"Kenta, Kenta! If it's you, talk to me!"
[HARUKI!] Kenta's voice sounded anxious.
"Yes, it's me! Man, I'm starving! I need food," it was strange to speak to a god, and he responded with Kenta's voice.
A bucket of fried chicken appeared a few minutes later, right beside him.
"Dude, I need a lot more food, a lot."
Other buckets of chicken appeared around him.
[I AM HAVING A LOT OF COFFEE! THIS SHIT IS NOT DOING ME ANY GOOD,] Kenta's voice seemed to speak to itself. And Haruki couldn't let that dangerous idea settle in Kenta's mind,
"No, man, it's not coffee! No, it's not you. CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP Look, it's me! I can prove it," Haruki spoke with his mouth full of chicken, munching greedily, "Wait a minute and I'll prove it."
A little more satiated, and after thinking a little, he said the number of the hotel room where he was staying, and the number of his flight to S City. Kenta would have no way of knowing information only he knew. Haruki supposed that, as soon as he confirmed the information, Kenta would stop thinking he was going crazy.
The illustrator swore, long before he had time for that.
[ HOLY SHIT! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!! ]
"Dude, find out what happened to me. How did I get here? In fact, I'm really stupid! Dude, get me out of here! "
[ HOW DO I DO THAT?! ]
"Do I know?! Draw a door, a ladder, whatever!"
The illustrator made doors, windows, stairs, but it all ended in emptiness, where Haruki didn't want to throw himself.
Frustrated, the two were silent for a while.
[THAT'S AI - Artificial Intelligence! THAT SMARTWATCH TRANSPORTED YOU TO THE OTOME BETA GAME!] Exclaimed Kenta, breaking the silence and scaring the singer.
"Dude, it's not just me! All the other guys were also dragged here instead of the characters. From bad boy to student, everyone is here," explained Haruki.
Kenta uttered another expletive, terrified of the consequences.
[WHAT SHOULD I DO?! I CANNOT GO TO THE POLICE WITH THAT.]
"Try to find out more about the company that develops the smartwatch. Who they are, and what they are doing. But be careful, as they must be very dangerous people," he worried that something might happen to his friend. And he and the other guys would stay there without an ally in the outside world.
[I WILL DO THIS NOW!]
"No! Wait. I need you to do two things for me."
[WHAT IS?]
"First, I want a huge room, with a huge bed, with a HUGE jacuzzi, with a HUGE bathroom, and a toilet, that's..."
[HUGE?] Interrupted Kenta, perplexed.
"No!" he replied angrily, "Electronic toilet, with music and a massaging jet. Ah, with a lot of toilet paper. Did I say I want a huge, full minibar?!
[OKAY, BUT A HUGE MINIBAR IS A REGULAR REFRIGERATOR.]
"Ah, how cute, this is no time for us to be lost in technicalities."
[ALL RIGHT. BUT WHAT WAS THE SECOND THING?]
"And what else, I want you to remove the pillows; all the cushions from the game room."
[…?]
"Can you do that?" the delay in Kenta's response made him ask.
[HAI SAMA. DO YOU WANT ANYTHING ELSE?] The illustrator replied ironically.
He looked around to think of things he might need until he left, and saw the buckets of fried chicken huddled around him. His spiteful heart reminded him of the cute student boy eating the porridge. He felt like crap. Ashamed, he went back, "Forget all the crap I just said. We need food, beds, and a bathroom. Please do it quickly, even if it's not detailed. Some of them have been here for a week! "
[WITHOUT SHITTING?! OH MY GOD, THIS WILL BE HORRIBLE! A TRAGEDY WITHOUT PRECEDENTS!]
He confessed, "Man, I had to go in the flowers myself. Like a cat or whatever," Haruki shakes his head, trying not to remember that shameful moment of his life.
[I WILL DO IT QUICK, AND SEE HOW TO TAKE ALL OF YOU OUT OF THIS PLACE.]
"Okay, I'm going to take this food to the guys who are starving. Then we'll talk more later."
Haruki took the food to the staff in the leisure room.
"HEY, GUYS! Wake up to dinner!" he called cheerfully, feeling very generous.
Even those who were asleep woke up quickly to the smell of fried chicken. Soon, everyone was chewing and licking their lips, including Haruki.
