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

Shinji took a slow, measured step forward, eyes locked on the chained figure suspended in the chamber. The sheer size of it made him hesitate for the first time. The thing wasn't moving, but it was breathing.

And that was enough to make his skin crawl.

The obsidian-black chains pulsed faintly, as if they were not just holding the creature in place but actively suppressing it. The system message still flickered in his vision:

[You have witnessed the bearer of the - Hidden Piece (001/365)]

The weight of those words settled in his chest like a stone, three hundred and sixty-five pieces. A puzzle scattered across this twisted world.

An enigma laid bare for everyone who reached level 50 to see, or so Sarissa had thought, because there he was, on the verge of reaching that said breakthrough, and yet…

As soon as he received that [Classpect] thing from The [Unspoken One], he had unlocked the secret clue that led him to this place.

Ch82. Pain as a teacher (6) - [Hidden Piece]