chapter 60

Rose remained in her seat, frozen in a whirlpool of thoughts. She absentmindedly pushed her coffee cup around on the table, her eyes still glazed over, staring at the now dimmed screen of her phone. The scene had replayed in her mind—over and over—the intimate exchange between the game's protagonists, and it felt eerily too familiar, too real.

Her friends continued talking around her, but Rose barely registered their voices. She had become detached from everything else, trapped in her own confusion.

"Rose, hey, you okay?" Her friend Mina's voice broke through her fog of thoughts.

Startled, Rose blinked and looked up at Mina, who was eyeing her with concern. "Uh... yeah, just a bit tired," Rose replied, forcing a smile she didn't feel. "I was just... thinking about something."

Mina didn't seem entirely convinced, but she let it go for the moment. "You've been really out of it lately," Mina observed. "If you need to talk about anything, you know I'm here, right?"

Rose nodded absentmindedly, her thoughts racing again. She hadn't told Mina about the game, the dreams, or the strange connection she felt with Sylus. She couldn't. It all seemed too bizarre, too surreal to explain.

But she needed answers. More than ever, she felt the pull of the game, the unanswered questions, and the chilling feeling that maybe, just maybe, there was something more to Love and Deep Space than she could have ever imagined. Something deeper. A hidden truth about herself, about Sylus, and perhaps the game itself.

"Thanks, Mina," Rose said, trying to push the worry from her voice. She looked at her phone once again, her fingers hovering over the screen. Could she bring herself to play the game again? The idea felt like a terrible temptation, but also an undeniable urge she couldn't ignore.

"How about we do something this weekend?" Mina suggested, trying to steer the conversation away from Rose's obvious inner conflict. "You've been stuck on your phone for ages now. Let's get out, maybe hit the mall or grab some dinner."

Rose hesitated. The thought of going back into the real world, of not thinking about the game, was appealing, but she knew the pressure of unanswered questions would weigh on her. She didn't want to seem like she was retreating from her life, but at the same time, the temptation to unravel the mystery of her connection to Sylus, and the game, was strong.

"Yeah, sure," Rose answered, forcing another smile. "Let's do that."

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Later that evening, after spending a few hours with her friends, Rose went home and tried to relax. The weight of the day's events still hung heavily on her shoulders. She couldn't shake the images of the game scene, her dream, and the strange, almost intrusive feeling that she was more connected to the game than she had first thought.

She sat on her bed, laptop open in front of her, but she couldn't bring herself to log into Love and Deep Space. She kept thinking about the kiss, the passion, the almost too-real connection between the game's characters—their characters.

As the night wore on, fatigue began to settle over her. She closed her eyes for just a moment, but sleep came faster than she expected.

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Rose woke with a jolt, her heart racing. Her body was bathed in cold sweat. The dream. She had been in the game again, in the virtual world with Sylus. This time, it was different. She had felt everything. The heat, the touch, the way Sylus had kissed her, deep and passionate. She could almost feel the weight of his hands on her, the way his red eyes had looked at her with such intensity.

But it wasn't just the dream that shook her. It was the fact that when she woke up, she could still feel the lingering traces of Sylus's touch. It was as if the dream had never really ended. Her pulse raced, and she instinctively reached out to touch her lips, as if she could still feel the ghost of the kiss.

And then, she remembered.

The game. The update. The intimate scene that had played out in front of her at the café earlier that day.

The dream… it wasn't just a dream.

Rose gasped as the realization hit her like a wave. She wasn't imagining things. The game had somehow synced with her subconscious, blending reality with fiction. The dream wasn't just a random sequence—it was something connected to Love and Deep Space. A message. A warning. Or perhaps... a bond she hadn't fully understood.

Her mind raced, thoughts crashing together. Could it be that she was the character? Could the game somehow be tapping into her own desires, her own emotions? Was the game aware of her connection to Sylus? And if so… was this bond really something that the game developers had engineered, or was it something far beyond that?

She shuddered, unable to ignore the growing sense of dread mixed with curiosity. She had to know more. Rose couldn't walk away from this. She had to confront it, even if it meant unlocking more questions, more layers of this strange and unexpected connection to the game, and to Sylus.

With trembling hands, Rose opened her laptop once again. This time, there would be no turning back.

She had to face whatever truth was waiting for her in Love and Deep Space.

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