Darkness, then code.
Jerry's eyelids twitched as strange symbols glitched across the inside of his vision — not a dream, not quite real.
He sat upright in bed, beads of sweat on his forehead. The morning sun barely pushed through the curtain slits, but his mind was already flooded with noise.
[Initializing: H.A.R.E.M.exe][Welcome, Jerry Foster. Compatibility: 94.6%][Emotional Calibration in Progress…][7 Hearts Detected. Status: Locked.]
What the hell…?He blinked. The text was gone. But the sensation remained — like a dormant program pulsing inside his skull.
"Morning, kid," said a voice. A deep, gruff one.
"Morning?!" Jerry leapt off the bed. No one was in the room. He looked toward the door — still locked. Same dorm, same desk, same cheap campus chair.
"You've awakened the system," came a second voice. Calmer. Smarter. Too smart.
"Now let's go flirt with danger," a third one said with a lazy grin in its tone.
Jerry's fingers dug into his scalp. "Who… who are you?!"
[Cognitive Link Active – Echo Archive Online]
🎙️ Ragnar – Former Host, Command-Type🎙️ Alric – Former Host, Logic-Type🎙️ Zen – Former Host, Chaos-Type
[Note: Residual consciousness data detected. Deletion not recommended.]
Jerry stumbled back onto his bed.
"You're telling me... there are three dead guys living in my head?" he whispered.
Zen chuckled. "We're not dead. We're echoes. Ghosts with good hair."
"We were candidates before you," Alric said. "We failed. You might not. Depending on how you handle the next 365 days."
Ragnar's voice rumbled, "Win them. Bond with the seven. Or break like we did."
[System Objective: Form Seven Synchronized Emotional Bonds][Warning: False affection will trigger corruption.][System Failure = Neural Collapse]
Jerry froze. "Wait, neural collapse?! As in, death?!"
No answer. Just the soft whir of an interface embedding deeper into his perception.
[Target Range: 1.5 km][Nearest Heart: Scanning…]
He jumped as a translucent radar bloomed in his vision for a second. Seven pulsing signals. Seven lives. Seven emotional storms.
Today was supposed to be orientation day. The start of his college life. Meeting new friends. Finding a fresh identity.
Not being thrown into a supernatural dating-sim death game with ghosts as mentors.
He stood slowly, rubbed his face, and forced himself to breathe.
Maybe he was still dreaming.
Maybe if he just made it to the orientation center and acted normal, it would go away.
But as he looked in the mirror, a line of code flashed across the corner of his iris — faint, but visible.
H.A.R.E.M.exe – System Active
By the time Jerry made it to campus, his head was quiet — or at least as quiet as it could be with three freeloaders offering unhelpful commentary every few minutes.
Ragnar: "Today, you begin your conquest."Alric: "Remember the patterns. Track their tells. Focus on body language."Zen: "Just smile and wink. Maybe take your shirt off."
"Please," Jerry muttered under his breath. "Just for today, let me be normal."
He arrived at Magnolia State University's central plaza just as the orientation banner flapped in the wind. Around him, students buzzed with nervous excitement. Everyone was trying to look confident. Everyone was hiding the same fear.
Jerry tried to blend in.
Tried to ignore the occasional flicker of data tags floating beside people's heads.
[EMOTIONAL PROFILE: Stable][Compatibility: 24.3%][Sync Level: NULL]
But then — a glitch.
For just a moment, the crowd warped. Not physically, but perceptually. As if the system blinked — and during that blink, someone saw him.
Someone pinged red.
He turned.
There, across the crowd, a girl leaned against a lamppost. Jet black hair. Headphones. Not wearing an orientation badge.
She wasn't part of the group.
But she wasn't just observing — she was scanning.
[Target #02 Identified – Codename: Echo Heart][Warning: Sync Instability Detected – 78% Risk]
And just like that, the system chimed again.
[Day 001: System Integration Begins][Hearts Remaining: 7][Survival Probability: Variable]
College life had officially begun.
And Jerry Foster had just stepped into something far deeper than classes, clubs, or freshman drama — a countdown had started, and each connection he made could either unlock salvation… or seal his fate.
He didn't know yet that the next few days would blur the line between reality and code, between emotion and calculation.
He would soon meet people who would change the trajectory of his fate — not just classmates, but anomalies tethered to his system, woven into a pattern he couldn't yet see.
Some of them would become allies.Some… enemies disguised in affection.And some, the very heart of the glitch threatening to consume him.
But for now, as he stood at the edge of a world brimming with unseen algorithms and hidden desires, one truth echoed clearly in his mind.
The game had started.And the system wasn't just watching.
It was evolving