To Eien no Jiyuu

I always thought life is just a bugless game. What do I mean by that? Coding-wise, it’s perfect.

Whoever made it keeps looking for a new protagonist to kill some time. But until God-senpai notices YOU, a delusional middle or even high-schooler, you keep saying to yourself: ‘Why is MY middle and high-school life not as interesting as in anime?!’, or something along those lines.

It seems my suspicions have been confirmed to be true.

If this thing isn’t just a dream OR some weirdo trapped me in a deserted island to collect chips to survive OR some other weirdo trapped me inside of a game just to have a realistic experience of it -and then forget WHY HE FREAKING DID IT- then that only means one thing-

-Life is just a game you have to beat using your own two hands and mind.

And my game is just about to begin.

*

I can’t tell reality and imagination apart anymore. This is just too vivid to be a dream, but it is too unlikely to be real.

The sky is red, and the sun has taken a light shade of a red-yellow mix. It’s just like the sky of the Apocalypse.

You wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it with your eyes, right?

But even if you do see that, what are the chances of you actually being right about it? The sky can rarely take that shade, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the End of Times.

Which one do I believe then? Am I dreaming or am I facing reality?

There’s no point in overthinking that. Whether a dream or reality, just standing there won’t change anything.

I quickly start searching around the house for Anzu and Enzu desperately.

‘’Anzu!’’

But I know it all too well.

‘’Enzu!’’

I’m desperate to find someone.

‘’That’s right! Mum and Dad should be back by now! The van should at least be here!’’

I head to the garage, but no sign of my parents or the van whatsoever. My hopes were pinned up for nothing.

‘’How could this happen to me?!

Sometimes you unconsciously create false hopes to keep going, even if you knew your efforts would be in vain from the very beginning.

‘’Anyone!’’

I hate this.

‘’Just answer! Anyone!’’

I hate being alone.

‘’Don’t leave me alone…’’

But I don’t want to accept it. They are not here. None of them.

‘’What kind of a sick joke is this supposed to be?!’’ I fall on my knees. ‘’Why did I end up in this world?! Why me?!’’

I’m scared. Scared by the mere thought of something bad happening to them.

So-

‘’-This…is just another vivid dream…right?’’

No, it’s not. Reality is never a friend you can trust; it’s a foe you’ve mistaken for a friend. Living in the world of my imagination would never do any good to anyone, especially me. I have to face the facts as they are and not how I want them to be.

As I get up, I notice something falling from my jacket’s pocket. At first glance, it only seems to be a strange, wrist watch-like object. Judging from my gaming experience though, it could be a device that allows communication between players.

But HOW do you communicate?

After scrolling through the menus and experimenting with some of its features, I realize it isn't any different from smartwatches.

Oddly enough, every kilobyte of data from my own phone is present in that watch -all of my contacts included.

Wouldn’t hurt trying calling Enzu then.

Since I went into the booth and got transported here, then the same thing must have happened to her too.

Nevertheless, it is needless to mention that this game is getting creepier by the second…

‘’Aaaaaaaaaand call!’’

‘’The recipient of this call has blocked calls from this number.’’

‘’Why do you hate me so much, Enzu?!''

Worry not, Yuusuke, at least now you know how this thing works AND that she is actually here!

I’m finally motivated to keep searching. Even if it’s Enzu we’re talking about…

Leaving the house behind me, I find myself running wherever the road takes my poor self.

5 minutes into running and I collapse to the ground like an overworking employee.

‘’It’s futile… I can’t get up… No energy to keep going… I’m too young to say my final words yet… I should have worked out more… If only there was a way to-‘’

No, there is one.

The power of coding.

‘’That’s it! I just need to change the source code to fill myself with energy! But how do I do that too…? Shouldn’t there be a command prompt type of thing exist to type the code?’’

After ridiculing myself trying to make that ‘’thing’’ appear -just like Spiderman was trying to cast his web for the first time, but in public in my case-, I end up hurting my pride AND giving up.

‘’Just show me how I can make it appear! Do I need to say or do something?! I can’t end up dying of hunger! Dammit, how does Insert Command work?!’’

Much to my surprise, a floating rectangular screen has appeared before me, almost identical to a Windows command prompt window popping up on a screen. It’s exactly like those transparent screens you see in almost every movie set in the future.

Instead of wondering how I managed to make that appear like a normal person-

‘’Seems my shenanigans also work in the world, huehehehe!’’

-My delusions kicked in…

Apparently, the condition to make that screen appear is by saying ‘’Insert Command’’ -the game’s name.

‘’Let’s get down to business, shall we? What should I insert to get some energy?’’

