The Longing-ist Playthrough: Day 16 – 16/01/22 – 360 Days, 1 Hour, 1 Minute and 33 Seconds to go…

While I had an accidentally extended session with Monty yesterday, it was today when I arguably made more progress, with an awful lot going on in just a short time. While I was keen to do more digging at home, I also wanted to start patrolling the wider kingdom in search of one more piece of wood – I wanted to get that bed finished!

I opened the Switch to find Monty sleeping in a small hole that he had carved out beneath the mushroom garden, curled up in a ball like a child. He stirred as I joined him and got to his feet, eager to begin the day together. We began by picking and replanting the two purple mushrooms that had sprung up in the garden, and then on to horn practice, as has become customary. Following his three long, six short, six higher short blasts… still going with that, huh… it was time to head out.

I decided that we should head to the [crystal pool], as there was something about the place that kind of bugged me. The duality of the stonework there made me think that there was something I had missed, and that in turn made me think that I may have overlooked some wood there. As Monty shuffled his way across the kingdom and towards the [crystal pool], he passed through the [treasure room]; I again asked him to stop and try to break the glass, and again the option wasn’t available to select… Either I’ve encountered an annoying bug in the game or I’m missing something.

Upon arriving at the [crystal pool], Monty and I had a thorough snoop around, poking about for any hidden passageways that we may have missed the first time around. The minutes passed and the circuit completed, and sadly, there seemed to be no secret doorways, and worse still, no missed pieces of wood. Drats. There was a nugget of good fortune though; whilst walking the loop Monty had picked up enough coal to tip us over the 100 piece mark – it was time to visit The Face.

This is where I have to admit to another moment of idiocy. 🙃 As Monty was walking past the moss mound (below the high ledge), I stupidly asked him to pick up the lichen. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I’d almost certainly damned us to a long wait for the moss to regrow before we’d be able to return here. Nice work again, dummy.

We made it to [The Face in the Wall] without incident and once there Monty handed over the 100 pieces of coal and asked:

“What will happen if I leave this cave?”

Monty

The answer that The Face gave was as murky as ever, and also… not an especially pleasant one. It described the kingdom crumbling and being damned to be forgotten forever if Monty ever left. Heavy stuff – way to build my confidence. It also said that Monty would never be able to return before going on to murmur something about wins and losses being disguised as one another, and a hidden triumph lingering in the darkness. Honestly, none of it made any sense to me, save the threat of ruining the kingdom, and The Face once again left me more confused with every answer. 😐

Wanting to make sure I could end the session at home, we headed back there then, with Monty playing the same notes on the horn as before as he walked in the door. I encouraged Monty to continue digging beneath the mushroom garden and, for once, I decided to stay and watch as he progressed. I busied myself checking the VGN social media accounts and firing off a few replies when I slowly became aware of another sound in the room, save the ticking of the wall clock and the repeated clunking of Monty’s pickaxe…

Is that…running water? Not just running water – rushing water!

I threw my phone aside and snatched up my Switch to see Monty seemingly to be on the verge of opening up a new cavern, right below the bedroom burrow. With just a few more strikes he was through, and a small new room was revealed – there was a small waterfall pouring from over Monty’s head-height and water pooling around his ankles – a shower! That is actually very cool. You no longer have to be the stinky kid in class, Monty! 😁

Content that we’d had a victory today, even if it wasn’t the one we set out for, I decided to call it a day. Before I set down my Switch though, I had Monty use the last of our coal to light a fire, and as I was about to urge him to sit down and begin The Time Machine, I noticed something that made me beam…

…Monty was smiling! 😄

He always wore a goofy little smile when he was sat in his armchair and relaxing, but standing there, next to the fire, he had that stupid little smile spread across his face and I finally felt like I was getting somewhere. I think [our room] might finally have before [home] 😊. I laughed a little, popped him down in his chair, handed him The Time Machine and headed to bed. If you think you’re smiling now, wait until you get a load of H. G. Wells, my man.

Continue reading: Day 17