Mystic Messenger – Zen’s Route
Zen’s route was pretty fun to play compared to YS as there were more novel mode scenes that helped progressed the story more. Unlike YS whose life revolved around gaming and mourning over his dead cousin Rika, Zen’s life was much more colorful considering his rebellious past and career in entertainment industry. Well in reality, it is unlikely I would ever get together with a guy like him because he is just too wild. So anyway here are some interesting lessons from Zen’s route.
I think the main lessons can be grouped into three key themes – what success, family and love looks like.
Zen is undoubtedly good looking which made him highly sought as a musical actor and model. However he preferred that his fans recognise him for his talent in acting rather than his looks, and rejected all of Jumin’s financial support to help him grow more popular. In this aspect, I kind of agree with Zen. Although sadly, this world is governed by those who has money, power and connections, so minions like us who look at success through our hard work and passion stand no chance. The reality is that you probably need a bit of both to realise your dreams and passions so sometimes, the price for success may not be cleanly black and white. As long as we do not succumb to the temptation and lose ourselves entirely; the ends must justify the means.
Another interesting theme that came out was the discussion about family. Zen had a complicated past and was estranged from his family who did not support his dream. Later during a period of crisis, Jumin offered Zen help to tide him through the crisis even though the two had always been loggerheads. Zen asked why Jumin was willing to help him and the latter replied, the thing about family is that it is a place you can return to safely no matter what mistakes you have made, you will feel accepted and loved. I think family isn’t just defined by blood relations but more of a place where you know that you are safe to be yourself, warts and all. And somehow this kind of love feels so much more warm and fuzzy than romantic love.
On love, I think something new I gleamed from this story is a comparison between the affection shown by Jaehee and yourself towards Zen. Jaehee was a loyal fan and supporter of Zen as the musical actor and was rather against your relationship. However during the crisis when Zen’s reputation was called to question, she was flustered and felt pessimistic that Zen’s career would ever recover. Zen himself was overly depressed. However as the character who loved Zen as a person, you chose to keep encouraging him to be positive and remained optimistic which helped Zen and those around him to find opportunities to overcome the situation. I think love means to keep encouraging a person to fulfil their potential and to keep doing good. It was actually heartening to hear Jaehee admit that you are the better person for Zen after the incident.
The last point about love is also about self control. I hate it that the game is also trying to be so politically correct. So anyway you decided to visit Zen after he hurt his ankle and was feeling depressed that he might lose a big role. After a lovely evening together, he asked for you to stay the night. You could choose to say yes or no, and surprisingly I found it difficult to choose the ‘right’ answer. You are afraid that rejecting the offer might break his heart and lead to a bad ending. On the contrary, Zen told you to leave after awhile because he was afraid that he would not be able to control the beast within him. So adorable! I like it that he later admitted that he wanted to protect you and ensure that the time was right to make you his, after he has sorted out his vices (smoking, drinking, riding) and family problems. That is such responsible thinking and I really hope more guys can try to muster that kind of self-control for the benefit of the woman they love.
So there you have it, life and love lessons from Zen’s route. Moving on to Jaehee as last person on Casual route. It is kind of weird to have a female counterpart for an otome game so I really hope this doesn’t turn out to be a homo outcome. Update in 10 days’ time.