<warning; spoilers be here>

It seemed to be any other day, but I knew something was off. Everyone around me in my university seemed to ignore me as best they could. Everywhere I went, it was cold. Even outside, in the midst of July.

However, the day took its most odd characteristic when I returned to my home, and loaded up my PC. It had been a few months since I had read Katawa Shoujo, one of my favorite visual novels. I went to download it from the site, but oddly enough, all of the torrent and downloads links were down, including the mirrors. I had to find another website to get it from. After mindless searching, I came upon a website which looked friendly enough. After downloading it, I ran an anti-virus scan on it just to be certain it was alright, and sure enough, it was clean.

As I booted up the game, I noticed the typical intro video didn't play at all. The title screen seemed darker, more melodramatic. All of the pictures of the girls seemed depressed, and it felt as though someone was missing. "Oh well." I thought, assuming it was an earlier version. I started a new game, decided to choose the arc of my favorite girl, Hanako. She was the sweetest thing in the world to me at the time, so I had to see her first. As I began the game, it all seemed normal.

When I first arrived at Yamaku, everyone seemed.... gloomy. The text speed for most of the characters was slower, and everyone spoke with dread in their lines, even Misha. As the game went along, the festival came about. As the fireworks struck, I was in the Shanghai with Lilly, who was acting normal as ever, and Hanako, whose lines were cut down to even less than they were before. She also never seemed to smile as the game went along Act 2. Finally, the panic attack scene came around. I went through the typically scenes, taking her to the infirmary. This is when I knew something was wrong. Slowly, the characters began swapping the name of the protagonist with my own name. At first, this didn't phase me, for whatever reason I came up with. As the story progressed, I went to visit Hanako in her room. Instead of answering the door, she shouted "Go Away!". I immediately began catching on.

Afterwards, the story continued somewhat normal, the same oddities in place. As Act 4 rolled around, I planned for the Good ending. As I went to her room in "Whispered Touch," I expected a usual ending. But when I opened the door to her room, the sight that met me shall stick with me to my grave. It was.. realistic. Like it was a photograph. Hanako had hanged herself. I soldiered on, and the protagonist began to read a note: "Perhaps it would be easier if I just didn't exist." I had to shut off the game, then and there.