I Refuse to Follow the Script

The Completionist Player

The rhythmic tapping of keyboards echoed throughout the office, blending with occasional ringing of telephones and muted conversations between employees.

Josephine stared at the clock mounted above the break room door. 11:56 AM. Four more minutes.

Not that she was starving. She simply preferred eating lunch on time.

Besides, there was something far more important occupying her thoughts. Starlight Sonata.

Just one more ending. One more emotionally devastating conclusion. And she would finally achieve one hundred percent.

"You look like you're waiting for your execution."

Josephine glanced sideways.

Clara Bennett leaned against the divider separating their desks, coffee cup in hand and amusement dancing within her brown eyes.

"Lunch," Josephine replied.

Clara snorted. "You say that you like you've been stranded in a desert."

"I've been trapped in spreadsheets since eight."

"So has everyone else."

Josephine returned her attention to the monitor. "That doesn't make it less tragic."

Clara laughed. Sometimes she wondered how someone as composed and mature as Josephine could say such ridiculous things with a completely straight face. Then again—

Josephine had spent an entire week complaining because a mobile game refused to give her an achievement after she fulfilled its requirements.

Perhaps she simply took hobbies very seriously.

The clock shifted.12:00PM.

Josephine immediately minimized her documents. Clara blinked. "You really were counting."

"I told you."

"You scare me."

Josephine gathered her lunchbox and stood up. "We've worked together long enough for you to know this is perfectly the behaviour of me."

Clara didn't argue with that. It was true. The first time they worked together, Clara had been overwhelmed by the number of tasks on her desk, while Josephine had finished her own work with surprising ease.

It didn't take long for Josephine to notice Clara staying late almost every evening. Whenever she finished her own assignment, she would quietly help with the remaining workload. Somewhere along the way, the two became best friends.

As they settled into the cafeteria, Clara suddenly leaned forward. "So…"

Josephine raised an eyebrow, "so what?"

"Weekend plans?"

Josephine considered the question for exactly two seconds. "Playing games."

Clara sighed. "Again?"

"It's ninety-eight percent."

"Normal people stop at fifty or seventy. Can be less."

"Weak."

Clara nearly choked on her drink. "Josie, you're twenty-six."

"And?"

"You should go outside."

"I do."

"Work doesn't count, darling."

"It technically involves leaving my apartment."

Clara pinched the bridge of her nose. "Come on," she sighed. "Let's visit that new cafe downtown."

"No."

"Movie?"

"No"

Clara narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "you have a boyfriend, don't you?"

Josephine calmly took another bite of her lunch. "I have unfinished achievements."

"I walked into that one before." Clara groaned dramatically. "One day you'll regret rejecting my invitations, Josie."

Josephine smiled faintly. "Perhaps," she replied. "But today is not that day, darling."

—----

By the time Josephine returned home, the sky outside had already begun to darken.

She followed the same routine she had grown accustomed to over the years. Shoes neatly arranged beside the entrance. Handbag placed on the table. A quick shower. Dinner. Comfortable clothes. And finally—

Starlight Sonata.

The familiar title screen shimmered beneath a sky full of stars on her monitor.

--------------『 Starlight Sonata 』--------------

Josephine settled onto her gaming chair, blanket over her lap, a cup of warm tea settle on the desk, "alright, one last ending."

She clicked the screen.

The game resumed and somehow within the Kingdom of Elysia—

Another tragedy patiently waited to unfold.

—---

The familiar dialogue boxes one after another.

Josephine had already completed Cassian Vale's good ending a few months ago. She knew he was charming in an infuriating sort of way—always smiling, teasing, and capable of talking his way out of nearly any situation.

Unfortunately, she also knew exactly which choices would destroy that smile.

The heroine folded her arms across her chest, frustration evident upon her face. "You don't trust people."

Cassian merely chuckled, leaning back against his chair as though the accusation amused him. "Of course I do."

"No, you don't," the heroine replied. "You trust the contract, profits and numbers. But people?" she paused, "you expect them to leave."

For a brief moment, Cassian's expression stiffened. Then he smiled again. "And am I wrong?"

Josephine selected the next dialogue option.

『Remain Silent』

Affection Points -10

She selected another.

『Prioritize Other Matters』

Affection Points -15

And another.

『Decline His Invitation』

Affection Points -20

Josephine sighed, "communication really is dead in this game."

The story progressed.

Days became months. Months became years.

Cassian gradually stopped appearing in the heroine's daily life. His letters became fewer. His invitations eventually ceased altogether. Until one day—

Rumors spread throughout the capital. The Golden House had expanded its influence overseas. Its owner had become one of the wealthiest individuals on the continent.

Lord Cassian Vale possessed everything a person could ever desire.

Wealth. Power. Influence. Prestige.

The heroine finally decided to visit him.

Josephine watched quietly. She expected a lavish banquet. A bustling mansion. Servants running through hallways. Instead—

Silenced greeted the heroine. The once lively estate felt strangely empty. Mans rooms remanied unused. Dust gathered upon shelves.

