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nek0mars · 2 years

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A Review of The Ssum (from the perspective of an MM fan)

Ok, so the first thing I would like to say is:

Please be considerate toward Ssum; it’s an entirely different game from MM, and despite there being similarities, SSum is NOT Mystic!! (but you all know that, surely ^^)

However, I will be comparing things in my rant...because I am one of those Mystic Messenger Fans ;-;

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(Also I see some of you all asking Cheritz for more MM content...I get it, I want some more too but...we all have heard that Cheritz has (supposedly) said that updates for content will be sparse or MUCH less frequent

edit:

(however I have heard from someone that they said after Ray's AE, they were planning on stopping updating in general other than new start screen CGs, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW, I'M PATIENTLY WAITING FOR A VANDY ROUTE IDC)

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So first things first: Teo.

I’ve already seen people say this, but he’s sort of...bland? In fact, he actually seems like a mild mixture of Zen, 707, and Yoosung. He’s an aspiring film director who likes to game in his spare time, and is helping test developing AIs. After growing up with Mystic, it’s strange to see such a normal character!

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Second!

The typing speed is extremely slow, and you can’t speed it up.

The only way to speed it up (from what I’ve seen) is to pay $9.99 for fast typing speed. That’s...a lot more than Max Speed in MM.

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Third!

Here’s some comments I found in Ssum already, lol:

"mystic messenger >>>>>"

"give me 200 days of content of jumin han instead"

"i am confused lol"

"i really miss yoosung"

"i don't understand this HEEELLLLPPP"

"this game is so confusing lol"

Aside from the MM comments, I see a LOT of people being super baffled about the interface of Ssum. There are a ton of features that MM never had, and for former and present MM fans, it’s very new and confusing.

There’s also the fact that the purchases aren’t made to be a one time purchase. In fact, the packages are SUBSCRIPTIONS. Meaning you have to pay MONTHLY. Some people just cannot afford a subscription (myself included).

This, along with the fact that everything seems overpriced, is making MM fans a bit irritated that they can’t fully enjoy this new game without having to spend money.

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Fourth!

Here’s some of my personal opinions on the game!

The interface is really nice! It’s smooth, it’s clean, it’s modern and new :)

The voice acting is really cute and high quality, and I appreciate that.

However, the way that Teo talks with you in the chatrooms and over the phone is a bit strange. It’s a bit sudden, and feels sort of rushed.

I mean, it’s only two chats in and he’s talking about how he feels flushed talking to you!

I also understand the idea of talking to only one person to get to know them, but it is honestly strange to not have a wider option of characters. (Is Cheritz planning on adding more characters? I genuinely do not know)

Also, a little detail, but you can’t pause the phone calls. I understand that you’re simulating a real phone call but what if I’m busy? ;-;

For MM fans, it's definitely not going to overtake Mystic.

It doesn’t have the same “charm”, and I feel like MM fans are just going to hold onto Ssum simply because it’s a Cheritz game.

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We do need to keep in mind that Cheritz has spent 4 years creating this game. That’s very commendable (...despite the fact they kept telling people they’d release it, ...only to push it back another few months)

Still, I do know mystic fans want Mystic content to continue rather than have to deal with an entirely new and different game.

MM attachment shouldn’t be carried over as irritation for Ssum. BUT, that irritation is understandable considering MM is what we’ve lived off from Cheritz for a solid 6 years.

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My closing thought is that I genuinely believe that people who have never played Mystic will enjoy Ssum! Having a clear slate and not having gotten attached to the former game will definitely allow for hardcore Ssum fans to crop up.

Unfortunately, I know that I’ll always be a die-hard MM fan.

Thanks for reading!!

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negatywka · 1 year

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What you tell me to do

Harry/MC

She was there and he couldn't help, but care. He just wasn't sure how.

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You should eat something, maybe some pasta?

We could have pasta together <3

Harry

Then I'm gonna have a salad. See you later

Haaaarry :(

Harry smiled at his phone before disconnecting. He loved teasing her like that, small insignificant things that make her all pumped up. It wasn't important what he will eat as long as he had enough nutrients out of that meal. Besides he always made decisions for himself, as those ones were always the best decisions, he couldn't blame anyone else for them and that was perfect.

Until she came.

MC loved suggesting things to him, to eat, to try, to do, new ways to do them. At the beginning he saw that as barging into his life a touch too much, but over the time it became endearing. He asked her more and more about her opinions, and now he even had a fish with a name she chose. Everywhere he looked, signs of her in his life were undeniable. She didn't even have to be here to have her name plaster on things in his apartment and in his mind. It was getting easier and easier to let her decide on things. But he was having that pasta on his own accord, not because they were eating the same stuff at the same time. It didn't matter what he ate as he previously rationalized it himself. It was, purely, because today's salad didn't have carrots in it.

