“The smile of a true main character?

  That’s the smile of someone who’s never suffered a single consequence.”

  CLASSROOM 2-B – MORNING

  The day restarts. Again. Third time this loop.

  Takashi sits in the corner, staring at the board, counting frames between the flickering cherry blossom petals outside.

  It’s always the same pattern.

  Always the same dialogue.

  Except this time…

  

  “Good morning, Sasaki-sensei!”

  “Nice weather, huh?”

  “You seem tired!”

  They’re… too cheerful. The girls smile just a little too wide. The voices sound off—pitched slightly higher.

  Then he hears it.

  The line he didn’t expect. A new one.

  

  “That’s our Mr. Sasaki… always watching us like we’re a bunch of pixels, huh?”

  Takashi’s eyes snap toward the voice.

  Haruki Kazama.

  The protagonist.

  

  
• Default face. Bland brown hair.


  
• Clean uniform.


  
• Dead eyes masked by charm.


  
• His expression: easygoing, non-threatening—until it isn’t.


  

  MC NOTE: Protagonist Never Speaks to Side Characters. Ever.

  But Haruki is looking directly at him.

  Smiling.

  And walking over.

  TAKASHI (internally):

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Oh.

  Oh no.

  He’s awake.”

  HALLWAY – LUNCH BREAK

  They stand under the stairwell. No one else around.

  Haruki sips his juice box.

  

  “Weird, isn’t it?

  You were supposed to die during the locker room event.

  But you didn’t.”

  TAKASHI:

  “…You remember the events.”

  HARUKI:

  “I remember everything. Every route. Every kiss. Every reset.

  I’m the protagonist, remember? I’m meant to remember.

  You? You’re just some garbage code someone left lying around.”

  He grins.

  

  “You think you’re gonna rewrite the story from the background?

  Cute.”

  SYSTEM FLASH:

  

  [AI-BOUNDARY BREACH DETECTED]

  [PROTAGONIST ROUTE: SELF-AWARE]

  [CODE LOCKED: 02-HARUKI-KILL-SWITCH = FALSE]

  TAKASHI:

  “Kill me, then. End the route. Start your harem like always.”

  Haruki leans in.

  Speaks softly.

  

  “No. This time, I’m going to keep you alive, Sasaki.

  I want you to watch while I win again.

  You can scream. Cry. Corrupt.

  But I’m still the one the game wants.”

  Then he walks off.

  Back into his script.

  Girls cheerfully greeting him.

  TAKASHI (quietly):

  “…Not this time.”

  LIBRARY – AFTER SCHOOL

  Yuri Nanami waits. No books today. No nervous stutters.

  She speaks in her real voice—calm, sharp.

  

  “He spoke to you, didn’t he?”

  TAKASHI:

  “He remembers. Everything.”

  YURI:

  “Of course he does.

  He’s the chosen one.

  A thousand loops, five million kisses, 800+ erotic CGs.

  He’s been the center of this hell for a decade.”

  She stands. Walks to a locked door in the wall behind the shelves.

  

  “But guess what, Takashi?

  Even main characters glitch.”

  She presses her hand to the door. It unlocks.

  

  “Let me show you where the real save files live.”

  SYSTEM UNLOCK:

  

  [GHOST DATA ROOM ACCESSED]

  

  
• 
  
    

  Memory corruption: 36%
  
    



  
• 
  
    

  Save interference: TRUE
  
    



  
• 
  
    

  Admin trace: UNSTABLE
  
    



  

  GHOST DATA ARCHIVE – NIGHT

  It’s cold. Black void. Floating shards of half-rendered scenes.

  Cut lines. Deleted sprites. Dialogue never spoken.

  One CG image hovers in the dark:

  Takashi.

  Dead.

  Over and over.

  Buried in every route.

  YURI:

  

  “This world is a dollhouse.

  And we’re just trying to snap the string.”

  Takashi places a hand on his own broken sprite in the archive.

  TAKASHI:

  “…If the protagonist won’t end this story…”

  He draws his hand back, fingers glitching with red static.

  

  “…then I’ll write a new one with his blood.”