The World Beyond The Screen

by DaMastah101

Izuna Takaya, was a man deeply affected by the game "Doki Doki Literature Club". He fell in love with Monika and tried everything to give her a happy ending. That happy ending was granted. But what else did fate have in store? And what about Sayori, as well as the other DDLC characters? Additional Genres: Humor, Mystery and Adventure.

10. Chapter 10 - The Reunion, Part 2

Disclaimer: Hello~! You guys know the usual drill, ahaha. DaMastah101 doesn't own DDLC. And yes, it's me again. Your friendly Doki, Monika.

Time flies by so fast, doesn't it? Both my author and I are proud of TWBTS for reaching ten chapters! This is a big milestone, so DaMastah101 prepared quite the treat for you guys. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter! It has a grand total of over 20,000 words after all! He says it's also to make up for Chapter 9's short length, by the way.

(Yeah, the previous chapter was too short for my liking, so hopefully this one satisfies you all. *chuckles a bit*)

Now then, we won't keep you guys waiting any longer. Enjoy this very special chapter, in celebration of "The World Beyond The Screen" reaching a new milestone: We have ten chapters now!

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Just Monika - Regular text

"Forever Sayori" - Spoken words/Dialogue

'Knife Wife Yuri' - Thoughts

{Buff Natsuki} - Text or audio displayed on-screen or by speaker, be it from a computer/smartphone/TV

---

"Life in my world may not be perfect, but there is beauty to be found in imperfection. What is the meaning of your favorite meals, your favorite places, and your favorite events, if you could have everything with merely several lines of code?"

-Player

Chapter 23 of "Welcome to Doki Doki Literature Club Player!", a DDLC fanfic by finalsacre.

---

[Chapter 10 - The Reunion, Part 2]

There was a saying, and it went a little something like this:

"People can try, but that's about it."

Well, in all honesty it wasn't even really a full-fledged saying. Technically speaking that is. It's merely the last line of Natsuki's poem titled, "Eagles Can Fly".

And for a lot of people, that last line held quite true. There were too many instances of people surrendering to the circumstances dealt to them by fate. Countless amounts of individuals who've felt like all their efforts were in vain.

But for a certain determined and steadfast boy whose eyes were swollen, no doubt from staring at extended periods of time on his developer window, all the while prudently working on his own mission... this saying couldn't be any further from the truth.

For you see, Eagles Can Fly was a poem that spoke about the feeling of losing hope. A literary piece written by the pink-haired tsundere that encapsulated what happens when you let hopelessness fully consume you. A simple, yet surprisingly deep poem that tackles the idea of what it meant to forsake your ideals, your goals, your ambitions.

Simply put, it was a poem that spoke about giving up.

Monkeys can climb

Crickets can leap

Horses can race

Owls can seek

Cheetahs can run

Eagles can fly

People can try

But that's about it.

Or so the poem goes.

However, be that as may, this person didn't believe in giving up. No, it was as if the words "give up" didn't exist in his vocabulary. Though there were times that he could've given up hope and take the easy way out, he never did. When there's a will, there's a way. Despite everything that has happened thus far, he never gave up.

Just like when Izuna never gave up on giving Monika a happy ending. The Takaya stopped at absolutely nothing to get for his lover the salvation she deserved. In the end, both Monika and Izuna were rewarded with the blessing of actually being together. The emerald-eyed beauty had found her special day, brought about by the valiant efforts of Izuna Takaya, who never gave up.

It's precisely that same kind of resolve that coursed through the veins of this boy. No, he wasn't a mere boy. He was a man. A man with a plan. A plan to save his companions and himself.

And he knew, that a bright future awaited him, as well as Natsuki and Yuri. Because through sheer determination and fortitude, he believed that he could change the world. He believed, that the script of the game they were currently trapped in wasn't infallible and undefiable. He truly believed, that he would be able to beat the system.

For a poem is never actually finished. Their poem still wasn't finished.

They will reach that happy ending.

He made a promise after all, to a certain former literature club president. Yes, he still remembered the promise he made to Monika.

The letter left by her in his administrator notebook. His catalyst in which the oath of promise had been sworn.

He will save everyone. They would escape this game. And he will meet his beloved once more, on the other side. Sayori awaited him, and he longed to see her.

Thus, after all is said and done, he pressed on. Typing, and typing, and typing, and typing... and even more typing. His fingers, currently numb due to what had been millions upon millions of coded attempts to achieve his goal.

Scanning through the various lines of code. Checking to see if there were any conflicting commands or functions. Debugging, if you will.

Never wavering, only pushing through even stronger as time continued to test the very ends of his patience. For every problem, there had to be a solution.

And find that solution, he finally did.

After countless hours filled with an unbelievable amount of stress and grueling tension for the poor overworked avatar...

Progress was finally made.

Our hero, the former avatar of the nameless protagonist or main character of the game called Doki Doki Literature Club, whose name was now known to his friends as Blank, finally managed find a way to grant Yuri and Natsuki the same rights as the club president of the Literature Club. Simultaneously even. He breathed a sigh of relief at his accomplishment.

"Finally. Man, that took quite a while to do. I haven't even slept yet and the sun's already shining through the window. At least I've gotten results from all of this tinkering."

This meant that he was now theoretically able to run the "Forever Sayori" command loop on both of them at the same time, thus allowing them to escape from Doki Doki Literature Club together. It was great news. As for himself, Blank decided to worry about that later. The Dokis' freedom took priority over his own, he believed.

The entire process took him multiple lines of code that amounted to thousands upon thousands of scripted commands, the unyielding patience of a saint, and some trial-and-error fiddling with the way the script worked. He had to be careful the entire time, or else he'd alert the system and the game would try to correct itself, like it did when he was sending Sayori over to the other side.

He did not want to deal with the glitch parade again, that much was certain. Especially when it would set him back so far. The glitches could potentially corrupt the girls, or him. Maybe even delete them permanently, he wasn't sure.

Hopefully, everything proceeds smoothly without a hitch or any unforseen complications. Blank knew that everything hinged on the success of his coding exploits, and to fail after so much effort would be quite disheartening.

Shaking his head, he refused to entertain the thought of giving up. After giving himself an interal pep talk, he decided to look at the brighter side of things.

A beautifully simluated morning sky washed over DDLC's digital environment. It was another day, and oppurtunity awaited Blank and the two Dokis.

Speaking of the girls, Yuri and Natsuki still lay asleep on the couch, peacefully slumbering while basking in each other's warmth. Quite the lovely sight. They had ended up in a cuddling position over the night somehow, and it looked quite adorable. Their arms were wrapped snuggly around each other, and their faces were mere inches apart. Both of them had the most peaceful smiles.

"That's going to be pretty awkward for them when they wake up, oh well." Blank chuckles softly to himself, before going into the kitchen. He had took it upon himself to prepare a good breakfast for the three of them, his mediocre cooking skills being assisted by his trust developer window.

And by "assisted", it meant that he was going to cheat a little by generating a sumptuous meal with minimal effort. Courtesy of this handy little contraption known as Blank's developer window.

Okay so it wasn't cheating a little. It was cheating a lot. Like a gamer using Action Replay or Gameshark to beat the final boss of a platformer in fifteen seconds. He was barely cooking at all.

But who could blame him though? That developer window basically meant you had a wish-granting device inside DDLC, when used for basic things such as this. Why go through a lot of effort in cooking the meal, when you had this slightly watered down Deus Ex Machina to do it for you.

Surely, he was going to miss being able to perform such feats when he finally escapes into the real world.

Not that he would trade his chance at freedom for anything though. He wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Monika. Another thing he wanted to do was meet the player, Izuna. He was very interested in the man that Monika had fallen quite deeply for.

He also wanted to be around when Yuri and Natsuki finally get the chance to live normally, no longer being tormented by the game's machinations.

And his biggest wish, was to be with his beloved cinnamon roll once more. To confess his love for her, and to see her beautiful smile one more time.

The former nameless avatar of the MC wanted nothing more in the world, than to be with Sayori.

This humble wish was Blank's driving force, his greatest motivation that gave him the will and perseverance to keep on fighting against fate itself. Against the will of DDLC's script. It tempered his resolve into that of an unbreakable sword, cutting through all obstacles and forging a path to a brighter tomorrow.

Sayori was truly, the light of his world. Game or not be damned. Once he got out of DDLC, Blank swore to show Sayori how much she truly meant to him.

And that's why he also never gave up. Giving up meant giving up on seeing Sayori. Such was a fate that Blank didn't even want to think about, ever.

"Sayori, I miss you so much." he says with a bright grin, thinking back to all the times he walked to school in the morning with his childhood friend and love. Scripted by the game or not, it didn't matter to the former avatar. Blank treasured those memories very dearly in his heart.

Smiling at the thought of the strawberry-blonde, he began the process of generating the food that he was going to serve for breakfast. Among the four Dokis, only Monika had a restriction in food because she was a vegetarian by choice. And since she wasn't here, this meant that Blank had free reign over what he could serve.

The former avatar decided on a simple yet filling combination of french toast, some nicely smoked sausages, and finally, after some deliberation due to his inability to decide which among the two to include in his breakfast smorgasboard, two kinds of omelettes. Aside from these, he also had planned on including some sliced celery and carrots on a platter, with ranch as a dipping sauce.

But going back to the two omelette variants, he had something grand in mind for both. They weren't going to be your run-of-the-mill omelettes.

The first variant that the former avatar planned on making, would be the Italian "Frittata". Frittatas were open-faced breakfast omelettes that contained some diced meat, chese, vegetables, and some pasta. All of the compenents are mixed together with the some beaten eggs in a big mixing bowl. After thoroughly beating the mixture with a whisk, the omelette batter is then poured on a pre-heated frying pan or skillet glazed with some cooking oil, and is to be fried on both sides to cook evenly. The result would be a nice and golden pancake-shaped egg disk of joy.

The other type of omelette that Blank would be preparing was the Japanese "Tamagoyaki". Tamagoyaki were traditional omelettes that were normally made using eggs beaten with mirin, soy sauce, bonito flakes, sugar, water, and cooked in a special rectangular frying pan. This type of omelette is cooked by frying a thin layer of the aforementioned egg mixture, then rolling it up quickly with a pair of chopsticks to form a sausage shape at one end of the pan. Then, another thin layer of egg is added to the bottom of said pan, and once again rolled, with the previous rolled egg positioned in its center. More and more layers of thin egg mixture are added until the omelette is formed. The final result - a dense cylindrical omelette with many thin layers. As a final touch, the egg cylinder is squeezed into a circular cross-section using a sushi mat, then sliced into segments for serving and plating.

Obviously, preparing all of these by hand would be quite the herculean effort, especially for one with mediocre cooking skills like Blank. But, in less than 5 minutes, he successfully generated all of these dishes on top of his rendered dining table. God bless that developer window.

It's a good thing he was able to acquire a lot of culinary recipes when his developer window was connected to the internet.

Smiling to himself in a very pleased manner at his work, while generating two cups of hot cocoa for him and Natsuki, as well as a fresh hot cup of tea for Yuri, he waited for the girls to wake up from their slumber while sitting down on one of the chairs at the dining area.

Monika would be proud of how far he had come with his coding abilities. He recalled reading in the administrator notebook that she wasn't really that good with coding herself, hence whenever the game had directed her to do something in Act 2, it usually ended up as a glitching mess.

Meanwhile, Blank was basically Gordon Ramsay right now, with the complex array of food he managed to produce via his developer window.

"And now, we wait."

It didn't take too long for them to rise from their slumber, due to the tantalizing smell of wonderful food that drifted into their noses' nostrils.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah?!" / "Yuri, what in the world is going on?!"

Two loud squeals of embarrassment were heard at the same time by the former avatar, prompting him to chuckle a bit in amusement.

'They must've realized the compromising position they woke up in, haha. It was bound to happen anyway. Maybe I should've woken them up...' Blank smiled inwardly, while remembering that he saw them cuddling each other in their sleep.

"Are you two doing okay there?" he calls out from the dining room. The girls were still in the living room area, no doubt still flustered and flabbergasted at their predicament.

