Mystic Messenger – Jumin’s Route
Under the Deep Story which you have to pay 80 hourglass for, you get to choose between Jumin and Seven and it was good that the developers provided new conversations for Day 2 to 4 which made the game less repetitive and refreshing.
To be honest, I felt that both characters Jumin and Seven were equally attractive in their own ways. Jumin the cold, socially awkward but intelligent, kind at heart guy who is an introvert compared to Seven who is the quirky fun loving guy with a secret past but somehow exudes wisdom beyond his age when you dig deeper at his actions. I really couldn’t quite decide between the two but based on my replies, seems like I got onto Jumin’s route which wasn’t really a bad thing.
Over the first four days, I realised that Jumin prefers speaking to you personally via private message and phone calls rather than openly via the chat group. His conversation topics were also rather weird because they were so topical like about health, clothes, movies etc. and he sought your advice on many things. I guess that’s how socially awkward, shy guys express themselves? If not for the fact that I found him cute even in this, I don’t think I would have survived the interaction in real life. I guess that’s perhaps lesson number one. You really need to invest in getting to know someone who appears cold and detached. Maybe secretly they are looking for someone who is willing to breach their defenses.
From Day 5 when you are offically on his route, that is where the romance begins. I have to say that Jumin turned out to be a little more obsessive than I liked and by far this is the most kinky route with many suggestive conversations. Nonetheless I liked how the developers chose to create discomfort to help gamers better understand the kind of mental turmoil real people do go through with regards to their emotions and desires. In response to Jumin’s sudden emotional breakdown, you have to decide whether to be assuring and understanding, to bail out, or to give in to his inner demons. It was a real struggle for me to understand his possessiveness as my natural response is to run away from this psycho!! Therein lies the second lesson, how much freedom are you willing to forgo to embrace another into your life. Some partners require low maintenance but others need a lot more work as part of the rebuilding process. This is not easy work and really requires a lot of dedication and sometimes the people around you may not agree or appreciate another person having dominance over you. I’ve come to know many broken people in my life whom I realised I could not help because I don’t have the bandwidth. I remember once how a friend put it to me – will you be responsible for me if I choose to open up to you? I think inwardly we all want someone who can be responsible for us fully but we also know the limits the other person can offer unless they are your life partner.
Jumin finally comes to term with his own mental turmoil and begins the healing process with you by his side. It was somehow gratifying to see how important you have become to him and the positive changes in him stemming from the relationship. I liked how he came to understand that if you truly love someone and that someone loves you back, you can have the confidence to set them free and they will still be with you. Ultimately this whole dominance/submission thing treads a very thin fine line between what is love and what is just obsession and I hope that parties involved know where to draw the healthy line. In the Bible, it is said, Wives submit to your husband, but it is followed by Husbands love your wife. The feeling has to be mutual and not forced, and so Jumin’s route ends on a loving, blissful note where he comes to terms that he is second and not first in your life, first being yourself.