Th18/omake.txt/en

○東方虹龍洞 (Touhou Kouryuudou: Rainbow Dragon Cave)　～ Unconnected Marketeers.

Character Settings & etc

Team Shanghai Alice Leader ZUN 2021/05/04 ---

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======================================================= ■1. Afterword

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Good day, ZUN here.

Ah, it's finally done. The world's in a mess due to the COVID crisis; our government is calling loudly for everyone to "stay home", and I feel they're shifting responsibility to the individual.

As for myself, I have been so busy developing this game that I had no other choice but to stay home. I haven't been able to properly rest or play since the beginning of this year, so there's a lot of games that I have been wanting to play but haven't had a chance to do so.

Once the mastering is finished, I want to go soak in a hot spring! And have a celebration and let loose!

But amid this COVID crisis, people are being asked to refrain from doing these things. How am I supposed to stay motivated then? I can't enjoy these rewards, so game development is becoming more and more of a stoic process. It's hell!

In this game, I included two elements that might seem a little incompatible with each other - that of a shoot-em-up, where your skills as a shooter count for everything, as well as items so numerous that you can't count them all.

Interestingly, this turned out to be a great match, as the player is able to increase their skills by having fun playing the game over and over again in order to get more items. Well, the system's not suited for arcades, where you'd want a game that can be played on the spot, but I think it's pretty good.

With that said, there's a big problem. With this many cards, debugging and balancing the game on my own is hard... Even just testing all combinations of cards is nigh impossible for me to do.

So I'm sure there will be the odd issue or some stuff that's broken strong, and I'd appreciate it if you could go "it's a game, that's just the way games are" and laugh it off. In particular, there's no way for me to try the replays with every card...

I suppose this is a limitation of developing a game on my own... Even if there's some issues, please take it easy. m(__)m

ZUN (After I finish making this game, I'm going to stay home playing even more games...)


 * Careful: Contains post-ending spoilers after this point**

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======================================================= ■2. Extra Story

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The Ability Cards turned out to be creations of the mountain youkai and a god. It turned out that they were really just objects of amusement, with a low risk of being harmful.

However, our protagonists encountered a mysterious person and mysterious ore at the Rainbow Dragon Cave.

It seemed that not even the god or the Great Tengu knew about that person's existence. The Great Tengu deemed her to be a mine looter, and sent out her fox. It looks like trouble is brewing.

You must go stop them before this turns into a big fight!

Unfortunately, the Rainbow Dragon Cave contains little oxygen. It is a place humans cannot enter. Our protagonists remembered that, when they defeated the market god, they obtained an Ability Card that granted the ability to breathe in an oxygen-free environment.

Now then, use the card's ability and go forth into the mine. Reveal the secret of the Rainbow Dragon Cave!

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======================================================= ■3. Character Settings

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◇Player Characters

Reimu Hakurei
 * Wonderful Shrine Maiden of Paradise

Species: Human Ability: Mainly capable of flying in the sky

The all-too-familiar shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine.

Mysterious cards were circulating in the streets. She sensed that the secrets of humans and youkai were hidden within the cards, and felt she had no choice but to investigate. For starters, her plan was to search around wherever she could for those selling the cards, and seize them en masse.

An Ordinary Magician Marisa Kirisame

Species: Human Ability: Capable of using magic

An ordinary magician living in Gensokyo. She has a mania for collecting things.

A myriad variety of magic powers were hidden in the cards. Every single power belonged to a human or youkai that she knew. Faced with something so interesting, she thought she had to collect them faster than anyone else. Everyone was bound to do the same. Because, of course, that would make their value shoot right up.

Sakuya Izayoi
 * Elegant Maid

Species: Human Ability: Capable of stopping time

Works as the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Her cool demeanor makes it hard to tell, but she actually acts slightly airheaded.

Mysterious cards were circulating in the streets. Lady Patchouli gained an extreme interest in the cards, and ordered her to collect every last one of them. The cards certainly were intriguing. Apparently, some of them even contained her mistress's magic power. However, her mistress was fit as a fiddle. Just what exactly could this mean...?

Sanae Kochiya
 * Miraculous Living God

Species: Human Ability: Capable of causing miracles

The card merchants' activity was centered around the Youkai Mountain. One could theorize that the cards' manufacturer was somewhere nearby, no? Given their position on the mountain, the Moriya Shrine couldn't turn a blind eye to this. If they left the situation alone, they thought, then the Hakurei Shrine would get ahead of them again.

◇Enemy Characters

Lucky Charm of Prosperous Business
 * Stage 1 Boss

Mike Goutokuji

Species: Maneki-neko Ability: Capable of beckoning in money or customers

The maneki-neko of Goutoku-ji temple are ordinarily white cats. She, however, was born a calico cat, and it seems that she struggled quite a bit due to her appearance. At times, she was shunned as a poor imitation, and at other times, those around her tried to dye her fur. But because she spat back at them that there was nothing wrong with being calico, she was ultimately cast out from the group, and was unable to partake in her maneki-neko training.