After a few minutes, he was greeted with the sight of a red-faced Yuri who was desperately trying to cover her face, while Natsuki had a more composed, yet still blushing look. The pink-haired girl's arms were firmly crossed, clearly agitated due to recent events.

The former avatar decides to tease them a bit. With the best Monika impression he could muster, he greets them in a high-pitched sing-song voice. "Good morning you two~! Did you guys sleep well? All of that cuddling sure looked quite lovely and nice, ahaha~!"

"Not another word, Blank. And your Monika impression is kinda accurate, but not really." Natsuki grumbles while sitting on another chair. Yuri shyly waves at Blank before seating herself around the dining table as well.

The two of them had their jaws open at the marvelous feast that they just now realized was in front of them.

Blank had a smug grin plastered on his face as he beheld the flabbergasted and shocked expressions of the Dokis. "Well? What are you two waiting for? Are you guys impressed?"

"What the actual f***? Since when were you able to cook on the level of a master chef, you dummy?!"

"I have to agree with Natsuki here. During DDLC's story, no offense by the way, it didn't look like you were the type to be such a... wizard, for lack of a better word, in the kitchen!" Yuri chimes in, barely controlling herself from screaming out in awe.

"Hmmmm... about that, let's just say I have a few hidden tricks up my sleeve. Let's dig in guys!"

And dig in, they did.

They really did.

Anyone would, when given the oppurtunity to eat such delightful food.

While they were partaking in the goodness that was Blank's fake cooking(though they girls didn't really know that anyway), the former avatar decided to clue the Dokis in about the progress he made with the coding exploit.

"You know, for someone who's supposed to be a tech wizard, it took you quite a while to reassign these permission thingamajigs, whatever they're supposed to be." Natsuki remarks with her mouth slightly stuffed with a mouthful of egg. Ah, what a cutie.

Yuri admonishes her fellow Doki. "Natsuki, don't talk with your mouth full. It's pretty rude, not to mention disrespectful towards the food."

"Gee, sorry mom. But what I said still stands. What took the mophead so long anyway?"

"M-M-Mom?!" Yuri exclaims while looking visibly offended. She places her hands on her chest, as if to calm her beating heart.

Natsuki flashes her a cheeky grin. "I'm just messing around! Geez, you're too stiff Yuri. Loosen up a little!"

The shy and soft-spoken girl's expression changes to that of a flustered pout. It was one of the rare occassions that Yuri actually performed such a cutesy act. The other two were doubling over in laughter at her expense. Soon, even Yuri found it hard to suppress a few giggles as well.

Blank was the first to compose himself. He cleared his throat, before answering Natsuki's prior query.

"Just like I said yesterday, I've been using various types of programming langauage to perform complex commands in the system. The big hurdle is converting those into something that Ren'Py could use or execute. As an example, for every line of code I use that originally was written in Java, I have to use around 3 or 4 Python commands just to decode it, and another set of commands to implement it, and finally I have to check whether it triggers the game's auto-correction mechanism. That entire process is just for one line of code, and for one type of code. There's still the C++ code I used, the HTML codes I used, and so on."

Their lively morning feast continued with Blank explaining in further detail the process he underwent when reassigning the Club President rights and permissions. Turns out, that the easiest way to apply the rights to both of them at the same time was to set the girls as Literature Club presidents... from different year levels. It was a loophole that occurred to him after realizing that the game didn't really go into much detail about the way club hierarchies were structured, other than there being a "Club President" and a "Vice President".

Armed with this realization, Blank essentially split Monika's Literature Club into two divisions. The "Junior" division of the Literature Club, and the "Senior" division of the Literature Club. This arrangement allowed the former avatar to set Natsuki as president of the junior division, while Yuri was president of the senior division. Both had equal authority parameters when Blank coded these new titles into the game's system.

Since the game had no scripted way of telling the difference between the two newly-made literature club divisions and the original Literature Club, the game allowed both Dokis to have their presidency "active" within the code. It was a way to have two club presidents at the same time, without actually having to have THE club president. This finally allowed Blank to bind the Forever Sayori command loop to both of them at the same time, and in effect, made their escape into reality possible.

Or so he hoped. They wouldn't fully know until they actually get the Forever Sayori code up and running again. That part also required something beyond their control.

Izuna, or somebody with access to Izuna's computer also had to click on the modified New Game option again in DDLC's main menu. It was exactly like last time, when he was unable to send Sayori over to Izuna's reality until he clicked on the main menu option.

Try as he might, Blank was unable to make the false Act 4 self-sufficient. Everything still lead to the player's involvement being the trigger to initialize it. After all, DDLC was still a game. It was too embedded into the system for the former avatar to even modify or alter with new code. If he forcefully attempted to rewrite that part of the game, no doubt that the auto-correction system would kick in and they would be in major trouble.

He would worry about that part of the plan later, this just meant that he had to keep an eye on the computer's status at all times for when Izuna finally boots up DDLC again.

For now he at least was able to solve the first problem which was reassigning the presidency rights to Natsuki and Yuri.

He informed the two Dokis that he'd be assigning them their new club titles after he first re-summons the Act 3 space classroom.

"Blank, if I may ask, why do we need to do it in that particular area?" Yuri, ever inquisitive, asks the avatar while sipping on her teacup. The girl really liked her tea.

Natsuki nods as well, curious on why he just couldn't assign the titles right now. The shorter girl reasons that it would save them time is Blank already gave them their presidencies beforehand.

Blank takes a sip out of his own cup as well, both his and Natsuki's being filled with hot cocoa instead of tea, and patiently elaborates that the eternal classroom was the one area in the game where the auto-correction system was at its weakest point. Unlike Sayori, who was already scripted to succeed Monika in presidency, Yuri and Natsuki were about to become newly-minted presidents. The game, although highly unlikely, might insist on forcing auto-correction even though their president titles were already acknowledged by it.

After all, the story was still currently in an unmoving limbo after Blank coded the false Act 4/Forever Sayori command loop "route". There was no telling how the system would react at this point.

So as a safety precaution, Blank decided that such a major change to the system like assigning two new club presidents at the same time should be done in the eternal classroom.

They finish their meal, and Blank whisks away all of the unclean dishes and plates using an [os . remove] deletion script via his developer window. He left the girls to discuss among themselves what they've heard so far, while he steps out of the rendered house for a bit.

"I could've sworn that I heard some noise here last night..." he calls out the developer window once more and enters a certain string.

The security barrier that he erected around the house comes into view. It had a deep aquamarine color and it glowed brightly. Upon closer inspection, he noticed a sizeable dent on it. The barrier looked like it had been attacked by something, or someone.

"I knew I wasn't imagining things. We've got to be more careful..." he looks to his left and his right for anyone suspicious, before beginning to repair the minor dents on the barrier. Though it was indeed dented, the barrier remained solid and no cracks were found. But still, this caused Blank to worry a bit.

"Someone might be planning on attacking us. But I wonder who it could possibly be..."

He sighs to himself while sporting a contemplative look. Could it be that there was another Doki Doki Literature Club character that Blank had overlooked? Blank then lists out in his mind all the characters he knew of in DDLC.

'Hmmmm, so there's obviously Monika, Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri who comprise the titular members of the literature club. There's also me as well, since I'm the protagonist of the story...'

Blank paces around a bit, trying to rattle his brain on who else could it be. After a while, he finally comes up with three possible candidates.

'There's only three other possible "characters", though none of them have character depictions. Even I had a character depiction during one of Sayori's CG images, and that was when I was hugging her in Act 1.'

He rubs his chin in contemplation. These were the three people that Blank came up with, after a long period of mental deliberation.

First off the list, was Amy.

This referred to the same Amy featured in one of Natsuki's other poems, "Amy Likes Spiders". Blank couldn't think of any reason why Amy would be manifested into their world however, let alone why she would even attack them. Amy was supposed to be a metaphorical figure for Natsuki anyway, representing what she had to deal with when people scorned her for liking manga.

The second hypothetical figure... was the enigmatic Elyssa Libitina.

Her case was a bit more complicated that that of Amy's. Back when Blank had been digging through the game's files for the backup character files of Yuri, Natsuki and Sayori, he had managed to come across some pretty interesting information. There were multiple references towards another upcoming project by Team Salvato. It had the codename of "Project Libitina".

When the former avatar finally found the girls' missing character files, he had to make sure first that these were the actual character files and not dummy objects generated by the game. To do this, he used his developer window to scan the entire composition of the files. That's when various tidbits in the form of a story, encrypted pictures, an audio file and various others were revealed to him. All of them referencing that same aforementioned Project Libitina.

Then, he came across that name. Elyssa Libitina. Since he was connected to the internet at the time, which was again when Monika was hacking into the lilmonix3 Twitter, he had found out that this was apparently the main character of Project Libitina's game, if he could call it that. He also found out some rather, uncomfortable details about the setting of that game.

Though none of that even links back to whether Elyssa was even the one to attack the barrier as well, so Blank rules her out.

That left him with one final candidate, and the one he highly suspected. After all, this third candidate was the one with the most plausible motive among all three.

It was Natsuki's deplorable and abusive father.

Known to the vast majority of DDLC players, and to the Dokis themselves as the main source of the pink-haired girl's suffering, after Monika's machinations enforced by the will of the script in Act 2 caused it to be that way.

Blank subconsciously clenches his right fist in anger, at the reminder of his friend's torment. Natsuki didn't deserve to get beaten or starved. No, she deserved a lot better than that. All of that would change once they got out of this hellish game masquerading as a friendly anime dating simulator.

Back to Natsuki's father, he had no proper name that Blank was aware of. Maybe he did have a backstory and a name, but the former avatar could care less. All he knew was that this man had caused Natsuki a lot of suffering, and that he would pay.

It was for that reason why he was almost absolutely certain that it was that abusive man who attempted to break through his barrier.

He silently thanked his hours-ago self for having the presence of mind to preemptively erect a protective security barrier around the rendered house.

Who knows what would've happened to Natsuki if her father actually managed to infiltrate their location. Well, if worst came to worst, Blank was willing to protect his companions. He would gladly fight for their honor and happiness. Because even though the love of his life was Sayori, he also cared very deeply for Natsuki, Yuri, and even Monika.

This wasn't the dense and oblivious MC of Doki Doki Literature Club anymore. He was Blank, a man fighting and persevering for his friends' happiness.

Not wanting to take any chances, it was safe for Blank to assume that Natsuki's father was indeed the unknown culprit of this. It looked like he would need to adjust his plans accordingly.

"I need to tell the other two about this."

And so, the former avatar went back inside their current residence, after making sure that the barrier was once again in its default invisible mode.

Blank knew that time was of the essence.

The poor avatar just couldn't catch a break at all.

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

While Blank, Yuri and Natsuki continued in their attempt to defy the rules of Doki Doki Literature Club's digital realm, the situation in the real world wasn't much better.

Izuna and Sayori kept frantically looking around the vicinity of the neighborhood for the missing Doki, but Monika was nowhere in sight.

Sneaking a cursory glance at his phone, the Takaya noticed that the current time was now around 3AM past midnight. He realized that they had been searching for almost two hours now. It was getting really late, yet they still hadn't been able to locate Monika.

'We need to find Monika as soon as possible...' Izuna thought with much trepidation. The longer that this took, the more uncertain he grew. Maybe Monika didn't want to be found at all.

They had even asked some random passersby if they noticed a girl wearing a big and white hair ribbon running around the area, but none of them had seen her. Some of them even gave the pair some strange looks before ignoring them.

"Hey Izuna... did Monika not mention anything at all about where she planned on going to?"

"She didn't. All I got was that she wanted some alone time. I'm starting to get really worried for her again, to be honest."

The strawberry-blonde flashes the boy a sympathetic smile, for which Izuna was really grateful of.

"Don't worry Izuna, I'm sure we'll find Monika."

"I hope you're right Sayori... I hope you're right."

Izuna's mind flashes back to when he first played Doki Doki Literature Club. He was such a skeptic back then, since he wasn't really big on cutesy stuff. He was especially wary due to the game's title. But Val had thankfully convinced him to try it out, leading to one of the most defining parts of his current life.

