"Is it really over?" Wei Zhi asked, incredulous.
"What about all the action and finding out the hidden plot?" Ming Jun said, grabbing his hair.
"I guess that means we can go back," Mori Aoi clapped, smiling.
[ Exiting the game ]
They felt their eyes blur, and suddenly they were back in the real world.
"It's really over," Ming Jun was the first to come down from the metal table.
He knelt on the ground and started to tear up.
"We must have unlocked a hidden achievement!" Shae Harris raised a fist in excitement.
"At least we didn't have to use any of our extra lives," Wei Zhi patted Ming Jun's shoulder.
"It was fun, right?" Mori Aoi giggled.
"Would you like to allow your gaming experience to be set for public viewing?" The guide appeared beside them.
"Sure, why not?" Shae Harris said.
"But can you blur out our faces?" Wei Zhi asked, embarrassed.
"Why?" Shae Harris was dissatisfied.
"Because what we just did was an insult to the process," Ming Jun retorted.
Shae Harris stuck out her tongue at both of them.
"Where's Yi Zheng, though?" Mori Aoi asked, getting in the middle of them.
"What is it?" Yi Zheng spoke at this point.
"Where did you come from?" Wei Zhi almost screamed as he jumped back.
"I just arrived," Yi Zheng said casually.
"Then why are you walking so quietly?" Wei Zhi was still trying to calm his panicked heart.
Yi Zheng didn't reply and instead looked at Mori Aoi.
"Yi Zheng~ come and watch our game!" Shae Harris sat, dragging him over to a big screen.
"Isn't it cool?" Mori Aoi came to his other side and pointed at the screen.
Ming Jun and Wei Zhi at the back exchanged glances.
Both of them saw the annoyance in each other's eyes and silently walked to stand beside the two girls.
The screen was displaying the first time they had arrived and were talking to the council president.
Their faces were blurred out, but they knew it was them.
"Look, that's you!" Mori Aoi pulled Wei Zhi's sleeve.
"Even without seeing it, I recognize that cute chubby body anywhere," Shae Harris patted Ming Jun's shoulder.
Ming Jun coughed and glared at her.
Then he turned to look behind Yi Zheng.
Wei Zhi was also staring at him from behind Yi Zheng.
They gave each other a silent thumbs-up before continuing to watch the screen.
This time, they visually saw what exactly happened—and this made them even more embarrassed.
It first started when Ming Jun left, and the students were so vigilant.
The four of them, including Yi Zheng: speechless.
Ming Jun: You guys really thought too much!!
And when Shae Harris released the monsters from the dungeon, who ended up ignoring her—
They didn't show what happened between Mori Aoi and Wei Zhi in the hallway, thankfully.
But Wei Zhi couldn't be completely happy with that, especially when Mori Aoi looked like someone whose parents had just survived a fatal accident.
I mean, it wouldn't really be that bad, right? Wei Zhi wasn't feeling confident at this point.
Then the screen switched to the protagonist group first seeing Mori Aoi.
"That must have been scary," Wei Zhi comforted her, rubbing her head.
"It was just a misunderstanding anyway," Mori Aoi waved her hand, saying that she was okay.
"Don't mind them, they're just blind to everyone else except their own," Ming Jun rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, the whole concept of protagonists like these idiots is stupid," Shae Harris huffed.
The next person they met was Wei Zhi.
On the screen, Wei Zhi entered the classroom and got scared after seeing the corpse.
He backed away with eyes fixed on the corpse but got entangled by it when it turned into a teacher.
Their conversation played out, ending with the protagonist group helping him.
After that was Wei Zhi following them to find the hidden entrance to the cultist lair.
"Woah, seeing it again, you were really smart," Ming Jun said, looking at Wei Zhi in surprise.
"Please don't make fun of me. I'm always dead last in the entire year and one point away from failing," Wei Zhi said.
He found it funny that someone called him smart while the whole school would make jokes about how dumb he was.
"I don't really get it, but how did you manage to lie to the teacher so confidently?" Shae Harris raised an eyebrow in doubt.