He took a photo of his meal, not to send it to her, but just to digitize it for future reference. What he was planning to reference it to he didn't know yet, but that situation will come. For now he clicked send in messenger and waited a few seconds for the reaction.

You ate pasta with me!

You're amazing

My heart is melting and my belly is full of pasta ;)

He felt warm spreading through his body, starting around his cheeks and neck. It was a nice feeling, one he didn't experience a lot before she came into his life with her comments and jokes and weird, unreasonable ideas. Well, before she came he didn't experience a lot of things in his boring, plain life. Then he didn't really mind. It was a comfortable life in silence, he was sometimes bothered by Tain and Malong but compared to her? They were barely there with barely any noise. To be honest, barely anyone knew anything about him. The fewer the merrier. To her he was like an open book. How many secrets about his life did she already know? Probably more than he wanted to share, but it didn't feel bad. He wondered if it all started when he saw her smile for the first time.

It went like this. First time he saw it was like direct sunshine hit him right in the eyes. It was an overwhelming feeling and he wanted to look elsewhere and, at the same time, never look at anything else in his life.

They met in her favorite cafe. He could see her through the window just sitting there, a porcelain cup in one hand, the other changing pages in a book lying before her, back and forth, back and forth, like she couldn't focus and needed to trace back her thoughts. He almost laughed to himself at that, but he understood in some way. He wasn't nervous per se, but there was this feeling of restlessness in him. He never imagined her, at least tried not to, as it was truly unproductive to make a mental image of someone without clear facts. But now she was there, real and so close, in flesh, just a few more steps away. Although he didn't even consider not showing, because who knows if they would have another chance, he considered if he should've done more before coming here. Maybe choose different clothes, more or less official? Bring something with him? He knew of so many things she liked but came up empty handed, was that fair? It wasn't a date, just… first meeting. Somehow it felt more important. He was getting dizzy from all this thinking so he just went inside and a mere second later the whole cafe almost disappeared blinded by her light.

"Harry! You came!" she was so happy, and sounded like she just won a lottery that made her entire life worth waiting for. As she hugged him tight, her head in perfect place to rest his chin on, he hugged her back. Little awkwardly, but he felt like he was knocked out, head empty of thoughts. Couldn't really say no to her at that moment.

Somehow no one was staring at them, maybe blinded as well, but it felt good to just have her for his own eyes. It was so new, he could look at her, adding missing detail to his vision of her. They drank tea she chose, she brought her home made carrot cake and nothing tasted better than this, somehow. They talked, talked, talked for hours on end, she joked and got so shy when he complimented her on her choice of tea. Sun shined, but not as bright as he remembered it should, then came the evening and he still wasn't bored, tired or irritated.

"Hey, look at this sunset, it's amazing… I could stay like this forever." he wanted to agree, say something, but couldn't. That sunset was trivial as, right now, nothing was close to that smile she gave him before. Could've he even tried to imagine that before meeting her? Now he memorized the whole collection of her little smiles, sweet and shy, half and small, but this first one felt like nothing else he felt. He needed and feared getting more of it.

And that's how their first meeting went. Just unexpected thoughts one after another. His head cooled a bit when he came back home that day, not that fixated on everything about her, not trying to analyze what he felt when she smiled, talked, hugged him. He just went to bed, head buzzing with undecipherable noise, sending a photo and a simple good night as always.

He dreamed about her smile that night.

Since then he was open to her suggestions, even the dumbest one. He liked to think about her triumphant "yay!" and her biting her lower lip when she tried to convince him with more and more absurd arguments. It worked, usually.

Can I call you?

Im feeling gloomy

You don't have to and all that jazz

They were just talking about Tain's bar and the piano when she suddenly wrote that. He frowned, it wasn't like her, but she was prone to mood changes out of nowhere. It usually changed from happy to excited and back, and even when she said she was sad it lasted minutes, till he sent her a new photo or called her just to hear her laugh in a few minutes. But he had a feeling it's something more. She usually poke him till he did what she asked for, didn't automatically take a step back. That felt… different.

Harry

I'll call you, pick up

Few long signals later he heard a small hello on the other side of the line. She sounded small and tired, and his frown deepened.

"What's going on, MC?" he was surprised to hear his own voice. It was soft, cautious, like he was afraid he would scare her off. He wasn't good at emotions but she needed him, apparently, and that seemed to be enough.

"Tough day at work. I think it finally got to me." she sighed and he already had a whole speech made in his head, about ignoring it, it won't last, other people should have no influence on a person, she should get a grip and do something she likes to forget about the day, but he couldn't say it. It wasn't what she needed, his coldblooded view on the world. She needed warmth. He frantically searched his mind for something, anything he could give her. Then he heard soft sob, barely there. Fuck, no. No, no, no.

