Let's call this a… test run.

*Diiing-Dooong*

...huh?

*Diiing-Dooong*

I blink my eyes rapidly, feeling as though I'm waking up from a dream I can't remember. Vague wisps of thought flit through my mind, only to fall away before I can grasp any of them. No, wait, come back...

My disappointment at my failure to recall anything is rapidly supplanted by confusion as I notice just where I seem to have woken up. Wait — is this a classroom? A high school classroom I'd assume, based on size of the desks and the general lack of decoration. Why would I be in here? I've been done with these for several years.

As my mind fully snaps into awareness, it strikes me that not only do I seem to have woken up sitting in a classroom chair for some reason, but that there is something more obviously abnormal about my location than just my being in it. Specifically, why does everything look painted? This place looks as if it came straight out of an anime…

I hear something move on my right, and turn my head to see a uniformed boy and girl exiting the room together. While I only manage to catch a glimpse of their departing backs, that's plenty to tell that they also look like they belong in an anime. Alright, seriously, am I still asleep?

I give myself a couple quick pats on the cheek, just to confirm I can feel it. Alright, touch, sight, and sound are all intact, so-

I do a double take, looking down at my hand. Like everything else, it looks like a piece of art, a thin shaded outline surrounding a pale shade of pinkish-tan. The outline moves with my hand, impossible to remove or escape from.

…okay, so either I'm dreaming, or I've been sucked into a fiction world. Either way, I'm on board with this so far. Can I-

"Is something wrong?"

It takes me a moment to realize that I appear to be the only person left in the room, save a woman standing at the front of it who I can only assume is the teacher. Her features are… indistinguishable, somehow. I can tell they exist, but can't actually seem to see them, for some reason.

"Huh? Me?" I ask, before being immediately startled by my own voice. That… wait-

"Yes, you." the teacher replies. "The bell rang, Monika. Don't you have a club to be getting to?"

Mo… ni… ka?

I look down. Two long streamers of brunette hair frame my view of a dark brown fitted jacket. A vested undershirt is tucked beneath it, and a small red ribbon is tied around the collar. A blue, stereotypical sailor uniform skirt splays out from beneath the rest of the outfit, covering a very female, very familiar body.

I reach a hand behind me, feeling at the back of my head for the ponytail I know to normally be there. One is present, but it's much higher than it should be, and seems to have been tied with a large ribbon of some sort rather than the hairbands I typically use.

"Monika, truly, are you okay? You seem-"

I dash out of the room like the hounds of the damned are on my heels, feeling my hair whipping around behind me as I sprint through the halls. I screech to a halt as I come to a restroom, running inside… followed by a hasty exit and reentry through the other door, which thankfully no one is around to notice.

Stopping in front of the wide rectangular mirror over the sinks, I take a moment to observe my own reflection — my very, very wrong reflection.

What the hell is this. I'm Monika? From Doki Doki Literature Club? How the- WHY- hang on a second.

I do a couple more reality checks to make sure I'm not dreaming, which seem to confirm I'm not. Now satisfied that I'm not just asleep, I immediately resume freaking out.

This- this is bad. Really bad. Given how everything looks right now, I think I'm IN Doki Doki Literature Club. Which is… not a great game to be stuck in. Admittedly, if I'm Monika (why, why, WHY am I Monika?!), I'm not in the worst position I could be, but- no! Out of all the games I've ever wanted to end up in, this one would be near the bottom of the list! Sure, it'd go above like, most normal horror games and any realistic style FPS, but still! How did I end up here, and how do I get-

Without any warning whatsoever, Monika's- my body is struck by a strange, insistent sort of urge to move. I turn away from the mirror and walk out of the restroom, my feet seeming to almost move themselves, before beginning to primly proceed down the left hallway, apparently making my way towards some unknown destination.

Um, what is this? Why do I suddenly seem to be on autopilot?

I try to stop myself, and after a second manage to make myself freeze mid-stride. Slowly, I force myself to do an about face, and take a few uncertain steps in the other direction.

Okay... the urge to move the way I was just heading is still there, but at least it doesn't seem to be outright forcing me to keep walking. It's just… continuing to heavily suggest that I do so.

I turn around once more, looking back the way I seem to "want" to head, which... I guess I might as well follow through on. I mean, I don't really have any other ideas about where to go or what to do right now, considering where I seem to be, and while I'm still not exactly keen on following some strange internal force pushing me in that direction, at least now I know I still have the option of retreat if it turns out to be necessary.