Perhaps because of this, her ability as a maneki-neko developed imperfectly. Maneki-neko are meant to beckon money and customers, but in her case, beckoning one of the two will end up driving away the other.

By that point, she was worthless to place in a shop. And of course, none were likely to claim her. She thought of this as a stroke of good luck, if anything, and abandoned maneki-neko society feeling wholly refreshed. And thus, she set out to live a new life in the mountains, comfortable and free of worry.

Business Youkai of the Mountain's Recess
 * Stage 2 Boss

Takane Yamashiro

Species: Yamawaro Ability: Capable of manipulating forest qi

One of numerous humanoid youkai who live in the mountains. Their inherent nature as a youkai resembles that of the kappa. They build hide-outs in the depths of the Youkai Mountain, within which they live a communal lifestyle.

They're specialists at living in forests, and are quite technologically advanced. In spite of being forest-dwellers, they're making progress in economic research, and have built a complicated system of currency.

They have a healthy rivalry with the kappa, and the two groups call each other things like "you lousy river-dwelling amphibians" and "you stinking forest monkeys". The kappa wouldn't be able to complete their machines without the yamawaro, and the yamawaro's businesses would wither away unused without the kappa's manufacturing. The two groups are dependent on each other, both in technology and in business.

Takane is a leader-esque presence amongst the yamawaro. As for why? People say it's because she speaks just a tiny bit more politely than others of her kind.

Highland-Dwelling Yamajorou
 * Stage 3 Boss

Full name: Sannyo Komakusa

Nickname: Komakusa-Dayuu

Species: Yamajorou Ability: Capable of controlling people's minds with tobacco smoke

A mountain youkai who enjoys tobacco. Lives on the high plateaus of the Youkai Mountain. Other mountain youkai call her by the fond nickname "Komakusa-Dayuu", owing to her appearance.

She runs a gambling den for tengu, yamawaro, kappa and the like, and makes her living as its bookmaker. For the mountain youkai, gambling is the highest form of amusement.

100% natural Youkai Mountain tobacco is known for the variety of effects it induces when its smoke is inhaled. For instance, it can calm one's mind, or conversely invigorate it. She skillfully uses this smoke to prevent the sort of frenzy that tends to break out in gambling dens. The den she runs is a fine, gentlemanly social gathering spot. Thanks to the tobacco smoke that encircles everything in it, that is...

The Ability Cards that suddenly sprang up would be the ultimate material for the mountain youkai to bet on. That was what she thought.


 * Stage 4 Boss

Genuine Master Artisan of Magatama

Misumaru Tamatsukuri

Species: God Ability: Capable of making magatama

A god who produces magatama from ancient minerals. Magatama are magic items that can contain the souls of living things inside of them. While only to a slight extent, they can copy and store people's abilities, temperaments, and even memories. By using the power of a magatama, it's easy to do things like copy abilities, read information from a subject, and so on.

The Dragon Gems being excavated in the Rainbow Dragon Cave are minerals that are well-suited to being made into magatama. She learned that a Great Tengu was boring tons of holes in the mountain to excavate them, and hurriedly set out ot investigate the site. This was because it'd be dangerous for the Dragon Gems to fall into the hands of evil. On top of that, she was concerned about the mountain's environmental destruction. She had, after all, seen countless old mines that had been carved out of mountains due to sheer greed, then tossed aside when their resources ran out.

The Rainbow Dragon Cave's structure was labyrinthine, with its full layout still unknown. While she was investigating, a human came and delved inside. Upon using her magatama's power to see what their motive was, it appeared that they were investigating the Ability Cards. She turned them away, telling them that the caverns beyond were no place for humans to enter.

After that, she continued investigating the Rainbow Dragon Cave. In its far reaches, she found a dangerous youkai that was continually digging away at the mountain: a giant centipede...


 * Stage 5 Boss

Chief of the Crow Tengu

Megumu Iizunamaru

Species: Great Tengu Ability: Capable of manipulating the starry sky

One of the Great Tengu who live near the mountain's peak. Tengu society is vertically-oriented, with Great Tengu corresponding to a mid-ranking boss. As such, they can give orders to regular tengu as well. The Great Tengu's orders are absolute. They can give orders to other mountain-dwelling youkai as well... but in that case, some tend to disobey the orders.

While they have the right to issue orders, they rarely (if ever) give orders for the sake of personal gain. Great Tengu bear the responsibility of growing and maintaining tengu society.

She took notice of the dragon gems sleeping within the mountain. Dragon gems have a very slight soul-capturing effect, even without being refined into magatama. If she used them to make an entertainment product that people would want to trade, she could probably make a fair profit.

However, if she simply made and sold them, there'd be a limit to both how long and how much she could profit.

Therefore, she decided to put the products into wide circulation, and construct a currency system specifically for exchanging them. Whenever a card merchant made an exchange, the currency system would spread further, and she'd be able to profit off of that. She knew that this would earn her a far greater turnout than making and selling things directly.

This, however, meant that she needed a reason as to why the cards could only be exchanged via that unique currency system.

