A/N: I have typed, erased, and re-typed this for too many times now; I really have no idea how to start this. I am fairly new to writing, this would be my first fanfic for my twenty-one years of living (though I have read LOTS); the last story that I have written ended up missing eleven years ago. Please be kind to me. My fingers are shaking right now.

Kindly forgive any wrong grammar and inadequate information that you may or may not encounter in the story. I am not actually fond of research. I will warn you now that this story will not rely too much on facts and such. Events that will happen here are based on real life situations (Mix of mine, my friend's and others), so I apologize in advance if it may seem boring. Let's just say that this is a diary of sorts.

Also, story may contain spoilers. Rated T for language

Thank you and enjoy!

Disclaimer: (I have seen many authors do this here.) Mystic Messenger belongs to Cheritz. Any known names, ideas, characters, events, products and merchandise that you may encounter belongs to their respective owners. Really, the only thing that is mine here is the story line. And M.C.'s character maybe.

This fanfic is dedicated to my friend, who spends the good of her day playing Mystic Messenger. May you have the guts to just finally go out on a real date.

Chapter 1: In which a very long Prologue is eventually turned into Chapter One

It is official, my life is over. Damn this game!

…Only for a little while. I already made it this far…

I can't wait anymore. That is it! I'm going to sleep.

But no! Almost 100% for the day…

Oh...but this pillow is really soft…

No! I need those hearts!

That is the recent argument that happens inside the mind of Mariel Cecilie ever since she downloaded the "blasted app", as she currently calls it. She sighed and got up to awaken her already hazy mind. She rubbed her eyes and carefully navigated her way through the room with measured steps. It is fifteen past midnight, if anyone were to wake up now and see her not sleeping, she would get an earful for sure. She has her apprenticeship work early tomorrow, thus she should savor the wee hours to just get some rest already, as Jaehee would probably say.

But no.

She just had to play that game.

Stupid OCD. Stupid hourglass. It just mocks me.

Finally making her way through her sleeping relatives, she went through the door and closed it carefully. The heat outside her parent's air-conditioned room is still too warm to be comfortable. It is that time of the month where the summer season is transitioning to the rainy season, thus the uncomfortable weather. The rain two hours ago was heavy but a short one, which led to even warmer interiors. M.C.'s parents insisted on just sleeping in their room altogether to save energy—their room was the only one with a split-type ACU in the house so there were no complaints (aside from her father's snoring).

M.C. went to the kitchen and got herself a cold glass of water, in hopes of waking herself up. She sat down in one of the dining chairs and sighed for the nth time that night. She checked her phone. 12:17 Am. Twenty-one more minutes to go. Hurrah.

Sleeping late (or in her case, early morning) would not have been a problem if it weren't for the matter that she has to wake up at five in the morning later on. Really, why do I even bother?

M.C. knew from the start that downloading that game was a bad idea. She easily gets distracted, and being distracted is not something that she can afford to do right now. Her apprenticeship just started a few days ago, and not to mention her upcoming thesis for the next semester. Staring at her phone would not really help her eyes, especially when they are already strained from being used at work to browse through architectural and engineering plans. And of course there is the issue of time management. Really, sleep is always a must, especially for the profession that she wants to pursue. Every second of the clock always counts.

But oh. It was just that tempting. Like Elizabeth the 3rd to Jumin kind of tempting.

She finally got a new phone two weeks ago due to her mother's decision of changing their applied Plan in Sun Cellular Telecommunications. M.C. is not really blinded by such frivolous objects, but there is always a sense of excitement for her whenever she gets to receive anything new or unexpected. She rarely asks for anything, especially when she deems it unnecessary.

So when the phone came, M.C. went to the Play Store right away to download a few applications that she would need—paint app, dictionary, fanfic reader, messenger, music player, k9 keyboard—all necessary applications, enough to satisfy her needs and boredom.

But then the blasted app was there in the Recommended For You section. M.C., being an avid anime fan, instantly got curious. But there were numerous sides to M.C.'s personality, there was avid otaku and another was mother hen.

Thus another internal argument.

Ohhh it's like a dating game!

Oh no. I think I am too old for that…

…But the graphics though…

No! Memory's too heavy. Phone will slow down.

Then again, I have been thinking of buying a new memory card…

And so on.

Mystic Messenger got installed, uninstalled, and installed again for several times in M.C.'s phone. Now she is on her fifth try, beginning the Fourth Day. If only 12:38 Am would come faster.

Why is time always like this? Steadfast when there are deadlines, real slow when there is a need to wait. Oh great, now I'm blaming time. Real mature. Next I'll be blaming this stupid glass for having water—that is not cold anymore! I just got this from the fridge!

I just called a glass of water 'stupid'. Damn. I really need to get some shut eye.

This is one of the reasons why she doesn't want to play games. Whenever she gets interested in anything, she always gives it her best and everything. Some would call it passionate, M.C. sees it as too intense. Studying is already a chore for her, what more if games were involved? As she told one of her friends who wanted to lend her his controller for Naruto Shippuden: Ninja Storm 4; "If I were to play all the games that you recommended to me, you probably wouldn't see me at class anymore. It will be bye-bye school." Safe to say, she can relate to Yoosung's LOLOL addiction very well.

