"No, Brother Yu-jin and Sister Yu-ri are only twenty years old! They don't have exceptional battlefield experience, nor do they have particularly extensive combat experience... Sister Yu-ri may be the top student in the Knight Department, but I remember that when Brother was teaching the children, he didn't even lift a finger..."
"Did you have someone watching me?"
"Just...? I happened to notice...? Something like that?"
I stared at the Saintess for a while as she stammered and hastily sipped her tea. Right. Clergy are all like that. I sighed.
Ivan shook his head and answered.
"Yu-jin is strong enough, and Yu-ri doesn't lose."
"What's the basis for that belief?"
"Hero, Demon King, me. Yu-jin, Oswald, Yu-ri."
At Ivan's words, the Saintess closed her mouth and fell into contemplation. Was he asking her to think about what those six had in common? They were so different—different backgrounds, talents, appearances, and genders...
No, wait. Compared to the first three, the latter three... I momentarily forgot about them because they usually maintain such a low profile.
Those three were definitely the ones who were called Transmigrators at the beginning of last year. And Transmigrators have...
"Then that 'voice of the Lord' that Brother Yu-jin mentioned...?"
"Yes. It must have been a Transmigrator ability. Just as the Hero was born with 'power,' that too was his strength."
"Then Sister Yu-ri...?"
Yu-ri had managed to enter St. Yansk University's Knight Department as the top student just four years after transmigrating, despite being an orphan girl in an unfamiliar environment.
Since then, she had maintained the top position in all practical exams without any special training or education. That means...
'She has a transmigration bonus.'
Just like Yu-jin who possessed a Status Window, and Oswald who had elven lineage and magical talent.
Yu-ri has a "special" transmigration bonus.
After confirming this, Ivan stopped paying attention to Yu-ri. An immediate combat asset that didn't need teaching. A "complete asset" that could almost perfectly replace his absence when responding to situations.
Her bonus was...
"As long as there's even the slightest chance of victory, she doesn't lose."
Yuri Franck. No, Lee Yu-ri was an illustrator. One who worked on illustrations for extremely "harsh" games.
She couldn't even guess what kind of game she had transmigrated into. Since all she usually saw were scripts for trashy eroge games, she just assumed it was something like that.
There were many similarities. Medieval fantasy with magic, academy setting, bearded men, narrow-eyed characters, golden sun.
The problem was that this world's genre was dark fantasy. Since she had never played such games before, it was even harder for her to gauge.
But fortunately, this body had a strange power. No, a talent. She could handle a sword she had never used before, and fantasy university classes she had never learned were perfectly absorbed into her mind.
So what kind of work had she transmigrated into? That's when she consulted Ivan.
"I don't know either."
"No, what I mean is..."
"No, I mean I don't know what work I've entered either."
"...What?"
Ivan and Yu-ri had something in common. They both transmigrated after being exposed to an "unspecified number" of works. Ivan had transmigrated after leaving malicious comments on dozens of works, and Yu-ri had transmigrated while working as a freelance illustrator for various eroge games.
They couldn't identify the original work. However.
"There are tendencies."
"Tendencies?"
"Common denominators in the works we used to encounter. In other words, 'clichés.'"
Everything Ivan considered a cliché "actually happened."
After several experiments, he realized he didn't possess some reality-manipulation ability. Then why? Why did things that made absolutely no sense keep happening?
Why did the university suffer three terrorist attacks in one year? Why were there ambushes during journeys, and why did demons always show up during field trips? Why was there an ancient ruin sleeping beneath a newly established university that was only four years old?
'Tendencies.'
The "flow" that this world itself desired from him.
It wasn't that the world moved according to the clichés he knew.
It had brought someone who could act while considering such flows as "clichés."
In other words, his transmigration was inevitable. Some power in this world, some god, "needed" a man who left "5,700-character critique posts" on various works and was familiar with all sorts of clichés and hidden pieces in case he ever transmigrated.
That was his "tendency." That is, his "transmigration bonus."
And Oswald and Yu-jin had such bonuses. Status window, race and title, talent in swordsmanship and magic—roles composed of combinations of such things.
Then what about Yu-ri? What role, what tendency would this ordinary woman in her twenties need?
