's one thing I do want, rather than dating...it would be a friend I could talk to.
JAEHEE. JAEHEE YOU USELESS LESBIAN. LET MC LOVE YOU.
(Ok, she could be aroace. But for lesbian suits me better)
MC: I can be that friend!
Jaehee: Oh I thought that too. If we could meet in person, I'd love to become good friends with you.
And then she messages "I realise I've never talked about those things with anyone else"
Hmm, "I really enjoyed it, tell me more!" vs "I hope you find a friend to talk to, bye". GOSH HOW WILL I DECIDE
She's so happy to have someone to talk to ;_;
Yoosung: We've all given up on dating, but Jaehee can't wait too long since she's a woman.
MC: That's prejudiced >:(
Me: YOU TELL 'EM MC
Yoosung: ...oh, is it?
Zen: She said she's happy just watching my musicals...but they're not that good.
Yoosung: She's a huge fan of yours!
Zen: She is?!
Omg Zen how did you not notice.
Yoosung: Do you think she's attractive, Zen?
Me: *slams "I think she's extremely attractive" button*
Jaehee, offscreen: *gives MC a shiny yellow hourglass of approval*
Zen: I don't really care about looks but I think she's beautiful. She has a good career, and seems better than me at everything. I don't even have a stable income but my semi-popularity makes it easy for me to get narcissistic. Jaehee's much more secure.
Yoosung: What do you think about dating her?
Haaa I have the option to reply "What about me?" but I think it means "what about Zen dating me".
Zen: I think she'd be better off with someone stable, like her. I never really thought of her that way...but I do think she's amazing.
Awwww. I almost ship you two! BUT JAEHEE IS MINE.
Oops, lost a Jaehee heart for inviting Zen's fanclub to the party ;_;
Jumin: I do feel like I was too harsh on Assistant Kang this morning.
Me: Aw, Jumin, you're not all bad.
Jumin: Of course I have no plans to apologise. I would rather use the energy to work.
Me: NEVER MIND
MC: Not apologising requires energy too.
Jumin: I was right, you are fond of Assistant Kang. Do you also wish for her to see someone?
Me: YES. ME.
MC: I want her to be happy, whether or not it involves dating.
Jumin: Yes, I think she needs a friend more than a lover. But her personal life has nothing to do with me. More importantly, I have this cherry supplier...
(Cheritz loves their cherry references)
End of day 5! I have 30 hourglasses, not bad.
Yep, Zen has hurt his ankle again. Jaehee freaks out a bit but Seven and MC calm her down. Haaa and then Zen calls MC to make sure MC isn't SKIPPING MEALS DUE TO WORRY ABOUT HIM. MC says she's more concerned about Jaehee
Zen: Please take care of her for me. There's an invisible wall between us...you're closer to her.
Me: Aw.
Zen: And don't frown with worry for me! You're prettier when you smile.
Me: ...yeah, dude, I think she'll manage.
Yoosung explains Zen's angsty backstory: his parents wanted him to be a doctor, so he ran away in middle school to become a singer/actor. He's been alone for a lot of his life, so wouldn't it be nice if MC or Jaehee went to visit him?
WHAT ABOUT YOU, YOOSUNG? ZEN BARELY KNOW MC. JAEHEE HAS WORK. YOU SIT AROUND PLAYING VIDEO GAMES ALL DAY.
"I'm sure Zen would hate it if I visit him because I'm a guy"??? Ah, ok, "He's really sexist, though he pretends not to be".
Jaehee rings MC just to hear her voice?? Gosh.
Jaehee: I was thinking of visiting Zen in hospital
Jumin: I'd like to be generous and let you go, but my father gave me a new project with no warning that I'm too busy to do, then went off to Hawaii with his new girlfriend :/
Jaehee: I am also too busy. If it's not too impolite, I'd like to decline.
Jumin: Sorry, but no. You'll be well rewarded afterwards. Just slack off and do a bad job, then my father won't do this again.
Jaehee: Slack...off... D:
Jaehee messages MC saying Jumin got her a sandwich while she's working through her lunch break.
MC: A sandwich?! You deserve a feast!!
Jaehee: That takes a long time to eat. But it's nice if you're sharing...I'd like to have a feast if I was eating with you...
Jaeheeeeee
I'm more into this than I was into Yoosung (who was nice enough but...idk. Too normal?) but I'm glad I waited until I could make a MC with the right mindset to enjoy this dynamic properly.
