Kayak’s sudden dating sim broadcast.
It was a rather unexpected dating sim stream, but viewers quickly flocked in.
Part of the reason was that the community was already buzzing with gossip about Kayak, and naturally, those who came along settled into her stream.
There were also other reasons, like her broadcast being at the top of the viewer count when sorting by popularity on the platform, but…
The biggest reason was the game Kayak was playing.
“Heartbeat Academy~ Let’s Find Love” was surprisingly a well-crafted piece of work that lived up to its silly title. Like any popular game, some people came just by looking at the category.
With high freedom, branching storylines based on player actions, and countless multi-endings.
The main characters in the dating sim, the heroines the player pursues, were also highly rated for their complexity and character depth.
It was even considered one of the better games to come out recently.
Though quite some time had passed since its release, with the hype long gone, there were still people curious about why she was playing it.
Thus, Kayak had a steady viewer count of 22,000, with about 4,000 casual viewers that wandered in upon seeing the game she was playing through the stream thumbnail.
In total, 26,000 viewers tuned in to Kayak’s broadcast.
In front of all those people, the first action Kayak took was.
– What would you like to do?
1. Apologize to Yuri
2. Make an excuse to Yuri
3. Slap Yuri
4. Get up and leave without saying anything.
▲ 3. Slap Yuri.
Slam!
– W-What are you doing right now…?
It was an action of slapping the heroine that you were supposed to pursue.
*
“Heartbeat Academy~ Let’s Find Love” features three characters as heroines.
The childhood friend, the model student Jihye. The exchange student from abroad, Elia. The spoiled rich girl, Yuri.
They’re somewhat stereotypical, overused character types. Being common and cliched is a proven successful formula.
They say a familiar taste can be scary. Just adding a spoonful of something new to a well-known flavor makes it subtly new and delicious.
Just adding a spoonful makes it taste delicious as usual, but somehow it becomes a subtly new flavor.
From the start, Kayak declared a harem. She was determined to woo every character. Of course, if it took too much time or if a character she liked appeared in the meantime, she’d focus on that character.
The basic stance was set to seduce everyone. That’s why Kayak was poking at every character without discrimination.
“Hey, don’t talk to me like that. It’s annoying.”
‘Yuri’ was the character she met during that time.
Difficulty level: top-tier. The heroine whose likability started at -100 from the very first conversation.
Unlike Jihye, who starts at a positive and gains likability just by talking, and Elia, who starts at zero but can be easily wooed with the right choices, it was said that Yuri was nearly impossible to woo on the first try.
The theory was that you had to go through multiple playthroughs to understand Yuri’s past, trauma, likes, and dislikes to woo her successfully.
Especially if you mismanaged Yuri’s sharp tongue or her strong aversion, wooing her would be completely off the table. You had to pick the correct responses to even have a chance of connecting with her later.
But Kayak had no way of knowing that background.
From their first encounter, she found Yuri’s constant provocations annoying.
“Ugh, just take a slap already.”
▲ Slap Yuri’s cheek.
Without thinking about the consequences, she slapped Yuri’s cheek.
“AAH!”
“What are you doing…?”
Yuri looked at her in disbelief, holding one cheek.
[What a relief haha]
[So refreshing haha]
[You picked this three times? Crazy]
[True to the ‘not holding back’ nature]
[Well, there goes Yuri’s route]
[So, does she hit girls too?]
[Is this Kayak’s secret to wooing women?]
[??? : Do you want to date or die!]
[Educating the rude one as expected]
[In reality, you’d be taken away immediately, kids.]
“This one really is hopeless. What’s with her personality? She says it’s because her dad’s not around and her mom’s busy? No, that’s not an excuse. I also don’t have parents. This is about basic human decency, not family issues.”
[Ah…oh…]
[Right, right, there are so many struggling in the world.]
[How many people are there, anyway?]
[There should be at least one person who teaches etiquette like this.]
[The Broadcast Host must have had a tough time growing up.]
[Older Sister, hang in there! T_T]
[Isn’t it kind of nice to be treated like this for the first time?]
-…
– Yuri’s favorability dropped by 50. (Current favorability: -150)
Yuri turned away and ran off, slightly teary-eyed, contrary to her tough guy personality.
