[𝙾𝚑, 𝚢𝚎𝚜, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚊𝚢, 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐.
𝙰𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚗. 𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗...𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢]

Congratulations! We are offering you, a charismatic uploader that we've chosen, the privilege to play in the closed beta of "The Ones Within - Genome

"Congratulations it says? How peculiar... Maybe it's just some jokes they make?" Humming silently, you looked at the screen in front of you. A lot of worried words poured out like a waterfall when they're seeing a small tab had appeared on your computer screen.
You were already annoyed enough with the hard stage I've gone through, and now you had to worry more about this small tab? How ridiculous, you silently cursed.

"Oh, don't worry. I think I should stop the stream at this rate. Personally talking, maybe it's just some bug, please don't get yourselves work up so much because of these issues. Well, thank you for your consideration, I'm quite flustered at first, but now I'm fine. Ahh, sorry again for this inconvenience, I will try to stream more hours than today for sure. Then, goodnight, or, should I say sweet dreams since it is already 2 am? Haha, see you again, and thank you for watching!" As soon as possible, you turned off your stream before anyone could see another weird tab just popped out.

Furthermore, this privilege cannot be rejected or transferred. We look forward to meeting you.

"Should I be worried or something? Let's take a look at this 'The ones within - genome'. Maybe I can have more clues about this suspicious invitation." The so-called calmed and collected rhythm and RPGs gamer, are you, have to abandon your dear precious viewers for this suspicious thing, if you couldn't find out any clues, you definitely would be cursed the person who sent this invitation to you to death.
As you looked into all the cases connected to this invitation, you soon got goosebumps because of the disappearance of other steamers, just like yourself.
"This thing is so shadyyyyy!!! And it also said that I cannot reject anything. And connect to all the disappearances, maybe... they kidnapped people for something? But what things?" Blurted out your thoughts and continued your research on this shady invitation in silence. However, there was some noise coming outside your room, which made your ears perk up for a minute and set your guard up.

'Who's outside my room at this hour? And I'm living alone, there's no way mom and dad or even my sister visit me at this hour!!! The kidnapper? Or just some robbers?' The headphones were already set aside, you wanted to scream out because the footsteps were cleared than before, that only means someone was coming nearer your room.

Trying to test your luck, if it just was a robber, he would take all the money and leave, but no if it was a kidnapper, you would be dead, at least you thought so... Therefore, you scrambled to write a few codes in your paper note and quickly hid it inside your dear cinnamon. However, when you were already lying on your bed, the footsteps stopped, leaving a chilly silence.

'I should be asleep right now. My poor acting couldn't save me if that stranger came inside my room. But should I?' You knew that you shouldn't be so scared of this too much, you knew that even if you have to die, you wouldn't be worried so much. But...

Is this really something I yearn for?

Too busy debating yourself, you failed to notice a floral scent crawling into your room, slowly enveloping all of the space in your room with its scent.
'Ah, this scent is...' Even you tried to fight off the urge to sleep, but with a body which had a long time no sleep, no rest like yours, you soon fell a little dizzy, and slowly, darkness and the soothing scent gradually covered all your senses.

——————————

"Sleep already?"
"Hm, goodnight, or... should I say sweet dreams?"

——————————

"Hey, Miss, wake up! Hello there, please wake up!" The first thing you first met after a long while of no sleep is a handsome man who you haven't met even once in your regular life. After seeing you have woken up, he soon retreated to where he stood.
The man in front of you is dressed in the traditional Japanese style. He is quite young, though. Judging from his body language, it seemed like he's a laid-back and confident person, also good at fighting.

'A samurai, hm...?' You stared at the katana curiously which made the man quite amused at your antics. Closed the gap between you and him, he asked teasingly:
"Hey, are you done checking me out?"
"Aren't it obvious? I'm not done. Plus, I have a lot of things to ask, do you mind?" You actually didn't mind his teasing words too much, since it was also your fault when staring too long at a stranger, more specifically, a man. Nonetheless, now it's not time to get flustered at someone's tease, you have to know a little information about this place. A place full of trees, a forest. you looked around a bit to find more clues but got nothing except seeing trees, and a few bugs. Moreover, the sky is quite clear with the clouds floating peacefully, but there's no intense sunlight reached to where you and that man stayed, which means the forest is very wide and all the trees are quite tall and old...