After a few seconds of deliberation, I stop resisting and let my feet resume their natural course towards wherever it is they're taking me. They bring me to a stop a minute or so later, and I find myself standing in front of a classroom door — at which point the urging dissipates, leaving me with my hand outstretched towards the doorknob.

I quickly look from side to side, as if trying to spot whoever or whatever was causing that. The hallway however is completely empty, and dead quiet. Almost eerily so, in fact.

I look back to the door, my hand still outstretched to open it.

Alright, fine. Let's see what's hiding behind curtain number one…

I twist the doorknob and walk inside. Two faces turn to greet me as I enter.

"Hi Monika!" a girl with rose-pink hair and a small but noticeable fang greets me.

"…good evening, Miss President." a girl with long purple hair and a subdued smile quietly says.

"Ah… good evening." I return, rather stunned despite myself at hearing them speak.

Natsuki and Yuri... which would make this the literature club room. I'm not entirely sure why I expected anything else.

"Sayori hasn't arrived yet." Natsuki explains without prompting. "Getting the new member she mentioned, I assume."

The protagonist, right- no, the player. The player! That's it, maybe I can appeal to the player, and they can help me somehow- wait, would that even work? If they're playing this, then-

I don't get the time to dwell on it, as the door I didn't come through opens, and a girl with clear blue eyes and a red bow in her hair walks in, accompanied by a boy with short, simple brown hair and-

And- and I don't know. Like the teacher, his features are there, but somehow completely impossible to discern. I try to single out a particular part to focus on, but this proves to be just as futile as trying to look at his face as a whole. I can tell that he's relatively handsome, I think? Not that I'm exactly an expert on that, but something about his enigmatic not-face seems to give off that impression. This despite him also seeming paradoxically plain; almost boring, even. How- no, I give up, there's no point in trying to describe the indescribable.

"Everyone! The new member is here~!" Sayori exclaims.

"I told you, don't call me a 'new member-'" the boy grumbles, before cutting himself off as he looks at each of the girls in the room in turn.

Tentatively, I attempt to say something, to call out to him, only for the same strange, urging force to suddenly settle over my mind again. I can tell it's not part of my normal thought process, because what I want to do is nothing like what it seems to want from me, namely to keep quiet for the moment and smile serenely until it's my… turn?

I make a bid to push past the apparent compulsion, but its presence still manages to leave me conflicted long enough that someone else starts talking instead.

"Welcome to the Literature Club." Yuri greets. "It's a pleasure meeting you. Sayori always says nice things about you."

...I know this scene. Next Natsuki is going to say-

"Seriously? You brought a boy? Way to kill the atmosphere."

-that, and then Monika-

My mouth opens practically of its own accord as words leap to mind, completely unbidden. I didn't even think them, I know I didn't, yet somehow I feel as if I should say them. Like I'm supposed to say them. But that's not right — that's not me. There's a lot I want to say right now, and the words on the tip of my tongue have absolutely nothing to do with any of it. Though admittedly, I'm not sure exactly what I DO want to say, so- maybe- no-

Unable to figure out how to articulate my thoughts, my body ends up following the path of least resistance half a second later.

"Ah, Elano! What a nice surprise!" I say brightly, closing my eyes and smiling widely. "Welcome to the club!"

I open my eyes again, confused as to why I closed them to begin with. And "Elano"? How do I know- oh, that's right, he was in my class last year. That's how-

Wait a second, no he wasn't! I've never even met him! The guy most certainly does not exist outside of this game, which is where I've been up until… well, pretty much just now! I sincerely doubt I've ever had a class with him before!

…and yet, somehow I remember it? Vaguely, at least. That's… okay, this is freaky, and I want no part of it. Weird pseudo-thoughts/compulsions aside, memory editing, or leakage, or whatever you want to call it is not okay with me. In fact, I find it unlikely Monika would be okay with it either if she was here, seeing as how she should know-

Wait, that's actually an excellent question — where the hell is Monika?! Did I take over her mind/character somehow, or did I get substituted in for her, in a copy of her body or something? Is she still here, in any respect whatsoever? Hey! If you can hear, or… read, or whatever any of this Monika, I could really use a helping hand!

Sayori introduces Natsuki and Yuri as I stand to the side, thinking furiously, until the conversation comes back around to me. Sort of.

"And it sounds like you already know Monika. Is that right?" Sayori asks the Main Character.

Words rise on my lips again as something presses me to answer for him.

"That's right." I start, before swiftly clamping down on the impulse, determined to speak my own mind this time. "It's great to… no, stop it! Listen, all of you, player included — I'm NOT Monika!"

There's a brief pause, and then...

