Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story — Mod «Always Connected»

Removes the scripted connection-loss event at episode 32, so the heroine stays reachable and you can keep talking to her.

Requirements

1. Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story (Steam), launched at least once.
2. BepInEx 5.x in the game folder → .../Chill with You Lo-Fi Story/BepInEx/ (the installer puts it there automatically if it is missing — for example after reinstalling the game).
3. The plugin file AlwaysConnectedPlugin.dll (this mod).

No other files are needed. The mod patches game code in memory and does not modify a single game file.

Download

The ready-to-run zip is published in GitHub Releases only:

👉 github.com/crc137/Chill-With-You-Always-Connected-Mod/releases

Take ChillWithYou-AlwaysConnected-v26.1.0-Linux-Windows.zip. The repository itself holds sources, installers and documentation, no binaries.

Install

Option A — one-click installer (recommended)

Unpack the zip and run the installer for your OS:

• Windows: double-click install.bat
• Linux / Steam Deck: ./install.sh

The installer finds the game in any Steam library (including non-standard paths and external drives), installs BepInEx if it is missing, and copies the plugin into BepInEx/plugins. If the game is not found, it asks for the path.

Option B — manually

1. Install the game via Steam and launch it once so the folders exist.
2. Put BepInEx 5.x into the game folder:
   • Windows: Chill with You Lo-Fi Story/BepInEx/
   • Steam Deck / Linux (flatpak): ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Chill with You Lo-Fi Story/BepInEx/
3. Copy the plugin into the plugins folder:

   BepInEx/plugins/AlwaysConnectedPlugin.dll     ← the mod
   

Remove it again with uninstall.sh / uninstall.bat.

Turning the mod off without uninstalling

The disconnect is a scripted event, so you may want to watch the original once, or record it. You do not have to move files — flip the config switch:

• Linux / Steam Deck: ./mod.sh on · ./mod.sh off · ./mod.sh status
• Windows: edit the config by hand, see below

Close the game before switching, otherwise it rewrites the config on exit.

Config

BepInEx/config/crc137.chillwithyou.alwaysconnected.cfg

Setting	Default	Meaning
SkipConnectionLost	true	Master switch. false restores the original behaviour without uninstalling.
VerboseState	false	Log the heroine's connection state every 10 s to BepInEx/LogOutput.log. Only for troubleshooting.

Seeing the original event again

The disconnect only fires while NextEpisodeNumber == 32. Once you have read episode 32 it can never trigger again, so for recording or screenshots you have to rewind the save:

python3 tools/reset-episode.py --status   # show current progress
python3 tools/reset-episode.py            # set episode 32 again

It writes a timestamped .before-reset-* backup next to the save file. Close the game first, otherwise it overwrites your change on exit.

If it does not work

• The disconnect still happens → check that SkipConnectionLost = true in BepInEx/config/crc137.chillwithyou.alwaysconnected.cfg, and that you actually launched the game after installing the mod.
• Nothing happens at all, no mod → BepInEx is probably not loaded. The game folder must contain BepInEx/core. If you just reinstalled the game, run install.sh / install.bat again — it restores BepInEx and the mod.
• Need proof it is active → set VerboseState = true and watch BepInEx/LogOutput.log: you should see [AlwaysConnected] patched: ... lines at startup.
• No BepInEx console → enable [Logging.Console] Enabled = true in BepInEx/config/BepInEx.cfg.

What the event actually is

It is not a bug and it is not random. The game schedules a deliberate disconnect after episode 31:

• GamePlayingDefectDirection.CheckNeedUseDefectDirection() returns ConnectionLost when NextEpisodeNumber == 32. In DirectionService.cs the field is labelled 31話読了後用切断演出 — "disconnect direction after finishing episode 31".
• UseConnectionLost() raises the overlay, fires a glitch effect and drops the audio low-pass filters.
• HeroineService.Setup() subscribes to that state and freezes her: _animator.speed = 0f and _heroineAI.SetIsUse(false).
• Talking is then blocked in several places, for example PlayerStatusReactionTalkController and RoomGameManager.

There is a second gate on top of that one. At episode 32, ScenarioProgressData.IsPossibleTalkNextMainEpisode() only returns true once CanShowConnectionLostNextEpisode is set, and that requires 50 minutes of accumulated pomodoro work (TimerCoreService.UpdateLastStoryUnlockFlg). Reconnecting is gated on reaching level 33 (MyDefine.IsPossibleReconnectLevel).

What the mod changes

Three Harmony patches:

Target	Effect
GamePlayingDefectDirection.CheckNeedUseDefectDirection	rewrites ConnectionLost to None, so the disconnect never starts
GamePlayingDefectDirection.PlayDefectDirection	if a disconnect is applied anyway, replays it as None, which runs the game's own Init() and clears the overlay, audio and reactive flag
ScenarioProgressData.IsPossibleTalkNextMainEpisode	returns true at episode 32, skipping the 50 minute wait

A ConnectionWatchdog additionally re-checks the heroine's state every 2 s, so a disconnect that still slipped through gets cleared instead of leaving her frozen.

The separate episode-31 AlwaysNoise effect is deliberately left untouched.

Only Assembly-CSharp is patched. No game file is modified.

Build from source

Needs the .NET SDK and build.sh, which builds, copies the plugin next to the game and packs the release zip:

./build.sh

Tested against game build 9/10/2026, Unity 2022.3.62, BepInEx 5.4.23.5, Mono 6.14 (Steam Deck / Proton).