Excellent first update, cannot wait to see more. Certainly a gem in the wave of recent visual novels.
The word-building, though just hinted at, has left me intrigued; Albeit, the mystery might be doing much of the heavy lifting in that regard. I cannot wait to see more about this new universe. I have already fallen in love with the characters, and that's not just the wonderful art doing that, they are all uniquely captivating. Without spoilers, the first decision left me thinking for longer than I though it would -- a testament to the author's ability to leave me enthralled. Overall, a promising start that the author has proven to be more than capable to build on (which oddly enough isn't the norm with some of these visual novels).