I did thoroughly enjoyed this one! It's an exercise, but the set up is inspired. The opening throws you into this apocalyptic world. There's the terror of a world forever encased in ice and the corporate sci-fi GM which is arguably worse. It's seasonal depression hitting the cn community too. The prose is easy to follow and silly at times. It's trippy and meta which is always a plus. Congrats to the author for completion because it's a short fantastic work!!! On to some crits, which there are a few:
Spoiler warning / 剧透:
Like DFW's Octet, this story is structured like a thematically disjointed pop quiz, the philosophical and moral implications of our protagonist's dilemma is intentionally obfuscated, and then the author coming to apologize for it and calling to its intentionality. It works to a certain extent in Octet, because the pop quiz themselves are set up to be comically complex and neurotic, but in this vn it sort of comes off as a bit jumbled. Judging by how roundabout it is to find the hidden ending I suspect the author intended the primary experience to be about the 3 choices themselves... which by design is the vn's biggest fault. Save a kid? Save an engineer to save yourself? Save someone who doesn't want to be saved? The choice presents itself as a moral dilemma while lacking a thematic center, and this faulty premise takes center stage, but it's called out upon by the author to prove an entirely different premise (and only in a few sentences!) that life's permeance is extended in stories? I hope there is not a second hidden HIDDEN ending to call out on this thematic disconnect of the thematic disconnect. I think the intended argument is that the apocalypse is a stand in for inevitable death, and the three choices are about how we should live instead of who we should kill. This is a fantastic concept, and I wished our protag's internal monologue calls attention to this slightly more, so that there isn't any confusion when it ends.
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Thank you so much for this incredibly detailed and thoughtful review! I am genuinely surprised and honored that a non-Chinese speaker discovered and completed my work.
Regarding your critique on the “thematic disconnect”: I think you’ve pinpointed the exact struggle I had during development. The three choices were intended to feel like a “false moral test” that eventually leads to the realization that the apocalypse is an allegory for inevitable death, as you correctly interpreted. I admit that the transition to the author’s meta-message might have been too abrupt or “jumbled,” and I appreciate your suggestion about using the protagonist’s monologue to bridge that gap.
Knowing that the “seasonal depression” and the corporate sci-fi atmosphere resonated with you makes all the effort worth it. Thank you for reading my work so deeply!