“Haaah… Haaah… Haaah…”
The sound of her breathing echoed through the back alley.
The girl ran frantically, checking behind her again and again as she desperately tried to outrun her pursuer.
“…!”
Her expression became twisted with despair.
Before her towered a wall—a dead end.
It had to be at least eleven feet high. With her slender arms and lack of upper body strength, she had no hope of scaling it.
“…Miko.”
The girl jerked and turned around.
A beautiful girl met her gaze.
Her moonlit black hair fluttering in the pale moonlight, the mysterious girl approached the one called Miko.
Miko slowly retreated until her back pressed against the wall. She grit her teeth in acknowledgment of the futility of her situation.
“T-to be clear, I don’t intend to get romantically involved with y—urgh!”
The black-haired girl pressed her lips to those of the girl she’d cornered.
The moon illuminated the pair’s silhouettes, tracing their soft contours. It was as if the moon goddess herself had blessed their kiss.
After a long moment, they separated. The girl who had been cornered looked away, her cheeks rosy.
“E-enough, you idiot… I told you I wasn’t interested…”
“It’s okay. Just close your eyes.”
The girls’ lips reunited.
The moonlight pierced the veil of darkness and cast a spotlight on the girls as they stood center stage.
A blossoming love story between these unparalleled beauties…is not what this story is about.
“……”
In a dark corner of the back alley…
…a man, squatting low to the ground and munching on a hamburger, stared at them.
“…Yep, I knew it. Yuri is the best.”
This is a story about me—Hiiro Sanjo.
✦ ✦ ✦
A yuri game depicts the process during which girls become couples.
Some may associate the word yuri—which means lily in English—with perennials belonging to the lily family of the order Liliaceae, but when we say yuri, we’re talking about a genre that depicts romance and friendships between girls.
So why are they called yuri games, you ask?
There are various theories, but it seems that someone used lilies as a metaphor to describe romantic relationships between women, which was then used to represent friendships and romantic relationships.
Everything for the Score—or ESCO—is a yuri game.
Most yuri games use a visual novel format, and the story progresses while you read along with the text. ESCO, however, is an unusual type of yuri game with many simulated elements.
The setting is a parallel world, a modern-day Japan where magic exists.
Its characteristic feature is that every little thing—from a person’s general demeanor and day-to-day activities to how they make their beds—is evaluated, and then they’re awarded a score by the government.