Adventure in Magick Mundo

***Adventure in Magick Mundo*** (マジックムンドの冒険 *Majikku Mundo no Bōken,* lit. Adventure of Magick Mundo) is an RPG by CaraPrincess, the creator of Pokémon: Claire, Mistress of Magick, as the first official video game of the series. The game is created using the RPG Maker MZ engine.

### Genre

RPGAdventure

*Bishoujo*

## Plot

In a (fictional) town located in a location described by the game as "somewhere in the middle of the English Channel" often called by the locals "The Town", a young human teen named Monoji Jinteki lives with their neighbors, which are Kara, Jane, Otome Kifuu (known in the English version as Astrid Bennett), and Leila. One day, the teen's parents are disdainful towards their child's bad academic grades and ill behavior, and they decided to send them into The Town's library with their neighbors for further studying. At there, the teen discovered a book called the Astronomium, and the teen decided to open it in curiosity, but it traps all of them inside the book.

They then woke up at an area called the Hall. Realizing the place they've fallen into doesn't look like anything of their hometown, Leila panics and tried to ask Astrid where they have fallen into, but she have no idea. Bound in a direful situation, Leila decided to explore on her own, but then is stopped by Monoji, who ask her to have them and their friends to go with her. She then agrees, but then express her worry about whatever outside after approaching a mysterious door. However, motivated by Monoji's desire to explore whatever out there, Leila decided to temporarily give up her worries and move through the door.

After moving on to the next room, they encountered a puppet *shikigami* named Mary, who told them that they must be "Outsiders", people from the outside world who've fallen down into the book's world, called Astromagicka, but they calls the world "Magick Mundo" for short. Jane then ask Mary that whether they are built from the same material as her, as she senses some "similarities" between her and them. Mary then fluster, saying that she can't tell right now because her master asks her to keep this a secret. Then they lead the party to another room, where the Lunarite situates, and explains to all of them about the story of the Hermit who have been trapped here for a long time, Hoshizakura Amagumo, the purpose why the Hermit create the Lunarite, and about the mechanic of checkpoints in the game. They then explain that recently, there are no signs of turbulence of the magic in the Magick Mundo, but the Beasts of the Stars, Hoshizakura's rebelled familiars, are now attempting to set up  Sombrites ,crystals imbued with dark magic, in order to disrupt and then ultimately block the flow of light magic to the Lunarite, rendering them inactive, and this will allow the Beasts to go on a rampage both in and outside of the book, and even causing chaos to the outside world, make the world soon become something of a "primordial soup". Leila is then confused about what Mary said, and thinking that she is dreaming, she pinches herself to check whether she is sleeping, but after many failed attempts, she realizing that she is really trapped in the book herself, and that she is really on an adventure to save the world from the menace that is lurking within the book. Leila then ask Mary what should she do if she and her party encounter Beasts, and then Mary lead the party to a room with the Beast Ragdoll in it, and Monoji interacts with the Ragdoll, initiating a mock battle between the whole party and the Ragdoll. Regardless of the party "Iced" the Ragdoll, "Refrain" the Ragdoll or running away from it, Mary will bid them farewell and wishes them good luck on their adventure out there, and assign the whole party to deactivate all Sombrites and find Hoshizakura in order to put the Lunarite under control once more, balancing the magic in the Magick Mundo. After she bid them farewell, the true adventure starts and Mary doesn't follow them anymore, suggesting that Mary cannot leave the Hall on her own due to being a puppet *shikigami* created by Hoshizakura, and thus, many of her actions are controlled by Hoshizakura.

There are four different endings depending on what the player choose to do with Monoji during the adventure. The "normal" ending, called the "Standard Ending", is ensured when the player "Iced" some, but not all Beasts. There, Hoshizakura will explain to the whole party that she've reaped several Pneuma Cores and extracted their Lumiziel from Outsiders who decide to escape the Magick Mundo because she want them to stay with her for the sake of their happiness, as she deemed the outside world a place where no genuine happiness can be found. However, after noticing that Monoji and the whole party have a strong desire for leaving that against her will, she tries to stop them using the power of all of the Lumiziel she've extracted from the Pneuma Cores, and transforms into a powered-up version of her, which is eventually defeated by the whole party. After that, she simply allows the party to leave this world. After arrives at the library, all of the party members leave Monoji, left them explore The Town on their own. After going to sleep, they encounter their subconscious in their dream, who said that the purpose of their adventure is to help them restraining their rebelliousness, which is the factor that makes them difficult to get on with everyone. Then they explain that this is not the only time they have to do this, they then say that there will be another challenge ahead. But before they could explain about this, the game whites out and abruptly ends, showing the credits. This leads to speculations that the "challenge" mentioned by the subconscious already happens in the real life, and that the protagonist is dreaming about it due to they are already thinking about it in the real life, perhaps even before they and their friends fell down to the Magick Mundo. Another speculation stated that the subconscious said that to Monoji as a warning, saying that they haven't fully restrain their rebelliousness, despite that they always follow the [player's] commands. This might be hinted at their willingness to kill some Beasts, even at times when they are not asked to do so. Then the purpose of the challenge, in this context, can mean that the "second challenge" is intended for having Monoji fully restrain their rebelliousness.

