Makoto wakes up from his sleep and sees that it's still dark.
What time is it?
He grabs his phone and checks the time.
Midnight… I guess I'll go to the bathroom.
He opens his bedroom door, and the only thing he feels is total silence, as if he's alone.
What is this strange feeling?
He walks toward the bathroom, each step echoing uncomfortably. But when he passes by his sister's room, he hears strange noises behind the door, like someone is picking something up and putting it in a bag.
"Kaori...?"
When he opens the door, he is met with a horrifying scene, Aiko is collecting Kaori's dismembered remains.
"Well, it seems I've been discovered…"
Makoto is in shock.
"Love, could you wait for me in your room? I'll take out the trash and come to you, okay?"
He runs back to his room, with Kushina chasing him with a baseball bat. He manages to shut the door just before she reaches him.
"Honey, open the door, please…"
He doesn't respond.
"Love, open it, I want to talk about this…"
The protagonist tries to open the window, but it won't budge.
"Open the damn door now!"
She starts violently smashing the door until it breaks apart.
"I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill my love!"
Amid her crazed laughter, she swings the bat, but Makoto wakes up from the nightmare, drenched in sweat, relieved to see it was just his imagination.
"It was just a dream..."
He leaves the room to go to the bathroom, but before he can reach it, someone grabs him in the darkness of the night. His adrenaline surges as he turns around to confront the intruder, only to see it's Aiko.
"What are you doing here!?"
"Your sister invited me to stay the night…"
Kaori!
"Your sister is a nice girl… just like you're such a good boy…"
She touches his arm, but he pulls away.
"Well, I need to go to the bathroom, so…"
"Oh, sorry…"
She's about to let him go, but then changes her mind.
"Wait!"
She grabs him forcefully and pulls him close, holding him tightly.
"We could play cards, or talk about our hobbies, or even about our favorite bands, or…"
Makoto, forcing himself to swallow his fear, interrupts her.
"I want to go to the bathroom first."
"Ah, yes, I'll wait…"
He rushes into the bathroom and quickly shuts the door behind him.
What the hell just happened!?
What are you going to do now?
I'm going to wait until she leaves.
He looks through the keyhole of the door and sees Kushina's pupil staring back at him, scaring him.
"Why are you spying on me!?"
"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay..."
He sighs.
"I'm fine..."
There's silence for a few seconds.
"Sorry..."
"For what?"
"For interfering in your life..."
"Don't apologize for that..."
"You're really kind, Makoto..."
As she says that, her mind explodes with joy.
He said he doesn't mind me getting more involved in his life! That means he returns my love for him!
Makoto has no idea what he just triggered, but his mind is focused on something else.
I'll have to come out eventually.
He mentally prepares himself, grabs the door handle, and takes a deep breath.
Here I go!
The next day, his sister wakes up and goes to the bathroom, only to find Aiko sleeping at the entrance.
What is she doing sleeping here?
She walks past her into the bathroom, and when she's about to wash her face, she notices something in the bathtub. When she looks closer, she finds her brother sleeping inside.
"What are you doing here!?"
Her scream wakes him up.
"Huh? Is it morning already?"
Exhausted and in pain, Makoto drags himself to school, barely making it to the break.
I'm going to the infirmary.
He asks for a bed and falls into a deep sleep. When he wakes up, everything turns dark, and he falls onto a cold, damp floor.
"Here again!"
He hears a voice coming from a human silhouette seated on some sort of throne.
"Well, well, my fabulous star player! You've really surprised me. I thought you'd die in the first few days, but you survived until now. So for that..."
The figure stands up from the throne and walks toward him.
"I'll give you three extra lives..."
Confetti bursts out to celebrate.
"Really? You didn't need to bring me here just for that..."
The god laughs.
"I see. I'll keep that in mind for next time..."
So he's going to keep bringing me here!
Makoto suddenly remembers something important.
"Hey, if I win, do I get a prize?"
"A prize?"
The god laughs even louder.
"How about this? The prize will be your life, how does that sound..."
"That's it? After being chased by five psychos?"
"Five!? Wow, that's a new record!"
"What's your goal with all this?"
"Simple, to enjoy your suffering..."
"Is that really all?"
"Of course..."
"You..."
Makoto stands up from the floor.
"It's settled. I'm going to win this game of yours and protect my family!"
The deity is surprised by the challenge, but then a wicked smile spreads across his face.
"I see, so you wouldn't mind if I cranked up the difficulty a bit more..."
"What!?"
"After all, you had the guts to challenge me, the most powerful being in this universe, so I'll return the favor..."
"No matter how hard you make it, I'm going to win."
