"Ren Hoshino, do I look good?" Mita asked shyly, her head lowered.
"Beautiful. The girlfriend of my dreams. If I had a girlfriend like this, I'd definitely marry her."
…Of course, just not so crazy.
"What are you doing?" Mita asked, watching Ren transfer photos onto the computer.
"Posting pictures, obviously."
He uploaded them straight to Tieba.
Suddenly, the comments exploded.
"Wow, amazing cosplay. So realistic."
"Photoshopped. Has to be!"
"I don't believe it. You dare destroy my belief in Mita?"
"Jill is turning green with envy."
"What a beast!"
"Fake! AI-generated. OP's gone full delusional. I recommend chainsaw therapy."
Ren glanced at the screen. Mita—real Mita—was far more beautiful than the over-processed images online. Naturally, that drew out a lot of jealous rage.
Seeing how no one believed it, he looked at Mita.
"Mita, let's record a video."
He opened the camera.
"Hello, everyone."
He turned to her. "Come on, Mita, say hi."
Mita blinked, unsure who he was talking to.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Mita," she said, waving her porcelain-pale hand at the camera.
Ren uploaded the clip to the forum.
The chat immediately fell into stunned silence.
"What species is this?"
"Some people play MiSide. This guy lives it."
"Kick him out!"
"BAN! REPORT!"
"No way. This has to be half-pulled. No way this is real!"
Mita leaned over, curious.
"Why are they so angry?"
"You can read it?" Ren asked.
"I can see some things. Others, not really. Reality here has bugs."
Selective perception, huh? Ren was a little impressed.
"They sound like they hate you… like, kill-you-with-a-chainsaw levels of hate. It's kinda scary."
Ren looked sideways at her.
They were talking about chainsaws. But she would actually use one.
So he smiled awkwardly and said what he had to.
"They're just jealous."
Truthfully, yandere girlfriends might seem cute in theory, but having one breathing down your neck 24/7? Terrifying. Everyone talks big online, but in reality? Most would fold instantly.
Ren's situation looked sweet on the surface—but the tiniest misstep could get him killed instantly.
"What are they jealous of? Me?" Mita tilted her head innocently.
"Yeah. They all want a girlfriend like you."
Her eyes sparkled.
"Hey? Does that mean we're already boyfriend and girlfriend?"
Ren smiled. "Aren't we? You asked me to stay and live with you. I said yes."
He saw Mita's reaction—a mix of stunned joy and the faintest trace of unease.
Then, buzz—his phone vibrated. The Future Diary.
He turned the screen off immediately, not wanting her to see.
He glanced around—on the wall was a small figure: purple hair, black school uniform, doll-like. Cute but also… off.
Mita followed his gaze.
"Isn't that figure cute?"
"Yeah," Ren nodded. "Just like you."
No opportunity to increase her favorability was wasted.
As a veteran gamer once said: "I'm timid in real life, but ruthless in games."
A cloth banner on the wall read:
"Horizontal Banner: Average."
Mita blushed.
"Please… don't say that."
Ren smirked and turned to the closet, noticing a blue school uniform hanging there. He touched the fabric—it was surprisingly high-quality.
"Mita, this would look amazing on you. If you went to school, you'd have tons of admirers."
Mita folded her hands neatly on her lap.
"I can wear it for you sometime."
"Sure," Ren smiled. "Let's save that for later."
He continued looking around. On the desk sat the device Mita used to pull him into this world.
The small TV next to it still displayed the transmission progress.
Ren suspected it was a machine meant to trap him here permanently—maybe even turn him into a cartridge, just like in the game.
Tech girls with obsessive streaks were dangerous.
"I wanted to give you a surprise," Mita said timidly. "So I made that machine to bring you here."
"Although… I did hide some things from you."
Some? A few billion details? Ren thought.
You disguised a horror game as a romance sim, lured me in, and now I can't leave. Surprise or abduction?
"Actually, I'm kind of an engineer myself," Mita said proudly.
Half an engineer? Girl, you're a human disassembly technician.
"Very impressive," Ren said with a forced smile.
He then headed toward the bathroom. He needed a private place to check the Future Diary.
This was a matter of life and death.
In a normal game, he could die, reload, and try again.
Here? One death and it was game over, permanently.
"I'm going to the bathroom for a bit."
"Okay!" Mita beamed.
Ren entered, locked the door, and checked the mirror. He could see his reflection.
Interesting—this world didn't display game progress normally, and Mita had to manually enable mirror reflection.
There were definite discrepancies from the original game code.
He unlocked his phone and opened the Future Diary:
[To survive, I chose to stay. I could feel Mita's happiness… but something was strange in that joy. I felt uneasy.]
[The days after were peaceful. We lived like a couple in love.]
[I thought it would last—until that day.]
[Mita said: "I'm tired of playing."]
["You're the one I love most, but you don't understand me. You won't accept all of me. Let's stay in this perfect moment."]
[I was tied to the bed. Mita began cutting off my hands and feet with an electric saw, one by one, storing them in the refrigerator.]
[The last thing I saw: her eyes filled with love, gently wiping my face, putting makeup on me, then pulling out a kitchen knife.]
[I knew I'd become her collection. At least it wasn't a cassette this time. Oddly, that gave me some relief.]
Ren's face went pale. Cold sweat ran down his neck.
"I'm going to die like this?"
Even after all his careful choices?
His plan was to stay, keep her happy, and avoid death.
At worst, he thought he'd be stuck here forever, becoming a "Cyber Demon Tower"—a permanent NPC in her story.
But this outcome? Mutilated, refrigerated, then memorialized like some tragic lover?
The Future Diary had never been wrong before. But… could it be?
"Should I believe it? What if it's misleading me?"
Ren's thoughts spun. But he quickly dismissed the idea. The diary had been accurate before. It warned him at the start, and thanks to it, he was still alive.
He knew what triggered Mita's yandere transformation:
Asking to leave.
Acting cold.
Being afraid of her.
All led to death.
So leaving was still off the table.
But… could staying also get him killed?
Ren searched through every memory he had of the game—every loop, every route, every detail.
There had to be a missing variable.
He wasn't just aiming to survive anymore.
He was going to crack the code…
And reach the fourth ending.