MrBoness

-- WSA 2025 Entry --
READ THE SYNOPSIS BEFORE JUMPING INTO THE STORY

“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

Sarissa stood motionless, her heart was a knot of cold stone.

The air had thickened, the tension of the forest curling around her like a dark mist. Her fingers clenched around [Cheshire's Gleam], but the weight of her sword-partner felt suddenly insignificant, as if she was holding nothing but the air itself.

She heard Victor's words echo through the camp, and felt the chill of his betrayal seep into her bones.

They were no longer fighting for survival. Something more was at play, and the [Dungeon War] had not even begun.

The forest beyond the camp seemed to hum in a language she couldn't understand, sharp, broken syllables that clawed at the edges of her thoughts.

Ch205. [Dark Forest] (9) - Arrival