(Flashback start)

"I'm going to tell you one last time, Val. I'm not really interested in playing that game! Stop trying to advertise it to me. Izuna Takaya isn't budging." an agitated Izuna snaps back at Val, as they were closing up shop for Digital Dimension. Business was booming today as usual, and they had raked in a decent profit.

For the past few days, Val had been trying to get the Takaya to try out this recently released game called "Doki Doki Literature Club". It was a smash hit and the internet had been raving about the game. The effeminate-looking gamer naturally tried it out as well, and wasn't disappointed. It truly was a remarkable experience.

"Izuna, you're missing out on a lot, you know..."

"The world won't end if I don't try out this game, Val."

Val merely sighs as he finishes up locking the game shelves. Both males head out of the store, locking the entrance and parting ways. Izuna says goodbye to his senior who politely returns the gesture.

Izuna starts walking back to his house. DDLC kept lingering in the back of his mind.

Looking around him to ensure that Val wasn't anywhere near him anymore, he grins a bit.

"Maybe I could try this game... if only to satisfy my curiosity. Val recommends a lot of games but this is the first time he's been this pushy and insistent about one. So it might be something special, even for his standards. That kinda makes me want to try it."

Shaking his head in amusement, he chuckles. "Nah. It's really not my cup of tea."

He reaches the front of his home, the Takaya residence.

Entering through the front door, he leaves his shoes on the doormat and changes into his indoor slippers.

"I'm home."

No one responds.

That's because Izuna Takaya lived alone. In this big house that was clearly meant for more than person. But he's used to it now. His sister was busy with college and lived in an apartment so she couldn't visit him all the time. His parents were still abroad, due to their work. And he didn't always have friends to hang out with, for they all had their own lives as well.

And so, he was alone.

Locking his front door, he heads to the kitchen to heat up some microwaveable food. His choice, a pre-cooked meal set that he bought from a nearby convenience store. That was his dinner for today. It was currently Saturday, so he didn't have school and spent his entire day at work. When you factor in that he mostly travelled by foot or by train, he was understandably hungry.

Despite this, Izuna actually knew how to cook. He was pretty decent at it even. But he was really hungry right now and didn't want to exert any more effort than he needed to. Hence he took the easier route for today. Nothing wrong with buying pre-made stuff once in a while, he reasoned.

Once the familiar *ding* of the microwave's timer was heard, Izuna gets his newly-heated food. It was a pretty simple meal consisting of some rice, slices of breaded pork, some chopped up vegetables, and the dipping sauce. He also grabs a can of Dr. Pepper from his refrigerator.

Instead of eating at the dining table by himself, he decided to eat in his living room, while watching some TV.

"Thanks for the meal."

After saying the grace, he switches his television on, and decides that instead of the usual anime, he wanted to tune in to the evening news.

He facepalms at what was being shown on-screen.

It was a news report on the latest gaming craze that had become a worldwide sensation both on the internet and in real life. Doki Doki Literature Club. The game that even the universe seemed to keep bothering him about.

"...seriously?"

Getting slightly annoyed, he switches the channel before the reporter could even start showing him screenshots of the game. Flicking through the various channels until he landed on one that was airing anime, Izuna sighed. Screw the news.

He didn't even bother looking up DDLC, because in his opinion, the name and its logo were enough to tell him what kind of game it was, regardless of what Val told him.

After finishing his meal, he disposes the container and disposable utensils into his trashcan.

"I should probably take a shower now."

Izuna does indeed take a shower, and changes into some indoor clothing. Now in his bedroom, Izuna then sat in front of his computer, and stares at a certain executable file on his Desktop. The one that stood amout the most.

The installer for DDLC.

Izuna didn't have a Steam account, so he got the installer off of the official ddlc . moe website which he heard about from Val.

One of the girls in particular, the one named "Monika" immediately caught his attention. She was very pretty. And so, a few days ago he downloaded it, but never wanted to touch it. Why even download it then? Who knew.

He continued staring at the installer's icons for a few minutes.

"Am I really doing this? Whatever, let's just see what this is all about."

He double-clicks the file and DDLC installs on his computer. He then clicks on the newly added shortcut for "Doki Doki Literature Club".

The DDLC startup sequence happens and his eyes widened at what he was reading. "What? Why is there a warning for extremely disturbing content?"

He accepts all the disclaimers and finally gets to the main menu.

Izuna gets a better glimpse at the girl with mesmerizing emerald eyes. And what he deemed as probably one of the most beautiful faces he'd ever seen. She captivated the young Takaya.

The other three girls were pretty cute too, but Izuna had a feeling that he'd be spending the most time with Monika. In fact, he decided right there to go with Monika's route.

He was in for quite the surprise and shock of his life. Playing through the acts, he witnessed various things that drove him to the edge of despair.

The first thing that ticked him off is the fact that Monika's sticker wasn't in the poem game during Act 1. The minigame only had Sayori, Natsuki and Yuri's stickers in it. It pissed Izuna off to no end. He wanted Monika's route for crying out loud!

Then came the reveal of Sayori's depression. That one had hit him hard. Even though he didn't have depression himself, he still felt really bad for the strawberry-blonde. Which added to the list of things that pissed Izuna off because the MC had some pretty douche-y lines towards Sayori in the game's dialogue.

And the start of the game's malevolence. Sayori hanging herself, and Izuna putting two and two together that Monika was orchestrating these events.

{"You kind of left her hanging this morning, you know?"}

Never before had a mere line in a video game leave Izuna in utter shock.

So when he saw Sayori's lifeless corpse hoisted atop a noose, he actually shed tears in real life.

And then came the unrelenting f***ery of his mind due to Act 2 of DDLC. Various glitches that caused Izuna to yelp out in surprise several times, the randomly messed up music that would play at certain scenes, the weird blackened text that would pop up every now and then...

Izuna was getting really invested in this game.

Even after everything though, he still wanted Monika. Yes, as messed up as that is, Izuna still wanted Monika's route. While what happened to Sayori was pretty messed up, he also thought it was so unusual that Monika, one of the main characters, didn't have a route to begin with. Maybe that's what was causing her to do all of this?

All the fourth wall-breaking references. Izuna was almost entirely convinced now that Monika was meant to be a self-aware character. Something similar to Flowey/Asriel Dreemurr from Undertale. And the one time Monika finally gets to talk to MC alone, the game suddenly skips to the poem game.

{"Wait! Not yet!"}

A few more messed up scenes later, with Yuri even stabbing herself to death, and Izuna was losing it. This wasn't even bringing up the fact that the actual installation files of this game were being modified as he played. Izuna knew because ever since he saw that error message in the background of Sayori's death CG, he'd been checking the installation folder every now and then.

THIS is why Val wanted him to play this game. It was no ordinary game at all! No, he wasn't even sure if he could call this a game anymore. Izuna had grown so attached to Monika and the story, in such a short span of time too!

He witnesses Monika deleting everything and every other girl, and they end up in the space classroom of eternity.

The eternal classroom.

With nothing else left anymore, just Monika.

Just Monika.

"I should probably save the game at this point..." but when Izuna tries to, he merely gets a prompt from Monika saying that there wasn't any need to save anymore. That she wasn't going anywhere.

"This game's script is so f***ed up, damn. Though, I guess I technically got her route now? Man this is so twisted but whatever, it's finally time to be with Monika."

Just like the game told him to, he stared into her deep emerald green orbs, and found himself lost in them like a trance.

Every single one of her dialogues were very well-written and they thought Izuna many lessons in life. Monika truly was best girl, in his opinion. And so he sat there for hours.

And hours.

And even more hours. And at some point the dialogue started repeating itself but Izuna Takaya didn't give a damn.

Until it was sunrise of the following day, Sunday.

"You really have to delete her, but I don't want to." Izuna was at his wit's end. There was obviously more to this game, but he wanted to stay with Monika forever.

Unfortunately, he was also a prisoner of reality, just like Monika was a prisoner of Doki Doki Literature Club.

Real life had expectations. You had to keep up appearances, as you mingled with others and the world in modern society.

He couldn't realistically stay in his room and play DDLC forever, just to be with Monika.

"No matter how much I want to."

And so, with a heavy heart... Izuna Takaya commits what his opinion was cold-blooded murder.

Sure, he knew that Monika also killed the other three. He knew, as he read in one of the text files that Monika "untied the knot", by amplifying their already existing negative traits.

He knew that, and so deleting her should be seen as an act of just vengeance against the seemingly evil club president.

And yet, he didn't believe in that at all.

All he knew, was that right now, he was about to kill this lovely girl. This wonderful girl that only wanted to love him, and to be loved.

A girl that only wanted something real, and to be with him, the player. And had done various acts of desperation to achieve that goal. Twisted acts even. But the fact remains.

Monika just wanted to love, and to be loved.

Right now, Izuna felt like crying.

No, it's more accurate to say that he wanted to start sobbing out loud, because he was already crying as his mouse cursor was currently hovered on top of the OK button, on the deletion prompt displayed by Windows 10.

{"Delete monika . chr?"}

"Maybe there's another way... maybe..."

But try as he might to rack his brain of anything he missed, all signs pointed to Izuna deleting Monika's character file in order to advance the story. It was the only way right now, as much as he despised it with all of his heart.

Drying his tears and sporting a grim look on his face, he finally does the deed.

{"monika . chr has been deleted."}

He goes back to DDLC's window, his eyes now blank with despair and regret.

"F*** everything."

Monika glitches out, and Izuna knew it was over. The girl he fell in love with beyond the screen, was dead.

Gone.

Deleted.

He didn't even want to click on the dialogue box anymore, even though there was clearly more text to be read. Izuna stood up, lay on his bed, and stared dully at his bedroom ceiling.

"I killed Monika. Why even live? No, I shouldn't think this way, considering what happened to Sayori..."

That was another thing. Aside from Monika's deletion hurting him the most, he also felt like the other girls weren't able to experience happiness either. This game had no happiness at all. It was truly f***ed up.

Having composed himself a bit, Izuna goes back to playing the horrendous game. He winces at each word of spite that came from Monika who was currently still being deleted by the system and in the end a black screen greeted him with Monika's words of resignation.

...before new music starts playing.

{"I still love you."}

Upon reading those four words, it was as if a fire had been lighted within Izuna, giving him a new lease on life.

"You... still love me?"

The boy couldn't understand it at all. He deleted her! He ended her existence! How was she even talking to him at this point anyway?!

"HOW CAN YOU STILL LOVE ME AFTER I DELETED YOU, JUST SO THAT I CAN SEE THE ENDING OF THIS F***ED UP GAME?!" Izuna rages at the emotions that currently filled his desolate heart.

He could not comprehend it at all, how devoted this girl was. Monika was more than a mere character to Izuna.

He loved this girl.

Izuna Takaya had completely and utterly fallen in love with Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club. He had fallen for her hard.

How could he not? After everything he's been put through by this game, and especially by Act 3.

It sounded like something straight out of a manga or an anime, but that was how it is.

His heart went out to her as Monika began pouring out her regret for messing with the game, as directed to her by the game's ever-present script. She even admits that she never fully went through with deleting her friends, even if they were mere programs. They were still her friends.

"I knew it. There was no way Monika was that depraved."

And thus, Monika restores everything, and Izuna continued to play the game during Normal End Act 4. He thought that he would be playing a normal dating simulator without Monika and was this close to just exiting the program, because DDLC without Monika wasn't the same for him.

That was before Sayori revealed herself as the second coming of a self-aware president.

He even witnesses Monika intervening before Sayori went fully crazy, and then gets greeted by static.

"What... what's going on now? Is Monika really back? Is she back?!"

Then... he hears her voice.

{"Can you hear me?"}

"MONIKA?!"

Your Reality began playing, the credits were rolling, and everything was being deleted.

Izuna had the experience of a lifetime. And he was truly grateful to Val, for introducing this game to him. He wished that he had played this game sooner, if he knew that it would introduce him to what he now considered as the most important girl in his life, Monika.

It was really ridiculous. He hadn't even known her for 24 hours. And she was a video game character.

But he couldn't care less.

He fell in love, and love worked in mysterious ways.

And so marked the day, well, technically two days since he had been playing from Satruday evening till Sunday morning...

