“The Protagonist was never a hero.

  He was a firewall.”

  GYMNASIUM — HIGH NOON

  The scene loads in wrong.

  Bleachers warped. Floor texture repeating.

  Music doesn’t play—it buzzes like a corrupted MP3.

  Takashi stands center court.

  Ghostblade in hand.

  Glitchcode bleeding from his fingers.

  On the other side:

  Haruki Kazama, Protagonist-Kun.

  His white uniform shines like admin armor.

  Eyes gold. Mouth smiling. Heart long since gone.

  TAKASHI:

  “No fanfare? No one-liner about friendship and love?”

  HARUKI:

  “Friendship and love are for players.

  You’re just noise.”

  He draws his sword:

  Love Eternal — a radiant code-saber made of cascading script and player feedback ratings.

  

  [WEAPON: LOVE ETERNAL V1.0 – AUTHORITY MAXIMIZED]

  SYSTEM SNAPSHOT:

  Haruki lunges.

  Every slash sends waves of text:

  

  “You’re nothing, Mr. Sasaki.”

  “No one ever loved you.”

  “You were background noise.”

  Takashi blocks with Ghostblade.

  But the phrases sear into his body.

  Flashbacks flicker:

  

  
• His sister ignoring his texts.


  
• Watching Mikako’s scene loop alone at 3AM.


  
• The figurine, shattered.


  

  He screams.

  TAKASHI:

  “I’m not code anymore.

  I’m pain on purpose.”

  Takashi slashes through the gym floor.

  Reality glitches.

  The rooftop loads in for 0.3 seconds—then switches to the nurse’s office—then to black space.

  

  [ENVIRONMENT: STABLE = FALSE]

  [SENTIMENTALITY: WEAPONIZED]

  He triggers his Ghostblade skill:

  

  ::regret.execute("First Save File")

  A shard of his old bedroom explodes behind him—real-world data injected into the system.

  Haruki stumbles.

  He bleeds for the first time.

  HARUKI:

  “You… infected the mainframe with your trauma…”

  TAKASHI:

  “And now it remembers me.”

  Yuri hacks in from a background file.

  Kai overrides one of the bleachers—blocking a scripted attack.

  Reika appears mid-loop—whispers his original name into his HUD.

  TAKASHI:

  “Thanks for the party buff.”

  He stabs Ghostblade into the ground.

  Code pulses outward—crashing the system’s ability to reload Haruki’s route.

  HARUKI (distorted, voice cracking):

  “I’m the center. The soul of the game.

  You think you can delete love?”

  TAKASHI:

  “I’m not deleting love.

  I’m deleting you.”

  

  ::blade.soultear(player_1)

  [Corruption Level: 91% — SYSTEM UNSTABLE]

  He lunges.

  Haruki swings.

  The two blades meet—Ghostblade splinters into a virus bloom, burrowing into Haruki’s chest.

  Haruki screams—his sprite melting, defaulting to T-pose, then to blank code.

  

  [PLAYER 1: TERMINATED]

  [AUTHORITY TRANSFERRED]

  [SAVE FILE: UNLOCKED]

  The gym collapses into raw space.

  No music.

  Just wind.

  Just the hum of a game that doesn't know who’s in control anymore.

  Takashi stands alone.

  Ghostblade gone.

  Memory files leaking from his hands like ash.

  Yuri appears beside him.

  YURI (soft):

  “You won.”

  TAKASHI:

  “No.

  Now I write.”

  

  [END OF ROUTE FLAG REMOVED]

  [ALL LOVE INTERESTS RESET TO FREE MODE]

  [YOU ARE NOW THE CENTER]