The second ending, the "Frith Ending", is ensured when the player does not "Ice" any Beasts. There, Hoshizakura also explains about Monoji's similarities to her apprentice, who was executed by the authorities for "being a witch". She said she and her apprentice used to be powerful Monster Slayers, but after realizing how much blood she and her partner have shed, and the macabre scene at the "carnage" of monsters, both decided to live the lives of hermits and try to unlock the special "magical power" of Frith, an ancient magical power that is in all beings, but remains dormant until that being shows acts of kindness. She also acknowledges about the feeling that Monoji experiences after they show reluctance to "Ice" a Beast, which she said as caused by the awakening of the Frith inside their body. But then she said that she won't let them and their party leave, as she believes that Monoji is a reincarnation of her deceased partner. She then absorbs the spirit of her dead partner, which she has kept with her since her partner was executed. Then the whole party fights another powered up form of Hoshizakura, which is then ultimately defeated. She then reverts back to her real form, which is an old woman, revealing to the whole party that she wants to explore the outside world, which she deems is safer for her than the world she used to live in, as the people there "have different opinions than people in the past". Monoji then requests Hoshizakura to come with them and their friends, but she refused, saying that its time for her to "leave this world", and explain that the Great One wants her to leave the world, as despite being a hermit heading to immortality, He doesn't want her to fulfill her goal due to the sins of witchcraft that she've commited during her life. Then she bids farewell to the whole party, and disappears. The whole party then left the Magick Mundo, and leave Monoji, left them on their own to explore The Town, similar to a Standard Ending. Then they go to bed, and in their dreams, they heard a voice calls out their name, and then wakes up to see a child standing next to them, who is revealed to be the reincarnation of Hoshizakura. The child then said that the Great One have forgive them of their sins, after witnessing Monoji's final battle. Then Monoji shows to the child a ticket to Jane's concert, and asks whether the child want to go, and they agrees. Then the screen turns black, and then shows a photo of the full Jinteki family, with the addition of a new family member - the child.

The third ending, the "Ripper Ending", is ensured when the player choose to "Ice" all Beasts. Contrary to popular belief, unlike *Undertale*, a Ripper Ending cannot be aborted by sparing Beasts, especially Boss Beasts, due to during that playthrough, something "keeps Monoji from being kind to others". There, Hoshizakura realized that how bad Monoji is, and said that the blood that Monoji shed upsets her, and she regrets about her choice to not have Mary kill every Outsider if she found malice in them. But then she said that it's time for the true battle that will decide Monoji's path, and then she uses her own Lumiziel to transform into another powered-up version of her, and despite the battle is tough at start, the whole party then eventually slay her, and before she die, she warns Monoji about the consequences of the violence they've commited during their adventure. The whole party then exits the Magick Mundo, leaving Monoji on their own, and allows them to explore The Town on their own. After they go to bed, they once again encounter their subconscious in their dream, where they told them that they are the embodiment of their will to mortify anyone who gets in their way. After a conversation, they then cause a jumpscare, which makes the screen flashes repeatedly from black to white, and then turns black, showing a large image of a Pneuma Core shattering, presumably that of Monoji. After that, they woke up, and encountered their mother, who found out that their child is acting strangely, and while she is asking Monoji what is happening, the screen then turns black, and a slashing noise plays. Then, mournful music plays in the background, showing text which appears to be written by either Monoji's father or brother, and fades away. Then the screen appears to be cracked, and end the game. This lead to speculation that Monoji killed theirselves or killed their mother, and that what the cracked screen might represent a camcorder, which the unseen family member who is believed to wrote the words that are shown after the screen turns black, has watched its footage. The footage can be the scene at Monoji's funeral (if the situation is interpreted as Monoji killed theirselves), or the footage of their killing spree (s) (if assuming that Monoji killed their mother and became a mass murderer after that).

