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 stepped out of the battlefield chamber, his scythe still pulsing with residual energy, his breath slow but steady. The weight of what had just happened pressed against him, though he refused to let it show. His body ached, his mind buzzed, but above all else, there was a strange, unsettling clarity settling over him.

It was not just battle clarity – not the state of flow that would have a fighter in their peak condition during extreme situations.

It was as if, the more Miles looked at Luna Sea's Master, the more he could perceive some kind of aura around the man.

It was faint at first, but then it became clearer and clearer. Golden, with slight hues of red and orange, swirling around him just like the sparks from which his items materialized themselves.

But before he could say or react to it in any manner, he heard Kurt's surprised whistle.

Ch124. Gears of War