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

The ground squelched beneath Sarissa's boots.

She had long stopped pretending it was soil. Whatever had once made Wonderland a place of whimsy and reflection was now gone.

What remained was a wet, stinking rot. A garden of festering things, crawling with soft-bellied nightmares. As far as the eye could see, the earth twisted with thick, segmented worms, each as long as her forearm and bloated with a dark translucency that let her see the pulsing of their black inner organs.

The System tag above each one flickered, letters jittered, corrupted. Occasionally, a tag would flash symbols instead of words, marks she didn't recognize and wasn't sure anyone could – or should.

Cheshire padded beside her, silent for once. His feline body shimmered faintly, gray stripes pulsing with restrained tension, his ears were flat, his tail high and puffed.

Ch220. The coming of the gods