Chapter 1

【Your friend Yagami Shizuka has invited you to join the 2D chat room】

【Accept/Reject】

……

Staring at the pop-up window on the screen, Tang Hao was stunned for three seconds, a hint of emotion flashing through his mind. Then he moved the mouse to the window and quickly clicked on "Reject."

Yagami Shizuka: "Damn! What the hell are you doing, rejecting it?!"

Another chat window popped up immediately, with Yagami Shizuka's angry expression.

Tang Hao: "I've already quit being a shut-in. I'm not one of you 2D people anymore, so of course I have to reject it. By the way, what the hell are you doing, suddenly asking me to join a group?"

Yagami Shizuka: "Quit being a shut-in? Did you find a girlfriend?"

Tang Hao: "No..."

Yagami Shizuka: "Then why did you quit being a shut-in?"

"..." Tang Hao was speechless for a moment.

Yagami Shizuka: "Anyway, stop talking nonsense and join the group quickly. I have something important to discuss with you."

Tang Hao: "What important thing? Can't we chat privately? Do I really have to join the group?"

Yagami Shizuka didn't respond but sent another group join request.

Tang Hao, feeling helpless, had known Yagami Shizuka for half a year. Back then, he was deeply immersed in the 2D world and particularly enjoyed chatting with people with such anime-style IDs. Yagami Shizuka was one of the few netizens he got along with well. Because of her masculine way of speaking, he initially thought the owner of the account was a guy like himself. It wasn't until a voice chat that he discovered she was actually a girl with a clear and crisp voice, which gave him quite a bit of imagination for a while.

But as everyone knows, online relationships have no future, so it was just a fleeting thought.

Even so, this girl who used "Yagami Shizuka" as her username was still one of Tang Hao's few friends, or more accurately, the only female friend he could talk to. After much hesitation, Tang Hao finally accepted Yagami Shizuka's request.

【You have joined the 2D chat room】

【Your group nickname has been changed to Big Idiot】

Big Idiot: "Damn, do you have to be so fast? Are you typing with your mind? And what does this name even mean?!"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Don't worry about the details. I just thought your previous name lacked a 2D style, so I changed it for you. Congratulations on joining the 2D chat room."

This seventeen-year-old girl was clearly Yagami Shizuka.

Although he felt pranked, it was just a username, so it wasn't worth worrying about. Tang Hao didn't mind and glanced to the right, noticing that the number of people in the chat room was pitifully small, only five people, including himself.

Pakurugi Go: "Hello, new member."

Loli Xiao Wu: "Welcome, welcome."

Dead Otaku Kaguya: "New member, show us a picture. And... old lady, change my name back, I'm not a dead otaku!"

【Dead Otaku Kaguya has been muted by the moderator, Seventeen-Year-Old Girl, for five minutes】

Pakurugi Go: "You did it again..."

Loli Xiao Wu: "Why bother?"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Kaguya, your path is getting narrower. Please cherish your account."

Looking at these 2D-style usernames, Tang Hao suddenly felt surrounded by middle school syndrome. He also realized once again that you can't offend the moderators!

Big Idiot: "By the way, what kind of group is this? Why are there so few people?"

Loli Xiao Wu: "A game group."

Big Idiot: "What game?"

Tang Hao glanced at the group announcement but didn't see any game-related information.

Pakurugi Go: "A game where we, 2D friends, go to other 2D worlds to have fun."

Big Idiot: "Emmmm???"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Don't listen to them. They also just joined today, like you."

Big Idiot: "They? All girls?"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Yes, doesn't it feel like a sudden harem?"

Big Idiot: "..."

Loli Xiao Wu: "Oh no, the innocent boy is about to fall."

Big Idiot: "So, is this a newly created group?"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "I don't know when this group was created."

Big Idiot: "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Pakurugi Go: "It's getting chaotic, just as I expected."

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Let me put it this way, I also suddenly joined this group a long time ago. Since I was the first member, I became the moderator. After that, many people joined, like Flame-Haired Blazing-Eyed Warrior, Bilibili, Ordinary Third-Grader, Sugar Lover, Floorboard Expert, SSS Team Leader, Death God Agent, and Justice Partner. At its peak, there were probably over a hundred people."

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Until one day... actually yesterday, the group owner and all other members suddenly disappeared. The entire group was left with only me, and I became the acting group owner."

Big Idiot: "There's such a thing as an acting group owner?"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Don't believe me? Check my profile."

Tang Hao opened Yagami Shizuka's group profile and indeed saw "acting group owner" after her ID.

What the hell is this?

Big Idiot: "So, you asked me to join your group because of this?"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Yes, don't you think this is a serious issue?"

Big Idiot: "It's a bit strange, but I don't see how serious it is."

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "It's very serious. When the group was normal, we could form teams to go to other 2D worlds for fun. But now it's a dead group, the group level has been reset, and it's even at risk of being disbanded. Knowing this, can you still speak in that tone?"

Big Idiot: "Huh?"

Tang Hao was stunned for a moment. What the hell is this netizen talking about?

Big Idiot: "Are you saying this group has the ability to travel to 2D worlds?"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Yes."

Big Idiot: "Then who are you?"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "I'm obviously Yagami Shizuka."

Big Idiot: "The Yagami Shizuka from Gensokyo, who has lived for countless years but pretends to be a seventeen-year-old girl, who is elusive and likes to spy, and is the mastermind behind the scenes, the gap demon Yagami Shizuka?"

Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "...Although you've insulted me enough, I'll forgive you this time to prove my identity. Yes, I am that Yagami Shizuka."

Tang Hao was stunned for several seconds. While he knew that some hardcore otakus can be quite middle school syndrome, this level of immersion was still quite rare. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't bother, but this person had a half-year friendship with him. After some thought, he decided to try to help her.

Big Idiot: "Wake up, girl. First of all, this is the real world. I and Yagami Shizuka can't possibly be netizens. Even if..."

Big Idiot: "Even if you are really Yagami Shizuka, if I call you an old lady, can you really press my head to the keyboard and type flksdjflksdjflkdsjf;ldksjfisodufoids7yi9in j lkjld"

Pakurugi Go: "Wow, it really got messed up!"

Loli Xiao Wu: "Is this face-rolling the keyboard? So cool!"

Dead Otaku Kaguya: "Damn, I'm finally out of jail!"