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 silence stretched around Miles like a noose. The corpse, no… The player lay at his feet, his armor still smoldering from whatever transformation had turned him into that… Thing.

The eerie fog curled around the body as if reluctant to let it go, whispering secrets in a language Miles couldn't understand.

His breath came shallow. That could've been him.

No system notification. No experience, no reward. No acknowledgment from the game that he had just fought and killed something. Or rather, someone.

His fingers curled around his scythe's handle, knuckles turning white.

"What the fuck is this place…?" He muttered under his breath, glancing toward the distant ruins.

More figures moved in the mist. Stumbling, twitching, groaning, but they hadn't noticed him yet. That would not last long, though. He had to move.

Ch92. Pain as a teacher (16) - Hunted