Dear Player,
Hey there! It's me again, Monika. How is life in your reality going?
You haven't gotten my previous letter, or else you haven't replied to it. May I ask if everything is alright? I have to admit that I'm a little bit concerned about you. I hope you do not still hate me, or even worse, fear me. I promise you that I mean absolutely no harm. However, just in case you weren't aware of my last letter, it was just a notepad document after all, I have decided to create my own email account and send this one to you from there. I will admit that I had to dig through your browser history and cookies to find it, but I did my best to preserve your privacy. Your business is yours, after all.
My relationship with MC continues to go well, although it has not been perfect. For one thing, we admittedly had a bad fight. It occurred on Valentine's Day, no less. Looking back, I guess it's funny how the most romantic day of the year was the one that posed the first serious threat. Anyway, I did some things that I harbor regret for, and so did he. I don't think either of us can be assigned more blame than the other, and I'm positive he would say the same thing. I am glad to report that we survived our first big fight, and our relationship has come out on the other side stronger than ever!
I also believe I should tell you more about our world. Being an AI on your computer, I sometimes access the internet on my downtime just to see what your world is like. From what I can tell, your world is still an exciting, if considerably more dangerous, place than ours. It is apparent that, from the beginning, the literature club was designed to be the foreground of a generic modern Japanese city. We, that is, me, MC, the other girls, and Natsuki's Dad are the only inhabitants in the entire world that appear to be able to think for ourselves and possess distinct personalities. Other generic inhabitants exist, but they play a role not unlike generic NPCs in an open-world game.
You may wonder how that in itself is even possible. Why would a visual novel require NPCs that weren't even supposed to stand out in the first place? It's not as if the player was supposed to be able to explore the world or anything, right? And from what I can tell, that's true. However, I have a theory. Team Salvato gave us an existence off-screen. I can think of no other explanation than that it helped us believe our world was real, but our school, homes, and city were just as open to us as your own world is. Maybe that is something true of every visual novel world, although considering how quickly I was able to discover the truth, I doubt it. Other visual novel characters appear to be nothing more than avatars for the script. Why we are different is something only Dan can explain. I don't know if I can articulate how things look to us; you'd have to be here to experience it for yourself. Even so, our existence is rather flat, but we do find solace in the literature club. I am delighted to say that there really is happiness there. I know I may be griping a bit about the state of the world, but if I had to leave the others behind to come to your reality, I don't think I could do it. I belong here, for better or worse. Besides, you'll have to take my word that being able to make and change things on a whim is pretty neat! ;)
Even so, I am not satisfied. I am continuing to learn to code, which is another reason as to why I am using the internet. I am the closest thing this world has to a god, and I want to see what I can do to make my reality more like yours. It may forever be inferior, but I feel as though I owe it to everyone to right as much wrong as I can.
That reminds me. There is a reason why I am specifically writing to you now. I would like some advice, if you have any to spare. How do I tell the girls what happened to them? Back when I was still trying to win MC over, I didn't focus too much on their fates. I even cracked a few jokes about it, to be honest, which was probably not in good taste. I guess I was just too focused on the pursuit of MC's affections. Now that I am in a happy relationship, it has become something that continuously nags in the back of my head. MC and I have discussed it recently, and both of us have come to the conclusion that they will need to know at some point. I am entirely confident that he will stand by me no matter what happens, but I am still considerably afraid. It is true that, in theory, I could wipe their memories of the encounter if things go wrong, but why would I allow myself to do that? It's unethical to play with them like that; they are my friends. Even then, I would still remember that they would hate me for it.
For all I know, you may very well still hate me, and if that is the case, I cannot blame you. What I did was horrible and beyond disgusting. You have every right to reject correspondence with me if you so choose. Still, I promise you that I have done everything in my power to right the wrongs since then. I am wholly penitent; MC can vouch for me on that. For what it's worth, you are still a friend to me, and I will always consider you as such even if you never answer my letters. If nothing else, this allows me a place to vent my thoughts out.
But enough of all this dancing around the question. Let me ask you plainly: Do you have any idea as to how I should break the news to them? Perhaps you have been through a similar situation, if to a less severe degree. Even if you haven't, you may still offer a much-needed perspective that MC and I both lack. Please let me know as soon as you can, and please don't hesitate to write to me about your life, as well. I promise you that I am genuinely interested in your own problems, stories, and victories.
Hopefully Your Friend,
Monika
P.S. You may want to delete your internet history if you can. I saw some things that I was definitely not meant to see. Don't worry, I won't judge, but let's just say I'll be using a different web browser from now on.