Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players
Chapter 34: What Do the Paper Rabbits Represent?
As Dong Zhen continued progressing through the game, Johnny's memories moved from his old age to his middle-aged years.
Johnny was standing by River's window. By this point, River was already terminally ill, with the platypus plushie sitting beside her bed.
The floor was covered with paper rabbits.
"It's just enough. Even after paying for the surgery, we'll still have just enough left... So don't worry." Johnny said to River.
But River simply looked at Johnny.
"A white lie... You think this is a white lie, don't you?"
"No, I'm sure we have just enough—" Johnny tried to explain, but she interrupted him.
"Stop... I don't like it when you lie to me."
"I've calculated our assets. I know what our actual situation is."
"Why are you trying to convince me to go against my own wishes?"
River looked deeply saddened.
Johnny, meanwhile, became somewhat agitated.
"We need that money to pay for your medical treatment, River!"
"I understand that Anya is very important to you, but this... this is just ridiculous!"
"I mean, she's not even—"
River interrupted him again.
"Do you know what would make me happy?"
Through the conversation between River and Johnny, Dong Zhen and the viewers in the livestream finally understood what this so-called Anya actually was.
In the earlier memory fragments, Johnny had mentioned that Anya was something extremely important to River.
But what exactly it was remained completely unclear.
At first, Dong Zhen had guessed that Anya was the platypus plushie.
But now he had another theory.
Anya wasn't the platypus, nor was she a person.
She might actually be the lighthouse standing on the cliff.
River might have been able to receive treatment for her illness, but she insisted that Johnny use the money meant for her medical care to build a house and watch over the lighthouse instead. She even said that doing so would make her happy.
"What the hell? She doesn't want to live?! A house where she can see the lighthouse is more important than her life!?"
Dong Zhen felt as though his head was filled with questions.
There were simply too many things he couldn't figure out.
At this point, River handed Johnny a paper rabbit.
It was the same blue-and-yellow paper rabbit—the one folded from two different colors of paper.
"What is this?" River asked Johnny hopefully.
Johnny was somewhat surprised, but he still answered.
"It's a rabbit, just like the ones you've made before."
"And then?" River continued.
"And then... uh..." Johnny became flustered. "Well, it's made of paper."
"What else?"
"Its body is yellow, while the rest of it is blue."
"Good. What else?"
River sounded increasingly anxious.
But Johnny had absolutely no idea what she was trying to get him to understand. So he changed the subject, saying that he had written a piece of music and wanted to play it for her.
It was the same piece he had discovered earlier:
"For River."
River smiled and teased him, saying that the title was incredibly cheesy.
The memories continued moving backward in time.
At this point, Johnny was struggling with a painful dilemma.
He had to decide whether he should spend the money treating River or continue building the house that represented River's wish—a house beside the lighthouse.
Johnny was agonizing over the decision in the game.
But Dong Zhen, all the viewers in the livestream, and the in-game doctors Neil and Eva all understood what would ultimately happen.
Johnny would follow River's wishes and make his choice.
But why?!
Through Johnny's conversations with his friends Isabelle and Nicholas, they obtained a great deal of crucial information.
First, Anya was exactly what Dong Zhen had suspected:
It was the lighthouse standing on the edge of the cliff.
The lighthouse was also the place where River and Johnny had gotten married.
But none of it made sense!
Why was River so obsessed with that lighthouse?
And their conversations revealed another crucial piece of information.
River might have been suffering from some kind of illness, and the paper rabbits seemed to be one of the manifestations of her condition.
But why was River so fixated on the lighthouse?
And what exactly did these paper rabbits mean?
"Damn it, I really can't figure this out!"
Dong Zhen's face was filled with confusion.
The livestream chat was also scrolling rapidly.
"My brain can't handle this anymore."
"CPU overheating!"
"Seriously, what are these paper rabbits supposed to mean?"
"I have a feeling there's something seriously wrong with this game!"
"Hurry up, boss! Keep pushing the story!"
"+1. I really want to know what happens next!"
Clearly, the viewers in the livestream were just as curious about what would happen next in the game's story.
At the same time, they also wanted to see how the game would ultimately answer all these questions.
As the memories continued progressing further and further back in time, Johnny and River gradually became younger.
At one point, the two shared a romantic embrace beneath the lighthouse known as Anya, filled with hope and anticipation for the future.
But there was still one thing that left everyone confused.
River continued folding paper rabbits again and again, and she would take the blue-and-yellow rabbit to Johnny and ask:
"What is this?"
Thinking back to how River had continued asking Johnny the same question even when she was seriously ill, this only made the mystery even more confusing.
"So what the hell does this rabbit represent?!"
"Damn it, this is driving me crazy!"
Dong Zhen was scratching his head in frustration, practically tormented by curiosity.
And then there was another question:
What kind of illness was River actually suffering from?
Countless questions continued swirling around in his head.
His subsequent conversations with Nicholas and Isabelle revealed even more information about River.
It turned out that Isabelle suffered from the same condition as River.
This illness was what made River's speech seem so strange. Her words could sometimes become confusing and disorganized, making it difficult for others to understand what she was actually trying to express.
"So River has a condition that prevents her from clearly expressing her thoughts, along with social difficulties?"
Dong Zhen began speculating to himself.
With this explanation, many of River's strange behaviors suddenly made sense.
Why did River keep asking Johnny about the rabbit?
Why did she ask Johnny to throw a sandbag toward Anya, and then stand dangerously close to the edge of the cliff to watch?
There was an explanation for all of it.
Because River was suffering from a psychological disorder that made it difficult for her to clearly communicate her thoughts, she could only use hints and indirect methods to express what she truly wanted.
Understanding that explained her behavior.
But it also raised another question.
What exactly did the rabbit represent?
And why was River so deeply attached to the lighthouse known as Anya that she was even willing to give up her life for it?
Was it simply because the lighthouse was where she and Johnny had gotten married?
That still didn't make sense!