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 exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders as he followed Kurt across the cracked, metal-strewn expanse of the ruined structure. The weight of the last battle still lingered in his body, but the faint hum of the etheric tea's miraculous recovery left behind a new awareness – a sharpness to his senses he had not noticed before – along with the healing and strengthening effects.

Kurt walked ahead of him, hands tucked lazily into the pockets of his long coat, his movements casual but never careless. Even now, Miles could tell that Kurt was always aware of his surroundings, always scanning, always ready. It was not just confidence. It was survival instinct.

Always looking over his shoulder…

"You're keeping up better than I thought," Kurt mused without looking back. "Guess that tea wasn't total garbage after all."

"Oh, you mean the tea that kept me from keeling over and turning into one of those things? Yeah, real garbage." Miles rolled his eyes.

Ch97. Pain as a teacher (21) - The thing that shouldn't be