"Do you want to talk about it? I may not help, but I can listen." he said finally and she laughed a sad, tired laugh.

"It's okay, Harry. I just needed to hear you. I don't want to bore you with my stupid job, I just… you voice grounds me. Right now you're the closest person to me and I just didn't know who else to call."

He felt like his insides were twisting into knots. He couldn't bear hearing the person he himself was closest to so overwhelmed with sadness. He needed her laughter, her brightness to even feel like himself. Problem was he didn't know what to do, didn't even know where to start, could ask Piu Piu. He decided to take small steps, one idea after another.

"Do you want to go out? We can go to…" he did a quick research in his head, where could they go? Only place he could think of right now was…"to Tain's bar? It's empty. It's quiet."

There was silence on the other side and he was getting angry at himself. That was his idea of comfort? He could almost see her frown, disappointed, tears in her eyes, thinking she should have called anyone else but him, someone who could give her solace. He started to count seconds of that silence.

"Let's go." it was sudden, the moment she spoke. Her voice was a little stronger, like she was thinking about it for a long time and made a very firm decision that this is what they are going to do now. It was barely twenty seconds but felt like forever.

"I will pick you up in fifteen minutes."

He was in his car in less than two, at her house in less than ten. He was planning on waiting outside till that quarter pass, but she was already outside sitting on the steps to her apartment building. She smiled softly when she saw him and he felt that warmth in his chest again. When she sat next to him he just wanted to bring her close, protect her somehow, but he restrained himself. He wasn't sure what was appropriate so he just started driving, in comfortable silence. He was speeding a little, like getting there will resolve whatever problems were piling in her head, but in some way she already was smiling. It was a sad smile, one he didn't see before, but it was a smile nevertheless.

Balantain was, indeed, empty and quiet. Chairs on the tables, smell of dust and alcohol still in the air. They didn't stop in the main room, they went further, beyond the bar. She was curious, eyes wandering, gathering random information about a new place. They reached the back room, it was way dustier, everything was slightly gray except for the piano. She inhaled, somehow shocked by what she was seeing.

"It's that the piano… ! It's beautiful."

He opened the fall board, mostly out of habit, and sat on the bench. She found herself a place on one of the chairs not far from it, dust it off a little, sneezed, and looked at him with anticipation. Dust particles were shining in the dim light.

"Can I play something for you? Will it help?"

There it was, an excited smile he knew. He was proud of himself, sadness almost vanished from her eyes. It was still there, hiding in the background, but he was ready to do whatever it takes to wipe it away. Why he cared so much? He wasn't sure, but he was ready to play his fingers to bloody mess just to see her happy.

"Please do."

And he played. He didn't have any notes so he improvised, sweet and cheerful, light and heavy pieces, with as much variation as he could think of. He didn't even notice when the melody became more familiar to him. One he was still working on, one for her. He knew it by heart at this point, note after note, he wrote it and rewrote it so many times and didn't even finish, but now, with her next to him, it sounded correct. Nevertheless he got to a certain point and the song stopped. He didn't come up with a final part and he couldn’ t improvise it either. There was silence and he didn't dare to move. Floor panels creaked and he was sure she decided to leave, but he didn't have time to dwell in that fear as she sat next to him. Before he said anything, ask her any question, her arms were around him, her eyes closed as she hugged him. He couldn't stop himself, he could only bring her closer, the warmth of her body transferring like a wave to him.

"Thank you. That was amazing. Thank you for sharing it with me."

He sat there, hugging her for a long while. He didn't want to let her go, didn't want to let the world make her unhappy again. She moved finally, of course, making him notice that he was resting his chin on her head, both hands wrapped around her, her head resting on his chest. Did she hear his heart beating faster? Was she as curious as he was why it was happening? If so she didn't show it. She just smiled at him, something else, something he didn't see yet sparkling in her eyes. It was warm and inviting, like a fireplace during snow storm. Her eyes were still reddened from previous crying and it still bothered him that it happened but he couldn't look away. He, oh so slowly, reached towards her, fixing that one strain of hair that was trying to rebel against her messy updo. She froze for a second, her eyes following his movement. He should have took his hand, turn his gaze back to piano. Maybe play something, tell her he's gonna teach her maybe. But instead his hand rested on her her cheek, cupping her face as she half closed her eyes, welcoming the warmth.

"Tell me what you want me to do." he was shocked hearing his own voice. It was quiet, but, in the empty space, it rang loudly between them. It was also low, much lower, there was so much anticipation in it. Something in him was waiting for something, a sign, a word. Her, to tell him what she thought right now. She mirrored his move, her fingers hot on his skin, like it was burning him, he almost felt like they were going to leave a mark of her hand on him. He didn't mind, he thought. Why didn't he mind?

