MrBoness

-- WSA 2025 Entry --

“Five… Four… Three… Two… One…”
As the countdown towards the new year went on to the last second, Miles looked up to the sky, just as everybody else did.

In the middle of the crowded street, Miles for once felt like he belonged. Being a teenage gamer, living with his parents, and trying to build a life as a streamer, he did not feel like leaving his room every day.

But there, in the middle of that crowded street, with everyone around him paying attention to the sky, the countdown on the digital billboard, and mostly anything else but him., Miles felt like a ghost.

A welcomed ghost, but a ghost, after all.

With a smile on his unseen face, he looked up as the countdown reached one, and everybody sang in unison.
‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

But Miles’ eyes widened as he watched in utter horror, and curiosity, even, hovering above him, a holographic screen with a few lines of text written in it.

All around him, although he did not pay much attention to it, a few other people seemed to experience the same situation.

[Updating home-world 39515’s version]

[Version 20.25 update brings a lot of fun and games with the new and improved survival mode]

[Do you want to convert your previous avatar to home-world 39515’s latest version?]

[Yes] [No]

“Survival… Mode?” Miles’ lips quivered.

Before he could think of anything else, though, the people around him began to scream…

Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game

The rain felt cold against Sarissa's skin, washing away the blood and ash that clung to her like a second skin. Her grip on her sword tightened as she looked down at Miles, his bruised, broken body kneeling before her. The firelight flickered in his exhausted eyes, reflecting something she couldn't quite place. Resignation, maybe. Or relief. And as suddenly as the storm began, it stopped, leaving the world around Sarissa and Miles drowning in deafening silence.

"Do it." The words echoed between them, heavy, final. Sarissa's breath came in ragged gasps, her entire body screaming in exhaustion and agonizing pain, her mind reeling from the fight that had nearly ended her life.

Her blade was still burning, embers dancing along the edge, waiting to finish what she had started. But she couldn't move.

"You…" Her voice cracked, breaking the overwhelming silence that devastated the battlefield. "You were helping me, weren't you?"

Ch55. RE: [World Quest] (13) - Lament/Warning