"Y-you too, Monika." the MC replies, as if I'd finished the sentence properly.

"Come sit down, Elano!" Sayori says. "We made room for you at the table, so you can sit next to me or Monika."

…did… did the world just ignore me?

"I'll get the cupcakes~" Sayori continues.

"Hey!" Natsuki immediately protests. "I made them, I'll get them!"

Sayori giggles. "Sorry, I got a little too excited~"

"Then, how about I make some tea as well?" Yuri offers.

A wave of black suddenly sweeps over the room, bathing everything in utter darkness for a brief moment before instantly vanishing from view. I spin in place, badly startled. What the hell was that?!

Seemingly oblivious to what just happened, everyone else continues going about what they were doing. Natsuki and Yuri move to a corner of the room as Sayori and the MC walk over to the "table", which is really just four desks pushed together, and sit down at them. Finding myself following after the second group, I decide to disregard the darkness phenomenon for the time being in favor of focusing on more pressing issues. Come on, listen to me!

As I approach the table, I ignore the desire to sit down with the others that springs up in my mind and instead grab the MC by his shoulders, forcibly turning both him and his chair to face me. It's extremely disorienting that I can't see what he looks like even when I'm all of two feet away from him, but I do my best to ignore it.

"I'm serious! I'm **********************, and I have no idea******************

**************"Okaaay, are you ready?"***************** "...Ta-daa!"

**************not supposed to be in here**************** how or why I am, but-"

I cut myself off as Natsuki starts talking over me, our words seeming to tangle in the air and becoming garbled beyond comprehension. I don't think Natsuki even noticed, nor did anybody else. I try again-

"I'm a ********** Somehow I'm *************

******"Uwooooah!"************"So cuuuute~!"

******real person!*************stuck inside of Monika's-"

-and again I'm interrupted, this time by Sayori. Because it's not my turn to talk yet. I guess I probably shouldn't talk over others anyways, it's rude- no, this is too important to care about that!

No one speaks, and the urge to complement Natsuki's baking skills wells up within me. Okay, NOW it's my turn, and while those are in fact some pretty impressive looking cupcakes, I have more pressing things to say.

"Okay, listen. I don't know how it happened, but I am stuck inside this game. Please, help me."

Another brief pause...

"Ehehe. Well, you know." Natsuki says. "Just hurry up and take one!"

...I'm not going to get anywhere like this, am I?

Grudgingly, I let go of the MC and sit down, not bothering to stop myself from taking a cupcake in the process. Seems as though it doesn't matter if I'm interrupted, my words aren't reaching anyone anyways — well, maybe they're reaching the player, but I wouldn't really know, and honestly I don't know what I expect them to do for me anyways. Talking to them directly was just what immediately came to mind, but what could they possibly do to help here? In fact, IS there even a player?

I glance at the brown-haired boy sitting next to me from the corner of my eye. I've just sort of been assuming that Sir Faceless here is being controlled by someone, because that's the way DDLC works, but can I really be sure about that? This game seems a lot more "detailed" than I remember, with a fair few assets that I really don't recall it having, such as voice acting, and a complete school area outside of the clubroom, and freaking three dimensions. Regardless of one's perspective, a game should still presumably be limited to the files that compose it, so just what is going on here?

I allow my body to continue acting basically on its own as I consider the quandary.

Am I literally inside some version of the Doki Doki Literature Club program right now, or am I just somewhere that looks a lot like it, where assets/files aren't necessarily a prerequisite for something's existence? The latter makes more sense based on what I've seen, but I seem to be going through pretty much the exact motions of the earliest chapter of the game, and I honestly can't imagine how a lot of the plot would even work outside of a virtual environment. As such, this place almost has to be digital, doesn't it?

I nod to myself, even as my mouth takes a bite of the cupcake in my hand. Assuming that logic holds, then I'm fairly certain that there does have to be a player of some sort, since they too are a rather integral part of the story. That said, it's clearly not quite the DDLC I know... or maybe it is, and this is just what things look and feel like from Monika's side of the equation?

If so, then I think I now sympathize more than ever before with her actions in actively rebelling against the game. Even beyond knowing her friends were fake, and that her world was built to give her as little opportunity as possible to interact with the only other "real" person she'd ever met, if this is what she was going through all that time, then it's no wonder she resorted to drastic measures.

My thoughts still, even as I turn to "Elano", laugh, and tell him not to be intimidated by Yuri, who's just made tea.