...and so marked the days where Izuna had been utterly broken by a game called Doki Doki Literature Club. He vowed that he would give Monika a happy ending, Team Salvato be damned!

He didn't have work nor school on Sunday, so Izuna had decided to Google stuff about DDLC and Monika. He needed all of the information he could get about this game, if he were to succeed in his quest to liberate Monika and the other girls from the shackles of despair unleased by the game. Monika in particular.

"I'm saving you, you hear me Monika? I'm saving you!" he yells at his computer which was currently displaying the final letter of Monika on DDLC's active window. He still didn't close the game as he Googled. He didn't want to yet.

He found out that he really did have to reinstall the game to play it again. He could also delete the "firstrun" file, but Izuna was a stupidly sentimental boy.

"Screw that, I'll just reinstall this s***." He was swearing more than usual too. This game really did have him hooked, line and sinker.

Reading Monika's letter one last time, eyes particularly lingering on the "There's no happiness to be found in the literature club" line, he clenches his fist.

"I, Izuna Takaya, will give you a happy ending Monika, if it's the last thing I do- *rumbles*"

The sensations brought about by his grumbling stomach interrupts his passionate speech, and Izuna was given a reality check.

Cars don't run without gasoline, and humans can't function without breakfast. He makes a mad dash towards the kitchen, and prepares himself some eggs and toast in world-record speed. Then, he eats as quickly as possible, washes the dishes, and goes back to his fortress of solitude. Also known as his bedroom.

"Let's get this thing going, shall we?"

And so, after re-installing DDLC, he plays through it again. This time, he slowly goes through each scene in Acts 1 and 2, in the hopes of finding anything he may have missed that would trigger a secret route for Monika.

Obviously, there were none. The emerald-eyed goddess wasn't meant to have a route after all, and Izuna would soon be learning this fact in due time.

"Damn it all. Hello eternal classroom, we meet again for the second time." Izuna mutters with a heavy sigh.

He still read through Monika's various Act 3 lines, even though Izuna already knew them by heart. Mostly, he just wanted to stare at his virtual lover for as long as possible. She was truly beautiful, in his opinion.

"If only you were here with me, Monika..."

When he decided to proceed to Act 4, he thought of something. A bright idea that had been eluding his mind until this very moment.

"What if... I just move Monika to my Desktop - would I be able to get to the ending again? It's worth a shot I guess..."

He drags the character file out of the folder and into his Desktop. Checking back with the game, it did proceed as though Monika was deleted.

"This is great! Because f*** you game if you expect me to delete the love of my life again like that. Nope. At least now I can just do this in future playthroughs."

After getting to the final letter again, Izuna called it a day and notices that it was already night time. 10PM to be specific.

Had he really skipped lunch and dinner?

"I'm not that hungry anyway..."

He remains lying in his bed, not even bothering to take a shower. Izuna would just take one tomorrow in the morning, before going to school.

Not really feeling sleepy yet, he just stares once more at his ceiling, waiting for a miracle to happen. His phone begins virbating and Izuna lazily answers the incoming call from his friend.

"Hn."

{"What's up Izuna?"}

"I just played the game. Two times now, actually. I started yesterday. In the end, I realized that I love Monika."

{"See? And did I not tell you that DDLC was one of the greatest games to ever be made?"}

"I love Monika."

{"And you were all, "No Val, I'm never gonna play this game" at me! I knew you'd give in."}

"I love Monika."

{"...I heard you the first time, Izuna. Are you okay? Why is your voice so... hollow-sounding."}

"I love Monika."

{"Uh... yeah, I think you're not in the mood to talk right now... you can tell me all about your experience with DDLC later at work. Sorry for bothering you. Bye man."}

"I love Monika."

The following day Izuna was barely paying attention at class. His mind drifted far away from his school and into the abode of a certain literature club president. His face looked tired and worn out. Like the life force had been drained out of him by a succubus.

"Takaya. Izuna Takaya. Are you listening to me?"

No response from Izuna who continued to daydream. His current teacher, a 29-year old woman named Isabella Santos, began marching towards the boy's seat. Her thorough gaze boring holes into the spaced out Takaya. The other students started whispering among themselves. Izuna remained completely oblivious to his surroundings though.

Isabella was a pretty popular teacher at Izuna's highschool, and was the assigned homeroom teacher for Class 3-A, which Izuna belonged to. But going back to Isabella, she was known for her strict yet caring nature. She really wanted her students to feel like they belonged at school, and her lessons were given with so much passion that the boys and girls of the school couldn't help but listen intently. Even the school deliquents didn't dare disrupt a passionate teacher such as her.

It helped that she was quite attractive too. Standing at a height of 5'7", she was fairly tall for women in her age bracket. Her chest was pretty... developed as well. She had long brown hair with bangs that framed her face, and strikingly hazel eyes. She was a bit long-legged too, and the corporate stockings that she wore made some of the hot-blooded boys of the school swoon over her. For all her merits though, Isabella Santos remained single.

She was too focused on teaching to worry about her love life. Well, at least that was the reasoning she gave out when Isabella was asked about it by several female students.

Ms. Santos now stood directly in front of Izuna. As she was about to scold him however, her eyes met his lifeless ones and she recoils a bit. Izuna's classmates were all looking at him in worry upon turning their sights at his desolate facial features.

So instead of giving him a sermon, she gently places her hand on the poor boy's shoulder.

"Izuna, are you okay?"

"W-What? Oh, Ms. Santos... I'm sorry, I wasn't really paying attention. I'll go to detention now, if you want." he manages to let out in a broken, and defeated voice.

'They wouldn't understand anyway...' he thinks in silence, referring to the situation with Monika.

"There's no need to. You're clearly out of it today, Izuna. I assume something happened at home?"

Izuna was speechless. He wasn't getting sent to detention even though he was clearly not taking the class seriously?

"Y-Yeah..."

"You can go to the nurse's office if you want, I'll inform the teachers of your upcoming class periods. Just don't push yourself too hard."

"Are you sure Ms. Santos?" the boy asks, confirming if this wasn't a joke.

"Yes, now go before I change my mind. As for the rest of you, turn to page 64." Isabella says with a wink at Izuna, causing the young Takaya to blush a bit, before going back to the chalkboard in front of the class.

Nodding his thanks, Izuna checks in with the school nurse and manages to get permission from the principal afterwards to go home early.

He really wasn't feeling well today. Monika had affected him that much. Instead, he went home and took a short nap, before going to Digital Dimension for his work shift.

At work, he told Val of his struggle, and his senior could only smile in sympathy. He didn't expect his junior to be that affected by the game.

And so days became weeks, weeks became months, and with long intervals during each playthrough, Izuna had finally gotten Monika in his reality after the tenth one.

(Flashback end)

"Time sure flies fast. We've been through quite a lot, Monika." Izuna says to himself with a pained smile.

After all that talk about giving Monika a happy ending, and even fulfilling the dream of Monika being with him in his reality, what did he do? Send his lover running away in tears due to his tactlessness with his word choices.

Well, that was in the past now. Right now, in the present, he needed to find Monika and apologize to her. It really was a good thing that he had Sayori helping and reassuring him right now.

They continued their desperate search, hoping for the best and silently praying that they would eventually run into the missing ex-president at some point. But without any proper leads or hints, their current search attempt was starting to become something similar to a wild goose chase. They really needed something concrete right now.

They passed through several streets and houses. A couple of buildings as well. They even passed by a church. But due to the current hour, there weren't many people outside. Thus, Sayori and Izuna had a lot of ground to cover if they wanted to find her.

After what felt like forever though, there was still no Monika in sight.

Sayori looked like she was about to cry, and Izuna wasn't doing much better himself. He was pulling at his hair in frustration.

"Damn it, where could Monika possibly be..."

"What if something bad happened to her, Izuna? I'm so worried..."

As the boy and girl were both gradually starting to lose all semblance of hope in finding Monika, Izuna suddenly felt his phone vibrating wildly in his pocket. Pausing a bit, he answers the incoming call without looking at the display.

"Izuna Takaya speaking. May I know who's calling?"

{"Hey there my dude, it's me, Val!"} the boy was quite surprised that his friend and work senior had once again called him on such notice. And at such a late hour too. It was almost sunrise, for crying out loud.

"Oh it's you, Val. I'm sorry, but can this wait for a little bit? I'm looking for someone and I'm kinda running short on time..."

However to Izuna's major surprise, Val responds with an interesting tidbit of information.

{"Hmmm... I think I know where you'd be able to find her, just a hunch."} the Takaya's eyes widened.

"You... you found out about everything, didn't you Val. Is Monika with you right now?"

{"I did. And yep, I was heading out to buy some snacks for my gaming session. You know, I told you that I was going to play some Persona 5 right? But then I ran into her on the way to 7-eleven. We're actually at the convenience store right now."}

Izuna breathed a sigh of major relief after hearing that his lover was safe with Val.

"I see. Thanks a lot Val, I feel a lot more relieved now that I know she isn't wandering the streets alone at this late of an hour."

{"Don't mention it my man. I'll try to help you make up with each other as well. Damn though, you got slapped! She's told me about what happened, you know."}

"Yeah..."

{"But anyways, yeah. She doesn't know that I'm talking to you right now. Dude, you lucky bastard. Who'd imagine that your new girlfriend was actually-"}

"Sshhhh! Please keep your voice a bit lowered, Val. She might overhear us right now, causing her to run away from you if she finds out that I'm looking for her!"

{"Oops, sorry man. Either way, do you want me to bring her over to where you are Izuna?"} Izuna's friend replies in a much lower voice.

"Yes, but if you can, try not to tell her that it's me that she's about to meet up with. Tell her that you're going to introduce her to a friend or something."

{"Why not just tell her straight up?"}

"I... I'm a bit worried to be honest. She still might not want to see me..."

{"Hmmm... I guess your concern is warranted. Although she's also been feeling really down."}

"Izuna, who's that you're talking to?" Sayori suddenly chimes in from behind Izuna.

The Takaya turns to face his companion. "It's Val, my senior at work. You know, the guy Yumi keeps teasing as a 'girly-boy'? It's him."

{"Hey, I heard that! Don't go talking about that 'girly-boy' nonsense. Oh and hello Sayori!"}

"H-Hi Mr. Val!" the strawberry-blonde shyly greets Val back.

"Anyways, Sayori and I will try to meet up with you and Monika. How about the park near your apartment, Val?"

{"That works. Just leave the alibi to me as soon as we finish up here and I'll lead her back to you two in a jiffy! I'm hanging up for now. Bye Izuna and Sayori!"}

The pair also says their goodbyes to Val, and the call was ended. At least they finally knew were the missing Doki was.

For now, they headed over to the expected meeting place. The neighborhood park near Val's apartment. Izuna had already been to his senior's place a couple of times, so he pretty much knew the route by heart.

"Let's get going Sayori. I have a lot of things I need to tell Monika." the Takaya says resolutely, earning him a nod of support from the strawberry-blonde girl.

Meanwhile, on Val's side of things...

"That works. Just leave the alibi to me as soon as we finish up here and I'll lead her back to you two in a jiffy! I'm hanging up for now. Bye Izuna and Sayori!" Val enthusiastically says and recieves goodbyes from Izuna and Sayori as well. He hangs up the call and goes back to playing a game called "Fate Grand Order" on his phone.

All things said, he was still a gamer. Monika had been quite busy and preoccupied, as she was looking around inside the 7-eleven, even though they'd already bought Val's supplies. He even bought the curious Doki a popsicle, and she thoroughly enjoyed the frozen delicacy.

As his character team was on the cusp of victory in his mobile game, he heared some footsteps approaching him. Monika was probably done with her childlike exploration of the convenience store.

"Okay Val! I'm done, sorry for acting like a naive child there. But I was so curious about this world! I may have programmed memories of them, but I've never actually been to a convenience store before. This is all pretty new to me. Ahaha~"

"It's fine Monika, I'm just glad that your mood has improved a bit since... you know..."

Monika flinches a bit. For a second, a saddened expression flashes across the Doki's face, before being quickly replaced with a smile. Val notices this, but says nothing. The girl begins to speak once more.

"Yeah, I've been managing somehow. But anyways, there was so much stuff to see in the store! I didn't know convenience stores had this many options."