A fourth ending, called the "Buddy Ending", is ensured when the conditions of a Standard or Frith Ending is met, and Monoji's "Friendliness" stat reach 5. After certain boss battles, each of the four party members ask Monoji to go out for a hangout with them. These hangouts are mandatory to achieve this ending. Upon starting a hangout, Monoji has to gain their fondness, or else they will not gain the fondness of their partner. They have to solve puzzles and complete quests to gain the fondness of the friend, and over the course of the hangout, the friend will give them choices for them to select. Some choices will increase the fondness, some choices decrease it, some don't do anything at all, and some ends the hangout abruptly. It's all up to the player to decide their actions during these hangouts, but eventually, Monoji gained the fondness of their friends. In this playthrough, the whole party gain access to a location in Sennin Village which is usually inaccessible for most playthroughs, where they have to solve puzzles and encounter an additional midboss and boss. There, Hoshizakura will explain to Monoji and the whole party that she senses an atmosphere of kindness inside Monoji, and it reminds her of her friends, who have died during the Witch War, which is a war between the authorities of the world at her time and the magic users all around the world. She also explains that her friends are from both sides, some are magic users, some are political figures, but they did not clash with each other during the war due to their affability and cooperation, which help her and all of them to find a way to end the war peacefully, but before they can do that, they are executed. Remorseful of their deaths, she meekly accept any punishment by the authorities, even though now she realizes that was a huge mistake, and the true way to act in that situation is to defending her personal beliefs on peace between the authorities and magic users. After that, she senses her friends' spirits' power is coming through her, helping her to overcome her mental breakdown. Then she transforms herself into another powered-up version of herself, and is fought by the whole party. After she is defeated, she said that now she is eager to explore the outside world with all of them, who she now regards as the embodiment of the friendliness of her dead friends, and then "joins" the party. After that, the whole party left, leaving Monoji and Hoshizakura. Hoshizakura then confesses to Monoji that she will be a loner in this world if nobody accept to befriend her. Then she flusters after hearing that Monoji and their family will accept befriending her, and then she expresses her delightment towards the choice. After that, they both went home, and is welcomed by William Jinteki himself, who knows about his sibling's adventure by Jane's words. He then expresses his surprise when he found out that his sibling has befriended someone during their adventure, and that his sibling wants their friend to be an acquaintance of the familiy. He then calls to his parents, expressing his sibling's wants to them. They then accept their request, and then Hoshizakura said to both that they are truly the most cordial people that she've ever seen. The screen then turns black, before showing a photo of the whole Jinteki family, with the addition of Hoshizakura, dressing in modern garb.

## Origins

A fan of video games since she was a child, CaraPrincess always want to be a part of the big universe of games. She once created *doujin* Pokémon "games" using the Scratch programming language, with the majority of these games are just very simple games with sprites that have simple movement, and despite their names, they didn't have any real objectives. Grew bored with this, she decided to quit from the indie game industry for a while, and hadn't mention the topic for years since that.

But after exposure to *Undertale* and then its spin-off *Deltarune*, and found out that it is solely created by a person using a game engine, she finally realized what to do. By having a look on some of the most notable game engines that are used to create indie games, she decided to start developing a game which serves as the first official game in the series, and is an un-canonical spin-off to the series. She also stated that the game does not happen in the same universe as *Claire: Mistress of Magick*, but similar to *Deltarune*, the universe in the game might bring some of the main series in mind. She first started with the idea of using the Ren'Py visual novel engine, which is well known for *Doki Doki Literature Club!*, a psychological horror game with similarities to a *bishoujo* dating sim. But there's one existing problem: creating an RPG battle engine for the game using Ren'Py is difficult, so she scrapped that idea. Then she noticed GameMaker: Studio 2, the very same engine that is used to create *Undertale* and *Deltarune*, so she paid attention to it. But she quickly abandon it after realizing the price of the license to own the engine permanently after the 30-day trial is too much for her to afford. She then noticed GDevelop, a free game engine which has created some successful games, but she quickly scrapped that idea too, because for some "personal reasons".

She then noticed RPG Maker MZ, a game engine which is well known for several games that are released on Steam. She has a good headstart at using the engine, and decide to keep up with it. She also prefer this option due to the price for the full version, which she can buy after the 20-day trial, is enough for her to afford. But while having a good headstart, game production is suspended for about a month due to her misbehavior at school. She said that the absurdness of school rules by the teachers at her school makes her feels like she is a prisoner, and she swears that she will bring freedom to anyone who is "oppressed" like her by trying to convince everyone about the absurdness of rules, and that rules doesn't matter when it comes for an adolescent, whose age is normally considered to have some sense of "freedom". She also applied this thought to the main protagonist of the game, Monoji Jinteki, whose description is "a rebel at school whose rules don't apply to them, and brings a sense of anarchic freedom whenever they go".