Awww. Yoosung offers to go to Zen's house to help him out until his leg heals and sure enough Zen says it would be gross to be helped by a guy.
Seven finds out a hacker has broken into the security system but thus far there's no mention of a bomb. He rings MC to make sure she's ok and remind her that if she opens any of the drawers etc an alarm will go off. WHY IS SHE IN THE APARTMENT AT ALL??
...and now my dialogue options are "Call me more often" and "I love you Seven"??? Uh. Just when I was enjoying the game no longer pressuring me to be into Zen...
He feels like the sort who'd take "I love you" as a joke...ha, sure enough he replies "Even if you say you love me I won't buy you burritos".
Also, the numbers in his nickname are said in English, as "Seven Zero Seven". Which makes his name much easier to recognise in conversation than if it was...wow, ok, Korean has multiple ways of saying seven? Not sure if I like Chil or Ilgop more as a name, haha.
Seven and MC try to persuade Jaehee to visit Zen, who clearly wants to but is worried it would be inappropriate.
Flashback to child!Jaehee waiting for her mother to come out of surgery after a car accident. The nurse tells her everything will be ok but we know it wasn't :(
Jaehee: Seven teases me about Zen but doesn't understand the joy and sorrow that comes from the smallest gesture of an actor you admire.
MC: I'm always happy from every gesture you make >///<
Jaehee: That's what I wanted to tell you. I thought I was the only one...I'll try to make sure the joys don't turn into sorrow :)
Me; :D
Zen: Jaehee, if you come to visit this late at night I might take it the wrong way ;)
Jaehee: That was not my intention D:
Zen: Just kidding. I know you're just worried about me. But I really don't need twelve extra bodyguards. And how could a delicate woman like you protect me?
Jaehee, literally sparkling with determination: I have a black belt in judo. If something happens to you and you can no longer act...I'll have nothing left to be happy about.
Ze: Uh?
Jaehee ;_;
The bad end version of this scene is called "A very private visit". HMMMM. At first I was thinking "Does Jaehee sleep with Zen?!" but then I remembered that the bad choices tend to involve MC expressing interest in Zen herself, and wanting to visit him instead of Jaehee. So maybe she sleeps with Zen and things get weird for everyone.
Good thing this MC wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole, lol.
Random note: containing "lol" is a strong marker for Jaehee disliking a choice, while a tilde at the end is a strong marker for her liking it. That tripped me up a few times, since I'm used to tildes indicating sarcasm, but they clearly mean something else in this context...like a milder version of a smiley, maybe?
Aw, Zen says he hasn't had anyone look after him when he was sick since he was a kid.
Jaehee: When I saw Zen's face all my worries melted away
Me: :(
Jaehee: It would have been nice if you could have come too
Me: :)
She's planning on staying up all night to watch over him while she does work? JAEHEE
End of Day 6!
Haha Yoosung get VERY EXCITEDLY SHIPPY about Jaehee staying at Zen's overnight.
Jaehee comes into chat at 2am, having just finished the day's work, saying all Zen has in his fridge is water and beer, and maybe she should visit him from time to time with home cooked meals. I'm not sure what the game wants me to say but I am going to say she has too much work. Come on, Jaehee, you don't even have time to cook for yourself.
I understand why the one f/f path isn't overtly romantic, since this isn't the kind of game that has friendship versions of paths and a lot of players won't be into that. But it would have been nice if this and Ozmafia didn't spend so much of the path with the girl being so focussed on a dude :/ I mean Jaehee and Zen aren't interested in dating each other, but there's still...a vibe.
Flashback to Jaehee's aunt telling her uncle it's too much hassle to look after teen!orphan!Jaehee. "It's all her mother's fault for falling in love with a much older man and not thinking practically. And Jaehee's in ninth grade, she'd have been married already in old times".
A phonecall from Jaehee where she feels sorry for Zen being estranged from his family and not looking after himself. She makes sure MC is looking after herself too.
Zen's icon is now the breakfast Jaehee made for him. He likes feeling cared for, but hopes she's gone home to sleep.
Jumin: Have you forgotten that my assistant has a job >:(
MC: She needs a vacation.
Jumin: Vacations are for when we're not busy. And she spent all her vacation time going to Zen's musicals.
Zen: Oh.... You should thank her for her hard work.
Jumin: I thank my employees with money.
MC: Use your words, Jumin
Zen: It's amazing how much she did for me here in a few hours. How did she have time to organise my bathroom and buy fruit?