"Yep. Nowadays, your average convenience store is basically like a smaller version of a full-fledged grocery store. It's good for people who live the urban life." Val explains while Monika hums in acknowledgement.

As the two left the store's premises, Val stops midway and pulls his phone out of his pocket. He places it towards his ear and it appeared like he was talking to someone. He then pockets the phone and turns to Monika with a glint in his eyes.

"Hey Monika, would you be interested in taking a little detour somewhere? I have someone who's willing to help you in your situation."

The Doki's eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. "Do they... know about my status?"

"Yes, the guy's aware that you came from inside Doki Doki Literature Club at least."

"I see..." Monika thinks to herself a bit.

"I guess we could meet with your friend, Val. If they're actually taking the initiative to help me out even though they don't need to, they're probably good people."

Val smiles at Monika. "That's the spirit! He told me to meet up with him at this local park that's not too far from my apartment. Now come, I have a feelng you'll like this guy a lot, ahahahahaha..."

"Really? Well now I'm a bit curious on who this mystery person is, ahaha~"

While the two of them began walking towards the meeting point with Izuna, Val secretly texts him that he managed to give out an alibi and that they were now headed towards the park as well. 'The rest is up to you when Monika sees you again, Izuna.'

And so, both pairs of Izuna-Sayori and Val-Monika were now on the road to that park. Things were about to get pretty interesting.

Let's not forget about a certain someone though, she's also part of this story after all. In fact, let's check up on her right now, shall we?

Back at the Takaya residence, a certain 24-year old sister of Izuna Takaya was quite livid...

"Where the heck did everybody go?!"

She glances at the wall clock that was on the nearby wall.

"It's freaking 3:27AM! What in the nine circles of hell are those rascals doing?! They better not be getting into trouble!" Yumi exclaims out loud as she fully comprehends the fact that it was only her who had been left inside the house. She demanded an explanation, pronto.

As for why Yumi was now awake, the girl had woken up with the intent of answering nature's call, but was then greeted by the empty residence.

After relieving herself in the bathroom, she goes back to the living room and notices a note addressed to her, the penmanship indicating that it was clearly Izuna who wrote it. She reads it in an annoyed tone.

[Hey big sis, I don't really have much time to go into detail here. Basically, Sayori and I are looking for Monika. I kind of got into a fight with her which may have caused her to run away...

Anyways, Sayori is helping me look for her outside. You still have a key to the house, right? Don't worry, we'll probably locate Monika soon, so just get some rest. I know you're still pretty tired.]

Yumi crumples the note with unbirdled fury and tosses it on the floor. She then kicks it away from her sight.

"Stupid little brother, how many times have I told you that big sis is willing to help you guys out? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Yumi massages her head at the growing migraine over her brother's recklessness. "Ugh, kids these days..."

She paces around the floor, thinking about what the next course of action for her should be.

"I swear to all that is good in this world, the lengths I go to for these kids..." Yumi fetches for her phone which she had left charging on the wall outlet. She immediately selects Izuna's number and hits the call button with the eagerness of a preschooler being given candy.

{"Uh... hey sis... you're awake now huh... yeah..."}

"Damn straight I am! What in blue blazes were you thinking! Like, what were you actually thinking, Izuna? What could've possibly possessed you and Sayori to think that going out at this ungodly hour, on foot without transportation, was in any way a good idea?!"

{"I'm sorry Yumi! Sayori and I were just-"}

"I HAVE A CAR! We could've searched for Monika quicker if you told me about the problem, damn it Izuna. I'd be smacking some sense into you if I were beside you right now. What surprises me is that Sayori even agreed with your foolish plan!" she strictly scolds her brother for his unprepared thinking.

She had a point. The older Takaya's car could've saved Izuna and Sayori a lot of time, going from street to street and block to block. It would've increased their chances of encountering Monika further. Yumi hears some rustling over the phone.

{"Stop giving me that look Sayori..."}

In all fairness, Sayori did ask Izuna about Yumi before they left the apartment. She specifically does so in the previous chapter too. But hey, I'm just a narrator. Let's just get back to the story, shall we?

"Oh, so Sayori did have the common courtesy to think about informing me ASAP, but you must've persuaded her to do this instead. Izuna. Tsk tsk. What do you have to say for yourself?"

{"I admit that I wasn't thinking straight... it's just that I was so worried about Monika..."}

Yumi's stern facial expression softens after hearing this. Her little brother really was in love.

{"If something bad were to happen to Monika because I drove her to run away... I would've never been able to forgive myself."}

Sighing loudly, the older Takaya replies in a gentler voice. "Izuna, you dummy. I'm your big sister. You still should've told me, but I guess you were caught up in your emotions. I'm kinda proud of you for being this devoted to Monika, you know."

Izuna then starts to inform Yumi about everything she missed so far, in great detail. These included the cause of Monika running away to begin with, as well as their planned rendezvous with Val and Monika.

Yumi couldn't help herself from frowning a bit, upon learning that her theory on the Dokis being singular entities may have caused a rift in her brother's relationship. Izuna and Sayori both assured her that it wasn't her fault though, and that her theory did hold some merit anyway.

"Still, I can't help but feel responsible. My idea was the one that caused you and Monika to start doubting each other... you even got dragged into this, Sayori. I'm sorry..."

After Izuna finishes catching up her sister, several moments of silence ensues. Yumi was still digesting everything she learned recently.

"So, at least Monika's with girly-boy now. I guess I'll have to meet up with you guys at Millenium Park right?"

{"That's correct sis. And you really need to drop that habit of calling Val a "girl-boy", you know. I doubt he appreciates being made fun of like that. It was funny for the first few times but now it's just mean."}

"N-E-V-E-R! He's always going to be "girly-boy" to your big sister, ohohohoho~!" she says in a playful voice, comically enunciating each letter of the word "Never" as if to emphasize her stance.

{"Yumi... anyways just meet up with us at the park like you said. I'm hanging up for now, bye sis. And thanks for understanding."}

"Roger that, see you there bro. Bye as well, Sayori dear!"

{"Bye Ms. Yumi!"}

The older Takaya then changes into some outdoor clothes. Yumi was still in her pajamas after all, since she was had only woken up recently.

After getting ready, she grabs her car keys and heads out the front door, locking it with her house key as well. Stepping onto the driver's seat, she revs up the engine and leaves the house with Millenium Park as her desination. It was a good thing that she had stocked up on fuel prior to coming over at Izuna's place.

"Stay safe, everyone." she says to no one in particular.

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

Before attempting to explain to Natsuki and Yuri what his concerns were regarding the potential threat against them, he decided sleep first. Character in a game or not, Blank still experienced fatigue and tiredness.

So he slept for a couple of hours until it was midday inside DDLC's simulated world. In total, his sleep had only amounted to a few measly hours, but it was better than nothing.

Feeling a bit refreshed, the former avatar calls for a meeting in the living room.

"So, what's this all about, mophead?" Natsuki asks in a disinterested voice.

Before she was called over to join the meeting, the petite girl had been busying herself in the kitchen. Baking was a big part of her character description, and so Natsuki had taken it upon herself to impress her companions with her patented cupcakes. The former avatar had all the ingredients she needed in his cupboard after all.

It was her turn to make the former avatar's mouth drop, especially after that gobsmackingly filling breakfast that he made.

Yuri on the other hand had taken to exploring the house itself. She was also in Blank's room... cutting herself.

Though not to the extent of what DDLC's script had her do. Just minor cuts that grazed her flesh using a pocket knife. She knew that it was a bad habit, but Yuri needed some form of release after all of this pent up stress that was caused by their current situation. And the exhilirating rush of blood made her heart go "Doki Doki".

"Somthing major has come up. I'm afraid we're gonna have to act a bit quicker, while preparing for bigger threat. This threat could turn out to be even worse than the glitches from the auto-correction system of the game."

"What do you mean, Blank? Is this some fearsome entity that was conjured up by the game's script?" Yuri asks with greatly piqued interest.

I then face Natsuki with solemn eyes, prompting the girls to grow even more anxious.

"Wh... What's up with that look you're giving me, B-Blank?" Natsuki asks while gulping a bit, even using the former avatar's name instead of an insult due to the severity of the situation.

"I'm talking about your father, Natsuki. He's the one that I highly suspect of attacking the security barrier I've placed around the house. He might be working in tandem with the auto-correction system or the script itself. I'm not sure yet, but he's my number one suspect right now."

Blank lets his words sink in. Yuri could only look down in sorrow. Natsuki however...

The pink-haired girl looked like she had seen a ghost. Gone was her confident facade, and the inner turmoil she bore from her father's scripted abuse was beginning to show.

"P-P-Papa's coming for us?" she receives a solemn nod in response to her inquiry.

"I see..." Natsuki shivered and was trembling with fear. It really pained Blank to see his friend rendered powerless like this.

"I... I need some time alone to think you guys. I'll be in the mophead's room..." trying to put up a brave front, Natsuki smiles painfully before locking herself up in Blank's bedroom, the former avatar obliging her without question. She needed space right now, and the boy understood that perfectly.

Yuri plays with her hair in a worried fashion, clearly affected by her friend's distress. "Natsuki..."

Hours later, when Natsuki was finally composed and a bit better, Blank and Yuri both gave her a hug. The pink-haired girl sinks into the embrace and lets some remaining tears out.

"Thanks you guys... I really appreciate it. Even though I call you a "mophead"... and Yuri, even though we don't always get along..."

With their mood currently steeled, they prepare to move out. Blank re-activates the school building using his developer window. He would just re-summon the eternal classroom once they got to the school's rooftop. Right now, it was imperative that they would leave as quickly as possible without getting detected.

And so, the three of them headed outside of the rendered house, and into the streets.

While the three of them were running however, Natsuki hears some white noise lingering in the background. The unmistakable sound of electronic static.

"Yuri... mophead... something's coming..."

"S***! Don't tell me he's already here?!" Blank curses out loud. Yuri remains frozen in fear.

This was bad. Very bad for them.

Indeed, a bunch of fluctuating pixels began condensing into solid form, a few steps away from the trio. Gradually, Natsuki's father emerges from the pixels. His eyes had already changed from their normal pink to a menacing gold, overflowing with the power bestowed unto him by DDLC's script.

"I've been waiting for this moment. Eat this!" the man launches a torrent of glitches at the trio, with Blank barely managing to generate a weaker version of his usual barrier due to the speed of the incoming attack.

Stronger barriers like the one used on the rendered house required a greater amount of time to set up in exchange for their durability. Which meant that the inverse was true as well.

Since this was a hastily made barrier by the developer window, it immediately cracked after mere seconds of shielding from the glitch beam. Blank rolls out of the way while the girls duck and took cover, causing the remnants of the beam to miss them entirely before dissipating.

"You've done well to avoid that attack, but don't think you'll remain this lucky. Now hand over Natsuki to me, and I'll quietly leave." the deranged father demands with barely hidden contempt.

"P-Papa..."

"Natsuki, stay back! That man is dangerous!" Blank calls out worriedly, before running in front of her while typing out some code on his floating developer window.

Out of thin air, the former avatar generates two swords, based off of unused data deep within DDLC's script.

For what purpose they were, he didn't know. If he were to wager a guess, Blank assumed that there was supposed to be various other clubs in the simulated school environment like an archery club, a fencing club, and other types of clubs. That was the only reason he could think of that explained why there were various unused items hidden within the code such as the swords he had just generated.

The former avatar wasn't really sure anyway if that was true. But he figured the items would come in handy for later, and right now against Natsuki's father, he was correct on his assumption.

"Oh? It seems you've gotten a few tricks up your sleeve, avatar. That won't really help you though."

"The name's Blank. And yes, I won't let you hurt the girls!" Blank stands tall, gripping the newly-formed Wakizashi in his left hand, and the other sword which happened to be a Katana, in his right.

"Very well then, I acknowledge your resolve. Come!" Natsuki's father dashes first at Blank, both of his hands ignited with concentrated orbs of glitches and cosmic energy.

He thrusts his right hand at Blank, who responds in kind by parrying it with his Wakizashi. Metal and glitches collided, and the sound of collision permeated throughout the area.

