As someone who spends far more time indoors than outdoors despite knowing its dangers and effects, I always enjoy stories depicting it or hinting to it in some way. It not only reminds that I'm not alone in it, it also reminds me that I should really get off my ass and do something useful. I don't actually listen though. Hey, you can't blame me! Sitting through a 50-hour RPG to kill god with the homies may be a waste of time but it is a lot of fun! (ง ื▿ ื)ว Anyway, I recently came across a visual novel depicting this, aptly named Digital Seclusion and available on itch.io for free.
The story begins with our unnamed protagonist (I'll call him Zalor from now on) describing his situation. Isolated in his self-made shrine of old Japanese visual novels along with the old PCs required to play them the "authentic" way, Zalor has lost all sense of reality and is now totally consumed by his love for the medium and is slowly rotting away as he dedicates to his life to a blog detailing what he plays. He's just like me... (っ´ω`)ﾉ(╥ω╥)
On a day like any other in which he avoids daylight and decides to sit down a play a VN off his collection for updating his blog, something changes. A girl... or rather a "feminine spirit" in her own words materialises in front of him. She takes the form of different characters from his favourite VNs, but without the personality. He immediately knows she is not them (￢_￢;) and is only an imitator but he is mesmerized anyway. Talking to himself hoping she would butt in, as she seems to slip in out of existence at her own will. Perhaps testament to his isolation from the outside.
While assuring she isn't here to belittle him, she reminds him of his reality in a mocking tone, inviting arguments. She reminds Zalor that his obsession with visual novels and their characters is no more than a coping mechanism. After all, his parents are long gone, he went through school without many friends, and spent the prime of his age locked away in a dark room away from reality. Of course he would begin to seek companionship from static images and programmed scripts. Maybe the girl he's looking at is the manifestation of that as well. While all of this talk sounds harsh, Zalor is nonetheless grateful that he has someone to talk to. Thing is, he can't feel her. She might be in front of him and talking to him, but even when she touches his cheek in an effort to comfort him, he feels nothing. Almost like a ghost walking right through walls. This is not yet enough to deter a desperate and upset Zalor, who continues listening to her teasing about his virginity and liking dominant girls, all while wearing the skin of Misako from True Love, one of his favourites.
In yet another deviation from routine, Zalor finds himself slipping in and out of conciousness as he's jerked awake from a bad dream. In it he is approached by a girl with pink hair. As he awakes the feminine spirit Misako reveals that she is also in his dreams now. His desperation has brought out such a convincing hallucination, even sleep is no longer an escape. Then, she makes an offer. "Renounce the world, renounce your life, and entrust yourself fully to me". You'd think Zalor would jump at the oppurtnity to cop a feel, but he's hesitant enough to surprise himself. He can finally fulfill the wishes of being embraced by a 2d girl who will tell him everything will be okay, but in exchange he has to give up everything. His life's work, if you can call it that. Eventually, he comes to terms with the fact that the lifestyle he chose is leading him nowhere. He fully embraces Misako but only to be filled with regret after. What was he wasting all his time for? Was it worth wasting his youth and prime years on collecting obscure virtual stories for him to push away his distance from reality further? Was Misako even real or a manifestation of his solitude? What did he gain or lose?
As much as I like this VN and its themes, it's impossible for me to deny how much I relate. I may originate from a country that is impoverished and chaotic, but I would argue that living there is preferable to living on the internet. It's true that the internet gives us access to unlimited information on any topic. But how much of that information do you really need? As a kid, I would try to make up for my shortcomings in school by memorising random facts I found the web. Did you know that the South Korean economy nearly collapsed during the 1997 IMF crisis? You have no reason to know that and gain nothing from it, but it makes me sound smart so I assumed it was useful. Not only that, the (contemporary) internet is designed to keep you hooked on artificial feel-good-machines rather than genuine connection between people across the globe. Followers and messages on websites like Twitter are less about communicating with your friends and more a status symbol fo how popular or pretty or funny or etc you are. It's become a matter of stroking egos. This can lead to the "instagram influencer" phenomenon or it can lead to situations like mine and Zalor's. As the desire for connection becomes less important in the face of unlimited useless information and status symbols, people seclude themselves inside and become glued to a screen like a patient tied to a UV drip. We find many ways to describe people affected by internet addiction. Some say it's just ADHD, others say it's just autism. While I am in no way invalidating that these issues indeed exist and create a very difficult life for those affected, many others would totally disregard they had this issue if they were torn away from the internet for, say, 3 years. I don't know, man. I'm just spouting nonsense after playing a game that I relate too much to. I guess I am the very thing I criticise.
One more thing before you go, he wasn't lying. Here's the link