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

Miles stood there, breath still uneven, hands curled into fists as he watched Sarissa with unfiltered frustration. She had dismissed him, belittling Diego's disappearance, but in the final moments, something shifted in her expression.

A flicker of hesitation, something deeper lurking beneath her cold exterior. But it wasn't enough.

She turned her back to him as if their conversation was already over.

"You heard me," she said, voice clipped. "Get out of my sight."

Miles felt his pulse hammering in his ears. Every instinct screamed at him to keep pushing, to force her to listen, but the rational part of him knew better. She wasn't going to help. Not unless she wanted to. And he didn't have time to play whatever mind game she was trying to pull him into.

Ch69. Search