Chapter 9

The docile scent of morning floated through Shintaro's apartment as another day dawned on my plan. So far, we were safe, if only due to the fact that our biggest threat of exposure was a group of high school students. I had discovered in the few days I had slept under his kotatsu that, after the cockroach incident or perhaps for his entire life, Shintaro was an early riser. At around five o'clock every morning, he slinks out of his room and sits on top of the kotatsu table wearing a combination of t-shirt, shorts and sandals, and, soon after, I wake up, seeing this unusual blue entity through bleary eyes and wondering how quickly I can fix myself a cup of coffee and remind myself of the life I'm living right now.

And yes, I can drink coffee. You think I can make it through this without it?

This morning, we were whiling away the small hours sitting in front of Shintaro's weathered television. He seemed content staring at the black screen, wiggling his toes, but I was reminded of the game system nestled inside the cabinet beneath. I crawled over toward it, which piqued his interest.

"What is that strange device, Nare?"

"Oh, this? It's a game console."

"You are able to access games? Does it teleport you to a location and find opponents?"

"No, it's all electronic. Wait, don't you have a portable device that has a dictionary and a locator on it? Doesn't that thing have games on it too?"

"Yes, but we do not have devices that are for just games. Why would anyone limit themselves like that?"

Always on their high horse, these higher life forms...

The game console of which I had now pressed the power button was a RayStation II. Despite Shintaro's taste, and the eclectic display of relatively modern games visible on the posters pinned up in his room, his choice of console was surprisingly... old. Weirdly enough, he did have games for the RayStation's newest iteration, IV, behind the glass doors to the right, yet nothing to play them on.

"So this device can play electronic games?"

"Yes. You put the disc into the slot and use one of these to play," I responded, waggling a wired controller at him.

"You do not use your hands or your retina?"

"No. Well, not yet. This is the classic way to play."

"Do humans often prefer outdated technology?"

"It's retro. R-E-T-R-O."

"I see..."

I collected the pile of RSII games Shintaro had lined up beside the console and presented them to him.

"We have a bit of time before school. How about we play a bit of each?"

He perused the options, and the first up was a stealth shooter because Shintaro was fond of the art style, or as he said, "The black blobs of paint on the cover remind me of home." I slid Plastic Screw into the console and handed him the controller.

"What does this button do?"

He pressed it and fired his weapon, the pistol appearing from thin air. The bullet hit a guard, alerting the nearby enemies and swiftly earning him a game over.

"It's a stealth game so you have to be careful," I noted, leaning over. "Try to take it slowly."

"Press RB to crouch," spoke a gravelly voice through the television, and a little picture of a rectangle appeared in the text box.

Shintaro's lips contorted as he thought for a moment. "That must be this one."

His character eagerly deployed a rocket launcher, and, in a panic, Shintaro released the button, causing it to fire into the nearby group of enemies. Naturally, this alerted the guards too.

Isn't this supposed to be a tutorial level?

Once again, he returned to the beginning of the camp level. Discovering, after some more gentle experimentation, which button RB was, he was able to crouch under the window and avoid being spotted. The next obstacle was a guard in the open, blocking the first objective.

Fortunately, X was a much easier button for Shintaro to recognise, but before he could press it, I stopped him.

"Check which item you have equipped first."

The selection window was hovering over 'grenade'. I can only imagine how well that would have ended had he thrown it.

And I still have no idea why he's so loaded with weapons this early in the game...

Cycling through the item selection, we arrived at 'broken bottle'. Shintaro wanted to use 'flashbang', which I admitted would have definitely been distracting, but not in the right way. When thrown, the bottle clinked, and a little '!' appeared above the guard, who wandered over to check it.

"Hm... these human games are not so bad after all. I like this strategy element. Although, humans really are foolish if all it takes to deceive them is a piece of discarded glass."

I wanted to swoop in to correct him that game NPCs are no gauge for the intelligence of humans, but with the experiences he's had so far, I was in no rush to correct him.

Shintaro crept his finger over the stick, sneaking past the guard. However, this guard seemed especially agitated. Every few steps Shintaro took, his model would pivot around 180 degrees behind him to look in Shintaro's direction. It was a battle of attrition: Shintaro's finger would snap the stick still every so often, with only milliseconds between each spin from the guard, whose blank, low-ploy eyes would watch him.

"Just... a little... more."

After more minutes than necessary of light tapping, Shintaro successfully passed the guard, who lost interest in the bottle and returned to his usual route, apparently free of the demonic possession glitch he was subject to a moment ago. Wait... that took him five minutes?

"This game is challenging. What others are there?"

But Rotator Screw still hasn't completed his mission yet, and you haven't saved...

"What is this one? There's an interesting display of humans on the cover."

