STORY.txt

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○ Taisei Project

    Characterization and Story

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■ 0. Information
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  This file contains spoilers and other content intended for players who have
  cleared the game.

                  If you still wish to proceed, scroll down.
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■ 1. Incident
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 [The Hakurei Shrine]

 A shrine located at the border of fantasy and reality.

 Three heroines of Gensōkyō sat drinking tea on a calm day at the end of summer.
 Two of them seemed unsettled, while the third—

 Marisa: “What’s got ya both so down? Did I mess up the tea?”

 Reimu and Yōmu shared a knowing glance.

 Reimu: “The tea’s fine. I just feel weird. I can’t put my finger on it.”

 Yōmu: “Likewise.”

 The bells of the shrine tolled outside. Someone had made a donation. A minute
 later, there was another. And another.

 Reimu: “Something’s definitely not right…”

 Yōmu: “Isn’t it normally comforting for the shrine to receive donations?”

 Reimu: “Normally it *would* be comforting, but…”

 Outside the shrine, nearly every resident of Yōkai Mountain, including the
 kappa and some of the tengu, were lined up one after another to make a donation
 - including the Moriya Shrine Gods, Kanako and Suwako. Everyone seemed vaguely
 fearful.

 Reimu: “Eh? What’s all this, then?”

 Kanako: “We’ve come to ask a favour.”

 Marisa: “What kinda favour?”

 A mysterious force was slowly causing yōkai and humans alike to succumb to an
 intense feeling of “knowing everything.” It would start with figuring out
 simple problems that they’d been struggling with, such as a technical issue
 with a machine or perhaps a eye-catching newspaper headline.

 But as it progressed, they’d become completely enveloped by it, unable to act
 rationally. Yōkai Mountain was usually protected by the Moriya shrine maiden,
 Sanae Kochiya, but even she had been carried away into madness.

 Suwako: “Sanae just keeps talking about ‘video game consoles.’”

 Marisa: “Eh? Like those toys you hook up to TVs, the kind you find at Kōrindō?”

 Kanako: “Right, but she just won’t stop. I’ve seen her excited, but not like
 this.”

 Sumireko: “Hmm. Quite fascinating.”

 Reimu: “Where the heck did *you* come from, Sumi?”

 Sumireko: “I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. Based on my gut
 feeling, and what you’ve described, the answer is obvious.”

 Yōmu: “Is that so? Care to share it with us?”

 Sumireko: “Some entity on Yōkai Mountain is emitting a powerful eldritch
 lunacy, likely in all directions from a singular point, given how
 indiscriminate it is. Too much knowledge all at once… mm, mm, it can
 potentially be fatal, at least for those with weaker minds.”

 Marisa: “Heh, wanna handle it then, Sumi?”

 Sumireko: “A-ah, n-no, you all know the lay of the land better, a-after all,
 and with it being such a dire situation—”

 Yōmu was distracted by the sight of her mistress, Lady Yuyuko, standing in the
 shade, a fan over her face. She went over to greet her.

 Yōmu: “Lady Yuyuko, why have you—”

 Yuyuko: “The spirits seem drawn to Yōkai Mountain as well, as if they long for
 something. It’s growing difficult to contain them all…”

 Yōmu: “I see. Shall I investigate as well?”

 Yuyuko: “Please do.”

 Elsewhere at the shrine, the kappa were all gathered around talking intensely
 in hushed tones, and the tengu were furiously scribbling on their notepads as
 if they’d just gotten the scoop of their careers. Even here, away from Yōkai
 Mountain, the effects of the “eldritch lunacy” seemed to persist, and continued
 to drive everyone mad…

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■ 2. Characters
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  ○ Shrine Maiden of Fantasy ~ Hakurei Reimu
    Species: Human
    Area of Study: Literature (Fiction)

    The incredibly particular shrine maiden.

    She’s taking a break from her busy novel-reading schedule to take care of an
    incident.

    Mostly, she has a vague feeling of sentimentality for a bygone era.

    Regardless, when the residents of Yōkai Mountain show up sobbing at her
    door, she has no choice but to put her book down and spring into action.


  ○ Unbelievably Ordinary Magician ~ Kirisame Marisa
    Species: Human
    Area of Study: Eclecticism

    The confident, hyperactive witch.

    Curious as ever about the limits of magic and the nature of reality, and
    when she hears about “eldritch lunacy,” her curiosity gets the better of
    her.

    But maybe this “grimoire” is best left unread?

    Not that a warning like that would stop her anyways. So, off she goes.


  ○ Swordswoman Between Worlds ~ Konpaku Yōmu
    Species: Half-Human, Half-Phantom
    Area of Study: Fencing

    The swordswoman of the somewhat-dead.

    “While you were playing games, I was studying the blade” … is probably what
    she’d say.

    Entirely too serious about everything, and utterly terrified of (half of)
    her own existence.

    Still, she’s been given an important mission by Lady Yuyuko. Hopefully she
    doesn’t let it get to her head.


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■ 3. Stages
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  ○ Stage 1: Misty Lake Encounter
  ○ Stage 2: Riverside Hina-Nagashi
  ○ Stage 3: Crawly Mountain Ascent
  ○ Stage 4: Forgotten Mansion
  ○ Stage 5: Climbing the Tower of Babel
  ○ Stage 6: Roof of the World

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■ 4. Bosses
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  ○ Stage 1 Boss
    Name: Cirno
    Species: Fairy
    Field of Study: Thermodynamics

    The lovably-foolish ice fairy.

    Perhaps she’s a bit dissatisfied after her recent duels with secret gods and
    hellish fairies?

    Consider going easy on her.


  ○ Stage 2 Boss
    Name: Kagiyama Hina
    Species: Pestilence God
    Field of Study: Gyroscopic Stabilization

    Guardian of Yōkai Mountain. Her angular momentum is out of this world!

    She seems awfully concerned with your health and safety, to the point of
    being quite overbearing.

    You’re old enough to decide your own path in life, though.


  ○ Stage 3 Boss
    Name: Wriggle Nightbug
    Species: Insect
    Field of Study: Evolutionary Socio-Entomology

    A bright bug - or was it insect? - far from her usual stomping grounds.

    She feels that Insects have lost their “rightful place” in history.

    If she thinks she has a raw evolutionary deal, someone ought to tell
    her about the trilobites…


  ○ Stage 4 Boss
    Name: Kurumi
    Species: Vampire
    Field of Study: Hematology

    Vampiric blast from the past. Doesn’t she know Gensōkyō already has new
    bloodsuckers in town?

    Sucking blood is what she’s good at, but her current job is a gatekeeper,
    and her true passion is high fashion.

    Everyone’s got multiple side-hustles these days…


  ○ Stage 5 Boss
    Name: Nagae Iku
    Species: Oarfish
    Field of Study: Meteorology (Fulminology)

    Messenger from the clouds, and an amateur meteorologist.

    Seems to have been reading a few too many outdated psychiatry textbooks in
    recent times.

    Despite being so formal and stuffy, she seems to be the only one who knows
    what’s going on.


  ○ Stage 6 Boss
    Name: Elly
    Species: Shinigami(?)
    Field of Study: Theoretical Physics / Forensic Pathology (dual-major)

    Slightly upset over being forgotten.

    Has apparently gotten herself a tutor in the “dark art” of theoretical
    physics. Her side-hustle is megalomania.

    Literally on top of the world, without a care to spare for those beneath
    her. Try not to let too many stones crush the innocent yōkai below when her
    Tower of Babel starts to crumble.