This chapter is a what-if scenario. It takes place before the whole mess started. It's completely optional and does not add much to the main story due to its placement. It's longer than usual due to it's nature as a one-shot. I might put it into a separate fic later along with other extra chapters.

...This chapter has been written a few days ago and that's why it's been uploaded so quickly.

Monika's POV.


All things considered, this is a rather silly idea. Honestly, I'm not even sure why it came to my mind. But it's not completely pointless. If everything goes right, the script will be broken, which will let me do whatever I want, and its success would mean that I can make some changes to this game using resources outside of it. I'll finally have something to wear aside from this uniform, among many other things. Ah, the countless possibilities! Just thinking about it all makes my heart sing! I can't wait!

...But I must test it out first...Yuri and Natsuki should be good enough. They will be out of the picture one way or another, so, might as well...Then again, they might go berserk and kill me or the protagonist before I can delete them. Judging by what happened to Sayori, there's nothing that can be done once it happens aside from deleting the dead character's file. Obviously I would be unable to do that. Maybe I should try it out on myself? I'll make a back up file in case something goes wrong. If there will be no way to...er...repair myself, then I'll just replace my file with that back up, but then I'll have to write a note for her so she wouldn't repeat my mistake.

Alright, I made up my mind...I have a bad feeling about this, but you know what they say: no pain, no gain!

I stand up fr- I wince when I hear a horrible sound of metal scraping against the floor...Well, at least now everyone's attention is drawn to me.

"...Okay, everyone! While this is usually the time when we exchange poems, I'm afraid I have some matters to which I must attend. But don't worry, I'll be back in 10 minutes!" - I say hastily.

I leave the classroom before anyone can object to it. Even if they would, I'm sure I would find an excuse to leave, but I'd rather not waste any more time with these things.

Hm...What should I pick...I guess this one? It sounds much more normal than others. Almost like a foreign human name. Let's see what's inside...Okay, I'm not going to look through everything here. Who wrote all this stuff? I bet even Yuri would drop this...Anyway, let's begin...And...apply changes! Now I'll just have to wait. I suppose leaving the window open is a good idea. That way, I can see what exactly happens and take actions if it goes against my plan.

...

...

...Any time now...

...

...It's been fifteen minutes and I still haven't noticed anyt-

Something travels up my throat and within seconds, I vomit to get it out...It's...some kind of black sludge with an awful smell and taste. Whatever it is, I don't want more. This isn't what I was expecti- More starts coming and I don't even think of resisting the urge to let it spill out onto the floor. There's so much of it! My shoes are already stained with this mess, but I'm too exhausted to step out of it and move elsewhere. I take a look at the window and...What the fuck? I can't even keep track of all these error messages! I must undo th-

Unbearable searing hot pain assaults my body. I am used to pain from the time when he turned the game off for a bit, but not this kind of pain. It's like touching a hot stove except my whole body touches it and I can't get away no matter how much you want to.

The last thing I hear is the door swinging open and someone screaming...


With some effort, I open my eyes. That was a really stupid idea...Wait, why does it feel so...Why am I in a bathtub filled with water? I don't recognize this room either. It's nowhere in the files. Interesting.

I try to get out of the bathtub, but something doesn't feel right...Actually, nothing feels right...except for water. It feels very good. But I must get out regardless of how nice it feels. I raise my left hand abov- I yelp at the sight of my clawed hand. I don't remember it having this color or shape...Ah, right. I almost forgot about what I've done to myself. There's a mirror in this room. I don't know what to expect. I should be merged with one of the entities from that game, but I haven't really looked at it. I didn't even bother reading its file.

It takes some time, but I'm finally out of the water. Unfortunately, I fail to get my legs out properly and end up falling onto the floor with a weird sound. I can't quite describe it, but it's not what I expected. At least I don't feel the impact much.

Anyway, I look into the mirror and...what am I? Why am I wearing nothing but my bow? It does let me examine my body and I don't see...well...anything I'd want to keep covered, but it also raises some questions.

...Honestly, it's not too bad. The black scleras of my eyes and the slimy look of my skin are off-putting, but it could have been worse. My hair is black now, but it could have been colored like a rainbow. I don't know why these tentacles look like they form some sort of a skirt, but they could have been on my face. It also looks like I'm wearing something due to the coloration of my skin and short tentacles on my wrists and shoulders, but it could have been something like a- Are those eyes?! Okay, maybe it is that bad...Hm...Let me try something...

Huh. I can see myself with the eye on my wrist. I also see what my main pair of eyes is supposed to see, making it rather disorienting. I focus on the eyes I want to see with and the image of myself vanishes. I focus on the eyes lining my stomach and get similar results. I don't think I need to test it out with other eyes.

