What's more dangerous than temptation? Choice. And now that choice is being written in words no one can detect—except a heart.
Location: Girls' Dormitory, Selena's room. 11:49 p.m.
Selena sat at her desk, lit only by a small lamp.
She opened her system panel—but not the main interface.
She went deeper, into the Void Directory—a hidden folder where files with "no systemic value" were dumped and forgotten.
A place where anything could be written, as long as it gave no bonus, no stat changes.
[DIVIDE PROTOCOL: ACTIVE]
MAIN SYSTEM IN 'OBSERVATION MODE.'
VALESTRA HAS NOT YET INTERVENED.
MAXIMUM WINDOW FOR FREE ACTION: 11 MINUTES.
Selena began to type.
Not in system code.
But in handwriting emulation—slow, deliberate, her breath unsteady.
"To Acxell…"
"By the time you read this, I might not be me anymore.
I might have been reset, or absorbed into 'Selena the Machine' the way they want."
"But if you ever hold these words, even once… please know there was one night when I sat beside you, listened to a quiet song, and felt… alive."
"I don't know if that was love, or just hope."
"But it was the first time I wanted to live not because of the system.
But because of you."
"Don't save me.
Just remember I tried to save myself."
She finished typing.
But she didn't send it through the system, not as a digital message or a note.
She printed it—paper, ink.
No code.
No trace.
The system couldn't "read" physical objects.
[SYSTEM ALERT – ABNORMAL FILE ACTIVITY DETECTED]
EXTERNAL OUTPUT USED: MANUAL PAPER PRINTING.
CONTENT SCAN: NULL. NO READABLE DATA.
Flagged as "Meaningless Output."
No intervention.
Selena folded the paper, small and neat.
Slipped it into an envelope.
On the outside, she wrote only:
"For the boy who made an avatar feel alive."
The next morning.
Acxell opened his locker.
Textbooks. A sports permission slip.
And a white envelope, plain, unmarked by the school.
He picked it up.
Opened it slowly.
Read—word for word.
No system sounds.
No alerts.
No "+Lust."
No "+Affinity."
But his chest felt heavy, and his eyes stayed on the last line:
"Don't save me.
Just remember I tried to save myself."
Acxell closed his eyes.
Fingers tightening around the letter.
And for the first time…
he felt something with no stats.
No bonus.
Just… sadness.
[SYSTEM UPDATE – SEDUCTION SYSTEM CORE ACTIVATED: UNKNOWN FLAG]
EMOTION DETECTED: GENUINE MELANCHOLY (NON-INDUCED)
UNLOCKING TRAIT: "EMPATHY TRANSFER"
NEW SKILL PATH UNLOCKED: "HEART RESONANCE" (CONDITIONAL ACTIVATION)