Chapter Three #2
But I wasn’t some kind of dense idiot who didn’t understand girls’ feelings. Or maybe I was, but definitely not for anyone who was a character in Custom Dungeon World.
“Isn’t it… kind of weird knowing that I romanced you and know everything about you?” I asked. “It’s kind of unfair, isn’t it?”
“You said I was just some game character, right?” Rosie asked me, now looking me in the eyes again.
“I wouldn’t say ‘just’ some game character. You were one of the best characters from the greatest game of all time.”
“Mhm. So, what’s my favorite color?”
“Red.”
“Tch. Favorite food?”
“Any kind of pasta.”
“… where’s my mole—”
“The inner side of your right thigh.”
Rosie started turning red again. “Then—then what about… what’s my big sister’s name?!”
“She’s—”
Wait.
What was her big sister’s name?
The Rosie of the game mentioned having a big sister who she looked up to, but she never said her name.
“… does she have a name?” I asked.
“Of course she does!” Rosie shouted. “Everyone has a name!”
“Is it ‘Big Sister’ or something like that?”
“No! It’s a normal name just like mine!”
“Huh. I have no idea then.”
That building redness, probably from a combination of both being flustered and frustrated, disappeared in an instant as Rosie looked at me with a smug smile.
“Heh. See? You don’t know everything about me.
Yeah, you might know a lot, but I’m not some game character anymore.
I’m a real girl, alright? So, don’t get full of yourself and think you know everything about me just because of that game. My sis’s name is Sophie, by the way.”
Rosie… had a point. A pretty good one.
No matter how much I might have known about all the different characters, that was when they were only characters.
Something like Rosie having a big sister didn’t really matter.
All it did was serve as background inspiration for why she wanted to become an adventurer, since she looked up to her big sister.
The sister was never mentioned any other time.
But here, the sister was a real person with her own life, and she mattered to Rosie beyond being a throwaway dialogue line.
There was probably a ton more I didn’t know about her, either. Sure, I knew more than a random nobody would, but I didn’t know everything.
I knew the Rosie of the game. I didn’t know the real Rosie.
So, I held my hand out to her since we never got to shake hands when she offered. “The name’s Sev. I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Rosie.”
“Heh, Sev… so that’s your name.” Rosie nodded and looked at me with a smile before taking my hand for a firm shake. “The name’s Rosie! I’m looking forward to getting to know you, too, Sev!”
That was something that never happened in the game. The player character was a blank slate, after all. No personality. No history. No interests nor hobbies. No beliefs nor morals.
It wasn’t just the first time anyone from Custom Dungeon World wanted to get to know the player character, but the first time anyone wanted to get to know me. The real me.
“You cry a lot, don’t ya?” Rosie asked me with a little smirk.
“Sorry, sorry,” I said. “I—”
“Hey, don’t apologize for crying. It’s good to be open with your feelings. Anyways, since we’re here—”
Let’s team up! The rest of the dungeon will be easy if we’re together!
That was her line from the game.
Instead.
“—how about clearing this dungeon together? I’ve got to show you I’m actually pretty strong after that embarrassing defeat earlier.”
Even if it was the same result, that was just because of the kind of girl she was. The difference in dialogue was enough to remind me, once again, that this was no longer just a game where everyone followed the script to the letter.
Some things might have been destined, like my encounter with her in the first place, but I was sure the script would continue to veer away from the original to make place for a new story.
Maybe that was part of the surprises Seth mentioned.
“Yeah,” I replied. “Let’s do it.”
I noticed the option for it earlier when looking through the information screen, so I opened it up and sent her an invite to a party.
[Rosie Littleear has joined the party!]
Her name and status appeared at the top left of my vision once she accepted.
“Awesome!” Rosie said. “Oh, and… one more question.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“That uh—back in the game. I know you said we’ve… gotten married and stuff, but, uh… was—was it the kind of game that showed… everything?”
“Everything?”
“You—you know! Like… s-sex.” She gulped before shouting at me, “Did you see us have sex?! Have you seen me naked?!”
“Where’s that coming from all of a sudden?!”
“Because it’d be embarrassing to walk around with a guy who has seen me naked before we’re in that kind of relationship!”
“I haven’t! The game implied sex a few times, but it was always fade-to-black, so nothing like that ever got shown!”
Rosie let out a relieved sigh. “Good. I would have made you strip here and now to make it even if you saw that.”
“That’s sexual harassment.”
“You wouldn’t willingly strip for your wife?”
“Only if you become my wife here, too.”
“Heh. Well, sorry, but you’ll have to build up the real Rosie’s affection level if you want that.”
“Just so you know, your romance was one of the easiest to unlock in the entire game.”
“You calling me easy?!”
“Your romance route was easy mode, yeah.”
“It’s not like I’d fall for any random guy who saves me in a dungeon, you know!”
I narrowed my eyes at her for a change. “Oh? Because the way you were blushing earlier—”
“Blushing—blushing doesn’t mean anything!”
With an angry huff, she turned away from me and stomped toward the other side of the room where the dungeon continued.
Rosie was as easy to read as ever.
She was also as fun to tease as ever.
“By the way,” I said. “After the first night together, the player would get a special consumable named ‘Rosie’s Milk’ added to their inventory.”
Rosie ran away at full speed after that.