Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players
Chapter 38: The True Meaning Behind Going to the Moon
Why did Johnny want to go to the moon?
Because even though his childhood memories had been blurred by the beta-blocker, even though he had forgotten that he had actually met River long before, he still remembered that promise.
"But what if you get lost, or forget?"
"Then let's meet on the moon!"
During all the years after River disappeared from Johnny's life, this thought slowly emerged from the depths of his memory.
He had forgotten everything.
He had forgotten how he and River first met.
He had forgotten their conversations.
But the one thing he still remembered was that he had to go to the moon.
Because River had become lost somewhere in his life.
And he wanted to go to the moon to find her.
Likewise, why had River spent her entire life folding paper rabbits?
Because through Johnny's words, River realized that Johnny could no longer remember the first time they had met.
So throughout her life, River kept folding paper rabbits, using her own way to remind Johnny:
They had actually met a long, long time ago.
River was even willing to sacrifice her own health to build the house, once again for the same reason—to make Johnny remember everything.
Because when they first met, River had opened her heart to Johnny and compared the stars to lighthouses gazing toward one another from afar.
And Johnny felt that there was something special about River.
Something that he needed.
And once again, that was because they had already met each other long ago.
At last, every mystery had been solved.
Johnny didn't really want to go to the moon.
He wanted to go to River.
"I can't express what I'm feeling inside, but I will spend my entire life trying to make you remember. Just like a shining lighthouse, I will keep illuminating the way for you."
"Even though I have lost my memories of you, I have never forgotten the promise we made to meet again on the moon."
Watching River hold the platypus in her hands as she gazed toward the distant moon, in an instant, the eyes of countless players became blurred with tears.
"Damn, what kind of game is this?! I can't see the screen anymore!"
"+1. I can't see the game screen either."
"Fuck, my eyes are stinging! I must have been watching the livestream for too long!"
"Earlier, I thought parts of the game were a little boring, but now all I can say is—WHY?!"
"I'm completely breaking down! I seriously can't hold it in anymore!"
"Men are allowed to cry, you know! Look, even Big Boss's eyes are red."
"Want to know what a tough guy crying looks like? This is it!"
"This hurts so much! I seriously can't take it anymore!"
The game used a nonlinear, flashback-driven narrative, starting with the mystery surrounding Johnny's desire to go to the moon and arousing the players' curiosity and questions.
Little by little, it peeled away the final secret and revealed it before the players' eyes.
Combined with the game's background music, the revelation instantly moved countless players.
Especially the more sentimental players. As everything was finally revealed, many of them simply couldn't stop themselves from crying.
"Goddamn, I never expected this game to completely break me!"
Dong Zhen pulled out a tissue from beside him and blew his nose. His eyes had turned completely red from trying so hard to hold back his tears.
However, what surprised everyone was that the game still wasn't over.
As the two doctors, Neil and Eva, talked, everyone suddenly remembered something.
This was taking place inside Johnny's memories.
And they still had a contract with Johnny:
Go to the moon.
Neil: " …Wait. Does that mean—?"
Eva: "Don't tell me you didn't figure it out."
Neil: "I thought this was going to become an inspirational fairy tale…"
Eva: "…I think we know now exactly how we're going to send him to the moon."
Neil: "Wait, you're not actually planning to do this, are you? You wouldn't!"
Eva: "This is our job, Neil… This is an obligation imposed on us by the contract."
Neil: "Damn it… Eva, wait!"
As the two continued arguing, Eva's figure disappeared from Johnny's childhood memories.
Neil immediately chased after her.
Sitting in front of his computer, Dong Zhen suddenly had a bad feeling about what was coming.
"Wait, what is this female doctor trying to do?"
Through Johnny's memories, Neil found Eva during his high school years.
At the same time, the game's background music became tense and urgent. The visuals also shifted into a dark-yellow, aged-photograph filter.
Neil: "I know what you're planning to do!"
Eva: "Listen. The contract requires us to send him to the moon, and the only way to accomplish that is to give Johnny the motivation to go to the moon."
Neil: "So that means we have to remove River. But if we do that, what's the point of going to the moon? The real reason he wants to go to the moon is because River left him."
Eva: "I understand, but we're bound by the law and the terms of the contract, especially…"
Neil: "To hell with the fucking contract! My job isn't to make his life even more miserable! I don't know if you feel the same way, but the reason I do this job is so that those old geezers can leave this world happily!"
As the two continued arguing, Dong Zhen's ominous feeling was finally confirmed.
The female doctor was actually going to remove River!
Even though her reasoning was perfectly legitimate.
After all, the law and the contract did not explicitly require them to preserve River's existence in Johnny's memories.
But after several hours of playing the game and learning the story between Johnny and River, the players obviously couldn't accept this.
"What the hell is wrong with this woman? How can she be so heartless?!"
"Why is this woman so damn rigid?!"
"Fuck… I can't take this anymore!"
The more moved the players had been by Johnny and River's story, the angrier they were now.
Dong Zhen, who was livestreaming the game, couldn't help but slam his fist against the desk.
The barrage of comments in his livestream exploded as well.
Clearly, no one could accept what was happening.
"What the hell?!"
"What kind of stupid contract is this? What kind of stupid law?!"
"Johnny doesn't want to go to the moon! What he needs is River!"
"And now this woman is going to erase River? How the hell are we supposed to accept that?!"
However, whether it was the viewers watching the livestream, players like Dong Zhen, or even Neil inside the game, none of them seemed capable of stopping what was happening.
Eva, who had greater control over the machine, continuously removed and altered River from various parts of Johnny's memories.
And throughout the process, she also created numerous traps to prevent Neil from following her.