Second

Due to losing a part of my work, I am putting the creation of the interactive novel on hold. I don't believe in the possibility of replicating the same thing twice, at least not in a satisfying way. I feel like all my positive feelings for this game evaporated after this event. However, from what you have, I believe the style, story and tone of the game should be clear enough, and alongside the story summary I provide in the spoiler section you should be able to reconstruct the game in imagination and enjoy the story just as if it were complete. You could refer to your own thoughts and feelings, seeing how an immersive and authentic portrayal of a person's inside was my goal all along. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

The original inspiration for this story came from when I first learned Twine. I realized that a plain black background with white text on it feels very immersive and may work even better for certain stories than the visual novel format. I really wanted to make a game which utilizes this simple form and turns it to it's advantage.

Made for the "I Can't Write But Want To Tell A Story" game jam by charlmes.

WARNING! Even though the game involves no violence, gore or sexual themes, it deals with a sensitive subject which I can't specify due to it being a spoiler.

SPOILER SECTION

You continue coming to terms with the realization of your death and try to forge an opinion on the mysterious woman that varies slightly depending on the choices, as well as reflect on her situation. You could feel compassion for her seeing how you have been through the same before, but also be unnerved and mistrusful, or simply deciding to trust a seeming authority figure - from the lack of better options, or with gratitude and relief.

Upon returning, the mysterious woman asks if you are happy. You have an option to say yes - having finally found safety and hoping you have what it takes to find your footing in the afterlife with naive optimism. Or no - shamefully admitting to the discomfort, fears relating to the stranger, overwhelming impact of the past and uncertainty about your future. The stranger reflects on whether she would want to meet the same fate, seeing it as a tragic and desperate solution. She reveals her motivation - in order to increase her power, she wants to absorb you, but cannot do so until you willingly give in. She encourages you to do so in order to help her, portraying herself as a victim of evil and violence who still has a chance for a good life, attempting to convince you that you have nothing to lose anymore, until she disappears again.

Learning about the guide's plans initially puts you in a sense of apathy, losing all hope of happiness. After you become aware of your mindset, you try to calm down a little, considering another death. You may think about the woman's well-being, thinking about being absorbed calmly as of a hypothetical foreign concept, be submissive and willing to give in only so that you can free yourself from bad emotions,  or let anger and frustration temporairly control you. You think about the afterlife, whether you have hope of living happily here or you completely don't believe in yourself.

At the begining of the third conversation, the woman asks if you have any questions that she could answer. There are three options, to which you could come back after discussing one of them. You can ask her what does it mean to just disappear. Seeing how worried you seem, she calmly describes it as a state similar to an undisturbed sleep, with limited awareness. She claims it would free you from the bad memories, as well as the inconviniences which you now experience. You can also ask her about the afterlife and the sense of discomfort, cold and pain which you experience. She claims it to be a fake feeling imposed on you by your own anxiety and subconciousness, which is likely to remain with you for a long time. You could also ask about her personal life.  She claims to be young, but older than you, passionate about the magic arts, abstract painting as a way of expression and the sea life, which she percieves as mysterious, inaccesible and in a way otherworldly. She lives with her parents on a farm, hoping to quickly and permanently move far away. She wants to know more about you, but before hearing an answer, the connection is broken abruptly and you find yourself alone again.

You end up feeling nervous and confused, trying to make a choice between "life" and death. You feel disappointed, bitter and angry about the safety which you expected that never came, losing clarity of thought to the constant pressure. Your feelings towards the stranger are either mostly negative but your submissive, timid mindset makes it impossible to try and break the connection, or tainted with guilt over the thought that helping her is emotionally difficult for you and that your selfishness is putting an innocent person in danger. You ask yourself whether you even want an existance as troubled as this one, with evergrowing frustration. The second death may even feel like a temptation, like yet another path to freedom, from the feelings, the people and the unpleasant experiences in life and afterwards.

The stranger returns, in a nervous manner explaining that her situation is desperate and even one more soul could make a huge difference for her. She says that there is no time left for her, that it is now or never. She mentiones the many souls who have helped her before and urges you not to put their sacrifice to waste. You hestitate, feeling anxious and indecisive, to which she replies with begging and very emotionally describing her lack of safety, the evil tormenting her and preparing to strike, eventually moving to blame you for her present and future suffering, before the connection is broken yet again.

You feel shaken up and anxious about the confrontation, with your feelings shifting towards either sorrow or anger. You may think about the fate of the stranger or about the peace, happiness and justice which don't seem to exist in either life or death. Negative emotions fill and control you as you feel an intense pull towards the second death, a very strong feeling that persists even when the bad emotions seemingly become a little calmer. Some part of you clouds your mind, demanding for you to make the sacrifice, crushing your thoughts and guiding you towards very dark places, making it near impossible to resist...

After a long while the woman appears yet again, with a nervous voice explaining that there is no time to lose, insisting she begins the ritual of absorbing your soul immediatly. You only get a chance to quickly say "Yes" or "No", as the stress paralyzes your thoughts, leaving you with an empty mind and a clouded judgement. If you refuse, the woman lashes out in anger, degrading you and blaming for you for her misery, which stimulates your fear and anxiety, making you feel weak and creating an inner pressure to be submissive. You are very afraid and emotionally incapable of taking action, with inside described in a very detailed and uncomfortable way. As the emotions escalate, you can barely manage to survive more screams or break and give in at any point. Agreeing, you are subjected to progressively growing fear of the unknown, of losing your conciousness and falling into a state nobody can specify, while the parts of your soul emotionally tear each other apart over whether they want to continue or not, as the pull to death meets the instinct of survival. The mysterious woman is mostly silent, telling you to focus and attempting to have you stop overthinking the current events. Again you can withdraw at any point.

Depending on your choice, there are two possible endings:

The one where you die - your fears and desires blending and hurting you until in the final seconds, you are overtaken by a glint of apathy, glad to be able to leave everything behind, left without any positivity or hope, until your thoughts fade into nothingness.

And the one where you live - the connection breaking and you feeling as if you run away, shocked, scared and dirty, shivering internally while experiencing great anxiety for a long time, until it decreases slightly. You are still incapable of cutting the bad emotions and regaining the reasonable way of thinking, when you realize that you are alone in an unfriendly, alien world, having already made powerful enemies, not knowing what to do, how to find peace and a purpose and how to stop the lasting pain, cold and discomfort...

***

Thank you for reading until the end. I'm grateful and honored that you took the time to learn about the story and hopefully were able to imagine it in a good way. I'm sorry for leaving it this way and delivering such a small part of the game. I participated in the jam for fun and the situation with losing some of the game ruined this fun for me, which convinced me not to continue. I treated it as an enjoyable challenge and a possibility to test out a new form of storytelling, which in a way I accomplished. I still wanted to share the story and I welcome any feedback. I hope that Second left a good impression on you regardless of the circumstances.