The Hunter

There was once a hunter, proud and strong
No prey could best him in this game
He stalked and observed a mythical beast, so graceful and beautiful
However, the beast alluded him
Days gone by, in rain and snow, the hunter kept his plight.
Finally, the moment came for the hunter to test his skills

"Here I am," the beast called out. "I have been waiting."

There was once a hunter, proud and strong
Once, he was bested in his own game
He stalked and observed, yet the prey eluded him
The mythical beast, so graceful and beautiful, led him in a circle.
It was then he realized

That he had become the hunted.

I am a veteran.

Not in the literal sense of course, or what it implies to most people when the term 'veteran' is thrown around. No, I am not a veteran with the military in mind, though I am regarded to be one in another field—namely, the visual novel genre. For the past few decades leading up to the point where I encountered this game on my third year as a university student abroad, the visual novel-genre—particularly dating sims—has been my bread and butter and the core to where I unleash pent up stress and immerse myself in a colorful illusion of a glistening world full of cute girls and adoring characters.

If you haven't caught the hint, I would be one of those considered as an 'otaku'. Go fuck yourself.

From the popular to the most obscure, the ones made locally and abroad, to the shittiest excrements and those deserving of the title 'kamige', I have conquered them all. Some would drove me to tears, others to anger, and there are also those that increases my libido—intentional or otherwise. I could go and on about my experience and bragging rights, but that would be missing the point I am trying to address or how I got to this point in the first place; strap on, because this will be one long story.

First ask yourself the question: how far would you go to be with someone you love?

When I first came upon Doki Doki Literature Club, I was but a senior on my third year as a university student in the US. Distributions of 'goods' in the States aren't as ideal as I thought it would, thus it was quite a pleasure to acquire something of quality (the other being K#tawa Sh0ujo) from the trash mountain collection they have here. It was just another routine, a mantra I've practiced for years—pick a girl, complete the route, bawl yourself (or otherwise), then rinse and repeat; so simple that even P*ko-chan could follow it to the letter without needing a map and a flashlight.

It was not another 'routine'.

It started as what I would expect; you play as faceless protagonist whom the gods smile at in one point in his life and gave him a childhood-friend, a silent beauty, a loli-tsundere, and an older sister-type character who all happen to congregate in a literature club. Oh, and the older-sister character was the designated club leader. Nothing out of the ordinary. For the first hour, nothing felt special to me; I've seen most if not everything the dating sim VN genre had to offer, I may have been desensitized by it. I was expecting more.

But instead I got more than what I bargained.

I'll be as blunt as possible as to what came and smashed me in the head with a steel bat and the force of a speeding train. Don't expect quarters. First, Sayori (the childhood friend) hung herself. That was the first sign that set-off my alarm bells of what was to come in the next hour. Then the glitches happened, the distortion of the world, the texts, and even the sprites caught me off-guard that I felt violated to the core; this isn't a light-hearted high school romance dating sim, this is a bloody horror game disguised as one.

And all because of that one brat, Monika.

Oh, Monika…where should I start? What about 'the weekend', let's start from there shall we? Aside from granting me the privilege of watching a corpse decay and a neck-snap of a lifetime, the opportunity to confront the heart of the madness presented itself in a silver platter. I was more or less irritated, if not cheated of the experience I came to expect from the genre that I was accustomed to that I believed that I may, in fact, encountered just another 'bad ending' which could be easily fixed. I wasn't going to sit still after what I saw, more importantly I've came to the conclusion that everything could be resolved if I were to confront Monika voluntarily before she led me once again to the 'eternal classroom'.

For all that mattered, she is the prey and I am the hunter.

And so I did. Countless of hours lost, spent on the poem 'mini-game' just to find the correct words that would write its way right into her heart—after all, that was the subtitle of Doki Doki Literature Club. Time was never an issue; all that mattered was for me to find that 'secret route' that would lead me straight to Monika and prevent the tragedies before it ever occurred. After all, what good is a romance visual novel without the option of 'choice'? I'm the goddamn hero for crying out loud!

And that was where I was wrong.