Servants only appeared when summoned. No guest visited. No laughter echoed through the halls. No friends remained.

At the center of an enormous room sat Cassian. Jewels glittered inside glass cabinets. Rare paintings adorned the walls. Stacks of contracts occupied a polished desk nearby.

Everything people spent their entire lives chasing rested within that room. And yet—

Cassian sat alone. A cup of tea rested between his fingers as he stared absently toward the window.

The heroine stepped closer, "was it worth it?"

Cassian remained silent. Then he laughed softly. Not mocking nor bitterly. Just simply tired. "I spent years believing money could but anything." He paused for a moment. "Comfort. Security. Freedom. Power."

He lowered his gaze toward the tea in his hands. "Turns out.." A faint smile tugged at his lips,"...it can't buy someone willing to stay."

The heroine reached toward hi,. "The come with me."

For a moment, as if searching for something he had lost years ago. Eventually, he shook his head. "You should have asked ten years ago."

Then the screen faded to black.

===================

Achievement Unlocked

『The Price of Everything』

CG Acquired

Completion Rate: 100%

===================

Josephine stared at the screen. "...No." She waited. Perhaps there would be another scene. A reunion, an epilogue. Anything.

Nothing happened.

Starlight Sonata simply returned to the gallery menu as though emotionally devastating its players was perfectly acceptable behaviour.

Josephine leaned back against the chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. "No…" She let out a long, weary sigh. "Why are all of you allergic to communication?"

Every tragedy in the game seemed to stem from the same problem.

Someone kept a secret, misunderstood another, or chose to sacrifice themselves in silence. Then everyone suffered because no one had simply…talked.

It was infuriating.

After a moment, Josephine reached for the mouse and exited the gallery.

The familiar title screen of Starlight Sonata quietly returned, its star-filled sky shimmering across her monitor.

======

Completion Rate

100%

======

Josephine stared at it expectantly. Nothing happened. No hidden cutscene, no congratulatory message, no developer's letter thanking players for reaching one hundred percent, and not even a decorative title she could display on her profile.

"Seriously?" She clicked through every menu one more time. Gallery, achievements, collections. extras, even setting. Nothing.

With a growing frown, she opened the in-game mailbox. Empty. Not a single message, not a commemorative gift, no exclusive illustration, and not even special dialogue.

Nothing to suggest the game even recognized the effort required to achieve complete completion. "You've got to be kidding me."

Still unwilling to give up, Josephine opened her browser and searched for the official player forum. Hundreds of discussion threads filled the screen.

Secret choices, hidden affection requirements, bad ending guides, achievement hunting, she spent nearly half an hour reading through them. Only to realize…

No one had ever posted a screenshot showing one hundred percent completion.

Most layers had stopped somewhere around fifty percent. Some gave up after finishing a single romance route. Others admitted they couldn't bring themselves to collect every tragic ending.

Josephine quietly leaned back in her chair. "So…I'm actually the first?" That should have felt satisfying. Instead…

It only made the silence from the developers feel even more insulting. One final search led her to the game's official website. The latest announcement had been posted several months earlier.

Version 2.3.7

Minor bug fixes.

Performance improvements.

Text corrections.

She scrolled further. Nothing. No explanation of the latest update. The game had already reached its final version. Development had officially ended.

Josephine stared at the monitor in disbelief before letting out a dry laugh. "This is complete bullshit." She folded her arms across her chest. "I spent one hundred and twenty hours completing every route, collecting every CG, unlocking every achievement, even sat through every depressing bad ending. And after all that…"

"The developers couldn't even be bothered to leave a simple 'Thank you for playing' message?" She shook her head. "What a waste."

With a frustrated sigh. Josephine shut down her computer. "Well…at least it's finally over."

Josephine switched off the desk lamp, plugging the apartment into darkness.

Only the faint glow of the city lights slipped through the curtains, casting pale streaks across the floor.

She stretched once before climbing beneath the blankets. "Finally.."

Tomorrow was the weekend.

For the first time in months, she could wake up without an alarm, sleep in for as long as she pleased, and spend the day doing absolutely nothing.

No unfinished routes waiting for her, no achievements left to unlock, not even ending left unseen.

A small smile found its way onto her lips. She had finally reached the end. Her eyelids gradually grew heavy. Within minutes, Josephine drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Silence settled over the apartment.

The computer resting upon the desk remained dark, its monitor reflecting nothing more than the dim moonlight filtering through the window. Then—

The screen flickered. Once. Twice. Its black display abruptly flashed pure white.

Static rippled across the monitor as fragments of distorted text blinked in and out of existence before dissolving into incomprehensible symbols. For a brief moment…

A pale hand pressed gently against the inside of the screen. As though someone..

Or something…

It was desperately reaching out from the other side. The image glitched violently. The hand vanished. The monitor turned to black. Once again, the apartment fell silent.