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“This is the price we paid to come into your world,” Michael said, his voice steady but weighted with something unshakable.”
“We weren’t supposed to be like this. In the game, we were nothing but scripted beings-
programmed, predictable, lifeless. But you…” He paused, his gaze softening as he looked at me. “You changed everything.”
“Your kindness, your care, the way you treated us like we were real–it woke something inside us. For the first time, we had thoughts, feelings, and a sense of self.”
“We started to look forward to the moments when you logged in. Watching you run around, asking questions, exploring every corner of our world–it brought color to our
otherwise monotonous existence.”
I
“And every time I received one of your letters, telling me about your progress, the places you’d visited, and the things you’d accomplished, I felt… alive. Happy, even.”
“I used to think… if life could always be like that if I could see you every day, and then even if I had to endure being beaten down by players thousands of times as a boss, it would
all be worth it.”
His voice faltered, and his expression darkened.
“But then… the developers announced the game was shutting down.”
“They decided to erase us–just like that. All because the game wasn’t making enough
money.”
“They were going to take everything from us. Our lives. Our memories. And worst of all,
they were going to separate me from you forever.”
His hands clenched into fists, his voice trembling with the weight of his anger.
“I couldn’t accept it. None of us could.”
“Our desperation, our will to survive–It called out to something ancient. Something dark.
A mystery man who existed beyond the boundaries of our world.”
“He answered us.”
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“He offered us a deal: he would bring us into your world. But in return, we had to give up our souls–the very consciousness that made us who we were.”
“He wamed us that the longer we stayed in your world, the more our minds would unravel. That we’d lose ourselves completely.”
“But there was a way to stabilize our consciousness–we needed the accounts of players who had once logged into the game.”
Michael let out a bitter laugh.
“We thought we’d won. We thought we’d finally found a way to escape.”
“But the mystery men’s promises… they’re never as simple as they seem.”
“On the day the servers shut down, we hacked into the forums and gathered as many player accounts as we could. We were so excited, so full of hope–we thought we’d meet you again in the real world.
“But instead, we were thrown into darkness.
“I could hear them–the developers, the ones who created us. I heard them laughing, saying things like, ‘Just delete it. Who cares? The game’s gone. There’s no point keeping it
anymore.”
“And then… the pain began.”
“My body twisted, snapped, and shattered. Over and over, I was torn apart, only to be -rebuilt and broken again.”
“I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t.”
“All I could do was endure it. The endless cycle of destruction and reconstruction–it felt
like it went on forever”
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“I don’t know how long I was stuck there. Hours? Days? Years?”
“But eventually, the darkness broke. And when it did, I was still here.”
Michael’s voice wavered, and a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. He was breathing hard now as the memory itself had drained him. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, worn stone.
“You gave me this,” he said softly, holding it up. His voice was almost tender. “You sent me hundreds of these little things. I kept every single one.
“But when the darkness lifted, this was the only one left.”
His hand trembled as he held it out to me. My heart twisted painfully in my chest as I reached out and clasped his hand in mine..
He smiled at me, faint and weary. “It’s okay. At least I made it through.”
“But so many others didn’t.”
His smile faded, replaced by a haunted look.”
“Most of them lost their minds in the darkness. Their consciousness couldn’t survive. Now, they’re nothing more than empty shells.”
“People like Elizabeth… their bodies remain, but their souls are gone.”
“And those who completely lost themselves became the monsters you’ve seen.”
Michael’s voice grew quieter, thick with grief.
“In our entire starting village–over two hundred NPCs–only Coco and I made it through.
“We used everything we had to break through the barrier between our world and yours. We came here to find you.”
“But we weren’t alone. The broken souls followed us… the ones who lost control.”
He laughed then, a strange, hollow sound, and his lips curled into a smile that didn’t
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“And still… I don’t regret it. Not for a second.”
“Call me selfish. Call me cruel. But I don’t regret breaking through to your world.”
“I couldn’t stand it anymore–watching you from behind a screen, trapped in a program that only let me respond with a few lifeless lines of dialogue.”
“I couldn’t stand seeing you cry, watching you be bullied or hurt by others, knowing I couldn’t do anything to help.”
“I wanted to know your name. To see the real you. To protect you. To encourage you. To
comfort you.”
“I wanted to hold you when
you were sad–the way you held me in that world. You showed me love, and I wanted to give that love back to you.”
