I never believed stories about haunted forums, corrupted pages, or glitched anime files until I found a thread titled:

“Why Hachiman Hikigaya Will Never Be Tomoya Okazaki.”

At first I assumed it was fandom bait. Another argument about protagonists and their tragic lives. But this thread was strange in a way that was difficult to describe.
The author field was empty.
The date field was empty.
The comment counter climbed higher every few seconds even though the comment section showed nothing.

I clicked into it anyway.

---

Entry 1: The Mid Protagonist

The thread began as if it were a normal comparison piece. Someone had written several paragraphs describing Hachiman Hikigaya, the lonely cynic from Oregairu. They listed his traits in neat, orderly bullet points. Then the writing warped. The font stretched in odd places, letters grew taller, and sentences twisted into repeated phrases.

> HIKIGAYA IS MID.
> HE IS SMALL.
> HE IS INCOMPLETE.
> HE IS NOT OKAZAKI.

I scrolled down, expecting some joke reveal, but instead the page kept expanding. I scrolled for a full minute and the scrollbar barely moved.

Then I heard something behind me.
A whisper that sounded far too close to the back of my neck.

A quiet voice breathed:

> “Tomoya is better.”

My speakers were off. My headphones were unplugged. I turned around quickly, but my room was empty.

I looked back at the screen.
The text had changed.

---

Entry 2: The Comparison

Now the thread was describing Tomoya Okazaki, but the description felt wrong.
Not like the Tomoya from Clannad.
This version seemed more tragic, more powerful, and far more unsettling.

> “Tomoya does not break.”
> “Tomoya carries despair like a rightful burden.”
> “Tomoya outgrows every form of suffering he touches.”

Then the comparisons started.

> “Hachiman cannot compare.”
> “Hachiman is a rough sketch.”
> “Tomoya is the finished masterpiece.”

The writer listed reasons why Tomoya was superior in every category.

* superior character growth
* superior pain
* superior heart
* superior romance
* superior resolve
* superior quiet rage

The word superior repeated until it started blending into itself like a hypnotic chant.

Then a new line appeared on the screen even though I had not touched the keyboard.

> “Do you wish to see proof”

A small prompt appeared with two buttons.
YES and NO.

Before I could think, I clicked YES.

The screen turned black.

---

Entry 3: The Swap

A video loaded.
At first I assumed it was a scene from an anime, but the lighting was too natural and the shadows were too real. It was not a drawing. It was not a render. It looked like a live feed.

Hachiman stood in an empty classroom.
He looked older and exhausted, as if years of stress had been compressed into his body. After a moment he tried to speak, but the audio crackled.

> “I should not be here.”

Behind him, chalk letters began materializing on the board.
No hand wrote them. They simply appeared.

TOMOYA IS BETTER
TOMOYA IS BETTER
TOMOYA IS BETTER

Hachiman flinched.

> “I know. Please. Stop comparing me to him. I never asked for this.”

A sharp click echoed from the hallway.
The classroom door swung open on its own.

Someone stepped inside.

It was Tomoya Okazaki.

But he was taller than any version of him I had ever seen. His expression was empty and calm. His eyes held a quiet kind of despair that felt almost ancient. He did not blink as he approached Hachiman.

He spoke in a voice that sounded calm, tired, and impossibly certain.

> "Oregairu is NOTHING compared to Clannad"

The classroom lights flickered until the entire room dimmed into near darkness. With every step Tomoya took toward Hachiman, the video feed glitched. Pixels bent inward. Colors inverted.

Tomoya turned his head and stared directly into the camera.

> “You watching. You already agree.”

The screen went black.

---

Entry 4: The Aftermath

My computer restarted without my input.

When the desktop loaded, there was a new file in the center of the screen called:

hachiman_is_mid.txt

I opened it.

Inside was a single sentence.

> He saw you watching.

Another line typed itself.

> Tomoya is still better.

A final line appeared.
This one felt heavier.
Almost like a warning.

> He is already on his way to prove it.

My monitor flickered.
For a split second, my reflection vanished.
Someone else stood in its place.

Tomoya Okazaki.
Smiling in a way that did not belong to any human smile.

---

ENDING

If you ever see that thread, turn away.
Do not scroll.
Do not compare them.
Tomoya is obviously the better character and it’s not even close.

Because the moment you think otherwise, even involuntarily, Tomoya senses it.

And Tomoya Okazaki always arrives to prove that he is superior.

Always.