[Will you write the way into her heart?] The screen displayed.

"This seems a bit silly," Kazuto said. "It's not even designed for virtual reality."

"Like I said," Kikuoka repeated. "Forty-one suicides this month only."
"Why do people keep playing it then?"

"They seem to be under the impression it's all a big marketing stunt. Fake news, you know the drill."

"Yeah," Kazuto sighed, he sipped from his overly expensive coffee. "Can't you take it offline?"

"It's floating around everywhere. No use trying to dry a flooded room if the taps are still running."

"So you want to sent me inside?" Seriously, was this his solution for everything?

"You read me like an open book, Kirito." Kikuoka smiled and took another bite from his pudding. "You'll be adequately compensated, obviously. And I'll guarantee your safety, don't worry."

"I don't get it," Kazuto said. He drank deep from his coffee. "What do you want me to do? Dive in and find out how they do it? It's impossible to kill someone using an Amusphere, we've established this before." He was even sitting in the exact same spot as before.

Kikuoka took another bite from his pudding. He slowly chewed it before replying. "Like I said, all deaths were suicides. Autopsies have confirmed this. The only suspicious thing is that their logs showed they had been playing the game just before. We don't even know if the game has anything to do with it."

"But…?" He sensed there was more going on here.

"I have some agents inside. They all confirmed it's a terrifying game that messes with your head."

"This?" Kazuto pointed at the screen, which still displayed a large heart with four smiling girls.

"The game seems to be playing you rather than the other way around. I believe they mess with your head to drive you to suicide, some kind of psychological trickery."

"And sending me in is going to help? Are you trying to get me killed? Do you even have-"

"Ah." Kikuoka raised a finger. "We do have something more. Look at this."

He operated the screen and loaded another video. It showed the credits with some visuals and a background song.

"Wait a minute." He saw the picture vanish when it reached the top. An error showed up.

"Exactly," Kikuoka said. "If you complete the game it will delete itself."

"I see."

"But here's what really interesting." He went to the last part of the video.

[You've reached the standard ending. Reinstall the game and try to reach the Fulfilling ending next time to shut down the Core.]

"So there are two endings?" Kazuto asked. "What's this Core?"

"You need an internet connection to play the game. It reroutes you through several VPN's until you reach the Core. I believe that this is the server of the creator."

"So upon finding the true ending, a signal is sends which shuts the server down?"

"Yes, that's what it looks like. Probably some coded message which activates a script. Without the server, all games should stop working."

"And you can't hack your way into the server?"

Kikuoka laughed. "Through VPN's? Good luck with that. Besides," his voice turned serious. "There is another problem."

"Hm?"

"The game has an automatic streaming modus."

"You mean… people can watch you play it?"

"Yes. You just have to type someone's username and if they are playing at that time, you can watch them. You can even communicate with them if the player accepts your request."

"Does it keep logs?" Kazuto asked. An idea was forming in his head.

"No, only live watching. We haven't yet watched anyone who killed himself afterwards. There are simply too many players to keep track off."

"Too bad." His plan was no good after all. If they could not check the logs from the players, it was hard to say if the game was involved at all. Still, forty-one suic-

"In any case," Kikuoka said. "This also means that the creator can tell if someone is getting close to the ending. And if we hack our way in…"

He didn't have to finish that sentence. Who knew how much people were influenced by this game? For all they knew everyone could be driven to suicide at any time.

Kazuto finished his coffee, but his throat stayed dry for some reason. "How many people have installed it now?" He tried making his voice sound casual but was only moderately successful.

"About a million. But it's still growing, so-"

"A million? You know what that means right? There are a million people in great danger right now. For all we know they could die any second."

Kikuoka calmly finished his pudding. Then, he looked at Kirito and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think I asked you?"