His hands tightened around my arms, his grip firm but full of desperate emotion. His gaze burned into mine, raw and unguarded.”
“Love changes things. It gives you flesh, blood, a heart–all so you can reach back and give something in return.”
He smiled faintly, but there was something fragile in it, something that felt like it could
shatter at any moment.”
“You don’t need to worry about this world staying this way forever. I won’t be here for much longer.
“I can feel it–my body is breaking down. Coco’s body is already starting to fail, and I’ll be
next.
“When the day comes and we both turn into monsters, I need you to do something for
me.”
“End us.”
“When we’re gone, the world will return to normal.”
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“When we’re gone, the world will return to normal.”
“All the people harmed by those rogue souls will be restored.”
“No one will remember any of this–not me, not Coco, not even you.”
“So just… treat this as my dream. My last dream before I disappear.”
“Stay with me until the end. Walk with me through the last moments of my life.”
“Promise me that, okay?”
I couldn’t hold back anymore. I collapsed into his arms and broke down completely, sobbing until it felt like the world itself might shatter around me.
This wasn’t the Michael I knew.
In the game, he had been a figure of perfection–a prodigy, beloved by all, destined for greatness. He was always so composed, so untouchable as if nothing could ever truly bring him down.
Yet here he was now, so raw, so fragile, so utterly humbled, begging me for even a sliver of love and kindness.
I couldn’t say no. How could I? Deep inside, I didn’t even want to say no.
So I stayed.
For a while, we lived peacefully in a quiet little courtyard–Michael, Coco, and me. Those days felt like magic, like a dream too perfect to last. We laughed, we played, we wrote together, we talked about the world, about everything and nothing. At night, we’d sit under the stars, counting them one by one, as if time would stand still just for us.
But it didn’t.
It all ended the day Coco started to fall apart
Michael and I stayed by her side until the very end, holding her hands, refusing to let go.
Michael and I stayed by her side until the very end, holding her hands, refusing to let go.
Even as she lay there, fading away, Coco’s eyes were still bright, still full of life. She
turned to me, her voice soft and steady, and said, “Big sister, in my next life… I hope I can meet you again. As a real person this time.”
I
Her words hit me like a knife. Tears spilled down my face as I gripped the hilt of the blade lodged in her chest. My hands trembled–I couldn’t bring myself to push it any deeper.
I couldn’t let her go.
Coco smiled at me, her expression calm, almost peaceful. She reached up and placed her hands over mine, giving me a reassuring squeeze.
“Don’t cry, big sister,” she said gently. “These days with you… they’ve been the happiest days of my life. I’m so lucky to have had this time with you.”
And then–shhk.
The blade plunged deeper.
But it wasn’t me. It was Coco.
With her last bit of strength, she pressed her hands down over mine, forcing the knife into her chest and ending her own life.
I crumpled to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I couldn’t stop shaking.
Michael knelt beside me, wrapping me in his arms as I fell apart.
“Michael,” I cried, my voice trembling, breaking, “What am I supposed to do? I can’t… I can’t do this anymore! I can’t handle this!”
His grip on me tightened, his hands steadying mine. “It’s okay,” he whispered, his voice calm and gentle. “Don’t be afraid. You’re stronger than you think–you can do this. We all believe in you.”
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“Betty,” he said softly, resting his forehead against mine, “none of this is your fault. We
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is turenead ayamist me, none of ons is your fault, we made this choice because we wanted to. You’ve already done so much for us.”
“Coco… she left without any regrets. She was smiling. That’s enough, Betty. That’s all that
matters.”
I couldn’t stop crying. Eventually, Michael stopped speaking. He just held me, his arms firm and steady, letting me cry until there was nothing left.
Neither of us said anything after that.
We both knew there were no words that could fix this. No words that could make it better.
After that day, Michael’s condition worsened.
He could only spend two hours a day with me before retreating to his room and locking the door. He didn’t want me to see what was happening to him.
But I knew.
I knew he didn’t have much time left.
The weight of that knowledge hung over us like a storm cloud, growing heavier with each passing day.
So, in the hours we had together, I forced myself to smile. I wanted to pretend, just for a little while, that everything was okay.
But inside, I was falling apart.
I realized then just how fragile I really was.
I wasn’t ready for goodbye.
And I kept thinking about him–about how he must have felt when the game announced it was shutting down.
How much pain was he hiding? Was his heartbreaking, just like mine is now?
On the night of the Mid–Autumn Festival, Michael surprised me.
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