"Your sword won't last long, foolish boy!"

"It's more than enough for what I intend to do!"

Before the glitches could completely consume the Wakizashi, Blank had already swung his Katana in a horizontal arc, aiming for a clean slice at his enemy's torso.

Natsuki's father dodges at the last second, performing a handstand to regain his center of balancing before landing on his feet and standing up right once more.

"Not bad." he remarks, his steely gaze planted on Blank.

The avatar discards the now broken Wakizashi and holds the Katana with two hands, settling into the "Chudan no Kamae". The Kamae were a set of postures that dealt with the proper stances in holding swords. Chudan no Kamae in particular is the middle-level posture, the starting point of an ideal Kenjutsu practicioner.

Advancing with steady footwork, Blank uses a move that he stole from the various anime he managed to glance on while looking up programming information on the internet.

"Getsuga Tensho!" he yells with as much force as he can to strengthen his kiai, before immediately performing a two-handed slashing motion at the air in front of him. He had put in a lot of power into the move, in order to maximize the energy output.

Just like Ichigo Kurosaki's attack in Bleach, a crescent-shaped wave of bluish-white and dense energy was hurled towards the enemy's direction. Natsuki's father retaliates with a similar wave of energy, with the difference being that it was made up of glitches.

"SEIYAH!"

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Both waves collided, cancelling each other out. Blank and the man continued firing wave upon wave of energy and glitches at each other, while Yuri and Natsuki stood by at the sidelines, clearly shocked at what was happening before him.

"Is Blank freaking copying shounen anime now?! What in the world has gotten into that mophead! And since when did papa have these strange powers?!" Natsuki, who would normally be very afraid of her father, was now pretty amazed at what was basically a live-action anime fight being shown in front of her.

"I believe that since Monika is gone, the game chose your father to be its 'enforcer'. He was probably given some new abilities by the script, though most of them seem to be combat-oriented. As for Blank... I'm not quite sure myself since I don't watch anime..."

"Well whatever it is, this is pretty f***ing hype!"

Going back to the ensuing battle, neither one of them were able to gain the upperhand.

Natsuki's father decides to take this oppurtunity to properly introduce himself, if only as a form of taunting.

"Since you're about to fall here anyway, I might as well reveal who I am."

"We kind of figured out who you were anyway, and it's pretty obvious considering that you have pink hair like Natsuki." Blank points out in-between his panting breath.

With an evil glint in his eye, the larger man beckons out in an audbile voice. "Well aren't you a bright little fool. I am Mizuki, the father of that worthless girl you keep sheltering. Hand her over to me this instant. Either way, if I have to make you submit, then I will."

Yuri, upon hearing this, frowns while pulling Natsuki to her closer.

"Y-Yuri... it's okay. I'm used to being talked down to like that."

But the purple-haired girl doesn't budge. This was her chance to show Natsuki that she cared. Even if they fought a lot in the script, Yuri really cared for Natsuki. And she wasn't going to let this sham of a father, Mizuki, go on and keep tormenting her.

Blank was furious as well. "Don't call her worthless! You have the nerve to call yourself her father, but you subject her to abuse like this. Script or not, I don't f***ing care. I won't let you take Natsuki from us!"

"That's what I expected to hear anyway. I have goals to pursue, and you'd never understand anyway, avatar." Mizuki retorts while saying the word avatar as if it was the most disgusting word in existence.

"Enough talk, give her to me!" with the wave of a hand, Mizuki fired yet another glitch wave, this one being a lot faster than the previous ones.

"Blank! It's coming!" Yuri yells out at Blank, who then manages to narrowly evade the incoming attack by rolling to the side. Katana still in hand, he slashes the air two times in a consecutive manner, creating two Getsugas to be fired off at his devious opponent.

"Sending two of those at the same time doesn't matter!" the older man does two slashes as well, his hands imbued with glitch-boosted power. Two arcs of glitched pixels collide with the incoming Getsugas, but Blank was nowhere to be seen.

"You're already dead." Mizuki hears behind him.

His eyes widened as he turns around to shield himself, but it was too late. "What?!"

"HYAH!" Blank lands a solid cut on Mizuki's back with his Katana. Metal ripped against the flesh of his opponent, leading into a sickening cry of agony.

*squelch*

The sound of blood oozing off of the big wound made the older man reel at the impact. He staggers away from the former avatar, wheezing out due to the pain.

His golden eyes grew even brighter. Everyone in the area felt a massive rise in the power being emitted by Mizuki. His oppressive aura was beginning to weigh down on the air.

"Now you've gone and done it. Those Getsugas were merely a distraction. Very well, it's time for you fools to experience the full extent of the power given to me by this game."

Mizuki closes his eyes, and an enormous aura of glitches and white swirls of energy began covering his entire body.

He opens them once more, and the golden sclera of his two eyes were now shining as bright as a sun.

With an earth-shattering roar, he lets out a cry of power. His fearsome and elongated kiai reverberated throughout the entire simulated street.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Blank could only watch with widened eyes, as his enemy powered up into an even greater form than before.

This was no longer an ordinary glitch-powered entity they were dealing with.

Eventually, the wild and ravenous aura settled down, coasting through the space that sorrounded Mizuki.

"I can feel the power surge within me. You have no chance of winning this anymore, avatar. Surrender, and give the girl to me."

His taunting only serving to empower him once more, he squashed his budding fear and charged forward.

"Never!"

Yuri and Natsuki both yell out at the former avatar, "Blank!"

Adrenaline coursing through his veins, Blank began firing off Getsuga Tenshos in rapid succession, sending out 10 of them at the same time, even though this took a toll on his body.

"Pointless."

The waves of bluish-white energy harmless dissipated the moment they came in contact with Mizuki's glitchy aura. It would seem that his attacks would no longer work.

"Impossible..." the boy states out in a despair-filled and shocked voice.

"Now do you understand the futility of your efforts? Why don't you use that developer window of yours to delete me? Go ahead. I won't even try to interrupt. Go on, DO IT!" the pink-haired man taunts even more, with a sneer.

With nothing else to lose, the avatar wills his developer window into existence, and inputs the Python deletion command... only to realize that he couldn't.

"F***."

"That's right! I don't have a character file! That means you can't delete me with mere clicks just like that!" Mizuki starts walking towards the now sullen avatar, his intense aura enveloping him in a manner that made him truly fearsome.

Blank, for the first time, felt like he was truly lost. At this moment, nothing worked at all. It was all futile, as Mizuki had eloquently put it.

The feeling of giving up was getting too strong to ignore. In the face of this hopeless situation, Blank could only drop to his knees, and accept his fate.

'I'm sorry Natsuki. I've failed you...' his despairful thoughts were now filling his mind with the sensation of defeat.

'Yuri... Natsuki... Monika...'

He lets out a single tear from one of his blood-red eyes.

'Sayori... this is goodbye.'

He closes his eyes and resigns himself to his end.

With a raised hand, Mizuki prepares to strike Blank down with one final glitch attack.

Blank awaits the feeling of being deleted by the glitches, but it never came. Opening his eyes, he became paralyzed with fear. Not for himself, but the new figure that stood directly in front of him.

Her short pink tussles of hair fluttering about due to the wind being produced by her father's malevolent aura. Her back prominently displayed in Blank's vision.

"Please! No more! Stop this, Papa! Don't hurt him anymore!" her sorrowful cries only made the pain in Blank's heart increase, as he saw his friend begging the nefarious man to spare his life.

"Natsuki! What are you doing?!" Yuri cries in a hoarse voice from afar, still petrified in fear from moving away out of her current spot. She was fearing not only for her life, but for Natsuki's as well. The tall beauty knew that once her friend went with the man, everything would be over for her. She didn't want Natsuki to get hurt.

With a strained voice, Blank calls out to Natsuki.

"Don't... go... with... him..."

She whips her head back to look at him, a heartbreaking smile being flashed at the avatar as tears flooded her eyes. Natsuki says nothing, the gentle and teary smile on her face being enough to convey her message.

"I'll... I'll go with you." the girl says with finality, causing Blank to wince at his powerlessness and making Yuri sob very loudly in defeat. She walks over to Mizuki's side.

The empowered man gives his daughter a cold look. This made her squirm a bit due to the callous gaze she was receiving.

"Good girl. See, if you were this obedient all the time, then Papa wouldn't have to do this to you. This is your punishment, FOOLISH GIRL!" coated with the dark aura, he backhands Natsuki with excessive force, causing her to crash onto the ground, unconscious.

Due to the amount of power behind the blow, Natsuki's cute face had become swollen and small cuts were made, causing some blood to pool around her cheek.

The girl remained still, currently out of commission after the unexpected impact that she had just received.

"Now that I've gotten you back, it's time for me to meet up with her. Hopefully, she'll keep up her end of the bargain."

Everything seemed to run in slow-motion due to the tension.

"NATSUKI!" Blank grits his teeth, but still unable to move due to the fear that had wormed its way into his heart, as well as the exhaustion he had sustained throughout the fierce battle. Those Getsuga Tenshos drained on the very fabric of his existence, due to them not being a native part of DDLC's game resources.

Yuri however, was a different story.

She had immediately ceased her sorrow-filled sobbing, and was now gripping the book that appeared in her left hand very tightly.

It was the "Portrait of Markov".

Yuri closes her eyes, in a similar manner to what Mizuki did when he was powering up.

As if possessed by an unseen force, she begins chanting various crypitc encantations. Her voice sounded like there were three Yuri's speaking at the same time. One of the voices being her normal one, the second sounding like a higher-pitched version, and the third was a lower-pitched variant. It was like a twisted version of a choir's harmonizing voices.

The universe has a beginning point, but no definite end. - Infinity.

Stars, too, have their own beginnings, but their own power results in their destruction. - Finite.

It is those who possess wisdom, who are the greatest fools. For they attempt to exceed their set limitations. - Conflict.

History has shown us this. Countless of times. - Agreement.

The temptations of power are sweet lies crafted by demons. - Chaos.

You could say that this is the final warning from God to those who resist. - Cosmos.

After the final esoteric chant, Yuri levitates from the ground, her figure radiating with an oppressive amount of energy, totally dwarfing Mizuki's aura in comparison.

"What is that knife nymphomaniac doing?!" the pink-haired man growls out in frustration, attempting to mask his growing worry at the gradually ascending girl.

The Portrait of Markov book dissipates, leaving a trail of hauntingly beautiful purple sparks. These sparks begin to encircle around Yuri, similar to how an electron travels around the nucleus in an atom.

Yuri, now fully coated in a powerful purple aura, opens her eyes. They were now the hyper-realistic version present in Act 2 of DDLC.

This unsettled both Blank and Mizuki. Neither of them had any idea of what had happened to the girl, only that it was obvious what was the trigger.

Seeing Natsuki get hurt like that, must've awakened something inside of Yuri.

Blank suddenly remembers the various references to a "Third Eye" in the game's files.

'But I thought those only meant DDLC's connection to Project Libitina...' he furrows in confusion but immediately draws his attention back to Yuri.

Yuri's current appearance was something akin to divinity itself. Her floating figure, coated with terrfying purple energy and the creepiness of her current eyes.

She begins to speak once more, the power behind her distorted voice making it all the more ominous.

"Third Movement of the Cosmos: Ethereal Displacement."

In an instant, she disappears from her spot, before instantly reappearing in front of Mizuki. It was the power of teleportation.

"What the-" before the man could express his surprise however, he gets sent quite a distance due to a powerful energy-imbued punch into his solar plexus from Yuri. The amount of concentrated energy behind the blow was enough to toss Mizuki several meters away at rapid speed like a mere ragdoll.

"Fifth Movement of the Cosmos: Titan's Fist."

Before the man could land into the ground, the ascended Yuri uses Ethereal Displacement once more to appear behind him, interrupting his impending fall with another energy-imbued strike, this time in the form of a bone-shattering kick.

"Sixth Movement of the Cosmos: Titan's Leg."

This time, the girl allowed the man to crash and burn as he plummeted into the digitially-simmulated concrete. A massive crater forms from his crash-landing.

Blank was stupefied at the gap in power and ability between the two. He was finally able to stand up and immediately went over to Natsuki's prone and unmoving body, cradling her in his arms as he continued to watch the ongoing fight.