He took the time to look at everyone there. The singer was evaluating if it was a good deal to give up his private massage for them.
He still wasn't sure.
Yoshida Saito ate in moderation. He also had arrived today. The expensive clothes and the traditional hair modeled with spray were impeccable. The eldest of them was an example of elegance.
But the rest of the group was complete chaos. Being the youngest of them, Okane Hinata, was the worst. The clothes were so dirty they stank. Hungry, he swallowed large chunks of chicken and choked on the process, being saved by his guardian Sasaki Jun.
After eating, Haruki explained to the group how he got the food, and added,
"As I said, I signed the contract because the illustrator is my high school friend and he didn't know I was locked up here. We tested several ways to get out, but nothing worked."
They were thoughtful for a moment, until Okane Hinata raised his hand, "Takeda-senpai, the next time you talk to him, can you order side dishes and drinks?"
Sasaki threw the boy a cushion, expressing his opinion of the comment.
"I should have removed the pillows anyway," muttered Haruki thinking aloud.
"What?" asked Daisuke.
"Nothing, nothing," Haruki thought this student's closeness to the bad boy was strange, and he didn't know why it annoyed him.
Yoshida asked a serious question, "What if next time we try to get out of here by ship?"
Before Haruki answered his question, Noguchi Takashi interrupted by saying, "We signed a contract that gave up our image. How far do you think the boat would take us? I answer: up to the edge of the screen. We are bound by the limits of the game."
A little exasperated, Sasaki asked, "So you think we should follow the script?"
"But what is the game's script, anyway?" Haruki asked, as he only had a vague idea of what an otome game was.
Signing Okane that he would respond, Yamada Daisuke started, "There are several types of plot, but looking at the scenarios and archetypes for which we were chosen..."
"What archetypes?" teased Sasaki Jun.
"Look, just looking at each other's clothes, I can say that Takeda-san is the Athlete, do you agree?" the influencer looked around to see if anyone would disagree. As no one disagreed, Daisuke continued to list, not to mention himself.
Haruki remembered Yamada Daisuke from the videos where he was always dressed to enhance every detail of a face that was naturally perfect. However, for Haruki, out of everyone there, the most handsome face was of Sasaki Jun, as natural, even unshaven as he was.
'What did he do in the real world?' He realized he was staring at him when Jun looked back. The two went on challenging each other, staring without blinking for a long time, while listening to Yamada's conjectures continue.
"Okay, but go back to the game, I don't understand it either," asked Yoshida, who had just agreed he was the CEO.
The singer wondered who they were. What were their occupations and hobbies? For whom they wanted to return. He only knew of one, Yamada Daisuke, the influencer. And he suspected that the cute boy was a senior student in real life, too. But were the others all models? For they were handsome, tall and fit.
"This game, as I used to say, judging by the scenario, is an otome, a harem game. The player will show up. Either a girl, or a boy. And this person, let's name her 'she', will want to date one of us. Gradually, 'she' will pass through all of us until she decides whom she will ask for dating, then engagement, then marriage. Most otome games are geared towards teenagers, but some are adults. If the latter, the person may want… Sex," he sighed and his shoulders dropped, uncomfortable.
"What's the problem?" asked Okane Hinata, with a wide smile. Sasaki Jun snorted,
"Don't you see any problem being a sex slave?"
Hinata-kun opened his mouth, unable to answer.
Yoshida asked, "But then, how do you win this type of game?"
"It's not a game to be won. The characters in the harem are only here for the pleasure of the player," replied the influencer.
Haruki then concluded, "So, we don't have a real prospect of leaving the game just by following the script, do we?"
"I believe that, if we do not find any alternative to go out on our own, it is not by participating in romantic encounters with the player that we will achieve our freedom," pondered Yoshida.
Daisuke put his face in his hands in anguish.
Okane commented,
"There are cases with various challenges and rewards. As the game hasn't started yet, we don't know how it will be. "
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Each man there, from the most adult to the most immature, plunged into his own problems.
They were stuck!
It was common sense that High Technology dragged them from the real world for an electronic game. And finding out how they got in wasn't the biggest concern of the group, right now. The distressing thoughts busying their minds right now were whether they would be able to get out.
"So we have to find out the rules of that game. And I suppose we will have to wait a little longer until the player arrives. Being it a girl, or a boy," concluded Yoshida prophetically.