It's a Woeful World
Allow me to start by saying I'm sorry. By now it's too late for anyone else who I've placed this burden on. Let me start from the beginning of the end. I was a gamer. I loved to play video games. Video games were a constant escape from the world around me.
People are just nuisances. I didn't have many friends, and those who were my friends generally avoided me. It was a lonely life, but I didn't care. It was my life, and I was happy with it. One day my friend Alex told me to play a game called "The World Ends with You" for the Nintendo DS. I was bored, so I looked around for one, but couldn't find a copy anywhere.
Apparently it's a hard to find game. One day, I was driving through my neighborhood and saw a garage sale. I thought to myself "Why not?" and began browsing their items. While searching through the waves of boring stuff, I found a copy of "The World Ends with You". The price was $20, which was all the cash in my wallet.
Payday was only a few days away, so I decided "Why not?" When I approached the sales lady, I saw her face. It was sad, even depressed. I asked her why she was so sad, and she simply stated "My son committed suicide. He had hung himself in his room. We're selling his stuff to make his death easier." This bummed me out a bit, but I thought to myself "I'll get over it," bought the game, and went home to play it.
I got home and immediately ran upstairs to play it. Parents were still out at work, so I had some time before I had to do my homework. I started the game up and the title screen showed up. The title confused me. It said "It's a Woeful World" and the only selectable option was continue. The image showed a boy in purple standing by himself. I hit continue and the game began. A cutscene began to play with the boy from the title. I assumed this meant he was the main protagonist. The cutscene kept rolling and the boy kept saying negative things like "stay away" and "shut the hell up."
It ended with "All the world need is is me." This bummed me out a bit. He didn't seem to want anything to do with other people. I could relate to that though. People annoy me a lot as well. Another cutscene began to play, and the boy wakes up in the road and fins a pin in his hand. Behind him showed a tower that said "7 days". This game appeared to take place over a week span.
"Great. This is gunna be a short game." I thought to myself.
Gameplay started, and it was mostly walking around. I learned I could encounter enemies by "scanning" and fight them with "pins". The main character's name was Neku, and he eventually teams up with this girl names Shiki. The two were partners in a game that they play for their lives. It was a cool concept I had to admit.
As time progressed, I began to become more and more annoyed with Shiki. It seemed every time she opened her mouth, only crap would come out. I tried everything I could to tune her out, but she was driven into my head like a railroad spike. I decided to take a break, so I saved the game and went to get a snack. When I returned, the game was where I saved last. Nothing was changed or anything.
"Thank god." I said to myself.
I was expecting some glitches or evil music or something. I've been reading too much creepypasta.
By the end of the second in-game day, Neku encounters a pink hair chick which informs him that Shiki is a reaper, a person in the game trying to kill him. Neku looked at her angrily, and a cutscene began. Neku held up his hand and Shiki began to float. She seemed like she was choking. It reminded me of Star Wars. Just then the screen went black and I heard a neck snapping noise. I began to wonder if Neku had really just killed Shiki.
About ten seconds later, Neku awakes in a dark and open area. A speech bubble pops up that says "What have you done?" Neku replies with another speech bubble that says "I've cleansed my world once more. I've erased that stupid whore." I was a bit shocked that he would say something so hateful about the girl. But I couldn't help but smirk. Shiki was gone, and I could play without that annoying chick anymore. The screen faded to black and a transition screen said "Day Three."
Neku awakes in a white room. A man that wears what looks a black and white outfit with spikey black hair appears and a speech bubble says "What path do you choose to take? Be the pure or the mistake?" Neku replies simply with "Who are you?" at which the man replies, "The time of Judgment will come soon. This world ends with me, not you." The screen flashes white, and an image with the man appeared, his throat slit open flashes.
Then an image of Neku with his back turned appears before the screen goes black. The voice of Neku says "Your end is drawn by this knife, for I am the true judge of all life." I began to understand the message of this game. It basically that your world is your own, and only you can determine how it goes. I really did enjoy this game. It was mostly story, but a perfect one at that. The screen faded to black and a transition screen read:
"Day Four"
Neku wakes up in the street he began the game on. But this time all the people had dark red eyes and when I scanned them, all that came up was (...). I called my friend and asked him if this was what happens in the game, and he said it was. He remarked about how far I got and told me I was near the end of the game. This made me sad, as I wanted to keep playing. As I explored I encountered two NPCs. One was a boy in a skull bandana and the other was a girl with a bell around her neck. The boy yelled out at Neku in a speech bubble:
"Who are you?" For two minutes, Neku just stood there looking at the ground.
