A socially awkward otaku.

Having some of the best grades in your class has it's drawbacks. Such as being treated as someone with the best grades in your class. Scrawny, glasses, and having watched some of the most obscure anime, it makes you almost everything like the kind of person people think you are. Overall, you don't hate those things.

Video games are fun, anime is interesting, and you will be in a good college once you graduate. Almost everyone in your class has played video games or crushed on a fictional character. So what if you do it to an **** more than most? The only real thing is that it doesn't make you popular with the girls, and unlike a dating sim, your chances with them don't build up over time.

The irony is that games take your mind off things. Hiding out under the stairwell with a select few of your friends, it takes your mind off things while playing on your handheld. This was the fourth installment in the series of "Akirakana Kuron." It's going well until the game abruptly freezes.

This program was closed for an update.
Updating- 0%

"Are you kidding?" The volume in your voice gets all of their attention. "What is it now, Alex? More charm bullshit?" Your friend has a good guess but you can only shake your head. "It canceled for an update. I didn't even think handhelds did-wait. I wasn't even connected to the wifi." It seems strange and all that can be done is taking a look at the screen.

Updating- 20%
Please wait for the update to complete before closing. You will need it if you don't want to die.

What kind of message even is that?

Updating- 40%
Please wait for the update to finish installing. Your friend's lives depend on it.

This seems like a weird joke for one of the programmer's to do.

Updating- 75%
Updating should finish soon. Current data suggests user "Natalie"'s odds of survival are at 40%. It is recommended you act fast, if you wish to keep this player alive.

Okay. This shit is just creepy. Eventually someone was bound to know a Natalie and it would make it seem almost eerie when they were mentioned by name. From the way it sounds, it's almost as if this affects real life. There has been lot's of shows about video games affecting the real world, but none of that can actually happen in reality. Can it?

Updating- 95%
Update almost complete. Player warning. Current data suggests user "Keito", has a 112% chance of being able to kill you. It is recommended that you avoid him. I want you to live, Alex.

These messages are beyond odd, but it's not impossible. The handheld already has your name so it could just be using that data. It's just a joke meant to scare stupid people, and you're smarter than this.

Updated- 100%
Update complete. To start, basic demons have been downloaded to your handheld. Estimated time before the game starts is currently 16 minutes, 51 seconds. Prepare well.

As soon as the update message fades, you can see several new apps on your handheld labeled things like "Party Status" or "Auction" or "Fusion" It's weird. Weird is the only to describe it. It's almost exactly like Akirakana Kuron.

But this is all just an elaborate marketing gimmick. This is the real world. But...the update seemed really odd. It even referred to specific people by name. It called them users but everything about it was strange. Those don't seem like random names.

Natalie is the punk/emoish girl that you have more than once fantasized about. Apparently she has low odds of survival, whatever that may mean. Keito is perhaps the most well liked boy in school. You don't hang out in the same social circles, but he never gave you any problems. He's always nice to everyone and polite. But for some reason the game suspects he's going to kill you? All of this seems insane.