Summary
Mio is the only one in class without a game console so she feels lonely; especially because her friend Yukari and crush have them. Her mom refuses to get it for her, and she can't afford to buy one. On her way home Mio stumbles across a strange game console with the game "Animal's and Human's Stories" in it. The Players goal is to collect food and money through encounters while raising their character. Mio remarks that it sounds cliche, but seeing nobody around she decides to try it out. A warning shows up on the screen, saying that should she restart the game or clear her data, all progress will be deleted.
Mio is given a cute bunny to play as and she encounters her first event, where she has found some fruit. The game asks her for a decision: A "Take it for Herself" or B "Hand it over to the Dog Police". Mio chooses B and continues on her way when she suddenly spots a wallet on the ground. She turns it in at the Police Station, where the relieved owner rewards her with 10,000 yen!
Mio can hardly believe her luck as the nearby officer asks if she needs any help in getting home, mentioning that a dangerous person has been seen lurking through town. Mio assures them she will be fine and leaves. She returns to the game and expresses surprise to see that her character was rewarded as well, gaining 100 seeds for her honesty. She's been enjoying herself, but by now she wonders if she really should have taken the console. Until she assumes that it was most-likely discarded.
The following day Mio makes her way to school when she sees a third statistic bar in the game that she didn't notice before. She gives it little thought when she spots Abel, her crush. She fails to greet him as he passes her by, leaving her to feel discouraged when she notices a similar event occurring in the game. Wanting to make her character happy, she selects choice A "Talk to him of course!" and suddenly Abel approaches her. He invites Mio to walk to class with him.
This causes Mio to realize that whatever happened in game has been occurring in real life too. While shaken by the concept, she quickly accepts it upon realizing that she can improve her life using this. Not only can she improve with her academics, but her popularity and romantic life as well. But with all of her focus on her game, she begins avoiding her friends by coming up with cheap excuses or hiding it in their presence. She doesn't want them to see it because then they would want to play the game too.
One day, Mio is walking by school when a new event pops up. Her character saw something and she must choose A "Keep walking until they meet" or B "Stop to look them in the face". She carefully thinks it over and selects B, then waits to see that nothing has happened. She feels relief until a little boy runs past her. Just as Mio tries to warn him to be careful, a bus runs him over!
Mio is paralyzed with fear as a nearby witness screams for help. This event was so different from the others, she would have been the victim if she chose the wrong answer.
The following day in class, Mio remains uneasy as the third statistic bar lowers. She barely acknowledges their teacher as he warns his students to be careful of anyone suspicious, and suggests they walk home in groups from now on. Instead, Mio wonders why she is feeling so worn out. She did stay up all night, but she made sure to eat a lot to recover the missing energy.
As break approaches she puts aside her game to speak to her classmates, who abruptly disband with the exception of Yukari. She lingers long enough to ask Mio to meet up with her once school ends. Mio agrees, and there, Yukari explains that their friends are mad at Mio for neglecting them. She's been ignoring them in favor of her new game and she always leaves in a hurry- but she believes that if Mio would apologize they would get over it. Mio stubbornly refuses, saying its unfair. Back when she was the only one without a game they ignored her, but Yukari reminds Mio that she ended up getting a console and could have easily joined in at this point. Mio attempts to explain herself and Yukari asks if there might be something on her mind, explaining how it was her behavior that made everyone think she was unapproachable.
Mio snaps at Yukari and runs away in tears. She finds a bench behind the school and sobs until she can calm down again, listening to the announcement being made. She decides to head home since its getting late, only to realize her game is still on. She thinks of this as strange since she shut it off, and a new event starts. The "Fiend of the Forest" has appeared; and just then, Mio sees a scary shadow in front of her. As she recalls how the game works, she recognizes the figure as the one she saw in a picture at the Police Station!
Mio screams for help and runs into the school, hiding a stall in the girls restroom as the figure slowly descends. Mio regrets not leaving with Yukari and apologizing when the game alerts her that her character ran back into her home. She can either A "Open the door from inside" or B "Break the lock on the door". As she tries to decide, Mio comes to a realization as the figure deduces which stall she is in: the third bar wasn't for the consoles battery like she initially thought, it represented her health. She watches it deplete before collapsing in grief as the game announces she has lost. It asks her if she wants to clear her file or reset the game, and frantically Mio smashes the buttons.
The door swings open to reveal two of Mio's classmates, two of her friends who wanted revenge for being ignored. Yukari angrily chews them out after finding them there, and goes on to call for Mio to tell her its alright, the suspicious person was caught. But as she looks in the stall, she sees only the game console laying on the floor.
Mio's screams go unheard...
Tropes:
- Deadly Prank: The chapter ends with a twist on one. Realizing she's being chased by a dangerous person, Mio thought deleting her save data would make them go away. But just as the door opens to reveal her classmates, Mio has erased herself from existence.
- Deal with the Devil: The game starts up with a warning that explicitly tells the Player not to delete their save, otherwise all of their progress will be removed. By choosing to play the game, they make one. As Mio learns whatever happens in it also happens to her in real-life, and likewise.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Mio's friends play a horribly timed prank on her because she began to ignore them.
- Foreshadowing: After playing the game for so long, Mio notices a "third statistic bar" that is filled entirely and has a heart next to it. At the very end of the story she realizes it connects to her health.
- Irony: Mio was afraid of being abandoned by her friends because she didn't have a game console. After getting one, she abandoned them.
- Jump Scare: The truck running over the little boy that comes out of nowhere.
- Never My Fault: Mio refuses to acknowledge that she was pushing her classmates away, even though she made no effort to try to reach out to them.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Mio gets into an argument with her friend and is confronted by a supposed killer. Just as she realizes her mistakes, they find her and she resets her game in a panic to make them go away. Then it turns out it was a prank but she's erased herself completely.
- The Game Come to Life: Everything that happens to Mio in her RPG-esque game affects the real world and Mio is delighted; until she runs into a murderer in the game and realizes someone is following her in real life.
- Violation of Common Sense: When she locks herself up in a bathroom stall to escape a killer, the game gives her the options of either opening the door from the inside or breaking down the lock to let her pursuer in. Considering the killer was just a prank, both options would have "saved" her life, but then she decides to Take a Third Option that does kill her.
