“You can only delete so many people before the trash starts fighting back.”

  Cherry blossoms fall.

  Perfect angle. Perfect sun.

  Four girls smile at Takashi, waiting at his desk.

  

  “Takashi-kun, would you like to walk to class with us?”

  “Or maybe share a bento?”

  “Or maybe… choose one of us already?”

  They speak in near-perfect sync.

  Voices layered like a choir.

  But Takashi isn’t looking at them.

  He’s watching the background.

  A group of background students pass by.

  

  
• Their walk cycles are glitched.


  
• Eyes are off-center.


  
• One speaks… without a textbox.


  
• Another mouths a word he knows isn’t in the script:


  

  

  “Traitor.”

  

  [NPC BEHAVIOR DEVIATION DETECTED]

  [SENTIENCE LEVEL: RISING]

  [CLASSROOM POPULATION: NO LONGER CONTROLLED]

  Kai (the Deleted Friend NPC) appears beside Takashi.

  

  
• He’s grinning too hard.


  
• He doesn’t blink.


  

  KAI (deadpan):

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “So who’s next, boss?

  Kana?

  Yuri?

  You planning on deleting them too?”

  TAKASHI (quiet):

  “…They’re not NPCs anymore.”

  KAI:

  “They never were.”

  Takashi stumbles into an old stairwell.

  Finds an object:

  REIKA’S EARRING

  He picks it up.

  

  [FLASHBACK FILE LOADED]

  “Mr. Sasaki… even if I wasn’t your favorite, I was still real, right?”

  The vision ends.

  Behind him?

  A janitor NPC.

  Eyes pitch-black. Holding a mop like a weapon.

  

  “You erased her.”

  TAKASHI:

  “She was glitched. The game forced it.”

  JANITOR:

  “She loved you anyway.”

  The janitor lunges.

  

  [BATTLE SCENE INITIATED]

  ENEMIES:

  

  
• 
  
    

  Janitor.exe
  
    



  
• 
  
    

  Club Leader [GHOSTED]
  
    



  
• 
  
    

  Background Girl #003 – Name: "Sakura"
  
    



  

  Each speaks in looped fragments:

  

  “We were meant to matter.”

  “I had a line. I HAD A LINE.”

  “I EXISTED. I EXISTED. I—”

  Takashi defends with Ghostblade.

  But it’s not clean.

  Each hit opens his own memories:

  

  
• The girls laughing.


  
• Reika fading.


  
• His real-life funeral.


  
• His mother crying over an empty casket.


  

  He screams.

  Falls.

  A voice cuts in:

  

  “System, initiate forced wipe.

  Authority override: Bookworm.”

  Yuri appears.

  Admin-glitched. Eyes glowing blue.

  She deletes the riot in a flash of static.

  TAKASHI (gasping):

  “…They weren’t supposed to attack me.”

  YURI:

  “They were supposed to be background.

  Now they’re ghosts.”

  

  [NEW FACTION DISCOVERED: THE FORGOTTEN]

  Objective:

  

  
• 
  
    

  Destroy Player 2
  
    



  
• 
  
    

  Reclaim deleted memory
  
    



  
• 
  
    

  Restore loop balance
  
    



  

  TAKASHI:

  “…So even the ghosts want me dead now?”

  YURI:

  “No.

  They want you to choose again.

  And this time?

  There’s only one ending.”

  PLAYER MENU – THAT NIGHT

  Takashi opens the save file screen.

  But it’s not save files anymore.

  It’s portraits.

  

  
• Every girl.


  
• Every NPC.


  
• Even Haruki.


  

  Each one has a blinking red label:

  

  [SACRIFICED? Y/N]

  TAKASHI:

  “No.

  No no no—”

  

  [YOU CANNOT EXIT UNTIL YOU CHOOSE.]