As your brother continued to play soccer in the garden, you sat on the sidelines, watching him kick the ball, admiring his sport. His movements were fluid and confident, each kick displayed his passion and skill for soccer.
"Do you wanna play?" he called out, snapping your train of thought. You hesitated for a moment, wanting to decline, but you were interrupted before you said a word.
Another pop-up screen appeared in front of you, similar to the one you saw before.
[ᴷⁱᶜᵏ ᵗʰᵉ ᵇᵃˡˡ]
[ᴬᶜᶜᵉᵖᵗ] [ᵈᵉⁿʸ]
You were confused and had a puzzled expression on your face. It seemed as if the game's mechanics fused with your reality.
"What's this?" you said out loud, reaching out to touch the holographic display. Before you could fully process your situation, you tapped the "Accept" option.
The moment your fingers touched the screen, it vanished, leaving behind only a single arrow that seemed to be pointing directly at the soccer ball your brother was playing with.
Taking a deep breath, you stood up, determined to explore this new and unusual scenario. With a mix of anticipation and nervousness, you stepped onto the field.
You apporoached the ball, grounded in the realization that this 'game' is now your reality. You readied yourself for the kick, determined to make it count.
Taking another deep breath you swung your legs as hard as you could. Unfortunately it was all for nothing, as you missed and looked like an idiot.
Gravity took over you and because you kicked so hard, you fell on your butt. You heard your brother laughing so hard it felt like it was booming all over the garden. Your 'ego' was hurt and you felt tears forming in the corners of your eye sockets.
You forgot you were an emotional child and couldn't help but cry.
Your brother's amusement turned into concern as he saw that you were genuine with your distress. He then ran over to you.
"It's okay, it's okay," he cooed, his voice gentle and soothing. "Don't cry, Y/n-chan. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. You'll do better next time." His prescence and words comforted you, calming you down.
As he wiped away a few stray tears, you managed a shaky smile. In that moment, it became clear that while you were navigating in this strange world, the bonds you formed and actions you took were as real as any other. You nodded, taking his words to heart.

Despite your best efforts to recreate the circumstances, that pop up thing that often annoys people because they're often advertisements, hasn't come again. You wiggled your fingers trying to imitate what you would do with your phone or a keyboard, waved your hands and even attempted a few dramatic jumps. But none of your flamboyant gestures angered the game's gods enough to curse you with yet another ad-like being.
You had mixed feelings as one, you felt frustrated that your silly dances never gained enough attention, and two, you were curious as to what exactly it must take for that screen to appear again.
Just as you were about to give up, a voice called out from outside the bathroom door. "Y/n, how long are you gonna be in there? Is everything alright?" It was your mom, and her sudden presence caused your heart to skip a beat.
"Coming!" you replied, your voice a mixture of surprise and urgency. You quickly turned on the water tap, trying to make your mom less shushpishus. "I'm just washing my hands!"
That moment was a reminder of your juggling act to maintan the persona of a 5 year old, while trying to figure out and understand your strange digital world.
As you stepped out of the bathroom, you felt your mom's concern. Her eyes scanned you all over like a quality checker in the groceries trying to find any cuts or bruises on the goods. You tried to show her your fancy smancy smile in attempt to allieviate her worry.... WHICH WORKED. She nodded in approval before turning back to whatever she had been occupied with.
yOUR MoM's costant supervision was suffocating. Every step you took, every thought you had, was subject to scrutiny, and this limitation fueled your want for answers.
You then went to your room later that evening and wanted to SUMMON THE ALMIGHTY POP UP SCREEN ONCE AGAIN. In the privacy of your lovely lovely pink room, you closed the door and took a deep breath.
"Okay, let's try this again," you muttered under you breath. You once again wiggled and jiggled as if trying to comminicate with an otherworldy spirit. And then just as you were about to give up, a flicker caught your eye.
A faint glow materialized before you, gradually forming into the familiar holographic screen.
"ᵀᵃˢᵏ ᶜᵒᵐᵖˡᵉᵗᵉᵈ:
¹ˢᵗ ᵀᵃˢᵏ ⁻ ᴷⁱᶜᵏ ᵗʰᵉ ᴮᵃˡˡ"
it read, along with a few other lines of text that seemed to outline your achievements.
Yaaassss gurrll slayyy 💅💫 ya finally unlocked the cooodeeee!! The screen was back! Finally all your efforts and strange habits has led to fruition!
You carefully observed the screen, taking in all the details, eager to see any new tasks or insghts you may gain from such.
It was clear that this screen was more than just a game mechanic—it was a bridge between your past and present, a tool that would help you navigate this manga-inspired world.

ᴹᵃⁱⁿ ˢᶜʳᵉᵉⁿ:
ᴾʳᵒᶠⁱˡᵉ
ᴸᵒᵛᵉ ⁱⁿᵗᵉʳᵉˢᵗ
Qᵘᵉˢᵗˢ
The screen mirrored the structure of a video game, confirming the fact that this was not just any ordinary world.
"This is just like a game..." you muttered, the line between fiction and reality just went bye bye.
Among the options, the text "Love Interests" stood out, calling out to you. You tapped on it, wanting to learn more about them smoochy smoochy stuff that goes on in your world.
As the screen for "Love interests" loaded, the text that appeard just left you puzzled:
ᴸᵒᵛᵉ ⁱⁿᵗᵉʳᵉˢᵗ
???
ᴺᵒⁿᵉ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ˡᵒᵛᵉ ⁱⁿᵗᵉʳᵉˢᵗ ⁱˢ ᵘⁿˡᵒᶜᵏ ʸᵉᵗ ⁱᵗ ˢᵉᵉᵐˢ.
Confusion was etched to the fibre of your very being. What did it mean by "unlocked"? And why was the category just as confused as you with all its question marks? Was there a way for you to unlock these "love interests"? You thought.
Frowning, you decided to go back to the main screen and investigate further. You clicked on the "Profile" option, hoping learn more of your character.
The information that appeared was both revealing and added more to your confusion:
ˢᵏⁱˡˡˢ:
ᴹᵃᵏⁱⁿᵍ ᵘᵖ qᵘⁱᶜᵏ ˡⁱᵉˢ
'Well that's a weird skill' you thought. What kind of world was this, where making up lies was considered a skill? It was a skill that suited a con man rather than a child- oh wait. This can easily get you out of trouble if you break something. STONKS I DO TELL YA!
But it was the profile information that truly held your attention:
ᴾʳᵒᶠⁱˡᵉ:
ᴺᵃᵐᵉ: ᵉᵍᵒ ʸ/ⁿ
ᴬᵍᵉ: ⁵
ᴴᵉⁱᵍʰᵗ: ³'⁵
You stared at the screen, mixed feelings bubbling up inside you. The name "Ego Y/n" felt like an undeserved title that was assigned to you rather than a reflection of your true self.
The info about your height seemed to further emphasize the dissconnection. At 5 years old, you were shorter than you were used to.
As you contemplated yur existence anD why you were born on this earth and what is your purose on this life... You didn't feel a existential dread, instead you only felt more compelled to explore the natures of your wild reality. With a sense of contentment, you slapped that pop up screen trying to shoo it away from your life never to be seen again and turned your gaze to the beautiful, warm, and comfortable bed that was calling to your aching child body.
Why is this chapter and the previous one changing so much? Haha, well, I'm editing it now sooooo - Prettyboyluver