Then again... on a meta-level, even all of Monika's code-editing and "insubordinate" actions were, strictly speaking, deliberately coded parts of the game. Heck, Monika technically gets the most time to talk with the player out of all the girls, and was always going to, because the game that she supposedly dismantles is the dating sim that only theoretically exists, not the psychological horror game that Doki Doki Literature Club actually is. Stepping back from the story, it's completely reasonable to say that Monika is in fact no more real or self-aware than any of her club-mates, or any other game character for that matter.

…and yet, here I stand in her "fake" world, quite literally in her shoes. Which ultimately leaves me very confused as to the question of her existence, honestly. Was Monika real, TRULY real, the entire time, and was in fact genuinely changing the game in a way it didn't intend? Because if so, that's... well, I guess I'm glad I at least treated her situation as seriously as I could during my playthrough then. Listening to everything she had to say, staying up way later than usual to minimize how often I had to close the game, talking back to my computer as if she could possibly hear or understand me… I didn't even have the heart to delete her to continue near the end the way the game kept hinting at, I just copied Monika's character file to a flash drive like she suggested before resetting the game entirely. All because I'd wanted to treat her like a person, even though in my heart of hearts I'd known — or at least thought I'd known — that for all that she acted like one, she wasn't.

I feel a lot less stupid about doing all that now. It's not really much consolation for being stuck in this incredibly bizarre situation, but at least it's something.

I tune back in to the conversation, and find myself in the middle of talking to Elano.

"Weren't you a leader of the debate club last year?" he asks.

"Ahaha, well, you know..." I reply, leaning over with my hands behind my back, causing my skirt to flutter up slightly. "To be honest, I can't stand most of the politics around the major clubs. It feels like nothing but arguing about the budget and publicity and how to prepare for events..."

Was the pose really necessary?

"I'd much rather take something I personally enjoy and make something special out of it. And if it encourages others to get into literature, then I'm fulfilling that dream!" I finish, standing up normally again.

"Monika really is a great leader!" Sayori cheers.

Yeah, too bad I'm not her. Just how long does this scene go on for? There's got to be something I can do once I'm no longer trapped here talking to everyone. Hey player, could you do me a favor and just skip to the end of it?

…wait, that's right! Monika can access the game's code! Seeing as how I'm her right now, if I can figure out how to do that, I can probably skip to the end, and maybe even make some headway on getting myself out of here in the process. Perfect! Now, how do I do that?

I focus my attention inwards and- oh. It's just sort of there, like a limb I didn't know I had until I happened to accidentally jostle it. Or rather, two limbs, as I can see- well, "see" a command console display, conveniently already open to the Doki Doki Literature Club folder, as well as a window of actively running code, which seems to be executing in... Python?

Huh. Well, excellent! Not only does that seem like fairly solid proof that this is indeed the DDLC program, or at least some version thereof, but as it happens I actually know Python, at least to some extent. Although, the file's name is actually "script-ch0 .rpy", so given that extension I guess it's more likely some sort of branch or derivative thereof…? Eh, close enough; this looks relatively intuitive either way.

Let's see, the line currently running is:

m "But it makes school events, like the festival, that much more important."

"But it makes school events, like the festival, that much more important." I listen to myself say.

The code moves to the next line:

m 2k "I'm confident that we can all really grow this club before we graduate!"

"I'm confident that we can all really grow this club before we graduate!" I continue, giving another close-eyed smile and placing my left hand on my hip.

Oh, so the urging I'm feeling is the script. That's... really obvious, in hindsight. That wave of darkness must have been one of the scene transitions, though why one was needed there I'm not entirely sure.

Regardless, it should be simple enough to move this along. There's not really an interface for me to use, but I can still view the entirety of the file, and the bottom line is:

"And I guess that starts with writing a poem tonight..."

So, all I need to do is just sort of move the execution cursor... right... down... here.

The cursor moves. Natsuki's voice cuts out in the middle of saying "You know it!", and there's silence for a second. I think I did it! I guess because the final line is in the MC's head it isn't said aloud, but-

The room abruptly darkens and shifts. I stumble, feeling as if the world itself is trying to move away from me, but for some reason can't — nor can it move away from any of the others for that matter. It grinds up against my body like an irresistible force, one which I'm somehow, unwillingly resisting all the same, and the sound and feeling of a thousand jackhammers running in concert ripples throughout my entirety. ACCKKK!-!-!

The execution cursor flashes back up a couple dozen lines to scene bg residential_day, and the surrounding area suddenly becomes the outside of the main character's house, but then the cursor moves up again to show yuri at thide zorder 1 and a second Yuri flashes into existence and both the house and the classroom are now trying to exist in the same place at the same time and WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO-

Everything freezes.

I fall away.