Part 22: Yuina, Chapter 1: A Goon of a Different Color

Chapter 1: A Goon of a Different Color

Hello! It has been a while. I would like to introduce to you a new friend.


His name is Fudou Gundayu, which is a name I stole from a 20th century physicist named Aida Gundayu. Gundayu wrote such fascinating-sounding books as "The Tale of the Universe: From Fire to Atomic Energy" and "The Simple Universe: From Atoms to Man-Made Satellites". I figure it'd be a fitting tribute to our run... and totally not just a coincidence stemming from my Googling of real names that include "goon".

This new Goon's goal in life is to explore other aspects of high school life, and as such, he will be joining the computer club! This will not only catch Yuina's attention early, but also neatly avoid most people who aren't Yuina or Saki. For reference, these are the stats that Yuina demands before she finds this new Goon to be worthy:

Stamina: N/A | Lit: N/A | Science: 120+
Art: N/A | Sports: N/A | General Knowledge: 100+
Looks: 60+ | Guts: N/A | Stress: N/A

How easy is this compared to Shiori? Well, it took over two full years to build stats to Shiori's standards, and it attracted a ton of unwanted attention. Meanwhile, you can fulfill Yuina's stat requirements within 9 months of the beginning of the game, with no particular difficulty.

First order of business: Join the computer club.


Easy! The computer club builds Science, Guts, and General Knowledge (in that order), while eating way at Looks, Sports, and generating tons of Stress. It's just like being a real engineer! But weirdly, since the computer club is so good at building Guts (and because I spent some Sundays exercising), the first girl we meet is actually Saki. I swear that this was not planned!

I was planning to meet her after Yuina, she just beat my schedule by a week.

5/8: Meet Saki


Goon: Whew, it's finally recess...
Saki: Fudou-kun.


Goon: Y, yes, that's me. And you are...?
Saki: Oh! I'm the manager of the baseball club, Nijino Saki...
Goon: So, why're you talking to me...?
Saki: You have guts. Together, we can make it to Koushien!

What can I say, I'm a sucker for a high school baseball story. Sue me!

Goon: Sorry, but I'm not very interested in baseball.
Saki: Is that so... if you joined us, our team would be so much stronger...
Goon: Sorry. But I think you're really overestimating me.
Saki: Not at all! But... I can't force you.
Goon: Maybe if I feel like it, I'll go check it out?
Saki: Okay! I'll be waiting for you. See you then!

Dammit, Alternate Universe Goon... when a girl asks you to play high school baseball, manga says YOU SAY YES!


Yoshio: Whoa! Wasn't that Nijino Saki?
Goon: Seems like it.
Yoshio: What did the idol of the sports clubs want to talk to you about?
Goon: She was trying to invite me to join the club.
Yoshio: Hmmm? Whoops, class is about to start.

As a note, "sports club" is a blanket term for all high school sports, and it is the opposite of "literary club" which covers pretty much anything else.

5/14:

Nijino Saki
Birthday: January 13th
Sign: Capricorn
Blood Type: A
Measurements: 81-59-82 (32-23-32)
Club: Baseball
Notes: The idol of the sports clubs. Her hobby is cooking.
She's the kind of person who likes watching sports more than playing them.

Some day, I will go back and Goon will be a baseball star so I can live my sports dreams through him. However, today is not that day, because the point of this run is to...

5/16: Meet Yuina


Goon: Hmm... what does ICE mean?


Yuina: It stands for "In-circuit Emulator." It's a device that lets you test your development targets in conditions very close to the real environment, in real time.

I cannot begin to tell you how hard this line was for me to translate. Goddammit, I should've just let her kidnap Goon for knowing too much about science.

Goon: Oh. Thanks, um....
Yuina: Himoo Yuina. You should at least learn the names of your fellow club members when you join.
Goon: S, sorry, Himoo-san...
Yuina: That is the kind of thing that keeps you from learning these rudimentary concepts.
Goon: (This counts as rudimentary?)
Yuina: You need to focus more on your studies. Now, I must excuse myself.
Goon: Sigh... what a stern woman.


If you want to read Yuina's profile, you can find it in Chapter 3. It's exactly the same. For now, we skip ahead to...

6/3:


By spending a lot of early-game time exercising, Goon has earned second place in the Scavenger Hunt Race! Unlike the last playthrough, the strong finish plus actually knowing three girls means that there's a folk dance after the sports festival in year one!

Goon: Okay, time for the folk dance. Let's do this right!


Yuina: You really like this kind of thing?

Goon: Alright, next is Nijino-san.


Saki: Oh! Lead on!

Goon: Alright, next is Shiori.


Shiori: Lead on.

Goon: The folk dance wasn't that bad.

7/7:


And now, we fast-forward to Yuina's birthday on 7/7... which is exactly the same event that it was in Chapter 3 of the Shiori playthrough. No whip this time - just the book on the theory of 6th generation computing.

7/15:


Thankfully, our focus on Science and only Science mean that it's easy to lie low and not draw Megumi's attention. However, it is recommended for Yuina playthroughs to be able to at least match her scores, so we'll need to tack a little over a hundred points onto Goon's test scores before it's all said and done.

8/14: Computer Club Summer Camp


I am including this screenshot because it's cute.

8/15:


Yuina: Have you compiled your program yet?
Goon: No, I can't think of a good algorithm.
Yuina: You should focus more on learning your math and physics.
Goon: Y, you think so?
Yuina: If you have no pride, why not try referencing another person's program?
Goon: Analyse another program... could you let me study yours, Himoo-san?
Yuina: If you can parse it, I do not mind. If you can parse it.
Goon: "If I can parse it"...?
Yuina: Well, try and do your best.

Welp.


I am including this screenshot because it's funny.

So as of 8/20/1995, Goon's stats are:

Stamina 137 | Lit 45 | Science 104
Art 62 | Sports 98 | General Knowledge 60
Looks 74 | Guts 38 | Stress 1

Basically, he's about 5-6 weeks away from fulfilling all of the stat conditions we need. See how easy this is compared to Shiori?! It's ridiculous!

Next time: Attack of the Killer Koala