"I... made erotic RPG Maker games... um, I came here while making adult games..."
"Hmm."
Ivan nodded silently. Right, she said it was a rape game. She didn't know the name.
"Then... um... since I'm a woman... let's say it's a 'female protagonist game'..."
Female protagonist game.
Sword talent.
Decent... face and figure.
With just these assumptions, too many works would fit, but the important part is this: "sword talent."
"So, an eroge game with a female protagonist that has a combat system. At least one with combat scripts."
What are the characteristics of female protagonist eroge games?
No need to think too hard. If what she transmigrated into wasn't a novel or movie but a "game"...
The biggest characteristic of games is "interaction." That means the genre has a somewhat "non-linear" characteristic where the character's actions are determined by the player's controls.
And in such genres, especially RPG Maker eroge games, there exists a specific genre grammar.
"Not giving up...?"
The goal of eroge games is "erotic scenes." But the more easily such scenes are exposed, the less rare they become. In other words, they become vulgar or boring. That means they lose their appeal.
The consumer demand is different from AV. Unlike AV, which needs to be enjoyed quickly and finished quickly, games are a genre where you enjoy character movements through narrative structure and interaction.
Games that move quickly and emptily to "erotic scenes" are what you'd call "failed games." In other words, good games pay attention to "build-up."
Especially in female protagonist games, to keep players interested during the process, they insert "erotic scenes" here and there, but...
"No matter how hard and dirty things get, eventually getting back up again..."
Yu-ri muttered unconsciously.
Yes, not giving up and getting back up no matter the situation.
That's what drives the progression to the next stage or episode, whatever allows access to more diverse "erotic scenes."
A female protagonist who doesn't give up...
"In such cases, strictly speaking, it's not about not giving up. It's about not losing."
"What?"
"If the character you control loses, it's game over."
"That varies by game..."
"If we were to apply the game structure to reality, it would be like this."
Ivan summarized Yu-ri's words.
In reality, defeat is directly linked to death. As he once reflected, death is the most certain proof. Because it eliminates all other choices.
As mentioned earlier, games are about "interaction." They are a type of play that makes players "choose" the character's situation in a non-linear structure.
In other words, a situation where you "cannot choose"—a situation where you can never make any choice again—means game over. Then, by somewhat extreme logical reasoning, defeat means game over.
If all those who transmigrated into this world have certain "tendencies," if they have certain "bonuses"...
In Yu-ri's case, it's not dying.
"If it were during the Great War, you would have been called Yu-ri Franck the Undying."
"Ahaha."
"Instead, you would have had to face many dying comrades, so I'd say it's fortunate."
"Joke. Let's quickly move on to jokes. I feel like I'm about to suffocate right now."
"Alright."
Ivan nodded briefly and answered.
Games are "interactions" where "possibilities" are resolved through "choices."
Hit rate, chance of being hit, random encounters. Whatever it is, the program presents quantified "possibilities" to the player, and the player continues the game through the best choices they want.
So, in this case...
"If there's a possibility of victory."
"She doesn't lose."
Yu-ri dodged the knight who thrust his sword and plunged her own deep into his chest. She muttered the prayer she had been reciting without fail since hearing about the "transmigration bonus."
"If a situation comes where you have to face dozens of knights alone, there would be no possibility of victory."
There's no possibility of victory if one has to face the Demon King, the Seven Dragon Generals, or an "overwhelming powerhouse" alone.
One cannot face an army alone, nor can one destroy a nation alone.
But if one can be guided into situations where there is "possibility"...
Ivan looked at the Saintess and finished his words.
"If given a situation where she can 'choose' within 'possibilities,' Yu-ri doesn't lose."
That's why he placed Yu-jin and Yu-ri together. With that combination, they would never die in Pritzenkaya.
If a Seven Dragon General-level opponent appears, Enrique can create a "survivable situation."
Multiple legions cannot enter Pritzenkaya.
With Yu-jin's strength, he can create "odds" against a small strike team.
That was why, throughout all their journeys so far, he had placed Yu-ri in Pritzenkaya, with at least one companion.
Yu-ri was Ivan's strongest card placed in Pritzenkaya.