I thought the game might have frozen, but the music kept playing normally. Finally the girl asked "Are you OK?" which Neku replied immediately with "Yes". At this moment, Neku pulled out a gun and begins shooting the boy. I was excited. I didn't know this game had guns in it. Neku dropped the gun and began walking towards the two. The girl just stood there, fear in her eyes as Neku reached into the bullet holes in the boy and ripping them open further. She began to scream and turn to run, but at that point Neku began to strangle her with what looked like the boy's entrails.
This was the goriest T-rated game I've ever seen. It was like something out of a bad creepypasta. But I adored this game. The way he pulled the organs out of the boy at a good rhythm, the squishing and ripping noises created a musical beat that I snapped my fingers to. The screen went black and Neku's voice said "I've strangle one, filled the other with lead. My world is now perfect now that they are dead." The story seemed a bit repetitive, Neku killing people he meets, but I didn't care. I was excited to see who Neku killed next and how he did it. The screen transitioned into another screen that said "3 Days left."
Neku awakes once more in a sewer-like area. I was amazed how he could kill and sleep so easily. After a half an hour of walking back and forth, I realized that I could scan a hidden NPC behind a wall. The NPC thought the phrase "Make them suffer". The DS shrieked loudly and went black. I laughed off the sudden jump scare and waited for the game to continue. One frame flashed, and I swear I could have saw Neku with a wicked grin. The screen transitioned with the words "2 Left".
Neku awakes in a pitch black room. He stands and the level begins. There is an invisible wall that only allows him to move upward, so I go up. As he runs, the music's volume increases and the pitch becomes lower. This music was great! It increased so much tension that I was all but ready to kill another NPC. Neku would kill again soon. I just knew it. Neku eventually stopped and a man that looked like he had wolf fur appeared. A speech bubble appeared that said "This darkness is your darkness. If you continue to sink, you'll drown and die". Neku's eyes became dark and sunken.
As he looked at the man, he said "no" and rushed the wolf man. Neku's teeth sunk into his throat and he began tearing into it. The wolf man screamed and fell to the ground with wide eyes. As Neku tore the man's throat out I all but jumped out of my chair and cheered. This was the most brutal thing yet, and I loved every last second of it. Neku finished and stared into the head's lifeless eyes. With a twisted smile he said "Such tragedy and woe. You couldn't have continued living so Zetta Slow." The screen went black and a transitional screen read "The Last Day."
Neku is in a white room, just standing there. A blonde boy appears and asks "So Neku, are you ready for Judgment?" This boy seemed like he was better than Neku. I hated him with all my guts. I wanted to end his life, and then smiled as I knew Neku would. After a long pause Neku looked at the blonde boy, hate filling his eyes and said, "This world is mine, and I..."
The screen goes black. Neku's voice, in a lower pitch saying:
"i am god"
The screen flashed with black and white images of human corpses, all murdered in brutal ways. But these were not images of drawn characters no, they were real images. They were low quality, but they were real all right. I began to laugh uncontrollably. This was too funny.
They all died because they were weak fools. Every picture of man, woman, child. They all deserved to die. A close up of Neku appeared and he looked at me. With a sincere smile, he said, "It's your turn to play. Either their worlds will end, or yours will. Either way, the world ends, with you."
The DS shut off and I stared into the blank screen to see my reflection. It looked like me, but it wasn't. I had dark, red eyes, my hair was orange, my headphones were purple... I dropped the DS on the ground and backed away. I felt an unnerving desire, an inhuman lust, an unwavering urge to kill. I wanted to watch people suffer. Watch them cry for mercy...
"NO!" I screamed aloud. I couldn't just kill innocent people. They haven't hurt me in any way. "But they will" I thought to myself.
"They will try to change your world, change you. Only you can change your world. You must kill them all." I yelled and screamed at myself for what seemed like hours, bouncing back and forth from the idea of killing everyone I know. Then I finally found a solution, a way to kill, but not hurt others.
If you are reading this, then I was successful. You or someone else has found my copse hanging from my bedroom ceiling. I want you and my parents to know not to be sad about me. You have noticed I have hidden the note under the bed. This was so no one could find it until it's too late. Chances are mom and dad has begun to sell my least important stuff.
My clothes, my books, my video games. I wanted the game to be sold again. I want others to share the dread that I suffered in the end. This world is painted with false colors of happiness, hiding the true suffering under a mask of deceit. I don't know if all I experience in the game was real or not. But I do know one thing I am completely certain that truly, It's a Woeful World.
Credited to Manticoran
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