Inner Mongolia, the dawn of the 20th century. At a school standing in the lull before history's storm, a girl asks the question that will shape the next sixty years of her life: who am I? The Story Inner Mongolia, Kharchin Banner, the early 1900s. Prince Gungsangnorbu — reformer, modernizer, last great patron of Mongolian learning — has founded the Chongzheng Academy, where the language of the steppe meets Chinese script, Manchu administration, and a quiet but growing presence of Japanese teachers. Saran is ten years old when she walks through its gates. She has no family that anyone can name, and only one possession that ties her to a past she cannot remember: an old enamel brooch, pinned at her chest. The classmates she meets here will become the men and women who shape modern Mongolian history. The brilliant Sechin Jagchid, future founder of Mongolian studies. Ryōko Kawahara, the young Japanese teacher who crossed an ocean to teach — and to do something else. Headmaster Heshigbatu and his son Yang Dexin. Each of them carries forces larger than themselves, and not always aligned. Through Saran's eyes, your choices will trace a life from the schoolroom to the edge of an era — and unlock the first of five true endings. Features A historical visual novel grounded in primary sources — Real figures of Sino-Japanese-Mongolian exchange (Misako Kawahara, Ryūzō Torii, Gungsangnorbu, Sechin Jagchid) anchor scenes drawn from documented archives. ~70,000 words — The complete Volume 1, "Wind from the East" (the Chongzheng Academy chapter). Branching choices, multiple routes — A five-chapter true-ending system; this title is Chapter 1. 30 Steam achievements — Tied to historical events, characters, and route discoveries. Steam Cloud saves — Continue across devices. Original score plus reimagined period music — Original BGM for original scenes, plus modern arrangements of public-domain pieces from the era: Manchurian children's songs ("Journey to Mongolia," "Stilt Dance") and the Russian waltz "На сопках Маньчжурии" (1906). Native vertical Mongolian script rendering — Powered by UnityMongolianText, an open-source middleware (MIT license) developed for this project. Cast Saran — The protagonist. A girl placed in the academy with no certain family, carrying only an enamel brooch. Xi Zhonghe — Saran's first friend at the academy. Open-hearted and quick to laugh — and keeper of a secret her family has not yet shared. Sechin Jagchid — A classmate already marked for scholarship; a foundational name in modern Mongolian studies, here in his student years. Ryōko Kawahara — The young Japanese teacher. A teacher in earnest. And someone with a second face. Heshigbatu — Headmaster of Chongzheng Academy, navigating reform and tradition. Gungsangnorbu — Prince of Kharchin. The reformer whose vision sustains the academy and the world Saran is growing up inside.
