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 was broken only by the fire that crackled between them, its blue flames casting warped shadows on the rusted walls.

The eerie quietness that stretched after Kurt's question was thick, filled only by the occasional pop of burning embers and the distant, unsettling hum of The Horizon. Miles exhaled, leaning back on the cold metal floor, his mind churning through the weight of the conversation.

Was he really just trying to get back to his world? Or was it just the Hatter's doing that forced him to face the Horizon's final challenge? And if so, why?

The White Rabbit's cryptic words haunted him.

You might even find the truth about yourself.

"I need to know." Miles finally said, his voice quieter than he intended. "I need to know what the Hatter is really after. It is he who wants to reach The Last Verse. And I need to know why. What does he think he'll find there?"

Ch116. One's trash...