"Ultimategamer69. . . I like you!"
Liue's eyes widened. He couldn't believe it. The words lit up the text box in pink glittering font, complete with cheesy sparkles. Heck, they made the moment feel more magical. Liue leaned forward, his eyes shining. Finally.
After dozens of reloads, countless wrong choices, and enduring the pixelated pout of his 2D crush, the ending was finally his. A sense of relief and pride washed over him. He straightened up in his chair, cracking his back after five hours of choosing dialogue options and sipping flat soda.
The male let out a small laugh. "Took you long enough." He was so happy that he even snapped a picture on his phone! Talk about a sweaty Discord mod. For a while, he just sat there, basking in the glow of victory.
This was, for him, the best part of otome games. The rush, the payoff, the fun of it being all silly without anything serious. Real-life relationships didn't offer that kind of thrill.
He leaned back, twirling his mouse absentmindedly. Liue should've gone to sleep. Or eaten instead of drinking soda. Or maybe touched grass. But no—instead, he opened a new tab and typed into the search bar: "New Otome Games."
How stupid.
Google spat out the usual lineup of knock-off dating sims and obscure fan projects, it was nothing new. In the midst of scrolling down, going through pages, out of nowhere, the screen glitched.
In the blink of an eye, every single tab vanished, his entire browser cleared itself. Only one website remained on his screen.
"Yeah, that's not terrifying at all."
Before he could try and figure out what caused this, Liue froze. For a moment, he swore he heard it—a voice, faint but clear, like it came from his headphones. Though there was nothing playing.
Click Me.
The boy flinched, ripping his headset off and staring at it.
Nothing. The room was dead silent.
"Great," Liue muttered. "Now I'm hearing things."
He glanced at his computer screen once again, reading the single website's name.
Eternal Love: The True Route Awaits You.
What made it more odd was the fact the website had no description at all. That was it, the title. Did this scare him? Did he finally decide to shut down his computer screen and burn it down? No. This made him curious—intrigued.
"Corny."
What kind of guy calls it corny but clicks on it?
The website loaded completely with no issue. No pop-ups, no ten-hour ad. Just the same title, bigger now, sparkling across his entire monitor. He scrolled down further to find a list—
Choose Your Destiny!
Multiple characters were displayed, girls AND boys. This surprised him, yet he also felt excited. There were barely any otome games with male love interests—at least not with a male MC. Not only was the whole vibe and aesthetic lovely, the artstyle was terrific. Horrifingly good.
Liue tilted his head, scrolling very slowly as he observed each and every character. The characters weren't the generic pixel sprites he was used to. These portraits looked like they belonged in a high-budget anime film. Painterly shading, the detail in the folds of their clothes, the faint glow that made their hair and eyes shimmer—someone had put serious effort into this.
"What the hell, this looks better than half the triple-A games I've played," he muttered.
Beneath everything, at the very bottom of the page, there was one last button. It read: "Live The Story!"
After all the astonishment Liue felt from the characters, he had forgotten how shady it was from the very start. So did he hesitate to click on the button? No.
He expected some sort of surprise from it, maybe a flashy animation or some dumb cutscene, but nothing happened. The screen didn't change at all.
Liue sighed, leaning back on his chair as his fingers tapped on the desk, waiting for his old PC to wheeze it's way back into action. Maybe it had given up and got sick of the romance games.
Then he heard it.
"Are you ready?"
There it was again. The voice was faint—soft, almost melodic—but it cut through the silence of his room like a blade.
Liue froze, going pale from realization. His eyes darted to his headset lying flat down on the desk, untouched. If he didn't have his headphones on, then—
"Where the fuck did that sound come from?"
The glow surged forward, spilling out of the monitor like water bursting from a dam. It washed over his desk, his hands, his chest—warm, heavy, pulling. Liue lurched backward in his chair, but his body wasn't listening anymore. It felt like a magnet had clamped onto his ribs, pulling him in.
"Holy shit!—"
His last thought before everything went white was that he should've gone to sleep instead.
"Hashi, are you sure you can take this one on?" The old man gruffed, tugging at his tie as though it was strangling him. He peered out the tall crystal window of his office, watching the city with narrowed eyes. The sky outside was a soft shade of rose, streaked with different golden threads.