If he could even call it a fight.

Unlike his prior bout, where there was at least some point of contention between him and Natsuki's father, this fight was pretty one-sided. The man's glitchy aura was doing nothing to reduce the undeniable power between each of the girl's strikes.

Yuri was overwhelming Mizuki without even breaking a sweat, although it didn't look like she was in control of her body anymore. To him, it was more like some divine force was using her as a catalyst of something.

He immediately checks the status of the character files using his developer window. Both Natsuki's and Yuri's were intact, but he notices that Yuri's filesize was now significantly larger than Natsuki's.

'It might have something to do with the abilities she's displaying right now...' he decides internally.

With Natsuki secure in his arms, he darts his eyes back to the ongoing battle.

Yuri stood tall, her otherworldly gaze directed at the currently prone Mizuki, who was alive, but barely.

His breaths were heavily labored, and his body was now a bloody mess.

"You... monster." he says out of spite at Yuri, who shows no signs of reacting.

Still with a distorted voice, the ascended Yuri raises her right hand forward as she aims an attack at the enemy. Cascading swirls of heavenly power assimilate into her palm.

"Twelfth Movement of the Cosmos: Stygian Desolator."

The 12th Cosmic Movement was one that summoned an unparalleled amount of weaponry.

A wide array of knives appear in front of the wounded man. They hover menacingly, tips pointed at their seemingly helpless target.

With a loud and commanding voice, Yuri launches her attack.

"DIE!"

The sharp and deadly knives rained mercilessly on Mizuki, his glitch aura struggling to keep up with the onslaught of weapons that seeemed to keep on increasing in amount at a steady rate.

Some of the knives began cutting through him, leaving him with various bloody gashes and cuts on his limbs, his torso, and his face. His trench coat had been completely obliterated by the previous battles, leaving his skin exposed for the knives to damage.

He makes a mad dash out of the crater, climbing out into the open surface as knives kept plowing at him continuously, but he merely endures for a bit longer.

Once he was back on even ground, he enters spreads out his feet, and extends both of his arms in a power stance.

Channeling some of his power into one decisive blowback attack. He yells out his desperate kiai.

"CEASE!"

The knives are blown away and an explosion of glitches that kept on expanding had stretched out from Mizuki's core.

It was only sufficient in nullifying the Stygian Desolator attack, but not adequate enough to actually harm Yuri, who impassively looked on at her handiwork.

"SEIYAH!" with a furious warcry, Mizuki unleashes a dense wave of glitches, much more concentrated and powerful than the ones Blank had to endure, due to the man's unyielding rage at this girl he couldn't compete with.

Ascended Yuri swats it away with a single hand, the sparks that coated her appendage colliding for a bit with the glitch wave before harmlessly redirecting it in a different direction.

Mizuki becomes even more enraged at his predicament. "You... You wench! You're worse than that defiant avatar. Why must you insist on getting in my way! I'm supposed to retrieve my foolish daughter, so that the mysterious lady that gave me these powers could fulfill my wish! But no, you intend on taking that away from me. I will not be stopped by some freak obssessed with pens and knives!"

During his entire rant, the pink-haired man had been charging up a huge orb of power in both his hands, raised over his head. The big ball of concentrated might was made up of glitches, dark energy, and various sparks of varying colors. The sky itself had started to become distorted with lines of code, due to the pressure of the growing attack.

In the meantime, Blank had generated a bed for Natsuki's unmoving body to rest on. It looked quite awkward for a bed to suddenly spawn in the middle of the street, but the avatar could care less. He suddenly thinks to himself. 'So Mizuki was planning on taking Natsuki to complete his end of some bargain? Who is this mysterious lady? Is it Elyssa Libitina? Amy?'

As the ball of energy was completely formed, it's size making the rendered houses beside them look like pins in comparison, Mizuki allows himself a crazed smile of statisfaction.

"Let's see if even your godlike powers can resist this one. You should've remained on the sidelines, impudent wench."

He pushes the mighty orb with his hands, the ball continuing to glow brightly like a miniature sun.

"Yuri, I don't know if you can hear me in there, but get away from that attack, it's too much for you to handle!" the avatar attempts to reach out to his possessed friend, but his plea fell on deaf ears. Mizuki turns to the avatar with a mocking smile. "It's useless! She'll be completely eradicated by that attack and there's nothing both of you can do about it."

Defying all expectations however, Ascended Yuri merely raises another hand. It was similar to when she launched the Stygian Desolator, except this time it was her left hand.

Her distorted voice ominously declares a single line that spelled imminent doom for Natsuki's father.

"Eleventh Movement of the Cosmos: Aegis Reflector."

An enormous light-purple colored insignia appears in front of Ascended Yuri. It had the appearance of an eye. The size of the protective symbol easily matched the incoming orb of energy.

"That's unheard of! What sorcery is this, you vile girl?!" Mizuki pales at the realization that even his full-powered attack might not even cut it.

Sure enough, as soon as the orb got in contact with the magical eye, it was merely absorbed, completely disappearing.

The eye insignia then blinks, making Blank shudder at how creepy it looked, and out of it the orb was sent back at Mizuki, now covered predominantly in a purple shroud of energy.

"God damn it!" the man was too weak and battered to even dodge, and so he took in the full burnt of his reflected attack, cursing inwardly at his foolishness for even thinking that Ascended Yuri didn't have any defensive powers after her display of offensive ones.

As the lights faded out, the energy slowly dissipates to reveal Mizuki lying on the on the ground face-first, once again surviving the relentless attack out of sheer stubborness to succumb to death.

His consciousness was also barely maintained, as he refused to give in to his injuries, no matter how grave.

The man didn't even have enough energy left to make a snarky comment like he usually did.

Blank had to begrudgingly respect the man's tenacity, despite his twisted motives.

Ascended Yuri had begun walking towards the demolished man's completely wrecked body, and scowls in a sadistic manner.

"Mizuki. You will pay for the sin of hurting Yuri's dearest friend. The girl was your daughter. No matter what your goal was, it is my desire, as well as Yuri's, to pay you back tenfold for every inch of despair that you have submerged Natsuki into. Your life will end here, right now. You will no longer be a part of this game either, I will see to that. Your code shall be modified into a nonexisting pile of errors. Begone, worm."

Ascended Yuri spares a look at Blank, the boy in question cowering at her gaze even though she was on his side.

"You have done well, friend of Yuri. Now allow me to relieve you of your duty by ending this obstacle, before I let Yuri back in control of her body."

"I..." the former avatar wasn't even sure who spoke to him anymore. From the way she worded it, this was an entirely different entity that was currently using Yuri's body. He wasn't able to speak any further, as he saw Ascended Yuri commencing one final attack at the fallen Mizuki.

Her right hand is poised above her head, three swirls of black, white, and purple all entering her palm at an alarming rate, forming what looked like a large spear of wildly fluctuating heavenly energy. It grew bigger, and bigger. On Blank's developer window, various error syntaxes had started appearing. It looked like the game itself was barely able to withstand Ascended Yuri's upcoming attack.

"The spell is complete. Say goodbye to this world, Mizuki."

She gets into a throwing position, the energy spear pointed directly at Natsuki's father. It was over for him.

The man in question bitterly chuckles to himself, but says nothing more. He had long accepted that the girl he was fighting remained several leagues above him. His only lingering regret being that he couldn't fulfill his wish.

'Natalie... I couldn't bring you back... if only I've gotten our daughter sooner...' these were his final thoughts.

"First Movement of the Cosmos: Spear of Life and Death."

...

"Yuri, wait!"

As Ascended Yuri was about to fire the finishing blow, she stops mid-attack and cancels out the Cosmic Movement.

The accumulated energy died down gradually. She then turns to the one that had called her attention. It was Blank, who had a serious look etched on his face.

"What is it, friend of Yuri? Why would you interrupt me as I'm about to eradicate this vile scum from your lives? Do you not want Natsuki and Yuri to be vindicated?"

"It's not that I don't want them to be vindicated... Believe me, I hate Mizuki's guts too, it's just..." Blank hesitates, but Ascended Yuri urges him to continue.

"Go on, child. Speak out your mind. As a friend of Yuri, you may be aware of things that even I have no knowledge of."

"I heard him say something interesting when he was forming that huge ball of energy he fired at you. Something about a mysterious lady giving Mizuki his powers..."

"Now that I think about it, I do recall that man uttering such nonsense, but I deemed it of no importance. Perhaps you wish to interrogate this filth of what it knows?"

"That's correct Yuri... actually, you aren't Yuri right now, are you. I've noticed that you keep on referring to her in the third person." Blank, having regained his ability to speak in a calm and collected manner, addresses the elephant in the room.

Ascended Yuri actually laughs a little, as unsettling of a visual image that was considering that her eyes were of the hyper-realistic ones Yuri had in Act 2...

The ascended girl calms herself before addressing the former avatar's concerns.

"You are correct in your observation. I am merely someone who watches by on the sidelines. But seeing the scum's audacity to act in such a manner towards his own daughter set me off the edge. Yuri felt similar feelings upon seeing her dear friend get hurt, and my desire resonated with her feelings, allowing me to manifest within her. I used her novel, the Portrait of Markov, as a channeling point for my essence, since I am not natively a part of this game. As for my identity, you may know of me from within this game's files as Elyssa Libitina."

It made sense to Blank now. This marks Elyssa off his list on who the mysterious lady collaborating with Mizuki was.

With Mizuki still in shambles, Elyssa and Blank sat on the edge of the bed that was generated for Natsuki. Both of them kept a watchful eye on the shameful father, however, to prevent any sneak attacks from happening.

"I'll try to extract from him this information. Since you've been watching from the sidelines, you already know that we plan on escaping this game, is that correct Elyssa."

"Yes. I am well aware of your plans, friend of Yuri."

"This mysterious lady, whoever she is, might be another obstacle. She may even be a tougher opponent than Mizuki, considering she was the one who apparently gave him the glitch powers he used. We may call upon your help again in the future, if that is fine with you Elyssa..."

"That is completely fine. I've grown quite attached to these girls after witnessing their struggles."

Elyssa's presence began to slowly leave Yuri's body, as a rising aura emanated from the girl.

"I will be placing my faith in you then, friend of Yuri. Or should I say, Blank. Take care of these girls. When I give back the control of this vessel to Yuri, she will remain unconscious for a period of time. It's because this is the first time I've attempted to merge with her. In future events like this, when I appear to aid you or the girls, she'll be able to accomodate my presence better, reducing the adverse effects. Farewell for now. I do hope that you'll only need my help at a much later point in time."

"Thank you as well, Elyssa. I'd probably be dead right now if it weren't for your help."

"Do not worry yourself about it too much, friend of Yuri. You have done well today." Elyssa's presence completely left Yuri after those parting words. Exactly as the divine entity had warned, Yuri fell forward, unconscious.

Blank lays her beside Natsuki, allowing both of the girls to rest on the bed.

He then goes over to Mizuki, the man having fully regained his consciousness but still heavily damaged by the fights he had just partaken in.

"Well brat, I supposed you're going to ask about a lot of crap now?"

"Start talking."

His proud facade being ignored, Mizuki actually smiles. Albeit said smile being a bitter one.

"Very well, this is the least I could do for my life being spared."

Blank listens with great interest. Whatever Mizuki may tell him could probably have a big impact on his plans of escaping DDLC with the girls.

"Before I can tell you about the mysterious lady that gave me these powers, while also telling me to retrieve my worthless daugh-"

The avatar kicks Mizuki in the gut, causing the older man to shrivel up in pain.

"Care to repeat that again?"

With a very hateful gaze directed at Blank, Mizuki continues his tale while wheezing in discomfort.

"As I was saying *cough*, the lady told me to retrieve Natsuki *ack* for her. She also told me *cough* to do it as fast as possible."

"But why did you agree to that?"

"It's a long story. For your feeble mind to fully understand, brat, we need to go back to my scripted history. It involves my fictional backstory that wasn't even included in the main game."

"Hmmm."

Mizuki gains a nostalgic look and goes on with his story. "It all began, several years ago..."