It was then that she took notice of a marketplace god who no longer had any place to go, and who seemed like she was about to vanish any moment. They designed the Ability Cards such that the cards would only be supplied with magic-- thus activating their ability-- when a successful transaction was made with the marketplace god's power. If used in any other way, they'd simply be scraps of paper.

Just as the Great Tengu planned, the Ability Cards began circulating freely, and she made a fine profit indeed.

But that was where a problem arose. As a result of the cards' active circulation, the marketplace god regained her original power, growing strong enough to threaten tengu society.


 * Stage 5 Midboss

Wicked White Fox Who Whispers in Ears

Tsukasa Kudamaki

Species: Kuda-gitsune Ability: Capable of slipping into places where one's soul is weak

Megumu Iizunamaru's reliable right-hand woman, who gets far better results than she's ordered to... or so people think. In reality, she's a troublemaker who brings about chaos by slipping into the cracks in a target's heart.

She seems rather busy, being tasked with ferrying messages between the Great Tengu and the market god, giving instructions to the giant centipede, and so on. She's trusted by the Great Tengu, the market god, and even the giant centipede, and they each consult with her in various ways.

But her true nature is that of a kuda-gitsune.

Those who listen to her advice will surely receive financial benefits, but you mustn't forget that a destructive result awaits you in return.

In the end, her whispers were the source of trouble that roped both the market god and the giant centipede into fighting Reimu and co.


 * Stage 6 Boss

God of the Unowned

Chimata Tenkyuu

Species: God Ability: Capable of letting one relinquish ownership

For humans, letting go of things is difficult. Even if you give it to someone, the information that it was a gift from you will remain. Even if you throw it in the trash, or illegally dump it on a mountain, the information that someone left it there will remain. Relinquishing ownership is no easy feat.

However, there exists a place where that act can be perfectly carried out. The one place where people can exchange objects: the market. By selling something at a market, you can completely give up possession of it.

She's a god who governs that act.

These days, the buying and selling of things has come to occur without a market's involvement much more often, and as a result, there is an utter glut of ownership rights. She lamented this fact.

When Iizunamaru came to her and asked her to open a marketplace, she knew there was no way she'd let this chance slip by. She replied that she'd cooperate with her if, and only if, the transactions took place under strict conditions, like those of the original marketplaces.

She understood full well that Iizunamaru was taking advantage of her for a business endeavor. She was fine with this, because she thought that once the endeavor succeeded, she'd have already regained her power as a god and would have nothing to fear from a mere Great Tengu.

The first market was held on the mountain's peak, as a rainbow encircled the moon. The only participants were Chimata, Iizunamaru, Tsukasa the kuda-gitsune, and Momoyo the oomukade.

In that first market, they bought and sold cards with their own abilities sealed inside. Beneath the lunar rainbow, the four of them exchanged cards back and forth. Just as they'd planned, the replica abilities sealed in the cards completely detached from their original owners, and became part of their new owners' abilities. Both Iizunamaru and Momoyo were greatly excited by this result.

Many more markets were held after that, and the cards spread far and wide out from the mountain. In order to use the cards' abilities, they had to be purchased according to the rules. Stealing, discarding, picking up, or receiving them wouldn't work.

Those were the rules put in place so that Chimata, the market god, could obtain power. Iizunamaru thought of the markets as pure business, but for Chimata, they were a ritual of worship for her to regain her divine strength.

When friction began to openly develop between the two of them, a force of destruction that would end it all arrived. She called that force of destruction a "robber"-- the so-called destroyer of the market, who tried to solve things through violence.

Strangely enough, that human "robber" arrived on a night when a rainbow encircled the moon, just like their first market had.


 * Extra Stage Boss

Onyx Dragon-Eater

Momoyo Himemushi

Species: Oomukade Ability: Capable of eating dragons

The giant centipede. A youkai that's despised for various reasons, such as its grotesque form and unpleasant toxins. Even massive dragons don't dare approach them. In the foothills, they're feared as the most powerful of the dragon-slaying youkai.

They hold gigantic magic power tempered by the aura of negativity cast upon them, and her magic is particularly strong. Hardly anyone tries to approach her in the first place, which likewise adds fuel to her legends of supreme might.

To be completely honest, nobody knows whether she can actually eat a dragon or not.

But it's true that she was fishing around in the Rainbow Dragon Cave for "dragon gems," which are said to be held by dragons. As she began excavating dragon gems from the caves, she was approached with a business proposal by her friend Iizunamaru, a Great Tengu who didn't mind meeting her in person.

Momoyo accepted the job of excavator, carving out the mountain to mine the Rainbow Dragon Cave. Her payment was in dragon gems. The dragon gems were a good enough substitute for eating her Great Tengu friend, Megumu (whose name is written as 'dragon').

As she was diligently digging up dragon gems every day, she was told that a looter had finally arrived in the mine. She was thrilled, of course.

"I'm sick of eatin' dragon gems by now. A mine looter will make for the best dessert around!"