"You're quite a thinker. I see. What do you want to ask, Miss? My number?" A smirk soon appeared on his pretty face, probably trying to get on the flustered side of you, or trying to ease up the atmosphere. However...
"Normally I would ask your name and stuff, but now I want to ask about this place. Do you perhaps know where are we, or did you remember anything before you come here?" As this man commented, you are a thinker, and of course, you've already had a lot of explanations run in your brain right now, but you should at least ask him to confirm a few of them.
"Hm, to be honest, I don't actually know where this place is. Plus, I just like you, woke up in this forest and fortunately found you asleep when I was exploring."
"Asleep... Hmm, maybe the one who kidnapped us has brought us here for whatever their reasons were. This is really just like some adventure combined with horror and a mysterious RPG game. Then, it will be some stage for we have to clear, though?"
"You're sure a smart one. You just woke up and now you already have a lot of thoughts. I kinda have a compliment for your thoughtful theory and your calmness. Now, it's my turn to ask you a few questions."
"Sure, go ahead." You had nothing to keep as a secret, even if he was a bad guy or something, you still could take advantage of the forest with trees and grasses. But you doubt that he would harm you, if he wanted to harm, he already could do it in the first place, why bothered to wake you up? Plus, he said he just liked you, that means he knew zero information about this place, and that's a relief.

"What's your name and which grade are you in? How old are you?"
"..."
"No answer?"
You silently facepalmed and cursed him for making you think so seriously about his questions.
"My name is (Y/n). I'm around fifteen or sixteen, I think. I'm in grade 10, and that's all."
"Hm."
"That's all?" You tilted your head a bit, a confused smile slowly appeared on your face. Well, it's your nature when in those kinds of awkward moments, you'd smile to shoo away the awkwardness. Even though you didn't want to smile in this situation at all, you still had to smile because your anxiety began to kick in.

This is a way to survive in this cruel world. Try to smile more, (Y/N)! You'd be a real beauty if you smiled more. Yes, just like that, very lovely!

"Are you alright, Miss? You seem out of Earth now." The stranger gazed at you with worried eyes. You must've been spaced out again. Why did you remember those words? Facing those worried gazes and words, you couldn't help but feel more embarrassed because of your antics. You were too open for people to read right now. Unconsciously, you touched your earlobe gently to calm your anxiety down. Biting the inside of your cheek, you awkwardly answer:
"I'm fine, no need to worry. It's just I'm confused and got lost in my thoughts. How about you continue exploring but now you have me go with you too? The more the merrier, right?"
"Sure. You really have a quick change in your behavior. Nevermind. I'm fine with a companion, let's go, (L/N)-chan." It seemed like he wanted to talk about something, but decided to drop it. Maybe it's not too important to ask, you supposed...

Therefore, you and a stranger who you didn't even know and dared to ask his name went around the forest. You wished that you could meet more people right now because this man was really quiet, he probably wanted to observe everything silently. This awkwardness really should be gone away, at least have some more people.
Come to think of it, since when you've started to wear your uniform? Your uniform consists of a knee-length plaid skirt, a blue and white checkered shirt that is fastened with a blue and white checkered tie, and a pastel blue blazer that is over it. The uniform was nice, but who in the world wore it for you? You swore that you'd worn a nightdress last night. Things got too complicated for your little brain to understand then.

"Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!" There was a loud thud has shaken the ground up. It felt as if something heavyweight moved slowly step by step. You looked around to find what is it. Before you could have the chance to do that, the man quickly grabbed your hand and dragged you to run away from something. The winds blew strongly due to their speed being too fast, which also makes your (h/c) (h/l) messed up.

"If you cannot catch up, please do tell me, I will carry you. Could you hear me clearly, Miss?"
"N...no need. I still can catch up!!!"
"If you say so."

After a long run, your lungs and your heartbeat must not be able to put up with any long run again. While you tried to catch your breath, the man who dragged you all the way here suddenly stared at something with a smile "not so friendly".

"What are you looki—"
"EEK!!!" This time, instead of the loud thud before, was a feminine shout. Where he's staring at, is two persons were trying to run away from an animal? A rat...?  They also seemed to argue something because the girl kept yelling at the boy with a mask.

"Any ideas to help them, Miss?"
'Why are you asking me now?' Your inner side shout out pure out of frustration.
"Um, I think the eyes? If we could make the eyes hurt or something, it might be take a lot of time to adjust its sight. Therefore, those two can have more time to hide somewhere." You scrambled to find the right words for your explaination. However, what if it couldn't work???
"Better try than standing still, hm." "Ah, wai—"
He immediately ran towards those two and jumped on the rat. Using his umbrella as a weapon, he ambushed the rat right in its eyes.