After racking my brain to come up with the appropriate command, the only thing remaining is to enter it.

For one reason or another, it seems to work; I’m full of energy right now.

And now I have a lightbulb up my head.

‘’Insert Command!’’

It’s not guaranteed to work, but trying it out wouldn’t be a bad way to get the gist of the limits of this feature.

‘’Teleportation!’’

*

‘’AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!’’ I scream as I fall.

‘’A-Are you okay?!’’ says a kind womanly voice behind me.

‘’Y-Yeah, but my head kinda hurts.’’ I turn my head to face that person.

And it seems that the plot twists are far from over.

‘’Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You freak! What are you doing here?!’’

I knew that voice seemed familiar, but-

‘’Wait, did YOU, Kodo Enzu, ask ME, the person you hate the most, if I’m okay?’’

‘’I didn’t know it was you, dumbass! You’re always wearing that stupid hood of yours, so I couldn’t tell! It doesn’t count!’’ she pouts.

‘’Yeah yeah, whatever your Highness says...’’

‘’H-Highness?! A-Are you retarded?!’’

She ended her sentence quite in a rush; she was probably trying to go off on a tangent. My guess is that she wants to tell me something completely unrelated –always speaking from experience-, but for some reason, she’s been avoiding eye contact the entire time

After some seconds of awkward silence, I decide to take a look at my surroundings to determine where I’ve been teleported. The only thing I can confirm right now is that I’m in an alley.

Walking straight to the source of the light within the darkness of the alley, me and Enzu reach the ‘’door to the outside world’’.

Our position is now clear-

[-We’re outside the very same shop that got us into this.]

In actuality, we were beside it the whole time; the alley was basically the space between the walls of the stores.

‘’U-Um...’’ Enzu stutters while fidgeting lightly, her cheeks getting as red as it goes.

I honestly don’t know how to react. It’s the first time I’ve seen her having an embarrassed and shy look on her face. It’s absolutely nothing compared to when she came to my school with Anzu to pick me up.

‘’Thank you...about yesterday...’’ she murmurs in an almost inaudible voice.

This could be just my imagination, but she looks EXACTLY like Anzu right now. Was Enzu always this cute? Or even better, was she always this kind at heart?

I’m genuinely awestruck. I haven’t felt like this ever before in front of her. Just what is this calming feeling of serenity?

I can’t hold it back anymore. The more I look at her, the more she looks like Anzu.

‘’Don’t even mention it!’’ I smile at her as I stroke her indigo hair as gently as possible.

This pat came out of pure instinct. I’m so used to patting Anzu’s head, after all.

But that is the least of my problems...

‘’W-W-W-W-W-What do you think you’re doing, you sicko?!’’ she shouts as she kicks me in the knee, making me take a few steps back.

I should have seen that reaction coming. I was so caught up in the heat of the moment though that it didn’t cross my mind at all.

‘’D-Don’t shout! People will get the wrong idea!’’

‘’What wrong idea?! You’re invading my private space!’’

‘’Do you want to get me in jail for no reason?!’’

A small pause follows.

After taking a deep breath, she points out in a lower tone than before: ‘’Look, I get that Anzu likes that kind of stuff, but I’m not her.’’ she sighs.

‘’Ooooh, so you liked it?’’

Oh.

That was probably the wrong thing to say.

‘’How did it come to that?! No way in hell I would ever like something you did! Is this how much of a siscon you have become?!’’

K-freaking-O.

That hit really close to home. Not because it’s true, but because I don’t have anything to object with. I never expected her to be so cunning.

No matter how hard I think, nothing I say will get through to her, given how much of a thickhead she is.

The only way to get out of this is to change the subject entirely.

‘’Come to think of it, where’s your so-called boyfriend?’’

‘’I wish I knew... He said he was going into the store to take a quick look at the game.’’

This is weird in so many ways. Enzu complied with me changing the subject? Not only that, but her attitude did a 180 in no time.

In what world is that possible?!

‘’He was taking his time there and I got worried, so I went in too. When I got in that booth...well...here we are. And all thanks to that Insert Command thing.’’

Wait, how come the screen didn’t appear? She said the game’s name loud and clear.

‘’Enzu, say the game’s name again, I want to confirm something.’’

‘’I-Insert Command? Like that?’’

‘’Yes.’’ I nod. ‘’Now pay attention to what I’m going to do. Insert Command!’’

As expected, the screen has appeared in front of me once more.

Now I’m sure I’ve skipped a crucial detail to this that I have to find out quickly.

‘’What’s this thing now?’’

‘’This floating screen is your only means of survival in this game. Can you imagine this while saying the game’s name?’’