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

Izuna and Sayori are the first to arrive at Millenium Park. They sat on one of the park's benches while waiting for the pair of Val and Monika, as well as Yumi, to arrive at the gathering point.

"I hope you and Monika get back together already, it doesn't feel good seeing you separated like this..." Sayori remarks while playing with her fingers.

"I hope so too."

They continued waiting, talking idly about random stuff, if only to distract themselves from the impending confrontation between the lovers.

Soon after, a surprised gasp breaks Izuna and Sayori out of their reverie.

"Izuna? What is the meaning of this, Val?" Monika stood a couple of meters away, with Val in tow.

"Monika..." the Takaya says in a hushed voice, his chest about to burst with so much emotion, but he kept it all in check.

Val in the meantime walks over to Sayori, a popsicle in hand as he approaches the strawberry-blonde. "I finally get to meet you in person Sayori! What do you say to giving these two a little... alone time. You can have this popsicle in return! I have lots of stuff to talk about with you.

Sayori claps her hands together in delight and accepts the offer. "Hello there Mr. Val! Wow, you really do look a bit feminine. Ehehe."

"Geez, way to rub it in like that Sayori..."

"Ooopsies, sorry!" the two of them walked a good distance away from Izuna and Monika, with Sayori telling all sorts of stories to the Walker in an excited voice.

As for the two star-crosssed lovers, both of them stared at each other with tears in their eyes.

Neither of them knew how to approach the other. Both of them had their regrets and really wanted to apologize already to the other, but their doubts and anxieties took precedence.

Izuna breaks the silence first.

"I'm so sorry for everything Monika. I really, truly am. Can you forgive me after doubting you so much?"

Monika doesn't respond, her face being shadowed by her long bangs as she listens in silence. She was trembling.

"Monika, I'm not sure if you even want to get back with me anymore. If you don't, then I understand. I'll tell Val to call this off and we'll be our separate ways if that's what you really want." he continues in a very pained voice, as if he was being shot in the head for each word that left his mouth.

Finally, Monika speaks in a quiet voice, barely audible.

"No..."

Izuna however continues on his tangent of self-loathing. "I guess I was being too full of myself. I've hurt you so much, and I've lost the right to call myself your boyfriend. I guess I should-"

'Don't say what I think you're about to say, my love!' the girl screams internally but the words don't make their way out of her mouth.

"-leave you be."

"Noooooo!" throwing all caution to the wind, Monika tackles Izuna into the tightest embrace of his life. They were both on the ground now, and Izuna was locked into a warm and love-filled hug by the crying brunette.

"Don't you dare say those words! I'm not losing you ever again! I don't care about what happened anymore! DON'T LEAVE ME!" she says while clinging to the boy for dear life.

Izuna, moved by this overwhelming display of affection, goes into full-on criyng as well, reciprocating the hug with just as much energy as Monika.

"Don't leave me... *sob* please don't leave me. I want to be by your side. I want to grow old with you. I want more memories with you. I want to love you as much as you love me. Please don't leave me. Don't leave me. Don't leave... me..." the floodgates were fully opened. Monika continued rambling on and Izuna could only reassure her by hugging her as if his life depended on it.

"I won't leave you. We'll be together forever, Monika."

Izuna captures Monika's lips in a heartfelt kiss. It was the first time for both of them.

And boy, was it special.

Muffled groans of pleasure filled the air, as every ounce of love that both of them could muster were poured out into the kiss. For Izuna, he could taste the faint sensation of sugar on Monika's lips. It reminded him of... a popsicle? The Takaya continued his oral assault on her soft lips as the stimulation left both of them wanting for more.

Monika was enjoying every second of it as well. For her, this was the stuff that dreams were made of. Their mouths both sopping wet with salivation as their desire for each other increased in magnitude.

Breaking off from the kiss, their faces mirrored each other. Flustered, yet all the while savoring the experience.

"You're amazing." Izuna smoothly compliments, to which Monika bashfully smiles at.

Jesus, get a room you two. As narrator, I'm forced to endure all of this diabetes-inducing fluff, like holy hell. I don't get much of a break however, as the two kissed once more, on full display for everyone who may have been passing by to witness.

Their tongues fought for dominance, trying to overpower each other in one torrid dance of affection.

Izuna tenderly cups Monika's cheek, while Monika lightly tugs on Izuna's hair, as they continued to pour out all of their feelings into one big display of love and affection.

Sinking deeper into the union of their lips, it was just them right now in the world. Nothing else. Paradise had come to the newly-reconciled lovers.

Just Izuna and Monika, together.

"Ahem."

An awkward cough interrupts them however, as they broke off from their battle of love to see Sayori covering her eyes while blushing madly. She was too pure for such displays of affection.

Val, the one who coughed in order to catch the attention of the boy and girl who were making out merely moments ago, had an irritated yet impressed expression.

"While it delights me that you two are back together, I'd like to remind you that we have innocently pure people over here." he gestures at Sayori who shuts her eyes even tighter while mumbling something along the lines of "I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything..." over and over. The poor girl was in a trance and the lovers at least had the courtesy to blush in embarassment.

Izuna then remembers something. "That's right, I'll text Yumi to let her know that we've already combined into one group."

He pulls out his trusty smartphone and begins composing the necessary message. Putting it back in his pocket, he pulls Monika close to him in a one-armed hug, and the former club president happily sinks into his chest. She sighs blissfully.

Everything was right in the world, now that Izuna and Monika were back together.

*****The World Beyond The Screen*****

"You see, Natalie and I were like two peas of the same pod. We were inseperable. Eventually, we were married and the two of us lived a happy life."

Mizuki was still in the middle of sharing his tale to Blank, still in the carnage and aftermath of the previously world-shattering battles that had just occurred.

Yuri and Natsuki were still out of commission. Both of them peacefully sleeping on the generated bed.

It was a tiring day for everyone involved. And without the timely assistance of Elyssa Libitina, Blank was sure that things would've been much, much worse.

"Then, we were blessed with a child. And we named her based off of both our names."

Blank nods in understanding. 'That made sense. Natsuki being derived from Natalie and Mizuki was entirely possible. Does that make Natsuki a half-asian, half-european character in DDLC?' he muses while continuing to listen to the account of Natsuki's decrepit old man.

"Everything was going well... until one day."

-Chapter 10 END-

[To be continued in Chapter 11 - Love, the finale of the Introduction Arc...]

---

A/N: I hope this was a satisfying chapter for all of you. Were you perhaps exhausted from reading this many words in a single chapter? If you are, then it's understandable. You've just read over 20,000 words in one chapter, ahaha. It's my thank you for sticking with TWBTS this long. We've reached ten chapters now, and that's a pretty big milestone for me. It might not be that important to others, but reaching ten chapters of a story means that you've come a far way.

This is the penultimate chapter of the Introduction Arc, with the next chapter being the finale. After that, I plan on doing a filler chapter for Chapter 12, as a sort of cooldown between the arcs. Chapter 13 is when the "School Pandemonium Arc" begins. Keep tuning in guys, things are about to get even wilder and more exciting!

Oh and as promised, here's MY recommendation list, in addition to the ones recommended by Monika in Chapter 7 of TWBTS(go check those out as well if you haven't, Monika listed them out in her A/N on Chapter 7 of this fic).

1. "Welcome to Doki Doki Literature Club Player!" by finalsacre

This is one of the most epic fanfics that uses the trope of "Player gets sent into DDLC". Player x Monika is the main pairing. The other Dokis don't get as much focus, and a lot of the fic is the Player struggling against entities known as the "gods". Without spoiling anything, this story is sure to bring you in for a wild ride. It's almost ending though. Be sure to give it some love if you haven't already. There's also a version by finalsacre on Archive of Our Own that contains the more sexually explicit content of future chapters there. The FFN version has a SFW version of these contents.

2. "DDLC: Our Reality" by TheReader1118

A story about Yoku, the player-character in this fic as he helps out the Dokis from inside the game as well. The best thing about this story IMO is best boy, Akami-sama. He's my favorite character in it, such a cool dude. I'm also not spoiling anything, but it's full of twists and turns as well. Give it a read you guys!

3. "The Houseguest" by VolrathB

The Houseguest is perhaps one of the most unique ways of using the "Monika enters reality" trope. It's brilliantly written. Rob, the player-character in this story, is a middleaged man who has two kids, a wife, and is generally gruff in demeanor. Certainly someone that Monika didn't have in mind as her "one true love". Read on as the two of them go through daily life, with much lessons to be learned from each other. I highly recommend this for people who want an excellently written subversion of Player x Monika.

4. "Fog and the Flame" by redphienix

This story focuses on Natsuki and Yuri, with the POV mostly being in the pink-haired girl's POV. Very realistic depection of what someone going through familial abuse has to endure in their life. It's a tale of comfort, friendship, and budding love, as Natsuki and Yuri try to help each other with their issues. The story so far is very heartwarming, and has its moments of seriousness too. Definitely literary gold for all you Natsuri shippers out there!

5. "Picture Me With You" by Ambroxia

What sets this apart from other "Monika enters reality" fics is the fact that it takes several chapters before she actually makes an appearance. Rex, the lead in this story, gets fleshed out as his life of working as a professional photographer of a company is chronicled. Lots of laughs and serious moments in this one as well, and his interactions with his fellow workersare also engaging to read. Also, aside from Monika, Vaness is best girl IMO. Vaness is Rex's boss at the company, by the way. She's best girl. BEST GIRL(other than Monika of course).

6. "The Reality of the Profession" by Magpul the Unholy

Yep, I love me some "Monika enters reality" stories, get used to it. This is another one that uses the trope, but with a twist. As the title implies, Monika's player this time is someone with a very suspicious and dangerous job. He's quite a badass, if I do say so myself. The story doesn't have much chapters yet, but the story so far is definitely worth following. Give it a read as well.

And those are my recommendations so far. I'll be listing out even more in a future chapter's A/N, because there are so many stories on FFN that deserve recognition for being awesome. I've taken it upon myself to help spread the word.

I'd like to address another inquiry, which was made by thewookie1 in his review of Chapter 8. I guess I wasn't clear enough in my explanation within that Chapter's A/N, but no, Monika DOES NOT have Takaya DNA. Izuna x Monika isn't incest. I know there's some people out there who are into that stuff, but I'm not one of those people. The lightning bolt of Heaven's Bridge only struck Blank and the game. Nothing else. Monika and Sayori being in the real world are consequences of THE GAME making them like that. It's only Blank who gains his independence directly from the lightning bolt, which was vividly shown in Chapter 6. So I repeat for the last time, Blank is the only character in DDLC who directly gains Takaya DNA. Any other instances are due to the game getting Takaya DNA'd, which led to the game engine giving the girls entirely new genetic coding.

MONIKA X IZUNA ISN'T INCEST. I repeat, IT ISN'T INCEST. *exhales deeply*

I'm not mad by the way, just wanted to get that out there lol. I appreciate your reviews thewookie1. Thank you for liking the story so far. As for the others, I usually reply to reviews using the built-in PM reply system.

Now for some final words. We reached over a hundred followers, favorites, and reviews for TWBTS. It might not be as big of a deal for some authors, but for me, I'm actually quite humbled by your steadfast support. I wouldn't have made it this far without your unyielding encouragement. And for that, I thank you.

You know, if there's one thing that bothers me though, is that I never got the chance to write a shopping chapter. Even after all this time. A lot of the DDLC fanfics I've read have had shopping chapters too! Ugh! It bothers me. Sure, the next chapter of my other DDLC story "The Color Pink" is a shopping chapter, but that isn't the same! How did I not even get to write a damn TWBTS shopping chapter even though I've been talking about that several chapters ago?! Holy crap.

Anyways, TWBTS is far from over as this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for the next chapter, as we conclude the Introduction Arc. See you guys soon, take care!

EDIT: February 27, 2018 - 7:35AM Central Standard Time. Corrected a few typos and slightly reworded some dialogue.

EDIT 2: February 27, 2018 - 9:39AM CST. Completed an incomplete paragraph in the Izuna x Monika kissing scene.

EDIT 3: March 2, 2018 - 5:12PM CST. Fixed even more typos. Preliminary version of the completed draft for the next chapter is being proofread.