"Are... you sure you want to play that one?"

"Why not? What type of game is it? What is it called?"

"...AmePuri Kiss... it's... a... well...let's call it a simulation game."

"Ah, so this is a game that simy..simule...simulates human life?"

"...You could say that."

I drew my hands to my knees as I knelt, unsure of whether I should ruin Shintaro's fun. I chose, for the time being, to observe. Shintaro replaced the Plastic Screw disk with that of AmePuri Kiss: That Kiss We Shared Over Pudding.

There were a lot of save files on this thing, spanning back almost a decade. It made me shudder to think just how much of this game he'd played before. Luckily, if you could say that, there was still just enough breathing room in the memory card for another save file.

A bland schoolboy soon appeared on screen, monologuing about how he was planning to seize his high school life.

I wonder if Shintaro sees the irony in this.

"Hand over yer money, squirt" grunted one of the bullies that had, without much warning or set-up, appeared to cause trouble for the game's protagonist. For some reason, Shintaro was continually pressing the 'hand over money' option, but the dialogue loop would always return him to the selection screen.

"Why can I not give my money to these humans? They are asking and I am trying to comply."

"Yeah, it looks like free will is an illusion here," I snided.

"I pity this poor human, although, I admire that he is preparing himself for a life under subjugation and accepting that he must act on the will of higher powers."

Rich coming from you, given your current situation.

"He will be given a less painful job when selection comes. Maybe something like a mine foreman."

Eventually, the game tired of Shintaro's attempts and proceeded as if he had refused. The protagonist was spared a beating by a girl with long blonde hair wearing a red sweater with oversized sleeves, who chased off the bullies. She spoke to him with a pout, her head turned to the side.

[???: I-It's not like I was trying to help you. How else am I supposed to act when I see you on the floor acting all pathetic like that? I-I guess you'll want me to walk you to school now, too!]

Shintaro decided to select 'no', somehow forgetting his earlier comments

"I am able to walk on my own," he mumbled.

And so, the game's protagonist and the girl, who we discovered was named 'Kinko', walked to school together. Before we could even process this though, something apparently collided with him, because the screen jostled and another silhouette appeared. It shifted to an art background, displaying this girl after having on the floor with her underwear egregiously visible.

[???: I...I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there.]

This road is nearly empty. There's nobody else around.

[???: We're in the same class? Then... I'd like to make it up to you later.]

[Kinko: Who are you? I'll have you know that SINTARO and I were going to class together.]

[Mayu: Are you two also from Sakura City High? My name is... Mayu]

The screen was already filling up with blushing girls. Yet, Shintaro was absorbed, and he took his time with each character as he allowed his translator device to work. And yes, SINTARO was what he entered before starting the game. There was no way to go back and change it.

"This game is..."

Dull? Ludicrous? Cliche?

"Fascinating!" he exclaimed, leaning forward. He turned to me to see my reaction, and caught sight of my disdainful expression.

"Did I... use the wrong word? What was the other one again? Uh... fun?"

"No, no, I got the idea."

You're just wrong, is all.

Shintaro's character arrived at school, and he was reprimanded for being late. A teacher, with an appearance and dress far too young to legally teach, appeared and tasked him with helping out in the nurse's office during lunch as a punishment.

And of course, there was a girl there too, with flowing, cloudy, brown hair and glasses far larger than any that would be practical to wear. Alright, I've had enough of this.

"I can't get over how unrealistic this is. I mean, as a Story Spirit, there's wish fulfilment, and then there's this," I blurted out.

"Wish fulfilment? But this is a look into the human thought process. All of these characters, explaining what's happening in their heads... I know it isn't special for you because you can do that, but this makes everything so much easier."

"But what kind of girl falls for a guy that quickly? Three of them in a row, for that matter."

"Has it been moving quickly?"

The girl on the screen is literally asking you out on a date right now!

"Just try not to take any of this seriously. It's not like your situation will be anything like this."

Shintaro selected 'yes' to the girl in the infirmary bed's offer for a date, although I knew for sure he had no idea what that meant and agreed out of curiosity. I avoided mentioning that this had doomed him to only being able to complete that character's story route unless he resets. If he has to learn the hard way, then so be it-

2 hours later

"I-I can't believe Iwaizumi went through so much... I mean, her cat... and the incident at the park... but that scene with the ducks after her sister passed away... It's just not fair... why did it have to end?"

I was spilling my thoughts out amongst blubbers and tears. Shintaro, who hadn't much concept of human emotion, was grasping my shoulder and crying into my lap as well.

"Iwaizumi... I'll always remember you, it doesn't matter how many times I attempt this game again..." he sniffled.

The clock read 8:00 am, and the faint buzzing of Shintaro's alarm was drowned out completely.