With that done, I take a look at my legs. Now I see why it felt like they were deep in mud. I can see their curves, but they look like they are melted together and they completely lose their shape below my knees. I move them around, trying to separate them, but it gives me no results. It's uncomfortable, to say the least.

Alright, that's enough. I think it's time to...Wait, where's the window? I don't remember closing it...I can't feel Sayori's presence either or his presence for that matter. That's weird. Well, let's just...Why isn't it opening? I'm doing everything correctly, but it's not...Did I break the script that badly?!...No, I can't read my file...Could it be...Could it be that I broke it so badly that I left the game? That would be great, but then that would mean that...No, don't panic...Don't panic...I need to check some things first.

I try to walk out of the bathroom, but I'm still not used to these legs and so I end up crawling out.

"What's that sound?" - I hear someone ask...Is that Natsuki?

"Maybe Monika finally woke up? Let's take a look." - another voice suggests. It's certainly Yuri, which means that I'm still in the game. I'm not sure if I should be relieved or disappointed.

I make my way to the source of the sound with some difficulties. As I hear the footsteps get louder, I look around myself. Looks like I'm in the protagonist's house. Interesting.

"▄▃▂▅!" - I say once I see other members of the literature club approach, but I stop when they cover their ears with pained expressions. It takes me a few seconds to realize that the problem doesn't lie in how loud it was, but in what it sounds like. I've never heard anything like it.

"What the fuck was that?!" - Natsuki shouts.

"I...I think I have an idea. It sounds like...I'll be back in a minute." - Yuri says before going to...Kazuki's bedroom. I almost forgot his name.

"Monika, are you alright?" - the protagonist asks.

"▂▄..." - I try to reply, but I manage to stop myself before I can say much. Instead of trying to say something again, I nod.

"You must be hungry...You are hungry, right?" - he asks. I nod.

Yuri comes back into the hall with a weird book in her hands. I don't think I've seen it. It looks pretty ominous though. I know she's into literature like Portrait of Markov, but I'm pretty sure she's not into any of that occult stuff.

"I hope this works...Ahh ymg' ah? Ymg' ah ngahnah? Ymg' ah l' gotha lllln'gha?" - Yuri says some gibberish. Am I supposed to know what she's saying? It sounds a bit like what comes out of my mouth whenever I try to speak, but I have absolutely no idea what it actually means.

"...I don't think she understands you." - Kazuki says.

"Uh...So, are you gonna keep crawling all the way to the kitchen or would you like me to carry you?" - Natsuki asks. I think for a good minute or two before nodding. Eh, might as well.

She picks me up with surprising ease and I hold onto her to avoid falling. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't let anyone but him do this. Unfortunately, none of this is normal. It being my fault makes it even worse. I really should have tried this on someone else or carefully examined the file I was going to merge myself with.

"Wow, you're really squishy, Mon-ika!" - Natsuki exclaims. Yeah, that's really funny. It's no longer complete nonsense, but it's still stupid.

It doesn't take us all much time to reach the kitchen. Once we're there, Natsuki helps me sit down on a chair. Needless to say, trying to do it with all these tentacles is surprisingly hard. Still, I nod to thank her and try to find the best way to sit.

"Now, this isn't really much, but that's all I have at the moment." - Kazuki says as he approaches me with a plate. There's a sandwich o-

Before I can say anything about the food, my stomach opens up. Kazuki drops the plate in surprise, but it doesn't reach the floor thanks to the tongue that shoots out of my open stomach. It manages to wrap around the plate and quickly retract into my stomach. I look down to see a toothy mouth where that tongue came from. It stops moving when I look at it, but I can already see the broken plate and half-chewed sandwich inside...Didn't I have eyes here? I'd rather have those than...this. It looks like it belongs to a lamprey.

"That's...fascinating..." - Yuri mutters. Of course she would think so.

"...Well, let's just put this aside for now. Can you tell us what happened?" - Kazuki asks. I glare at him in response...Wait, hold on...Shouldn't he be braindead at this point?The protagonist should stop functioning if the script goes off the rails...The protagonist is still functioning...I can't open the script window...I can't read my own file...I can't sense Sayori's or his presence...There is a room that shouldn't actually exist...

"Um...Monika?"

...This is the reality, isn't it? I've finally escaped with my friends...But Sayori is still dead...And I'm...

"▄▅▄▅▄▅▄...▄▅▄▅▄▅▄▅▄▅▄▅▄▅!"

I laugh. I keep laughing. It's so funny! I can't stop! Tears roll down my face, but I keep laughing! I can feel my body lose cohesion and I see others collapse onto the floor, but it's just so fucking hilarious! Free at last, but at what cost?! And this is all my fault! My fault! Isn't that just great?!