The smile turns into a serious expression, and the god starts transforming, preparing to attack.
"You arrogant brat! How I hate being underestimated by a nobody! Fear me! Scream in terror before me!"
Makoto doesn't flinch.
"You can't do anything to me. Remember, the rules of the game say you can't intervene for better or worse for the player."
"You dare use my own rules against me..."
"I'll use every method possible to survive."
"Don't think you'll get away with this!"
Makoto wakes up in the infirmary and immediately thinks.
What did I just do!?
That was gutsy. They'll probably cut them off later, but the intention counts.
Now I've really tied the noose around my neck.
His mind starts planning his next move.
I don't have any other option.
He goes to his class and finds Hasegawa. When he spots her, he confronts her.
"What's going on?"
"I need to tell you something really important..."
Minami tries to eavesdrop on the conversation, but Makoto notices.
"Let's go somewhere more private..."
He grabs Akane's hand, making her blush, while Hana grows furious at the sight.
"You two…!"
She's interrupted by a group of fans.
"Could we get an autograph?"
Stupid bitches!
She tries to maintain her composure.
"Of course…"
She grits her teeth and squeezes the pen tightly as she watches her rival walk away with Makoto.
You'll pay for this, Hasegawa.
Makoto and Akane head to the music room and lock themselves in the soundproof chamber.
"Now, sit down and listen to what I have to tell you."
"Alright."
He explains everything about the video game.
"I see…"
"That's it? You don't doubt me at all?"
"I have something to tell you too…"
Suddenly, several men in suits and black hats enter the room. The leader of the group approaches Makoto.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fushita…"
"Who are you!?"
"We're from Miskatonik…"
"Miskatonik? What's that?"
"It's an organization that studies supernatural occurrences. We've come to deal with the god of this world…"
"What do you mean?"
"You're not the first to 'play' this video game…"
"What?"
"We come from other timelines where others were victims of this twisted game…"
Makoto is completely confused.
"I see you're skeptical of us…"
The man pulls out a folder filled with classified documents.
"Shinichi from dimension 148B, died during a live broadcast. Yukiteru from dimension 173A, found starved to death in a house deep in the woods. Drake from dimension 180C, dismembered in the apartment of a mafia leader's daughter. Sakurai from dimension 235B, stabbed by a newly transferred student… and 345C, your dimension…"
Makoto is left speechless by the evidence. The man steps closer to him.
"Here, take this."
He hands him a report detailing a murder where the victim, a man named Josei, was found dead a day after Makoto purchased the video game.
"We weren't able to find any of those users in time. When we finally locate the deity, it jumps to another timeline where it hasn't been discovered yet, but we have it in our sights now…"
"And what do you want from me?"
"We want to be your ally…"
"Ally?"
"After extensive research, we've concluded that the only way to defeat it is to win the video game… we think."
"That didn't sound very convincing…"
"You're the second user we've found alive, so all we know is that nothing else works against that monster…"
"What happened to the second?"
"He died."
"Oh…"
"Yes."
Makoto breaks the awkward silence.
"In exchange for what?"
Akane answers him.
"In exchange for you being mine…"
"Why!?"
"I agree with you, Mr. Fushita, but Hasegawa is an infiltrator we placed to protect you, so we don't have another option if we want her cooperation…"
"Infiltrator?"
"Yes, we had to take drastic measures with her. We had to brainwash her to make her act like the other girls…"
"You did what!?"
"It was necessary to prevent her from being discovered…"
"You guys are…!"
"Calm down. If it helps, she didn't suffer…"
Akane doesn't understand why Makoto is worried about her, but she can't help feeling happy.
Makoto cares about me. I wish this moment would never end.
"Don't worry, my love, I'll take care of everything…"
Makoto suddenly remembers the phone in his pocket.
"Damn it!"
He grabs it and throws it against the wall, smashing it.
"That wasn't necessary…"
"Huh?"
"We have a device active that temporarily disables the AI…"
He starts crying.
"My phone!"
"Don't worry, we'll give you a new one…"
He immediately kneels before the agent.
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
The agent looks at him with pity, but before he can say anything, his phone rings.
"Yes?… I see… We'll be right there…"
He hangs up and informs the pair.
"It's time for us to leave. Hasegawa, take good care of Mr. Fushita…"
They leave, leaving the two students alone.
"Well… I think it's time to head back to class…"
Akane whispers something.
"I promise…"
"What?"
"I promise I'll be the winner. I'll do whatever it takes to get the ending where we end up together, and when that happens…"
She leans in close to his ear.
"You won't have any escape, my love."
Hell is just beginning for Makoto.