Chapter 1.5: The Meaning Behind The Red Text

Welcome to the first expanded chapter of A Gamer Into Trails! I'm considering marking these as .5 chapters, like Chapter 1.5 here. There will be more to come.

Depending on where the scene is at the time, some of these chapters may not be very long. But they will hold meaning.

For this first chapter, the meaning is in the chapter title. If you've played Trails, you should know the meaning of the red text. And if not, it'll be explained here~

As always, Giliath demands your power stones!

*

Naoto was nowhere to be seen. His body was literally sucked into the monitor as his consciousness faded. It was as if it was a whirlpool. A huge force latched onto his very being, and he couldn't pull back from it. His body vanished without a trace. His room turned still.

But if there was one surprising thing to mention, the monitor screen didn't cut any power. It was still lit up. The screen was black, but the power was still running. Before long, a [Now loading...] prompt appeared on the screen.

Like this, a few moments passed with that [Now loading...] still on the screen. It wasn't moving anywhere. It didn't even show a progress bar. It just stood there.

Further beyond Naoto's room where the kitchen was, three figures could be seen. Naoto's father, who had a newspaper in hand. He was currently reading the newspaper without a care in the world as to what just happened. As for the other two, it was Natsuki and the two's mother. The cooking has finished, and a nice aroma could be wafting around the room.

There was just one thing missing. Natsuki paused after placing the last plate down for their meal. She had finished helping with both cooking and setting the table. Naoto hadn't come down yet.

"Hmm, that boy always likes to come down at the last minute. Be a dear and go grab Naoto okay, Natsuki?", Natsuki's mother said.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you mom. This floor belongs to him so it's not like we can make brother come down. I can at least still check up on him. He said he'd be down right away. Did he...?", Natsuki uttered back, wondering about the present situation. She knew more than her parents did and how Naoto enjoyed the Trails series. She's even played most herself. She knew how those games went.

While that last scene did play out, it was very possible that wasn't the last-last scene. The Trails games often liked to introduce the so-called "post-credits" scene one would typically find in movies.

Going back up the stairs, Natsuki found herself back in her older brother's room.

"I'm coming in, brother. You said you'd come down right away.", Natsuki said, knocking lightly before she opened the door. But to her surprise, she didn't hear a peep out of Naoto's room.

"Brother?", Natsuki questioned, still getting no response. She saw Naoto's gaming setup. The screen was still turned on. She saw the loading screen.

But what drew her attention was what was seen on the bottom right of the screen. She could see the Trails logo, clad in deep crimson. She blinked her eyes, not expecting to see that.

"Oh shit. Brother's probably in one of those surprise cutscenes. Things turn real super quick when you see that red logo. He probably went to the bathroom or something while the scene was still loading. I shouldn't disturb him. It probably won't take long anyways.", Natsuki said, quickly realizing the situation at hand. She darted her eyes away from the screen.

Trails Into Reverie was her next game on her own list to play, so she didn't want this ending spoiled. She darted out of her brother's room, letting Naoto to his own devices. The door quickly shut, and she scurried down the stairs. There was just one thing Natsuki didn't know.

This logo wasn't for some surprise ending. The game had already ended. Then the question remained, why was the logo there?

"Brother is, uhh, not going to make it for a little while. We can start without him, mom.", Natsuki quickly said, not wanting to disturb him. She knew well what was going to happen, even though it wasn't going to.

But little did she know that would be the last time Natsuki would see Naoto...

After Natsuki left Naoto's room, the [Now loading...] screen on Naoto's monitor, as well as the crimson red logo, vanished. A new text appeared on screen before the entire gaming rig cut off, straight from its power source.

[We welcome you.]