"Can you…" she hesitated, bit her lower lip for a split second, thinking if she should say what she wanted to say. He broke eye contact at that moment, eyes wandering to her lips. They looked soft. Inviting. Slightly parted, stopped in the middle of the sentence.

"Anything." he said and he meant it. His whole body, mind and soul meant it at that moment.

"Kiss me, then." she answered him, and he was waiting for those words. Her lips welcomed him, eager and shy at the same time, it was like every first time, a little sloppy at first, before they both found their way around. They found their rhythm, their tongues meeting halfway, slowly learning each other. He lightly bit her lower lip before they parted, both panting lightly, their eyes fixated on one another. Suddenly she laughed softly, eyes looking somewhere to the side.

"I hope it was okay for you, I'm a bit rusty."

Okay? He chuckled. He didn't have words yet to express how "okay" it felt. Didn't even know if he will ever have words to make her fully understand. So he just took her hand and kissed her knuckles, hoping it would explain enough.

"It was a little more than okay." he added, just to be sure. Apparently it did what it was supposed to, cause, finally, her smile reached her eyes, making her whole face light up. It made her smile like he dreamed about, bright and true, and the whole world around disappeared in that moment.

He once again closed the distance between them, kissing that smile, those lips, feeling weirdly relieved that he was allowed to. She giggled when he kissed the corner of her mouth, she sighed when the kiss deepened into something less innocent, when his hand found a way to her neck, other to her waist. He needed her close, closer if possible. She rested her hands one on his shoulder, second on his fast beating heart. He felt embarrassed for a second, he could control everything but that hammering in his chest. But she didn't seem to mind, it made her smile softer, sweeter, right on his lips and he drank it like an alcoholic, every drop. It lasted for a moment before, again, breathing caught up to them, but neither of them moved, forehead to forehead, breathing the same air.

"Thank you." she said again today. "You're making me whole, you know? On days like this. You're making me truly happy."

He didn't have any snarky comment to that, didn't have a comment at all. It made him lose his mind a little, all the coherent thoughts in his head converted to warm white noise. It was a first in his life, not wanting to add anything. She was making him happy too, that's the only thing he could bring up from that mess of a brain of his. He saw his own reflection in her eyes, features relaxed, he was smiling gently, adoration painted in his gaze.

"Also you look at me like I've just stole your heart." she laughed and he thought about it. It would be so bad, to just give it to her. Metaphorically. He wasn't good at taking care of it, but she made it almost flutter in his chest when she looked at him, so why not. Why not make it hers. Maybe… Maybe it was hers for a while now, and he just didn't notice?

"Sure. It's yours to keep." she stopped smiling and he almost backtracked. He frowned, instantly worried. Was he supposed to say something else? He was so caught up in that moment that this fuzz in his mind had apparent problems with clear thinking. He wanted to say something, but nothing came to him. She looked down, blush spreading on her cheeks, and took one of his hands to put it on her chest. Her heart was pounding, like it was ready to burst out.

"Mine… mine was yours for a while now. If you want it." finally she said and something clicked, the implication of having her heart catch up to him. Somehow it didn't connect properly but now it made sense. Her heart… her love. She wasn't wrong, she offered it to him a long time ago and he said no. He didn't want change, he didn't care like he should, why would he, but now he couldn't and didn't want to imagine her heart belonging to anyone else… but him.

"I do. Want it, that is." he stuttered, not knowing how to properly emphasize how much he wanted it. How much he needed that heart to beat for him, it's rhythm faster because of him. Since when he was so bad with words? He wrote a movie for fuck sake, and now he couldn't tell her what he needs from her. He took a deep breath, not sure what he's going to say next, but she was faster than him.

"That's all I wanted to hear. Good luck getting rid of me now, Harry." she said jokingly, but for him, that was exactly what he needed from her. To be sure she won't be gone the next morning, nor the morning after that. That he will always wake up to her and go to sleep to her voice. That he could show her Poseidon eating her meal, be grumpy about whatever Rachel is doing, show her how the city looks from his penthouse. All of that and much more. All that could be shown. He looked into her eyes, sparkling, bright, alive with something new in them. And he repeated himself, once more.

"Tell me what you want me to do."

"Anything I want?"

"Anything. Anything you want."

"Love me." he smiled, took her face in his hands, his finger tracing her lower lip, reddened from previous kisses. How could he say no to that? Those lips, those eyes, that smile, that heart?

"I already do."

#the ssum harry #the ssum #harry choi #my fic tag #the ssum forbidden lab

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