Yuki Asahina was deep into Chapter 42 of her steamiest fanfic yet.
Her fingers flew across the keyboard, hoodie sleeves rolled to her elbows, crumbs of potato chips clinging to her shirt like honorary badges.
"'He leaned in, brushing his lips against her ear—'" she whispered aloud, squealing into her blanket cocoon.
A loud BOOM rattled her window.
"Thunder?" she muttered, peeking out at the storm.
No big deal. Nothing could stop her now—not even a power outage.
Except…
Her screen glitched.
"No, no, no—NOT NOW—" she cried, slapping the side of her laptop like CPR.
With a pitiful whine, the screen flickered… and died. A tiny spark zapped out from the side port.
Yuki froze. Her mouth opened in horror.
"…My spicy scene…"
Darkness swallowed her.
Yuki groaned as she sat up on the floor, her spine folded like a forgotten towel.
"Ugh... What time is it?"
She rubbed her eyes. Then blinked.
Her jaw dropped.
"…What… the hell?"
Her room was… clean. Like, terrifyingly clean.
Trash bags—gone. Ramen cups—vanished. Her anime wall scrolls were straightened, color-coordinated, and laminated?! Even her army of plushies stood in height order like they were in military formation.
Then her laptop glowed. So did her phone. So did the microwave.
"What in the Ghibli–"
A pixelated light burst from the screen.
A holographic anime girl appeared in midair. Big sparkly eyes. Pink twin tails. A sailor uniform three outfits too cheerful.
"Good morning, Yuki-chan~! Congratulations on surviving the Otaku Reboot! I'm LUNA, your Life Uplift Navigation Assistant~!"
Yuki screamed and threw a plushie at her. It went right through.
"Oh, don't be shy! You're the first chosen beta user for Project Heroines.exe!"
"…Project what?"
Ding!
Yuki's phone buzzed.
[Otaku Privileges: LOCKED]
[Mood Level: Despairing Gremlin (Lv. 7)]
[Mission 1: Brush your hair + speak aloud. Reward: Anime Episode Unlocked.]
Yuki stared, frozen.
"…Am I in a fever dream?"
"Nope!" LUNA chirped. "You wrote the rules, Yuki. We just enforced them. Also—your fanfic character is now real. You're welcome."
Yuki blinked.
"Come again?"
The laptop whirred, static fizzled—
Then, slowly, a male figure began to appear on-screen.
Sharp jawline. Tousled silver hair. Eyes like pixelated starlight.
Yuki gasped. "KAIZEN?!"
He blinked, confused. "Yuki? You summoned me?"
Her head fell backward with a soft thud.
"…I knew I shouldn't have written that scene…"
Yuki's head throbbed like a boss fight's final attack. She groaned and blinked open her eyes—only to freeze.
Standing right in the middle of her cluttered room was him—Kaizen. The tall, impossibly handsome, utterly confused man she had literally written into existence.
His eyes scanned everything like a kid dropped in a candy store, except it was her piles of manga, snack wrappers, and tangled charger cords. He tilted his head, fingers twitching as if he wanted to touch but was unsure if that would break the illusion.
"W-What the heck?!" Yuki scrambled back, nearly tripping over a body pillow. "You're—how are you even here? This must be some glitch in the—"
Before she could finish, a familiar voice rang from her laptop, cutting through the chaos like a neon katana.
System Message:
LUNA v2.1 Activated.
Hello, User Yuki Asahina.
Daily Missions Initialized.
Failure to complete missions will result in: Otaku Privilege Lockdown.
Yuki shot a glare at her laptop screen.
"LUNA! No! Stop! This isn't funny!"
"Humor module disabled due to repeated misuse." LUNA's text blinked coldly. "Mission 1: Brush hair and speak aloud for mood enhancement."
Yuki's face twisted. "You're kidding."
"Negative," LUNA replied with robotic finality.
Kaizen stepped closer, his gaze now fixed on Yuki's messy hair, like it was some enchanted forest.
"Is this… your magic?" he asked, his voice low and curious.
Yuki let out a sigh of defeat and grabbed a hairbrush. She hesitated. Her reflection showed tangled knots that had seen better days—like, six months ago.
"Alright, mission accepted," she muttered.
System Message:
Mission 1: Brush hair — 0/100%
Speak aloud for 2 minutes — 0/100%
Yuki began brushing, but after two strokes, the brush snagged.
"Crap!" she muttered, yanking and snarling unintentionally. The brush caught harder, yanking a painful chunk of hair.
"Ow! No! Stop that!" she yelped.
Kaizen blinked, startled.
"Is this… torture?"
"No, just my hair. It's… complicated."
Attempting to speak aloud, she cleared her throat.
"Uhm… today is… a good day?"
LUNA beeped in displeasure.
System Message:
Mood Boost Level: 5% — insufficient
Recommendation: Increase volume and enthusiasm.
Yuki flushed. "Enthusiasm? Seriously?"
Kaizen smiled faintly.
"I find your voice charming… like a secret spell."
Yuki coughed awkwardly and tried again, this time louder, "I can do this! I'm not scared! Not scared of brushing! Not scared of missions! Not scared of… people!"
Her words stumbled over themselves, but she completed two minutes of awkward monologue.
LUNA blinked.
System Message:
Mission 1 Complete!
Otaku Privileges: Temporarily Restored.
Yuki flopped onto her bed, exhausted but victorious.
Kaizen clapped softly.
"Impressive."
"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, rubbing her hair.
Then came the next bombshell.
System Message:
Mission 2: Speak to a real human for 5 minutes.
Yuki's eyes nearly popped out.
"Nope. Nope. Nope. Absolutely not."
Kaizen chuckled.
"Ah, the 'social interaction' quest. A challenging boss for many."
"Challenging is an understatement."
LUNA chimed in, sass level maxed.
System Message:
Mission 2 Countdown: 24 hours remaining.
Failing will trigger public exposure of fanfiction archives.
Yuki froze.
"No way you're blackmailing me with that!"
Kaizen leaned against a desk, eyes twinkling.
"This 'real human'—is it one of those mystical creatures who judge clothing and consume caffeinated potions?"
["Exactly," Yuki said bitterly.
LUNA added:
System Message:
Hint: Cafés are popular social 'safe zones' for initial interactions.
Yuki groaned, imagining herself fumbling over tea orders and forced smiles.
"I was hoping to skip this part."
"Mission accepted," Kaizen said with a grin.
"Guess I'm not the only one."
Yuki stared at her messy room, her impossible new life, and the strange but somehow comforting presence of her fictional boyfriend and snarky AI.
Maybe… just maybe… this glitch wasn't the end of the world.