[CoC Scenario Release] A short 1-on-1 scenario playable in 1 hour: 'The Folder God Mis-tapped' [TRPG]

Good morning, this is Inoru Hayasaka.
The theme this time is the **"bug where photos of your favorite character disappear,"** which everyone fears.

'The Folder God Mis-tapped'

"W-wait a second! Even the story (log) you've built up until now is just 'cache' that eats up storage space to me. ...Even if this one shot is just a blurry photo that hasn't been backed up to anyone's cloud."

■ Scenario Overview

• System: Call of Cthulhu TRPG (7th Edition)

• Format: 1-on-1 with KPC

• Estimated Time: About 1 hour (can be played quickly)

• Recommended Skills: <Spot Hidden>, <Library Use>, <Computer Use>, <Art/Craft (PC's hobby, or Selfies)>

• Setting: Closed (a pale digital space where garbled app icons float)

• Theme: Modern memories, storage shortage, digital metafiction

■ Synopsis

You were supposed to be taking selfies with the KPC at a cafe, when suddenly the words "Critical Error" appeared on the screen. Before you knew it, you were both sucked into the "internal storage of a smartphone" where giant circuit diagrams run. The KPC's form has become low-resolution polygons (blocky), and the words they speak are garbled as "ababbaba." This is one step away from the trash bin, where "Yog-Sothoth" accidentally slipped a finger and almost deleted you. You must regain your "image quality (resolution)" and log in to reality before you are completely erased (formatted)!

■ Handout (HO)

• PC: 'Administrator Privileges' You have the command input authority to fix the "bugs" in this world by force.

• KPC: 'Corrupted Data' You are currently experiencing a "read error." If left alone, your whole body will become pixelated, and eventually, you will melt into the background (wallpaper).

■ Five-Chapter Structure: High-Speed Recovery & Logout

Chapter 1: 404: Heart Not Found

A blue sky (blue screen) as far as the eye can see. The KPC stares at their own blocky arms and mutters in a noise-filled electronic voice, "I guess we were destined to be erased by someone's fingertip from the very beginning."

• Description: When you touch the KPC, a string of "0"s and "1"s spills from your fingertips, and their "expression" glitches in texture, momentarily changing into a Hannya mask or a creature's face.

• Check: <Spot Hidden> or <Computer Use>. You realize that your existence is nothing more than a few megabytes of "disposable data" (SAN 0/1).

Chapter 2: Fragments of a Character Sheet (Cache)

Gather the 'temporary files (skills and backstories)' scattered around the area.

• Action: <Library Use> or <Computer Use>. Pick up the garbled 'name of a loved one' or 'specialty skill' and forcibly copy-paste them into the blank fields of your profile.

• Result: If successful, the KPC's image quality improves, returning them to a handsome man/beautiful girl. If failed, one of the PC's backstories is automatically deleted as a 'duplicate file,' and that memory is physically replaced by a 'pitch-black image'.

Chapter 3: Terms of Service for Footnotes

At the edge of the space, you can see the update logs of the 'Administrator (God)' critiquing the two's story. There is a heartless sentence that reads, 'This character has become obsolete and will be deleted in the next update.'

• Roleplay: File an 'objection (inquiry)' to the Administrator (God). Shout that you are not just data, but investigators with blood in your veins (?).

• Check: <Psychology> or <any negotiation skill>.

Chapter 4: Probability Update

Blocking the exit door is a massive 'update bar' pouring down from the sky. Once it reaches 100%, the world will be forcibly rewritten, and the two will be updated into 'different people'!

• Gimmick: By sacrificing 3 points of 'Maximum Sanity,' the PC can cause a momentary 'connection lag' in the world, slowing the progress of the bar.

• Check: <DEX> or <Luck> to rush to the exit before the update completes.

Chapter 5: Decision - The Final Backup

The exit is an 'upload to the cloud.' To escape, the PC must permanently discard one of their 'highest skills' or 'most important backstories' as a 'compression (cost)' to secure the necessary communication bandwidth.

• Truth: Unless you discard some of the data (feelings) that are too heavy, you cannot pass through this narrow connection to return to reality.

• Climax: A final 1D100 roll. As the screen glows white, what kind of 'final snapshot' will the two etch into their hearts?

■ Conclusion: 3 Branching Endings

• Happy End: 'Sync Complete: New Days' (Returned to life at the cost of a part of yourself. On the smartphones of the two who returned to reality, the 'best snapshot' taken that day is saved. Even if some data is missing, the bond between the two will not be overwritten.)

• Normal End: 'Daily Life on a Slow Connection' (You return, but occasionally the KPC's movements start to freeze (lag). A mysterious daily life awaits, where you can enjoy conversations with just a little bit of lag.)

• Bad End: 'Data Corruption: Unrecoverable' (Escape failed. The two are completely dragged into the 'Trash Bin.' When someone restarts the smartphone next, there is only a cold notification saying, 'Available storage space has increased.' )

■ Afterword regarding the story

This time, I aimed for a frank meta-horror theme based on "modern-day bugs." Rather than a heavy farewell, the structure is designed to let you enjoy the frustration of "my favorite character's face is pixelated!" while still forcing a truly emotional decision at the end. It's easy to joke about on social media, saying things like "my KPC glitched lol," making it perfect for having a fun, casual time in just one hour.