"Simple. My skill was that I could make someone believe what I say if I try hard enough," Wei Zhi explained.
"So it was the skill!" Mori Aoi said excitedly.
"No, it was not." Yi Zheng turned to Wei Zhi and gave him a deep look.
"Huh?" Wei Zhi squirmed under his stare.
"Yeah, choosing the right words to say to both the teacher and the protagonist group was the key factor," Ming Jun realized, while Yi Zheng looked away.
"I guess you really are suited for mystery," Ming Jun gave him a thumbs-up.
"I told you that's not it," Wei Zhi shook his head.
"Besides, I almost died, so why aren't you guys comforting me?" Wei Zhi pointed at the screen.
"You managed to pull it off, didn't you?" Ming Jun said with a blank stare.
"Unlike Mori Aoi, you were saved by the protagonist group," Shae Harris rolled her eyes.
Wei Zhi: You heartless jerks!
He pouted and turned to Mori Aoi.
She rubbed his head and said, "There, there."
"You're the only one who likes me here," Wei Zhi said, smiling at her.
Mori Aoi blushed and looked at the screen.
Wei Zhi also turned away, but he looked at Yi Zheng for a split second before his eyes focused back on the screen.
Then it switched to after Wei Zhi left and the protagonist group met up with the cult leader of the school—
Which led to an obvious battle and torture.
"These guys are really ruthless," Shae Harris actually felt bad for the guy.
"As expected of the protagonist group. Everyone else gets a huge beating for going against them," Ming Jun chuckled dryly.
"These scary bastards," Wei Zhi shivered.
Mori Aoi covered her eyes because of the blood and screams.
"How crude," Yi Zheng spoke, looking at the screen in disapproval.
Four heads turned to him in shock.
Yi Zheng turned to them and raised an eyebrow.
"As expected of Brother Yi," Shae Harris coughed and looked away.
Yi Zheng: What exactly did you expect??
"Luckily, we haven't done anything too bad yet," Ming Jun sighed in relief.
Yi Zheng: So you actually still remember how shameless you are??
"Yeah, luckily no one has tried to attack Yi Zheng before, or who knows what we would see that day," Wei Zhi shivered.
Yi Zheng: ...remembers the time they almost tried to kill him because they weren't themselves.
"At least now we know that we're safe, right?" Mori Aoi said cheerfully.
Yi Zheng: So you guys know you'd die in a second without me? Can't you have any shame!!
Yi Zheng snorted at them and faced the screen.
After that was more ruthless behavior from the protagonists, which led to the teachers being freed—
Then the manager erupting in fury.
"If they had been more refined, then the cult leader wouldn't dare to rebel," Yi Zheng murmured.
The others: selectively filtered his words out.
They watched as numerous coincidences occurred until the scale grew and turned into a mini war against the cultists.
They obviously defeated all the cultists and wiped out all hidden evil.
The game ended with a ceremony awarding the protagonist group for their service.
"Isn't that our award?" Shae Harris pouted.
"I mean, technically, we did start the chain of events," Ming Jun shrugged.
"But everything was a mix between misunderstanding and coincidences, so I don't think we did anything much," Mori Aoi spoke softly.
"The major issue is that we didn't do anything to be proud of. After all, it was our fault the whole thing happened," Wei Zhi said, speechless at their logic.
"What do you mean? We cleared the whole game in two days!" Shae Harris argued.
"Yeah, by messing everything up," Wei Zhi rolled his eyes.
"Yi Zheng, back me up," Shae Harris turned to him.
"I have never seen someone cause a war through such stupid means," Yi Zheng actually admired their ability to cause chaos.
"You guys are really talented," Yi Zheng said, patting her shoulder.
Shae Harris deflated instantly.
Then other people were attracted to their screen and watched their gameplay.
These other people obviously didn't know it was them, which calmed the group down.
At the end of the replay, everyone had the same expression—
Shock that it ended so fast.
Surprise that it ended by a series of coincidences.