Maybe she’s actually delicate on the inside? That’s another classic cliché. A character that seems sharp on the outside but is soft and tender on the inside—a sort of law of clichés.
“Did I go too far with the slap? Well, when would a 17-year-old girl ever get slapped in her life? Should I just reset and try again? Honestly, I liked Yuri the most in terms of appearance out of the three.”
[Yuri is pretty, though! LOL]
[She looks super haughty.]
[But her chest is the smallest, right?]
[Kaya prefers flat-chests… noted….]
[B cup? What are you talking about, that’s flat! You crazy people!]
[These idiots have never seen a flat-chested girl! LOL My ex was an AAA cup!]
[Can we stop talking about breasts? ;]
[Even if Yuri is small, it’s okay because Kaya is big!]
[Oh….]
[Saving in this game is way too annoying.]
“Right? It’s kind of broken? But what are you gonna do? I’m just gonna go for it. If worse comes to worst, I’ll just finish my first playthrough and try again.”
*
However, the game took an unexpected turn that Kaya hadn’t anticipated.
Seeing Yuri’s favorability hit -150, she judged it hopeless and was trying to seduce the exchange student Elia from abroad.
-…Hey.
For some reason, Yuri kept approaching her.
Each time, Kaya responded appropriately by choosing one of four options.
▲ 2. Respond sincerely to Yuri.
– Yuri’s favorability increased by 20. (Current favorability: -80)
“Wait, why is she doing this? Why does she keep giving me openings? Should I switch back to Yuri from Elia?”
[You’re the first guy who’s treated me like this? Are you really going for her route?]
[This is absurd, LOL.]
[It’s a national rule, though, haha.]
[If I say this, it’s a spoiler, though, LOL.]
[I think I just entered that route.]
[I’ve never seen someone choose that route on the first playthrough, LMFAO.]
[What’s that route, anyway?]
[These nerds only talk about things they understand, haha.]
Those damn nerds are at it again, chatting about things only they understand.
But hey, their likability is still in the negatives, right?
It’s weirder to approach someone when your likability is already in the minus zone.
While progressing through Elia’s story or Jihye’s story, it’s strange how I keep encountering Yuri, raising her likability.
Feeling the oddities, Kayak tries to strategize with Yuri, but instead, she pushes the Player away, causing the likability to drop again.
“What are you, a cat? Only coming around when you want to and don’t like to make the first move? No wonder the strategy difficulty is top-notch. The whole thing feels a bit weird.”
Amidst the confusion, Kayak mutters as if he’s finally grasped something.
“I kinda get it. Since Elia has some connection with Yuri, to strategize with Yuri, I should first focus on Elia’s route. I’ll raise Elia’s likability a bit, and at the critical moment, I’ll switch to Yuri.”
[Wow]
[You deduced that in just one turn?]
[Surprisingly close to the truth]
[But that’s not the end of that route, LOL]
[Elia, noooo]
[So Elia plays the bridge role, huh?]
[I actually like Elia more]
[Just let me live happily with the blonde Elia and have bunny-like kids together]
[Right, after Elia’s exchange program ends, she’ll head back immediately.]
‘Thump Thump Academy~ Let’s find love’ has a sort of action point system necessary for progressing through the story.
You’re given a fixed amount of action points, which you can use to spend time with heroines or build the necessary skills to strategize with a specific heroine.
When all your action points are consumed, you automatically see an ending. The ending is determined by the likability of the heroines and the choices made in specific situations.
Thus, the ending that Kayak received was somewhat shocking.
-Yuri’s unrequited love (friend’s love interest)
You connected with neither Elia nor Yuri. Yuri had some feelings for you, but due to her relationship with her friend Elia, she couldn’t approach you recklessly.
Meanwhile, you were caught between Elia and Yuri, unable to form a deep relationship with either. Elia returns to her home country, and once she disappears, your connection with Yuri naturally fades away.
“No, what is this….”
[That’s a bad ending, LOL]
[Ugh, I totally failed at managing likability and ended up with nothing.]
[What the heck was that woman Yuri trying to do?]
[She got all wishy-washy and just ruined everything.]
[They say the Teacher knows how to charm women.]
[Kayak’s dating style… playing both sides… noted….]
[The Broadcast Host has a sly style, got it.]
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