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' breath came in ragged gasps, his limbs still locked in the Hatter-Miles' spiked chains. His muscles screamed, his skin burned, but the pain was secondary now.

The moment the Hatter spoke those words, everything else faded into the background.

Miles' stomach twisted. He knew better than anyone what happened when you struck deals with the Devil. And if the Hatter-Miles in front of him was not a devil wearing his own skin, then Miles had no idea what a devil was.

Yet, his tone… It was different.

Not just mocking, not just playing. There was something else laced beneath it. Something reluctant.

The chains in his flesh did not loosen, but they did not tighten either. They pulsed like breathing iron. Waiting.

The Hatter-Miles leaned forward, resting an elbow against the long, grotesque tea table, his fingers drumming against his cheek. He regarded Miles with something dangerously close to amusement.

Ch106. Pain as a teacher (30) - Pain as a teacher