It was a normal day for Daiki, a 17-year-old high school student—everything repeating like a never-ending cycle.
Daiki was sitting at the front of the class. He was very focused on the lesson, listening to every detail, while others were doing their own things. Looking at Daiki, you would think he was a nerd, the top of the class and all, but he never received a grade higher than a C. The bell rang.
"Watch out, loser." A group of school bullies was more aggressive than usual.
"What, your mommy didn't teach you good manners?" they sneered.
Daiki was shoved into the locker room. One of the guys held his hands behind him while the leader grabbed his chin roughly, forcing their gazes to meet.
"It looks like he's deaf, guys. Apologize to your senior."
It was the same thing every day. Daiki broke eye contact and looked at the floor. I just want it to end.
"S-Sorry, I w-was wrong, Masaru."
Agonizing pain shot through his body as one of Masaru's lackeys hit him in the stomach.
"Huh? Dare to call me by my name? For you, I am Master, freak."
Masaru knocked the wind out of Daiki's lungs, and then the others' knees joined the massacre. Daiki was left unconscious on the floor.
A few hours later…
Daiki woke up in pain. Last time they weren't this aggressive—probably because they had lost a match. Fuck, his head was buzzing, and he felt the coppery scent of blood in the air.
"I need to go home. My parents will be angry."
He tried to stand up, but his legs gave out and his body fell back down. Sharp pain cut through his muscles. He was used to bullying, yet it still hurt.
He returned home.
The house was cold and quiet, like always. Daiki's parents were alcoholics who gambled all their money away. They didn't care about Daiki. Never did.
At home, he had many problems to worry about. Daiki had a part-time job that he hated, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to work to survive. He needed money.
That evening, before going to bed, Daiki decided to play the game he had installed on his PC. He went to the desk, sat down, turned on his computer, and finally started the game.
The game's name was "Mio's Mirror World."
The game promised to give him a friend he never had—someone he could trust and get help from. The loading screen stayed at 0%, then slowly climbed… until it finally reached 100%.
The game opened with a girl welcoming Daiki. She had long, straight pink hair and icy blue eyes. She wore a crop top and denim shorts, with a cute bow on her head.
That was Mio.
Daiki's new friend.
Mio said,
"Hello, player! I'm glad to see you here. I'm Mio. Who might you be?"
A textbox appeared where Daiki could type his name, so he did.
"Daiki? That's a really beautiful name! It's nice to meet you here, Daiki. We're going to have so much fun together…" Mio said happily, her voice like music to his ears.
After that, another loading screen appeared. When it finished, Daiki saw that the place was someone's house—Mio's house. Everything was in 2D.
Mio said cheerfully,
"Welcome to my home! But now that you're here, it's your home too!"
She paused for a second, then added,
"Could you help me buy a closet, please? To do that, press the button at the top of the screen and play games to earn coins. You need just 500 coins, and then talk to me!"
Daiki slowly pressed the button and saw a list of games appear.
"Great. A puzzle game. Ugh… I'm so bad at these…"
After ten long minutes, Daiki finally managed to win, but he only got 300 coins.
"Oh my days… only 300 coins? After all that suffering? I hoped it would be at least 600. And it's so late now…"
After another twenty minutes, Daiki finally reached 600 coins—just enough to buy a closet for Mio.
Daiki clicked on Mio, and she said,
"Great! Now click the button next to the game and buy me a closet."
Daiki pressed the button and selected the closet Mio wanted. Not even a second after closing the tab, Mio replied,
"Now, please place it in that corner!" She pointed with her finger.
Daiki placed the closet where she showed.
After that, Daiki didn't have to do much. He and Mio just talked for a while. Daiki could talk about anything he wanted—his thoughts, his worries. The textbox didn't seem to judge him, and Mio always answered honestly… or so he thought.
Mio was the best friend he had ever had.
The only one he had.
After another hour of playing, Daiki finally turned off the PC and got ready for bed. It was the middle of the night, and he had school tomorrow. He brushed his teeth, took a shower, and finally lay down.
The last thing he thought before falling asleep was:
"I wish I lived with Mio. This world is so angry compared to hers."
Daiki drifted off to sleep…