Happy Ending? [Countryhumans]

Chapter one

Chapter one: The Cassette

January, present day

My head hurts. I feel so dizzy. I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry. A sweet tune of a piano playing filled my bedroom. I reached for my phone, which was on my bedside table. I drowsily swiped to open it and someone was calling me. But my vision was so hazy that I couldn't read who it was.

"Argh," I groaned as I stood up and went to the bathroom. There I took a nice cold shower to wake my body. I stepped out of the shower and looked at myself in the mirror.

"I'm a mess," I said to myself, trying to fix my extremely messy beige hair. I left the bathroom and wore a white shirt. I put on some greige trousers and popped on my mousy sweater.

"The weather today is horrible," I whispered, looking out of the window. "Hopefully it won't get in the way."

Walking down the stairs, half awake and half asleep, I noticed a package on the table. I rushed over to open it. I wonder ... what's inside?

I peeped in and I saw a ... video game? Interesting. The cover just said video game and nothing else. There wasn't a controller, instruction manual, maybe some freebies, nope. Nothing. Only the clear box with the video game inside. That's strange and unusual. What's even weirder is that there's no stamp, address, and other stuff you need to mail something. Why? Who sent this?

Questions flooded my head as I gently examined the video game. I saw a big red button and that's it. What should I do? Curious, I pressed the red button. Suddenly the room started to shake. It felt like an earthquake. I huge gust of wind swirled around me like a tornado.

CRASH! I fell on the ground hard. My head hurts even more. Brr! It's cold! I looked up. I'm ... I'm in a forest. There's snow everywhere. Trees surrounded me and snowflakes fell from the sky.

How did I get here? A glimmer caught my eye. There was a watch in my hand. I tapped it and a hologram screen appeared.

Level 1, HP: 100

Wait, am I inside the video game? Oh my gosh. I never expected this. I thought it'll just be a simple one like Mario or something. Maybe it's VR and I just didn't realize? I noticed the hologram was flashing. It had a note written on it this time.

In order to leave the game, you must accomplish the Happy Ending, but it won't be easy. There is only one Happy Ending while the others are bad.

Good luck.

I need to accomplish the Happy Ending. It said it will be tough. I better get ready. Suddenly, a bullet pierced my shoulder and I heard someone walking close. I groaned from pain and tried to run, but that person, whoever they are, shot both of my legs and I collapsed. Blood stained the pure white snow as that figure walked close and I slowly bled to death.

−25 HP

This is a video game, I thought. You'll respawn, don't worry!

I closed my eyes. My HP probably didn't go that low. I can still survive, somehow. I started crawling for dear life. After a while, I saw a house in the distance. I desperately crawled to the house. It took a while, but I finally made it. I was crawling through the steps and just as I got close enough to at least knock, pain struck my body. I couldn't move, every part of me hurt.

"Блять (fuck)," I cursed as I fainted.

✻ ✻ ✻ ✻ ✻

I woke up on a sofa. My shoulder was bandaged up and so was my legs. I looked around saw someone preparing hot chocolate on a dining table. I coughed a bit. They turned around and when they saw me, they smiled and greeted me cheerfully.

"Hello! Are you alright?" He sat down beside me. I noticed his head was shaped like a circle. Colors were painted on his face and it looked like a flag. I think I've seen that flag before, but which country is it?

"Привет (hello)," I responded. He stared. I don't know why.

"Ты в порядке (are you ok)?" I asked, feeling concerned. He shook his head and looked at me with a grin.

"Are you Russian?" He asked.

"Дa (yes)," I stared at my feet. "Um ... who are you?"

"I'm Poland!" He smiled.

"Ah ... Польша (Poland) ..." I softly repeated.

"So, what happened?" He looked directly into my eyes. He seems worried.

"What do you mean?" I said, confused.

"I heard something thud from outside my door and you were ..." He coughed a bit. "You were lying down on a pool of blood with wounds on your legs and on your shoulder."

"Some asshole shot me in the forest." I said abruptly and irritated. "I don't know who the heck it was, but they sure got a bone to pick with me that's for sure!"

"T-they just shot you like that?!" Poland was horrified.

"Yes, unfortunately ..." I angrily whispered, resting my chin on my hands.

"Where are you from?" Poland nervously asked, trying to change the subject. But I didn't know what to say. I came from the forest and that's it. Should I lie? No, he helped me and it's not nice to lie. Even if it's for a simple (but hard in my case) question.

"I don't know," I embarrassingly admitted. I looked at him and he smiled.

"You can stay with me if you want!" He offered.

"Спасибо," I thanked him. "Um ... what's the date today?"

He looked at his calendar. He answered, "November 23. Come on, I'll show you to the guest room."

"Ok." We walked upstairs and I found myself in a cozy bedroom.

"Call me if you need anything," Poland's voice echoed through the corridor as he went downstairs.

I looked at the watch thingy and the hologram flashed.

Level 1, HP: 98/100

I have 98 HP because of the GSWs (gunshot wounds) on my shoulder and on my legs. I sighed. I better be careful, even though I can respawn if I die. It won't save me from pain, I thought. And progress loss.

I noticed there's this lightbulb thing on the right of the HP. I think it's the Hints button. I pressed it, hoping it'll say something useful.

Hint: Unlock new friendships to level up

Friendships ... So, is this game kinda like a dating sim? This is very interesting. I went downstairs and Poland was eating biscuits. I sat down and ate with him.

"Hey, what's your name? I don't think you told me." Poland asked, raising his eyebrow.

I quietly mumbled my name. I wasn't very pleased with it, but I manage to tolerate it well. I honestly think it's kinda silly.

"Wow, what a beautiful name!" He complimented right as I finished speaking.

"Спасибо (thank you)," I answered.

I have a feeling ... this will be an interesting game. A very, very interesting game.