Eyes of the Chronicler was a strategy-based game with a fairly complicated storyline. There were 4 main capture targets, and just like most gal games, it would start off with a common route before diverging into the independent routes of the chosen capture target in the later stage of the game.
The excessive number of events and frequent time skips in the game crammed players with an overload of information, creating a poor user experience. On top of that, the multitude of routes that led to bad ends, as well as the lack of satisfying eroticism within the game, left frustrated players dying to bang their heads against walls.
Putting all of this aside though, there were still some strengths to the game.
The illustrations of major characters were amazing, and the background and storyline of characters were also quite detailed.
The main character of the game was a fellow named Terrence Iovenara. A prince carrying the bloodline of the Austine Empire, he went missing in the streets when he was still a child, and it was only when he was sixteen that the royal intelligence network managed to find him. He was swiftly brought back to the royal palace to be inaugurated as a prince of the empire.
As fantastic as being a prince of the empire might have sounded, the reality of it was less enviable due to the two older brothers that Terrence had. Having grown up in the streets, his lack of knowledge and etiquette swiftly led to him being ostracized by the factions led by the other two princes. Eventually, Terrence was eventually sent off to the Country of Academics Brolne to study.
The common route of the game started off with the main character arriving at the Country of Academics Brolne. He would soon meet numerous gorgeous young ladies here, embarking on an adventurous journey of heart-throbbing romance. Once a female capture target was selected—this was also the point when the player finally went down a specific independent route—the main character, with his knowledge, fighting skills, and the aid of his girlfriend, would return back to his country to participate in the factional wars. In the end, he would overcome his two older brothers to take the crown for himself.
To summarize, it was a ‘from academy to vying for supremacy in the royal court’ plotline.
Of the four capture targets that the main character would meet, one of them was Mana Calypso.
Mana Calypso was a spy that the Theocracy sent to Terrence’s side, and her route was known for being hard to clear. Due to her beautiful appearance that appealed to the aesthetics of the players, she was often ranked amongst the top three in character popularity polls. She could be considered as the billboard of the game, which was also the reason why Zephyr remembered her clearly.
And what he remembered even more clearly was the CG depicting how Mana slit the neck of the villain Zephyr Calypso.
Indeed, Zephyr Calypso was no other than the boss of the Middle School Arc in Eyes of the Chronicler !
In that arc, the main character and his harem would unravel the schemes of Zephyr Calypso before uniting together to lynch him to death. At the end of the battle, the main character would then choose a capture target and embark on the independent route.
In the storyline, even though Mana was the adopted sister of Zephyr, she hated Zephyr deeply due to having suffered greatly from his oppression. In the final battle, with the creed of ‘An eye for an eye’, she sliced off his head decisively with a single slash.
“…”
The adorable black-haired boy sat on a high Robinia wood chair and he stared at the edge of the table in front of him earnestly, contemplating a matter seriously…
Is it too late for me to change characters if I bash my head on the corner of the table right now?
Zephyr touched his forehead as a slight frown slowly formed on his youthful face. He really felt like bawling out his eyes right now!
Isn’t the world just screwing with me over here? It’s one thing for you to not transmigrate me into the position of the main character, but you even made me a villain in the common route? Could things get worse than this?
What am I supposed to do? My adopted sister has already come knocking on my door; it won’t be long before she comes chasing after me with a chopper in hand!
“C-calm down. It’s especially at times like this that I have to calm down!”
Zephyr took in deep breaths as he tried to use his maturity as an adult to suppress his emotions.
One shouldn’t panic in the face of trouble because panicking never works.
Repeating this quote again and again in his mind to brainwash himself, Zephyr finally felt himself calming down a little. He rubbed his own cheeks to wake himself up before beginning to rack his mind to find a way out of the quandary he was in.
As the saying goes, every effect comes with a cause. Love and hatred don’t just appear out of nowhere. Given so, why would Mana Calypso, the Silverash Child, hate someone whom she had only met once thus far?
Zephyr began searching through his memories for the storyline of the game. He recalled that there were indeed a few conversations that revealed the reason why she hated Zephyr, even though they were mostly quick mentions.
After a long moment of contemplation, Zephyr summarized it all into three points.
First and foremost, Zephyr had bullied Mana from a young age. Due to his father doting on him excessively, he had been able to do as he pleased, and he exploited this authority to make Mana’s life unbearable.
Secondly, prior to being adopted into the Calypso House, Mana was the sole daughter of a baron family. That baron had died in a battle while protecting Zephyr’s father.