Below, transparent streets hung suspended in the air, countless workers walking along the streets. Some of them carried files containing their next assignments as matchmakers, some held arrows with names carved into them.
Behind him, the young boy cleared his throat. Hashi straightened, his posture disciplined, his expression unfazed though his fingers fidgeted behind his back. He tried his best to remain calm. Outside, atleast.
"Yes, sir. I'm ready," though the faint twitch of his eye betrayed more eagerness than he let on. It had been three years since his last mission, which he believed was his final one—but he was wrong.
"Ron," the young man flinched slightly at the sound of his boss's voice calling out his name, gaze snapping from the floor to his master's back. Were things getting too serious?
"Yes, sir?"
At last, the old man turned. His expression was neither stern nor angry, but one of concern. Ron let out a long breath, the stiffness in his body slowly easing away.
"Don't let what happened last time happen again."
He froze, the memory flooding him with a wave of unpleasant feelings—but he couldn't let that be obvious. So he gave a small smile.
"Of course not, sir."
After being dismissed, Ron bowed his head and stepped outside of the office, the heavy crystal doors closing behind him with a muted thud. The hum of the city rushed back at once—the distant clatter of arrows being sorted overheard, the chatter of matchmakers hurrying between assignment.
He walked along the silent hallways, the sound of his footsteps washed out any other backround noise. There was the file given to him, clutched in his hand, though his mind wasn't on the papers at all.
Don't let what happened last time happen again.
The male shook his head, forcing himself to replace his nervous state with a determined one as he walked. Three years. He'd been waiting for another chance. And this time, he wouldn't slip up, he wouldn't fail.
"Obsessed... with romance games?" Ron let out a soft laugh, shaking his head as he scanned through the file. On the top left was a picture of his assignment: medium length hair that fell carelessly into his face, tired eyes that suggested more nights spent gaming than sleeping. Attractive? yes—almost effortlessly so.
At first glance, it seemed like finding the male a lover wasn't so hard after all—especially with that face! Until he realized that it depended on what the assignment wanted.
He took a moment to think about the variety of love interests. Would any of them be to his mission's satisfaction? If not, there would have to be more characters to insert into the game. Was this troubling for the young matchmaker? No. Ron's lips even curved into a small, confident smile. Complicated or not, his determination turned everything easy.
Ron licked his lips, continuing to flip through the pages. He was totally ready for the next day.
"Sweetie, wake up. It's time for school."
Liue groaned as someone nudged his shoulder. His eyes remained shut; the bed beneath him was far too comfortable to give up. Softer than usual, in fact. He was used to the stiff, creaky mattress. Had he somehow gained so much weight that the bed had no choice but to sink beneath him?
No, that wasn't it.
His breath caught. He lived alone.
His eyes snapped open, and his heart skipped a beat. Hovering over him was a woman he had never seen before. Her smile was gentle, familiar in a way it shouldn't have been. Not only that, but the room around him wasn't his own either—sunlight spilled through the curtains, and the faint scent of breakfast filled the atmosphere. What the hell? this wasn't even an apartment!
"Come on, you'll be late."
Adrenaline surged. The boy bolted upright, grabbing a pillow and clutching it as if it was a sword. His grip was white-knuckled as if cotton and feathers could save him from a potential kidnapper.
"Lady, I have no idea who you are, but you better tell me where I am right now before I—"
In a blink, he was back on the bed.
"Sweetie, wake up. It's time for school."
Just like a few seconds ago. Same words. Same tone. Same position. His heart pounded.
With zero hesitation, he slapped her. Terror guided his hand, but what terrified him more was the result—nothing. She didn't flinch. She didn't even blink.
And then—again—he was back in the same position. Eyes shut, tired, and relaxed. Like nothing happened. Was this hell? Does he have to endure this loop as punishment? It kept happening. Every attempt to escape, every time he tried to shout for help, even the time he tried dialing the police—it all collapsed back into the same moment.
Twenty minutes passed. Or maybe longer. Time had begun to blur.
"Sweetie, wake up. It's time for school."
At last, Liue stopped fighting. His voice was gone, his limbs felt heavy. He sunk in the bed more and sighed in defeat. So this is it, huh? A farewell flickered through his mind—his gaming nights, his closet, his cat, and his romance games. All of it fading, replaced by this endless morning.