Jumin, in a cat shaped bubble: What if I went to your house and brought you cigs and fruit. Would you think I was a good person?
Zen: Are you high?!
Jumin: You've alway refused my help. So why are you accepting hers?
Zen: Your help always feels bad. And I didn't ask for hers, I just didn't feel able to say no.
Jumin: You're weak to women. Just control your instincts and don't do something stupid.
Zen: I would never! We're too different. She's from a good background with a good education.
Jumin: She's not from a good background. But it's not my place to talk about. Get better soon so she can get back to work.
Zen: Ok. Thanks for lending me Jaehee.
Jumin: I lent you security guards, she went because she wanted to.
For someone so full of himself Zen is weirdly resistant to realising how much Jaehee likes him. BUT THAT SUITS ME FINE.
CG: Jaehee looking badass in a business suit gives a presentation on the new project Jumin wants her to slack off on: a coffee shop chain.
Worker: An assistant leading the team?!
Jaehee: If you have a problem with that, you shouldn't have done so badly we needed to step in to fix your mistakes ^_^
Jahee to MC: Everyone kept making snide remarks, it was quite upsetting. You're the only person I can tell this to...
MC: Give me a thread and needle!!! I'll stitch up their mouths!
Jaehee: Heehee
This game is giving me more material for yandere!MC than I was expecting :D
Jaehee: I plan to go to Zen's this afternoon after seeing his empty fridge
Choice: "My fridge is empty too" "You'd make such a good wife"
Welp, same sex marriage isn't legalised in Korea, so...
Jaehee: Oh no, it would be fun to come to your house and cook something. If only I knew the address...
I love how the game glosses over the fact that MC could just...tell them where she lives...
Jumin: I'm thinking of relieving my stress by starting a chain of cat hotels with profits going to help homeless cats.
MC: That's more work for Jaehee >:(
Jumin: She can think of it as being for the good of the cats! Anyway, tell me if you have any ideas and I'll listen.
MC: LESS. WORK. FOR. JAEHEE.
Jumin: The more she works the more she gets paid. I should increase her workload for her benefit.
DAMMIT JUMIN >:(
Jaehee is surprised to find herself enjoying all the research she's doing into coffee. But in the end, Jumin's name will be the one on the shops and she'll have to move onto whatever project comes next.
Zen grabs the groceries Jaehee brought and says he'll do the cooking.
STOP BEING CUTE YOU TWO
Seven traced the hacking back to the "Mint Eye" organisation and V told him to just...call them up, so he did. Guess we're not having BOMBS and INFILTRATION for the girly path. And I guess the bomb etc made V look shadier as part of Yoosung's angsty backstory. Jaehee doesn't really care about V.
V is flying back to meet with Mint Eye, and Seven plans to secretly watch just in case V is in danger.
Zen and MC bond about how charming and talented Jaehee is, since Zen's been getting to know her better.
Yoosung: You care about Jaehee a lot, MC, I'm a little jealous.
Zen: She's only that way with Jaehee. Us men just weren't attractive enough.
Yoosung: Well we do all suck.
MC does not deny it :D
Goddamn Jumin gives Jaehee two days to prepare a presentation on the damn cat hotel thing (that she hates), telling her to delegate the coffee franchise project (that she actually likes) if she has to. Seeing how upset she is, Zen tells her to do what makes her happy.
Jaehee: It's work. It's not meant to make me happy.
Zen: My work makes me happy. I have to compromise and do boring roles sometimes. But if a role calls to me, I make sure to grab it.
Jaehee: You can do that. But I'm replaceable. And I don't like how society views the unemployed.
Zen: What matters is what you think...ah, but am I being too nosy?
Jaehee: No, you've given me something to think about.
Awww and then he rings MC for advice on how to help Jaehee? Oh no this is really cute. "She could soar to the sky if it wasn't for that devil Jumin."
I guess this will all make it easier to imagine the Zen route as Zen/MC/Jaehee...
Oh man so Zen decides the best way to help Jaehee is to get Seven to prepare the cat hotel presentation. HMM.
*peeks ahead to see if the next chat is a 3am HELL NO from Jaehee*
...yep, "I can do it by myself" with Jaehee and Seven at 1am, followed by "Ridiculous idea" with Jumin at 8am.
Anyway, that's the end of day 7! I am at 44 hourglasses. If I don't fast forward through the common route for Zen, by the end of his route I should have the 80 I need to unlock Seven and Jumin. I'll have to buy some to unlock V and Ray, but I like the idea of coasting on for free as long as I can.
