It had not been a good day. Kris ran inside of the house as soon as they could and locked the door of what was supposed to be their bedroom as quickly as they could, ignoring the three familiar faces trying to address them. They sat down on the hard wooden floor and lamented about what had happened.

Why were Yuri and Natsuki bringing attention to them and trying to drag them into their own personal conflicts? And all those insults about impressing and bodies and…. Honestly, they just wanted to scream right there.

It was only made worse when they remembered the reason. Kris was the protagonist of this place now, the one puppeteered through this unfortunately familiar game. Well, they weren't exactly being "puppeteered" anymore, since their second heart, the SOUL, had seemingly changed from an entity controlling their every breath to a passive observer inside of them that only occasionally assisted in dark world fights.

That didn't exactly matter to Kris at that moment, what did was the fact that they knew how this game went. It was supposed to get worse from here, this was the good part and they were having a breakdown over it, pathetic.

They probably just needed to be alone, that'd help.

However, it didn't help that there was always the occasional voice, Kris couldn't make it who was who, everyone just sounded the same. Like a blurry mess that couldn't even be seen with the cleanest of contacts. Their actual heart raced fast, fast enough that they couldn't hear the crash nearby.

Deciding to not be a useless lump lying on the floor, Kris got up and looked at the room. They'd seen it yesterday but there was still a bit that needed to be looked through, like the closet. Maybe some other clothes would be in there for everyone? It'd be nice to wear something other than the school uniform of a video game.

They opened the door and although there were clothes…there was also another person inside. Kris had never seen this person before but they were lying on their side, curled up and features barely seeable. This was another human just like them, which seemed to be a trend in this world that they didn't like. But the thing that was clear about this person is that they appeared to be an older teen and had short brown hair and a very familiar school uniform.

Kris reached out of touch them and maybe help but the person readjusted themself and sat up, it seemed that they were awake.

"Ugh…what was that?" They coughed and got up on their knees. "D…Did I do it?"

Kris stood back as the figure turned around, a blurry face, one that Kris felt…almost familiar with. Like they'd seen this man before. A wide smile formed on the stranger's face, he didn't even seem to acknowledge that there was another person in the room.

"I did it! I escaped the void and I'm back!" He started frantically putting his hands everywhere around his body and the air. "I'm back….now.. Time to find the-" He cut himself off after seeing Kris there, finally.

"Who are you?" The two muttered at seemingly the same time and they looked at each other. What on earth was happening?!

"I don't exactly have a name but I figured one out a long time ago." The man began as he looked Kris up and down. The two forces felt as if the ground was shaking from under them, as if the two could have never met.

"Call me MC, it's what I am."

Kris stood there with no visible reaction but internally, they were freaking out. They had heard that acronym before but had completely, utterly forgotten where.

"Uh-" Kris started, only to be cut off by this MC person.

"Main Character, it's stupid."

"Huh?" The words sunk through the ground and through reality. Main Character. Protagonist. Sayori's childhood friend. Supposed to be here.

For the second time today, there is silence so loud that it could blast someone or something.

All of a sudden, MC was unsurprisingly the one to speak, considering he was the one in this duo that actually did that. "Are you the one that took my spot?"

Kris kept a neutral expression, but was frowning more and more as they nodded. "I didn't want to."

"Then…why did you?" MC cried out as if his whole world was taken from him, which it was.

"Accidentally fell here." Kris admitted, not exactly shy of the fact anymore since they'd ventured to dark worlds before.

"Eh?" Seemed like MC didn't know what a dark world was….or he just didn't have much knowledge. Kris internally shrugged at the response, they'd have to ask Ralsei about how much people know. Suddenly, they realised something.

"That…sounded so much like an anime character…"

All of a sudden, MC's face shifted from one of….whatever it was earlier –it was hard to tell because his face was literally blurred– to what seemed to be horror.

"That heart inside of you…" MC grabbed Kris's sleeve and pulled them closer, he then placed his other hand on their chest. Despite the many panicked emotions and impulses running through Kris's head, they stayed put and simply stared. Scare him off like you do everyone else, you quiet weirdo. However, they did gulp at the man's hand on their chest. It reminded them of…other times. "That's….them, isn't it?"

Kris's hands tensed and they pushed MC off of them. They didn't want to think of them, whoever that be.

"The one who plays as us. I know what happened to you."

Play clueless, be clueless. Pretend to not understand.

"What?"

"A fellow vessel contacted me, this one discarded from its reality. I know about The Player, Kris."

"...I…The what?" Kris already knew that there was a 'player' in this place since it was a video game but….why was MC acting as if whoever played this game also controlled them? They weren't a fictional character, they were a real person! And besides, wouldn't they be considered as being The Player here?

Game worlds were weird.

"You know what I mean. And…I just had an epiphany." MC pondered.

Kris mentally raised an eyebrow.

"Your SOUL is The Player, which means that they're here." MC clasped his hands together and whatever was visible in his blurred out eyes seemed to burn. "I just need to send you back to your world."

MC ATTACKS!

How will you proceed?