"Hey there, what do you guys look so dumbfounded for?" He said with ease. His smirk still stayed still on his face.
"Crush their eyes!"
"Eh...?"
"What do you...?"
"Their eyes! As for my companion's advice, just gouge them or smash them! It's pretty easy to defeat them actually."
"Your companion?"
"She's still froze in her position for a while. Over there." He pointed his finger at your face. Even you did give him advice, but you didn't ask for gouging their eyes or something. Why did you reply as if telling them that it's all comes from your explanation?
Realized their waiting eyes over there, you awkwardly walk out of the bushes with your fingers fiddle with each other. You gave the guy with his umbrella a dirty look while he's just standing with a innocent smile.
Now you could took over their features. The girl is quite a beauty, she has a nice body with smooth pink hair. And the boy he has a cute face, a positive energy came out from him, lighten up the atmosphere around him.

"As you see, this is my mentor. She gave out her advice, it seems like her theory is right. Well then!" After introducing me for them, he gave the pink hair girl his katana for survival purposes and quickly charged forward the other animals with his umbrella. I looked over the girl and found that she's shaking in fear. Her face was so pale that you felt as if she's going to collapse sooner or later. While you were busying observe the girl, the boy climbed on the nearest tree clumsily.

"Anyhow, we need to hurry and find a solution to get out of this forest. So, Miss, can you please at least stand up? If you kept on sitting there, your legs would be numb."
"Ah, you're right!! I should stand u— A sock...?" She quickly stood up while was holding the katana. Suddenly, a white sock from above fell on her head. You looked up to see whose it came out and it was from the positive boy. Your face contorted in confusion and started wondering what's on Earth he's trying to do in this situation. It seemed like not only you was surprised, even the girl and the man who was beating those creatures also were stunned with his doings. But, the girl's surprised face didn't last long, it swiftly turned into a scary look.
"What the heck do you think you doing!!?" She started to kick nonstop the bottom of the trees, made it get shaken up and the boy had a hard time to balance more. They kept yelling out, the boy for explaining and the girl for shouting. And you got quite exhausted from all the run and anxieties before, that's why you decided to sit crossed legs and close your eyes for a bit. Their voice slowly went in background and you just continued your resting, not bothered to look up to see whose shadow loomed over you.

——————————————————————
Do you know why I like to smile a lot, (Y/N)?

Why? Because you want to hide your true feelings, huh?"

What! No!!! I smile because when I get the time to spend time with you, I feel so happy and giddy. Whenever I remember to you, my mouth can't help but curves into a smile. A smile pure out of happiness!

Is that so? Hm, then, usually, do you feel happy?

This is... Can I not answer this question?

Sure. It's your choice. But remember, if you want to talk about it, call out for me.

Aw, thank you so much, (Y/N)! That's why I love you and your smile so much. Such tender smile and gentle gestures, you're really a goddess!!!

——————————————————————-
"Hey, wake up! Seriously, this is the second time I have to wake you up again in today."
"It seems like (L/N)-sama needs a lot of rests then."
As soon as you opened your (e/c) eyes, there're more one person here. Confusion clouded your face, what is that kind of cosplay? A alpaca mask? You narrowed your eyes to see clearer, but it's no use. Therefore, you chose to stand up under many surprises gazes throw to you. You still felt a bit dizzy from your sudden stood up, that's why your antics might get a little sloppy.
"You wake up so late."
"How could you sleep at this rate, when you're in a dangerous situation?? Did you feel no fear? I'm so worried when you stopped responding to any questions!!"
"(L/N)-sama, how do you feel after your sleep? Are you comfortable now?"
"Are you okay?"
A lot of questions bombarded at you while you just stared intently at the one with alpaca mask.
"What does you mean when we have to attain 100 million total views?"
"Oh, you heard it." "How come you can hear it but not our voice called out for you?!"
"Please let me continue my explanation for (L/N)-sama, Sarayashiki-sama. As you heard it, you have to keep the counter running till it hits 100 million. You also have to attend many stages to clear them, it should be very familiar to you, right, Zetta-sama?"
"Views? Does that mean this is like a living shows?"
"Kind of. You seem awfully calm about this. You can look at your wrist to see the viewers count, too. I hope my words can help you understand more."
"More than enough." Your mind went blank at this point, the lights from your (e/c) soon disappeared which make your eyes resemble the dead fish's eyes at some point. Everyone's aware of your change of atmosphere, it slowly turned into a gloomy and cold one, which also made them worried for you, but decided to drop it off since they thought you must've needed time to adjust those cruel information.

"Furthermore, playtime is infinite. Please stream as if you're willing to die."