章 1: Inside the System (Prologue)

My name is Sasaki Maki, and I'm 17 years old, currently in my second year of high school. I have to confess that I am a weeb myself. I absolutely love watching anime, reading manga, and light novels, especially visual novels.

I always make sure to complete every CG background and ending in the games I play. Even if it's a bad ending, I'll just bite my own tongue and deal with it. Now, I'm here to inform you about the newly updated game released by Dan Salvato called 'DDLC+'."

I've already played the first version, and I must say, it was pretty interesting and had some impressive fourth-wall-breaking moments. However, I disliked the ending, which left me with no choice but to rate the game two stars. But now, here I am, back at the game.

I should be able to download this new version.

With my right hand, I grabbed the mouse and positioned the cursor over the 'Download' button. Taking a deep breath, I clicked it.

"Wooo! I can't believe I'm back!"

Then, suddenly, my door slams open with a loud bang. Startled, I quickly turn my attention to the door, only to see my little sister standing there, scolding me.

"DON'T SHOUT!" she exclaims angrily.

"Urgk."

"Don't 'Urgk' me! It's already 10 in the evening!"

"Shut up," I retort, looking away in annoyance.

"Tch," she huffs before forcefully shutting the door.

What on earth is her problem?! This is precisely why I prefer the company of fictional characters in the virtual world rather than dealing with real-life women.

Before I became a weeb, I actually had a girlfriend in real life. Unfortunately, she broke up with me and moved on with someone else. It was a difficult time for me.

However, during that period, a weeb friend of mine recommended a few anime and manga to cheer me up.

Little did I know that those recommendations would have such a profound impact on me.

Thanks to him, I found solace and enjoyment in the world of anime and manga, and it gradually shaped me into the person I am today, a proud weeb.

Though the breakup was tough, I'm grateful for the friend who introduced me to this wonderful world.

Oh? It appears that the download has finished. Now, it's time to play the game.

s I open the application, a sudden wave of drowsiness washes over me. "Hm? What's happening?" I find it strange that I'm feeling so sleepy.

I nearly fall off my chair!

I consider grabbing another can of energy drink to fight off the fatigue, but I feel an inexplicable heaviness weighing me down.

"Damn it, I was so excited to see the girls... again." I feel myself drifting off as I rest my head on the keyboard, succumbing to sleep.

As I slowly open my eyes, I find myself standing on a peculiar platform surrounded by a flurry of 10101010 codes swirling in the air.

My initial thought is that this must be a dream, but as I rub my eyes and take another look, I realize that I'm still in this strange environment.

I decided to test my reality by attempting to punch myself, hoping to wake up. However, to my surprise, my attempt proves futile,

"Okay, Let's say I'm not in a dream, Where the fuck am I!?"

As the minutes pass and my frustration intensifies, I find myself throwing punches into the air and swinging my arms in a desperate attempt to comprehend what is happening.

As I continue swinging in frustration, a system panel suddenly opens up in front of me. Wait, this seems familiar... It's the DDLC Menu! Hmmm... Well, I do want to meet the girls again, but why is there a login account here?!

"Do I have to create an account now?! Well, I don't have an account, so I should just..."

Feeling uncertain, I press the "register" button and begin the process of creating a new account. I enter my real name when prompted.

As I click on "Create," a system panel questions the validity of my name, asking, 'Is this your real name?'

Well, of course, it is... I confidently select "Yes." Suddenly, my surroundings shift, and I find myself lying down on a bed. "Eh?" I exclaim in surprise. Isn't this... the main character's room!?

Calm and relieved, I swing my arm again, and this time it successfully closes the system commands. "I just have to swipe! I'm such an idiot!" I mutter to myself.

Now, I need to figure out what's going on here. I swipe the system commands once more and direct my attention to the chatbox. A message appears, instructing me to type "?Help" to display the command list.

"Oh, how interesting," I remark with curiosity.

I proceed to type "?help" in the chatbox, feeling slightly strange as I type in the air, and then press the Enter key. The command reveals the list of available commands.

"Hmm," I muttered to myself as I typed the "?info" command and pressed Enter.

To my surprise, a new tab opened automatically, displaying a piece of information:

"Your name is Maki, and today is the first day of your high school."

I remained silent, carefully reading and rereading the message. "So, that's it?"

"Wait, what am I doing here right now? I need to quickly get up and change!"

Feeling a sense of urgency, I hurriedly got up from bed to prepare for my first day of high school.

Because I know what will happen when I get out of this house and that is...

Meeting Sayori face-to-face.