Wordless, the boy sat up, staring at the lady. Her sweet—now eerie—smile didn't change.
"Come on, you'll be late."
This time, she turned and walked out of the room.
Liue froze. She left. After everything, after all his desperate thrashing, she walked away.
Left with no other choice, he followed her out of the door. He had never been in this house before, so why did it all feel so familiar? The hallway stretched before him, narrow yet warm, lined with family portraits he didn't recognize.
Why does this feel like I've walked here a million times before?
He reached the dining room. Food was already prepared on the table, as if she was already expecting him. The woman hummed as she placed a glass of orange juice next to the plate—the food looked undeniably good. Too good.
Liue unknowingly completed an entire morning routine in an unfamiliar place. He had breakfast, took a shower, and put on a uniform, though he didn't recognize which school it belonged to. Every step felt both foreign and automatic, like he was being guided through a script.
"Bye, honey! Study well in school!"
The woman called, waving goodbye with the same sweet smile as he walked out of the house. Even the outside was unrecognizable to him.
"This is just a dream, right?"
Liue muttered under his breath as he walked, gripping the strap of his bag tightly while looking around to confirm if this is some kind of movie setup or not. But no, it was all real.
At this point, nothing about it felt fake. And that terrified him more than if it had.
Suddenly, a voice interrupted his thoughts, snapping him back to reality.
"Liue!"
His stomach lurched. Who was that, and how did they know his name?
He turned sharply and froze. Before he realized, he found himself face-to-face with a short girl, her dark hair bouncing with each step she took towards him. Sunlight caught the glint of excitement in her eyes, and a bright smile stretched across her face. Her presence hit Liue like déjà vu—a girl he felt like he recognized, yet he didn't.
As if he wasn't surprised enough, a voice—clear and smooth—started speaking.
"Mayumi Sierra, your childhood best friend."
The male's heart skipped, his gaze darting around wildly. Holy shit. Was he trapped in a book? The voice, was it the narrator of his life? Was he never real all along? He pressed his palms against his ears in disbelief, but the voice didn't come from outside. It echoed from everywhere. This was the moment Liue seriously started to think that he was going crazy.
Mayumi, standing in front of him, tilted her head with a concerned look on her face.
"What's wrong?"
Liue's throat went dry. Up close, she was even prettier—eyes that seemed to sparkle in the morning light, a warmth in her expression that felt painfully genuine. But none of it distracted him from the insane occurence seconds earlier.
His grip on his bag tightened.
"Who are you—" he didn't get the chance to finish.
In a heartbeat, the world blinked. He was back to where he was minutes before—walking, the morning sun on his back, facing the opposite direction down the street.
"Liue!"
The exact same voice. The exact same tone.
His blood ran cold as he whipped around. Sure enough, Mayumi came sprinting toward him, hair wild and free, smile radiant. Just like before. Word for word. Step for step.
Here it was again—the loop. Just like earlier when he woke up in this strange place.
All of a sudden, the sharp snap of fingers echoed through the air, reverbrating in his chest. Mayumi was frozen, showing absolutely no signs of movement. The wind stopped stirring his hair. Even the sunlight seemed to stall, holding its glow in place like a painting. Every instict screamed at him to move, to run, to scream—but nothing obeyed. He was utterly, impossibly alone.
Shivers ran down his spine as he felt a presence behind him, and he was right. Liue turned—and there he was.
A shorter boy with black hair stood there, looking straight at him, his eyes glinting with amusement. He didn't move a muscle, yet somehow seemed alive, like the pause in the world hadn't affected him at all.
"You know, things would be easier if you didn't go out of character."
The voice was the exact one Liue heard earlier. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Words refused to form.
"But I don't blame you," the boy continued, tilting his head slightly as his lips formed into a pitying pout. "After all, you're new to this."
Those eyes, that gaze—it made Liue feel like he was being read or measured like an opened book, yet the smile suggested that he enjoyed every single page. Not only that, but he spoke with a strange mixture of amusement and authority, as if he had been expecting this exact moment all along.
Eventually, the words escaped Liue's throat, though they came out hoarse.
"Who are you?"
A snicker as a response.
"I'm Ron Hashi, and I'm going to find you your one true love."