I haven't even made it to the end yet. Heck, I still haven't gotten to anyone's route. Should I just stop this? It is way too time consuming…

M.C. debated with herself as she waited for time to pass. Maybe letting go of the game would be the right thing to do. She has poor internet connection outside of her house, and already spent too much time on the game. If this continues on, she will end up with having work that is half-done. And she cannot have that.

12:37 Am.

Meh. It is still vacation anyway! I'll stop when the first semester comes near. Let's do this!

Well, that's one argument settled.

For all her twenty years of life, M.C. never had a boyfriend. She claims to her friends that she has ten, even showing them pictures just to get off of their teasing. She had good-looking guy friends though—all of them modest to boot; compared to Zen, at least. Many would consider her lucky. Some would probably already be thinking of the "girl has many guys who to choose from" plot line.

Yeah, well. If that were true in real life, M.C.'s ten boyfriends would not have been a joke after all.

Sadly, that was not the case. Guy friends will be guy friends. Good-looking guy friends are attracted to good-looking ladies, and M.C. ended up being the "not-a-guy friend". She was not attractive, she looked rather plain actually. She has plump cheeks, and a small permanent crease in her brow due to her constant scowling. She has a small scar on her bottom lip due to a childhood accident. Her shoulders are a bit broad and she has larger arms and thighs than most girls. But she has the silkiest of hair and shiniest of teeth, something that she is proud of for being natural. M.C. herself does not think that she is attractive. Which is why she found hanging out with guys easier than most girls, as she believes that there is no amount of sexual tension whatsoever.

Attractive or not, it did not matter to M.C. as she was not really interested in dating. She had loved one though. Probably still did. And it continues to break her heart as of the present. It can be a reason as to why she does not want to engage in such romantic matters.

Which is why Mystic Messenger appealed to her as much. It was a dating game, guys can be easily pleased if you choose the right answer. The Happy Ending is within reach, just choose between the options. Though there are the Bad Endings, but that is still controllable. Unlike real-life relationships. Anything said is interpreted differently by another. She can be satisfied without hurting in the game. Can anyone blame her, really? And what's more, they don't see her, they don't know her…they can't hurt her.

She thinks she would live a normal life. Become an architect. Pursue other arts. Be a painter, next. Probably try photography too, as inspired by V. Of course, save money. Travel. Work some more. Help family. Donate to charity. Retire at forty and spoil herself rotten until she die. As Seven had said, I'm gonna work hard and die fast. Have no desire to live long lol. She actually laughed at that and even had the screenshot of the chat bubble in her phone.

But then again, someone as too intense as Mariel Cecilie cannot just live and die that easily.

As M.C. is drafting floor plans in the midst of her apprenticeship work, she had this sudden thought of just giving up and surrendering to the dull. It is what she is after all.

After resigning herself to that fate, in that short moment, something clicked…

Because in RFA…

707: …

707: Did anybody just felt something weird?

707: …Like being cut off or something?

707: …Hello?

707: OMO I AM ALL ALONE NOW OMFG

ZEN: Stop it, Seven. All the 'ping'-sounds from your messages is making me dizzy…

ZEN: …

Jumin: What had just happened?

Jumin: Are we being hacked?

Jumin: Assistant Kang, contact the chairman's police force. We must get Elizabeth the 3rd to safety

Jaehee: …

Jaehee: Mr. Han, I don't think that is the main concern right now

Jumin: What are you talking about? Elizabeth the 3rd is always the main concern

ZEN: I say not

Yoosung*: Whoa you guys felt it too?

Yoosung*: WAZ IZ HAPPENIN?

Yoosung*: Am late

Yoosung*: Was about to read then BOOM

Jaehee: Read?!

ZEN: Woah for real?

707: Whut

V: Luciel, what was that?

Jumin: It's V.

ZEN: V, what are you doing here all of a sudden?

Jaehee: You mentioned just a few hours ago that you would be away on business.

Yoosung*: Yeah...

707: !

707: V! HIIIII!

707: Y r u here lololol

707: Wait am still checking plz be patient with meh ma familia

Jumin: What the hell are you saying?

Jumin: V, what is going on?

ZEN: Ohhh.

ZEN: Mr. Prim and Proper just cursed.

ZEN: Ohhhh.

ZEN: Tarnished reputation right there.

Jumin: I'm surprised you got 'tarnished' correct

V: Hey everyone

ZEN: Ass.

ZEN: Oh

ZEN: Not you, V.

Yoosung*: lolololol

707: Guyth

707: Honey, we have a situation

Yoosung*: HONEY?!

V: What situation?

707: I think that

707: We are lost

Yoosung: ?

Jumin: Lost?

Jaehee: What are you talking about?

707: …

V: Luciel…

707: Look up

Yoosung: ) #($%*&!

Jumin: ...

Jaehee: What the…?

ZEN: OH.

A/N: What happened? Yeah, even I do not know yet. I write as the story comes. So I will apologize early on for the schedule of updates will be random (it can be as quick as the next day, or slow as in a few months). If you are expecting a deep story and a well-planned story line, then I can't say that this is the fanfic that you are looking for. Anyway, please be patient with me.

As with the story itself, I'm trying to build a character for M.C. first before focusing on RFA. I think focusing on M.C. first will give us the chance to understand better her upcoming interaction with the RFA members. This is also meant to be a light read, with bits of humor and probably romance, but more on self-growth and developing friendships, all in all.

Thank you!