‘’I-I think I can do it. Insert Command!’’

My assumption was right; the key to making the screen appear is to imagine it too.

‘’It worked!’’ she rejoices. ‘’So, what do I do with this?’’

‘’Unfortunately for you, the way it works is something that will always be over your head!’’ I proudly declare.

‘’Don’tcha brag in front of me, ya nerdy tech geek!’’

For your information, ‘nerd’ and ‘geek’ in the same sentence is an instant coup de grâce.

Unfortunately for you, Enzu, I have a way to counterattack this time.

‘’You don’t know anything about coding, do you? That means you have to rely on Y-O-U-R-S T-R-U-L-Y.’’

‘’W-Well, if I don’t have any other choice...’’

So something IS bothering her after all. I’ve never seen her being timid before, and in fact, in front of me, of all people.

Teasing her any further right now is out of the question. The situation we are in is not suitable for such happy-go-lucky moments.

‘’Let me test something on your screen for a sec.’’ I say in a serious tone, Enzu nodding contently.

Logically speaking, you wouldn’t normally be able to interfere with someone else’s controls in a game. I hope that’s not the case in this game.

‘’What are you going to do?’’

‘’See if I can do my magic with your screen too.’’

Even trying to type into her screen’s keyboard is of no use. The effort was ultimately futile.

‘’I see. That should mean-’’ I smile as I insert a command on my own screen, making a plain and good ol’ vanilla ice cream appear in my hand: ‘’-that each screen can only be activated and functions only on its owner’s will. Want that?’’ I say offering the ice cream to her.

‘’No. Chug on it yourself.’’

‘’‘Chug on it’ is a bit cruel, don’t you think?’’ I forcibly laugh.

I’m glad she’s back to her usual self though.

“Hey, how did you do that?!” she gasps flabbergasted.

“Eh? What did I do?”

“The ice cream you were holding... Where did it go? It vanished out of thin air!”

‘’Indeed, I didn’t even eat it, where could it have gone?’’

There must be an explanation to this. And I’ll figure it out somehow.

We are inside a game and we are the ones playing it. Its main and unique feature is being able to modify the source code to our advantage.

But how does one control such an ability?

On a console, using the controller. On PC, using the keyboard, preferably.

So what do you do if you’re INSIDE the game? How do you do it?

“I get it now! This works even if you don’t type! You just need to have the appropriate command in mind!”

“Yeah, I don’t speak neither geek-ish nor alien. I’m leaving you be. Once a show-off, always a show-off!” Enzu flashes a smug at me.

Ooh, so that’s how you wanna play, huh?

Time for payback then!

“Wait. What is that thing?!”

“W-Where?!” she turns to look at me, frightened to the core.

“Stay still. Don’t move an inch until I tell you to.” I say, approaching Enzu in slow steps.

Since you have chosen to comply with my little act, let’s get straight to the finale.

“Up here!” I exclaim as I show her head, forcing her to look at my hand, patting her head with soft movements in the process.

I bet she wouldn’t have ever expected something like that.

“Again?!”

“Ease up, Enzu. At times like this, you have to be calm and clear-minded. Am I right?” I slowly move my hand from the top of her head to the side and behind her ears -aka my powerful Stand: The Side Headpat!

It has been proven that the area surrounding the ears is more sensitive than the rest of the head (No, it hasn’t! Or so I think!), and given Enzu’s soft hair, it provides both of us with a relaxing feeling.

“This isn’t the time for your games...” she sighs once more.

Despite what she said, she doesn’t show any resistance to the pat.

“B-But don’t think that just because I’m letting you do this means I necessarily like it or anything! Don’t get any weird ideas, you hear meeew-!”

I don’t want to state anything incorrect, but I’m pretty sure she was about to purr, hence her covering her mouth.

Does that mean she has finally succumbed to that divine feeling!?

‘’Okay, that’s enough!’’ I say as I take my hand away from her hair.

“So, what’s really going on here? What have we been dragged into?”

“Guess I have to say everything I know so far then.”

We took our time trying to understand this world better through sharing our own experiences so far.

Enzu was just sitting there, listening quietly to me explaining how this world works and trying to connect the little pieces of information we had.

I’m actually quite surprised that Enzu had almost no knowledge of the situation we’re in.

“So the only way to get out of here is to eliminate these 4 Dei in just a month?”

“I guess that’s only possible way. But we can’t do it alone.’’ I stand up. ‘’We need comrades. Let’s go!”

‘’Go where?’’

‘’To find comrades of course! Hold on tight, Enzu!’’ I grasp her hand.

‘’Wait, what do you think you’re-!’’

And before she could finish talking, we had already been teleported.