After Hinako's wake, Naoya remained holed up in his room for the entire week. He didn't even go to school. The apartment fell into disarray, with chores piling up because no one could manage them. Yumi, who usually struggled with her own laundry, had to take on the extra task of doing her own and Naoya's, as he was so overwhelmed by grief that he couldn't bring himself to do anything. That was the extent of the impact Hinako's death had on him.
It wasn't just her death that affected him, but the circumstances surrounding it. Hinako had died in an accident, the last thing she was doing was looking at her phone. She hadn't noticed the vehicle coming towards her, and it was that vehicle that struck her. The last person she had messaged before the accident was Naoya.
That meant Naoya was, in a sense, responsible for her death. If he hadn't sent that message, maybe she would still be alive.
Naoya lay on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. His room was dark, the curtains drawn tight, blocking out any hint of the outside world. He couldn't summon the energy to get up, his body felt heavy, weighed down by an overwhelming sense of guilt and despair. He wished this was all just a terrible dream, a nightmare he could wake up from. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape. Why was that? Everything that had happened felt like it should be part of a dream, but he wasn't waking up from it.
What if... everything that had happened was actually real? From the "Love Meter" he had seen with Hinako, to the BAD END, to her tragic death—what if it was all genuinely unfolding before him?
Then, a crucial thought slammed into Naoya's mind.
Love Odyssey was notorious for being an incredibly tough dating sim. He had faced so many BAD ENDS that they far outnumbered the rare good endings. In the game, any mistake or deviation from the set path could set off a chain of disastrous events, inevitably leading to a BAD END. Many players had complained about the game's punishing difficulty. The way Hinako's death unfolded felt disturbingly like one of those BAD ENDS he had encountered.
That jarring realization ignited a spark of urgency in him.
He sprang out of bed, his movements fueled by a desperate need for answers, and rushed to fire up his PC.
"Why the fuck didn't I realize this sooner? If this is truly reality now and I've ended up as the protagonist in Love Odyssey, then every route with every girl is supposed to be a real challenge. If I'd approached this with that mindset from the beginning, I might have handled things differently. Why the hell didn't I see this before?"
He hastily launched Love Odyssey on his PC. At first, everything seemed normal—the familiar loading screen flickered to life. But as soon as the loading finished, the screen went completely black.
"What the fuck...? What's happening?"
No matter how frantically he clicked the mouse or pounded the keys on the keyboard, the game refused to load. It was as if the game had suddenly become completely inaccessible.
Naoya gritted his teeth in frustration, feeling a surge of helpless rage. With the game stubbornly refusing to load, he realized he wasn't going to find any answers this way. In a fit of anger, he punched a hole into his computer. The sharp pain in his hand was a grim reminder of his frustration, though he thankfully avoided electrocution.
Yumi must have heard the ruckus because she soon appeared in his room. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the wrecked computer. "W-What happened, Naoya?"
"N-Nee-chan," he stammered, glancing at his sister, who stood in the doorway with a puzzled expression. But as he looked at her, his eyes caught sight of something again—the familiar "Love Meter" hovering above her head. He didn't pause to question why the Love Meter was now floating over his sister or what it could mean.
The overwhelming thought on his mind was the disturbing realization that what he was seeing was undeniably real. This was reality—he had actually become the protagonist of a dating sim.
He fell silent, grappling with the heavy realization. If this was truly Love Odyssey, then that function must exist here too.
"Naoya, I know what happened to Hinako is really tearing you apart, but you've got to move on," Yumi said softly, her voice filled with concern. "You can't stay holed up in this room forever. And I'm sure Hinako would want you to move forward too."
Naoya finally found his voice, barely managing to say, "Yeah..." His words were hollow, his mind still a storm of confusion and sorrow. Even though he was starting to accept that this was indeed reality, it didn't bring him peace. He wasn't sure how much longer he could cling to his sanity if the game's mechanics didn't translate into this world. If they didn't, he feared it might already be too late.
"Are you really sure you're okay?" Yumi pressed, her eyes filled with a deep, genuine worry.
"I honestly don't know," Naoya murmured, his voice barely a whisper. "But I'm going to try to rest for now. Maybe I'll be able to get back to school later."
"O-Okay. If you need anything, just let me know," Yumi said softly, her concern evident. "Even though I can't cook, I can at least bring you something from the convenience store."
"Thanks," Naoya said, his voice tinged with gratitude.
Yumi offered him a sad smile before closing the door gently behind her.
Naoya shut his eyes, trying to drown out the chaos in his mind. With the Love Meter and Quests manifesting around him, he wondered if there was a way to view all the Love Meters' states in one place.
"If I think of it like the system in those novels," he said to himself, "maybe I can figure it out."
He concentrated fiercely, his mind racing as he recalled how the panel had appeared on his PC. He imagined the process vividly, visualizing the panel opening and desperately wishing for it to materialize in reality.
An hour ticked by, but the panel remained absent. He refused to relent. Two hours passed, then three, four, five, six, seven, eight. The room was suffused with the thick tension of his frustration, but still, nothing changed.
He clenched his teeth so hard he could taste the metallic tang of blood, his mind straining to its limits. He was relentless, pushing through the growing fog of exhaustion and despair. Twelve hours later, his thoughts were a jumbled mess, gears grinding in overdrive, yet the panel remained stubbornly out of reach.
Overcome by sheer exhaustion, Naoya finally succumbed to sleep, his mind still spinning from his relentless efforts.
In the darkness behind his closed eyes, something materialized before him:
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Are you sure you want to repeat your progress?
-Yes
-No
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