Chapter 24: Buried Love~Xiaomo

"You can customize the face?"

Having played the previous game, Guo Mo was pleasantly surprised to see that the protagonist’s appearance could be changed as soon as he entered the game.

Though only the hairstyle, hair color, and face shape could be altered, and the in-game options were limited, it was still immensely improved compared to the predecessor.

Oh my god!

Thinking about the previous game’s "Cold Window Study Simulator," with its protagonist image so abstract that it was hard to describe in words, he couldn’t help but feel nauseated.

What kind of aesthetics is that?

I mean, if you can’t draw, you don’t have to. Is it really so difficult to hire a professional artist? There’s no need to make it so abstract and torture everyone!

His sole dissatisfaction with "Cold Window Study Simulator" was probably the crude and poor-quality game graphics, along with the absurdly abstract character images.

Thankfully, the new one is a complete renewal!

The much-criticized game art problems were finally resolved in "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator."

Nickname: Buried Love~Xiaomo

Gender: Male

The slanted bangs paired with plant-green hair instantly gave off the cool vibe of the non-mainstream "lonely boy" from the 2000s.

Wearing the protagonist’s signature red school uniform, Guo Mo was very pleased—this was exactly the effect he wanted.

"I’m stunned, what kind of kill-matte style is this..."

"Has the Burial Love Clan revived?"

"Just woke up, may I ask is it some year in the 2000s? Has everyone watched the Beijing Olympics?"

The barrage continued to mock Guo Mo’s quirky aesthetic, and all the new viewers in the live stream room were shocked by the retro style.

"You folks know nothing, this is the youth of my era!"

Guo Mo snorted lightly, too lazy to bother with these trend-clueless viewers, and proceeded directly into the game after creating a new save file.

The game starts with a short animation.

"You’ve started high school. For various reasons, you have to live at your aunt’s house, dozens of kilometers away from home..."

"Your aunt’s home is large, luxuriously decorated, and the floor tiles reflect your uneasy expression. You’re very nervous, palms all sweaty..."

The cutscene isn’t long, roughly 2 minutes.

This animation mainly elaborates on the game’s background, namely the reasons behind the protagonist’s need to lodge at his aunt’s and study.

Simply put.

[Buried Love~Xiaomo] got accepted into the city’s top high school, but it’s too far from home, and he’s never boarded before, making his parents uneasy.

Living in the city and close to the school, the aunt offered to take the protagonist in, and his parents believed being cared for by a relative was better than boarding, so they entrusted their son to her.

At the end of the summer break, both parents went out to work to earn money for their son’s future college fees, leaving [Buried Love~Xiaomo] to follow his aunt to the bustling city center...

The game officially begins!

On the first day of the new semester, Buried Love~Xiaomo awakens from his comfortable bed to find that his aunt, uncle, and cousin are still asleep.

There are multiple route choices in the game:

[Make breakfast for the aunt’s family]

[Go out for a stroll]

[Stay in the room until the aunt’s family wakes up]

Since it’s still early and there’s no need to report to school yet, based on his gaming experience, Guo Mo confidently said, "Is there any need to think? It’s surely doing household chores to boost favorability!"

The game is called "Living Under Someone’s Roof," as the name suggests, living in someone else’s home requires good behavior to earn the aunt and uncle’s praise, right?

"Go out for a stroll?"

Seeing a suggestion from a barrage to choose to go out, Guo Mo couldn’t help but smile: "Buddy, what are you thinking? What if the aunt and uncle call you for breakfast and can’t find you, wouldn’t they complain to death?"

"Just come back before the meal?"

"You’re right, but do you know when the aunt and uncle will wake up?"

After answering the barrage’s queries, without thinking, Guo Mo chose the first route, namely getting up early to make breakfast for the aunt’s family to boost favorability.

What he didn’t expect was...

He thought this option would greatly change the aunt’s family’s view of him, earning lots of favorability points.

But due to his unfamiliarity with the new kitchen appliances, the breakfast turned out a disaster, and both the uncle and cousin didn’t even glance at it, opting instead to buy breakfast on the way to work/school.

Cousin: "Tch! Pretending to be diligent, huh?"

Uncle frowned: "If you can’t cook, don’t show off. Look at what you’ve done to the kitchen?"

Guo Mo was puzzled.

Aren’t we relatives? I kindly made you breakfast, can’t you even give a word of praise? Instead, you’re being so sarcastic?

"Hahaha!"

"Told you, going out is the wisest choice, trying to boost uncle’s favor got me cracked up..."

"Aunt really is the good person! Uncle and cousin refused the protagonist’s meal; only aunt ate it!"

"Aunt surely is kind-hearted, but sadly she’s trapped..."

No time to look at the barrage, having been criticized by uncle and cousin, Guo Mo focused entirely on the bottom left corner.

[Self-esteem -10]

It dropped almost ten percent?

Now he’s panicked. According to the game’s beginner’s guide, self-esteem is the key value determining if the game can be completed, dropping below 50 triggers negative statuses. This thing shouldn’t drop!

"What should I do next?"

Having suffered once, Guo Mo decided to rely on the barrage suggestions this time, asking if they had any ideas.

However, the barrage opinions weren’t unified.

Some said he could head to school first, getting to know all classmates and triggering missions later.

Others suggested not rushing to school, opening the street map first for convenient subsequent working and earning.

Another suggestion was, school? Forget school!

Just take the allowance the aunt gave and play in a café until sunset...

Eliminating the obviously incorrect answer of heading to the café, Guo Mo felt that going to school was crucial, after all, he was considered a good student by his family, cousins, and parents, how can he be late on the first day?

Let’s go, heading to school!

Buried Love~Xiaomo and the cousin attended the same school, but the cousin forbade him from talking to her at school, also not allowing him to reveal their relationship and living together.

"Why?" Buried Love~Xiaomo was puzzled.

"Because it’s embarrassing!"

The cousin’s cold response made the sitting Guo Mo so angry that his nose was crooked.

"What kind of look is that? Never seen non-mainstream before? Wherever I go, my Burial Love Clan is the crowd’s focus, why’s that embarrassing?"

Forget it, time to meet new classmates.

Too lazy to argue with his rebellious cousin, Guo Mo maneuvered the character to the classroom, planning to follow the barrage’s advice to meet a few new classmates and activate subsequent side missions.

But in the end...

No one wanted to talk to him.

The classmates were chatting enthusiastically, but whenever he tried to interact, things got awkward, leaving everyone wondering where this new classmate came from?

"Oh! They’re all familiar with each other, either from the same junior high or the same dormitory, and I’m just the outsider."

Understanding the reason for his cold reception, Guo Mo didn’t give up on building good relationships with other classmates.

We might be strangers initially, but with repeated interactions, they would soon accept him and issue him missions.

"Easy routine, me, an RPG veteran, wouldn’t figure it out?"

No need for barrage guidance this time, Guo Mo confidently declared: "Watch as I move my classmates with my sincerity, making them open up their hearts to me!"

This game isn’t difficult, right?

Except for choosing the wrong route at start and losing some self-esteem, he felt there wasn’t much difficulty!

It’s time to show real skills!