Thirdly, when the Calypso House fell from grace, Zephyr once gave away Mana as a chip in exchange for certain benefits. While there was no additional details regarding that in the game, judging just by Mana’s ravishing appearance…
“Tsk, this Zephyr must have something wrong with his head! Did he get his head jammed between the cracks of a door while he was younger? How nice would it be to have such a beautiful little sister to dote on? Why in the world would he bully her and even give her away? Do you know how frightening she becomes later in the game? She’s the Silverash Child, renowned to be invincible under the moon!”
Zephyr grasped his head speechlessly as he was rendered utterly dumbfounded by the suicidal tendencies of the other Zephyr.
He began to rank the three reasons by order of importance. The second reason appeared to be of secondary importance right now. What was the most important was the third reason!
Looking at these reasons in terms of their difficulty to resolve, the first reason was still rather easy to deal with. All Zephyr had to do was to not bully her. The second one was impossible to deal with anymore since he couldn’t change what had already happened. The third one, however, appeared to be problematic.
“My family will fall from grace? Why?”
The little boy stared at the third reason he had written on a sheet of paper in a daze.
Recalling the storyline, the Calypso House did appear to have declined ten years later. It was also during that period of time that Zephyr, despite being the son of a marquess, resorted to becoming a believer of a demonic cult, eventually becoming one of the major villains.
Zephyr raised his head and took a look around the elegant study room around him.
A tuliptree from Chrysanthe Fiefdom, leather parchments from the Winslow Highlands, the most popular glass cupboards amongst the nobles of the Clovis Capital, and an incense that was literally worth gold burning quietly in the background. Taking a whiff of the extravagance surrounding him, he felt his spirits lifting back up.
For such a family to fall into decline? You must be kidding me!
However, the game wouldn’t lie. The Calypso House had indeed fallen from grace within the game, so Zephyr had no choice but to believe it no matter how unthinkable it was to him. What he had to do now was find a way to prevent it all from happening.
The little boy seated before the study desk crossed his small arms and fell into deep thoughts. The knit on his forehead grew tighter and tighter, and he found himself falling deeper and deeper into despair.
Nothing came to mind at all!
Zephyr couldn’t think of anything he could do to prevent the decline of his family.
In the first place, this event wasn’t covered in detail within the game. Without the advantage of foresight that other transmigrators had, what could he possibly do as a 9year-old brat? He was not like Mana! Other than his devilishly good looks, he was nothing more than an ordinary brat!
What to do? Am I to await my doom just like this?
Fear encroached on Zephyr like a shadow, leaving him feeling utterly frightened. It was then that a crisp bell sounded in his mind.
【Ding!】
【System initializing…】
“Thank god!” A sudden scream of excitement sounded from the study room, causing the maid standing at attention outside to jolt in fright. As if a brave warrior who had found a ray of hope in the midst of despair, the little boy inside the study room stared at the System Interface in front of him with eyes widened expectantly. 【Ding!】 【System initialized.】 【Welcome to the Reincarnated Villain System!】 It’s here! It really is what I thought it is! Zephyr looked at the three words ‘Reincarnated Villain System’ with his eyes brimming with tears of agitation. As expected of his System, it was tailored right down to his needs! He was still thinking that there was no way to save the Calypso House when his System delivered what he needed right into his hands. With such a System on his side, what did he have to fear? Let me see what there is on the System! 【World scanning completed. Host scanning completed. Installation of Affection Point Exchange Shop completed. Installation of Gold
Time to go for an all-out fight!In the Marquess Archer’s study room, Zephyr touched the emblem pinned before his chest with a solemn expression on his face, reminiscent of a Pendor Knight clutching onto his blade prior to the start of a battle.Today was the adopted Mana’s first day in the Calypso House, so it was bound to be an important occasion to her. However, due to his recollection of his past memories, Zephyr had already ruined their first meeting.Ey! What a huge regret! Why did I react so slowly back then? With my looks, even if I can’t charm her over right away, I would have at least been able to leave her with a favorable impression of me!Zephyr examined the black-haired, gold-eyed boy reflected in the glass before him before squeezing his slightly chubby but attractive face. Once again, he affirmed himself.Yeap, I’m good-looking.And judging from the game’s character illustrations, my dad and mum’s genes are still quite stable. I’ll continue to grow more and more handso