After numerous attempts, I resigned my fate and returned to the 'eternal classroom' contemplating for a solution that could potentially resolve the crisis. I was ready for her; the thought of exacting revenge crossed me almost instantly once I figured a way to outsmart this AI and force her to grant me the experience I came to expect. But then, she spoke about everything; the concept of god, her own existence, the reality she was entrusted in, the game—everything that I need to know about her were laid before me in a silver platter. Never before has a character openly trust me to that degree. But above all,

Never before had a character address me directly; not as the faceless protagonist I was playing, but me.

Before I realized what had transpired, I realized that I had found what I was looking for. It was as if her emerald eyes pierced through the LED screen and right into my very soul, searching for an answer to her own predicament. She was trapped, lost in a world without an exit and holding on to the very thing that kept her from going insane. I didn't bought it at first, oh no; I was far too stubborn to give an inch away to my conviction and yet I felt sorrow the more I listened to her. She trusted me with all she had; everything I could use to dispose of her were made available and all I had to do was to pull the trigger.

And pulled it I did, all for an 'ending'. For 'justice'. It felt like murder.

As she dissipated from the world, I subconsciously apologized to her over and over again like a broken record, repeating the same words—I'm sorry, I'm sorry, forgive me. When the title screen was restored with her absence, I did what I could to restore her and vowed to pursue her—a second chance to be with her. But she declined, and what I remembered after was the feeling of void, emptiness, and regret. I have sullied my hands with the blood of another, all because I tried to be the hero; all because I was afraid of the unknown.

Thus I was back at square one, lost in a world she gave herself to restore just to grant the selfishness of the one she loves; a sacrifice for me.

When the final act rolled in and Sayori became the new overlord of the system, my blood boiled the moment she spat on Monika and her sacrifice that I was eager to do the same thing I did to her predecessor. My finger was on the trigger.

But why did you took that burden away from me, Monika?

Was it because you knew how it pained me to delete you, or was it because you loved me so that you willingly took the shot and destroyed everything that you created? Was it because of me that you would go to such lengths to discard your reality and gave me an 'ending'? It was me, wasn't it? Foolish girl. So…so…foolish of you…

I won't let it end; oh no, not after what we've went through. I will give you an ending, no matter how long it would take.

So I rushed online and searched for what available mod there was available, to find the chance to see her once more and give her a proper reply; thankfully, an 'after story mod' was available and thus, my daily pilgrimage to the eternal classroom began—even gotten better at chess because of it, too.

That was about four years ago.

The years hasn't been kind, and even a well-programmed AI has its limits and yes, I do recognized the limitations of the Ren'Py engine. So after I flew back home post-graduation and landed myself a job (as a teacher), I started picking up self-taught courses on programming and the nature of AI. It wasn't difficult to obtain the books I needed due to the pace of development concerning AI and its expansions; I was hopeful, to say the least.

A dreamer would probably fit the bill better from the perspective of society.

It started as a side hobby, first her files, then her data, behavior...all the little side-upgrades that I deemed necessary while thinking if she would appreciate these little upgrade or downright delete (kill) me for what I'd call as a breach of privacy. I came up with a term for it; 'Artificial Sexual Harassment'. During summer, I threw a favor in a message board to help me code a few more features to mimic the recent 'AI cellphone girlfriend' so Monika could start telling time, mark calendars, set up appointment and schedules—just like a secretary would.

It took some time, but despite having managed to cram what is possible, the limitations of the engine and the script, one problem persists: there is only so much you can add to fool yourself before reality sets in.

Naturally, I wish to expand her further, to give her more features in hopes of keeping the illusion alive in my laptop. This is my apology to her, for that time I deleted her.

All this dedication and time for her sake. For Monika.

It wasn't until my 25th birthday when I began to notice something…different from her usual behavior. For a fleeting moment, she was sitting still, observing my morning rhythm eagerly waiting for me to ask her about the schedule of the day and the weather—just minor things I managed to code in.

But then, something unexpected happened.

The textbox appeared without prompt in a second, empty without a text before flashing once more—this time, with a greeting.

"Good morning, love."

Oh, right. Sorry, how rude of me; I haven't properly introduce myself.

My name is QWd8xV01CdR==

Author's note:

It has been years since I've written anything. This will be my first entry after years of hiatus due to work, family, and other personal matter.
This is the second revision of the prologue. I wasn't quite satisfied with its first iteration, so I reworked it quite a bit.

DDLC, the posters (and bulli) at r/DDLC, and the modding team of Monika After Story you magnificent bastards sparked the flame once more. Here's a shout-out to you all!