Admiration at their ability to cause such chaos.
And lastly, just being incredibly speechless at it all.
The spectators invited their friends to watch, and the ones who caused the excitement slipped away once they saw the huge crowd forming.
"Is there anything else you would like to try?" The guide appeared again.
They shook their heads.
"What about an individual game specially tailored for you?" The guide asked.
They shrugged and left Yi Zheng to play another one.
This time, they entered separate games but didn't find it that fun.
Shae Harris was blasting monsters from a tower and felt like something was missing.
Similarly, Ming Jun didn't enjoy becoming a protagonist because it just didn't feel as amazing anymore.
Mori Aoi, who was playing an otome game, was overwhelmed by the handsome men and exited the game.
She felt better once she looked at Wei Zhi, who was smiling at her.
Wei Zhi wasn't interested in playing alone because it would be too scary.
"Didn't enjoy it?" he asked.
"I was too shy," she chuckled.
"Where's Ming Jun? I'm bored," Shae Harris exited the game at this moment and went to join them.
Ming Jun was about to exit the game when he saw a message pop up—
[ You can choose to take any girl you pick out of the game ]
Ming Jun was stunned and could hardly believe his eyes.
"Is it like a realistic hologram?" Ming Jun thought they would make the girl like the guide.
[ No, real flesh and blood human, just without the abilities ]
Ming Jun fell silent.
Isn't this every otaku's dream—to bring their waifu out into the real world?
But firstly, Ming Jun doubted she would like him if that was possible.
Secondly, he didn't feel the need to bring out a fake girlfriend.
After all, there was someone real waiting for him out there.
[ It seems you've made your choice ]
Then he was sent back to the real world.
"Jeez, what took you so long?" Shae Harris said, helping him up.
"I was just confirming something important," Ming Jun smiled at her softly.
"Well, it's time for us to go, so hurry up," Shae Harris was flustered and walked ahead of him.
Stupid fatty, she murmured.
"Then are you guys ready to leave?" The guide appeared once again.
"Yeah," Shae Harris said.
"Press the button at the center," the guide said, handing over the black phone to Ming Jun.
"I almost forgot about this," Ming Jun shook the black phone.
"Ah, wouldn't us leaving be killing you?" Mori Aoi looked at the guide in concern.
"I'm just an intelligent program, so there's really nothing to kill," the guide smiled kindly at her.
"But—" Mori Aoi hesitated.
"To make you feel better, I still exist within the phone," the guide tapped the phone in Ming Jun's palm.
"Alright then," Mori Aoi smiled.
Ming Jun nodded at the guide and took one last look around.
Then he pressed the button in the bottom middle.
The surroundings glitched, and the dilapidated building remained.
They were out of sorts for a while, then focused on the phone that was still present.
"Look, all our pictures are here!" Ming Jun called them over.
The phone contained pictures they took and videos of them walking around.
The video of the game they played together was also saved on the phone.
"I'm hungry," Shae Harris said, rubbing her stomach.
"It's already so late," Wei Zhi said in surprise as the sky turned dark.
"I'll make us a special meal to celebrate Ming Jun fulfilling his wish," Mori Aoi said.
"Then let's go," Shae Harris said, dragging Yi Zheng over to the van.
Ming Jun was the last to follow because he was staring at the phone screen.
On it was written a message with an image attached:
[ Heroine chosen ]
[ May you pursue her with confidence and assurance that you will succeed, no matter what you look like. ]
"Hurry up, Ming Jun!" Shae Harris stuck her head out the window and beckoned him over.
"Coming," Ming Jun said, smiling widely.
Just like the game said—he was going to start his path to getting the heroine he chose.
No matter how he looked.
After that, Mori Aoi specially made Korean food just for Ming Jun.
Shae Harris laughed as she brought out the kimchi and kept teasing Ming Jun.
The day ended with laughter amidst food.
---
Somewhere else...
The director hummed a tune while drawing the last stroke of a massive symbol.
The same symbol that was drawn in the basement of the orphanage.