Zephyr suddenly recalled something—Mana, in her younger years, was afraid of knives. To be more exact, she was frightened of anything sharp that could potentially be used to hurt her. As a saying back on Earth goes, ‘ once bitten, twice shy ’. This saying described an irrational fear toward certain objects often stemming from certain traumatic experiences, perhaps more commonly known as a phobia. Phobias induced feelings of tension and fear in one under certain specific circumstances. Even if one knew such emotions were irrational, one’s body would still cower instinctively in the face of similar circumstances, hindering one’s daily life. Phobias could manifest in many ways, but Mana’s phobia was directed toward sharp objects. As for the reason behind that… Zephyr could only say that those who possessed exceptional talents often had to bear great pain too.Sighing deeply in his heart, Zephyr began to recall how Mana’s childhood was depicted in thestoryline. All of Mana’s misfor
“Pu!”“L-lord Brother?”“It’s nothing. Haha.”Under Mana’s concerned look, Zephyr shrugged it off with a laugh as he glanced at the top of her head. Due to the two year age gap between them, Mana was half a head shorter than him, so the ‘ Affection Points +1000 ’ was practically sticking right next to his face.Clovis moly! 1000 Affections Points! A freaking four-digit figure!Zephyr was screaming frenziedly in his mind, and he had a strong urge to do a celebratory dance right on the spot. While the Emblem of Glory probably played a huge role too, it was still unbelievable to him that a four-digit figure would roll in just by feeding Mana a spoonful of meat. This was way better than him tearing up before Cordelia earlier on!Zephyr turned to look at Mana with his golden eyes once more, and this time, other than pity, his eyes also carried a hint of joy too.By brushing up Mana’s affection, not only will I be able to avert my death flag, I’ll be able to strike it rich too! This is kill
“You must be kidding me! What I want is skeleton soldiers, so why are you giving me professional dancing skeleton pallbearers here?!” On the training field, a deeply frustrated black-haired boy stared agape at the skeleton pallbearers, who were dancing with the coffin while making their way over to the wooden pole, and he suddenly felt that he had been scammed. It’s 2500 Affection Points, a hulking 2500! Did I really spend so much money just to buy this? What in the world do I need this for? For my own funeral procession? Zephyr clutched his chest, which was hurting so badly that he felt like he was having a heart attack. Then, he snapped out of it and attempted to make one final struggle. “Stop right there for a moment!” … Ten minutes later. Zephyr lay down on the grass field as he stared at the blue sky and white clouds above him with the eyes of a dead fish. The six skeleton pallbearers were currently kneeled by the side of the black coffin, as if waiting to carry him out.
“Come, Mana. Try this smoked sausage.” Nighttime, in the dining room, a silver-haired girl was seated beside Zephyr. Looking at him with an embarrassed blush dyeing her cheeks, she opened her cherry-like lips and waited for delicious food to be sent right into her mouth. “Glomp.” She bit down on the smoked sausage, causing meat juices to explode in her mouth. Even though Mana was already trying her best to be as prim and proper as she could, a trickle of oil still ended up flowing down her chin. The realization of her inelegant behavior caused her face to redden even further. Seeing this sight, Zephyr smiled kindly as he picked up a napkin and carefully wiped her face. “Lord Brother… I-I’ll do it myself.” “Allow me.” Zephyr insisted as he hastened his movements slightly. Out of sheer embarrassment, Mana directed her gaze downward, not daring to look at Zephyr directly. (Affection Points +200!) Ooh Mana, I love you! Seeing how his Affection Points were trickling up at an insa
What kind of person was Zephyr Calypso?If someone were to ask the farmers of the Calypso Fiefdom this question a month ago, they would have surely laughed their heads off.Everyone knew that nobles of Zephyr Calypso’s standing usually stayed in the most stately of mansions within the city. Even those living the city would struggle to catch a glimpse of him, let alone farmers living in the city outskirts like them.But a miracle occurred half a month ago. The young master of the marquess house actually lowered his pride to step onto the fields on the outskirts of town in order to visit the farmers, thus granting Old Kent and the others the rare opportunity to see him in person.And everyone’s first response upon seeing Zephyr Calypso was all the same , and that was to take a second look. He was simply too good-looking, that’s why.Zephyr’s face had been a lethal weapon in reaping Affection Points. Some said that he was cute, some said he was handsome; if the public had a list of desi
“Milord, thank you for your compassion. May the blessings of Crysta be with you!” Outside the Fief Lord’s gristmill, Old Kent loaded his flour onto his carriage before bowing deeply in gratitude to Zephyr. Behind him was a huge queue of farmers, who were looking at him in envy. Old Kent was quite lucky today. It was already time for the taxation official to get off work when it finally got to his turn in the queue, but the generous and compassionate young master Zephyr noticed how he had laboriously toiled a huge cart of wheat over and had waited under the glaring sun for long hours, so he made a special exception and extended the operations by half an hour. Due to this stroke of fortune, Old Kent managed to pay his taxes today. One must know that Zephyr was a traveling tax official, which meant that there was no saying when they would be able to see him once more. Naturally, Old Kent was more than overjoyed with this turn of events, and the others were deeply envious of his luck