“It’s been a while since we had breakfast together,” his father said, chewing on a spoonful of casserole. Elias was doing the same, though he couldn’t help but feel that the food was just average. Not enough stimulation or spice.

“We haven’t had breakfast together since forever,” Elias said after swallowing. “Mornings were busy.”

“Really? I didn’t notice.”

Of course you didn’t, he thought, thinking back with a pinch of spite. It was always quiet now, save but the incessant screams of Hira that rocked the whole house. Well, more like excited bursts of joy, but they were the same to him.

He’d failed to ask his parents for advice at the beginning because of Hira. There were plenty of chances now, but he’d gotten over it. Time in the mountains had nurtured him, given him a bigger heart. He was sure he could accept everything that the world threw at him, being kind and caring like the denizens of the mountains.

His mother walked in with the baby in her arms. She still looked tired, though the shadow under her eyes had faded.

“Do you really have to go back to Education?” she asked, sitting down. Hira was sleeping, his small head resting on his mother’s shoulder. “I could use some help. You had all break to play.”

“Not playing, mom,” he said. “It’s a real world there.”

“Are you sure you want to go back?”

“My friends are there.”

“You can always meet them in the Otherworlds. Unless you’re planning to pursue Tertiary education,” she looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“No,” he replied.

“Then stay here,” she told him. “The time you’ll take going back and forth will be more than the time I’ll need you to help.”

“Mom, I promised to meet everyone,” he lied. Truthfully, the group chat had been inactive for a while, but he assumed everyone was coming back. No one had said otherwise. He’d surprise them with his new personality, which was why he hadn’t messaged anyone yet.

I’ve had time to grow, and now I’ll show them.

“So I have to go,” he finalized. His mother looked hurt, but it wasn’t enough to stop him. Hira wasn’t his responsibility, and he hated the way they made it seem like it.

Normally, you’d be arguing right now, not even caring about whatever I did, he thought as he dunked his plate into the washing box. After brushing his teeth, he left with his bag in hand while his parents were playing with his brother.

“Have fun,” he heard his father say. Without answering, he shut the door behind him.

He listened to music along the way like he always did. It was the same path he’d always taken, and yet it couldn’t have been so much more different. Angst gripped him, and he went through the scenarios of how he’d greet his friends hundreds of times while the train made its way to Education.

The train reached its destination, and he got off along with a couple of other students with their uniforms on. He was wearing casual clothes since uniforms were only mandatory until Secondary education. Some looked at him with admiration; others went on their way.

He decided not to use a rotoboard to get to class. Walking was nice, and it kept the body healthy. Not that his body would deteriorate, but there was still the resolve that mattered.

What would he do when he got to class? They were free to roam wherever. Maybe he’d invite his friends to Talanim (a bad idea, probably) or find a more convenient, battle-themed world. But first, he’d show them his newfound charisma. The animals had complimented him for his charm.

“Whassup!” he yelled, entering the room.

No one replied. Then again, they’d all be in their linkers. He looked around the egg-shaped devices while walking around the room. He hadn’t come that early, but no one was inside. He decided to wait until someone came along.

Two hours passed and no one had arrived. Even Wela was gone, adding to the silence.

Something was up, and he didn’t know what it was.

Maybe everyone was running late after the long break. Sighing, he left the room and strode around the floor, peeking into other rooms to see if anyone was present. No one was, not even the other classes.

“Elias?”

He turned around to see Noza, who had appeared with a large backpack behind him.

“Noza?”

“What’s up. What are you doing here?”

“I thought we were going to have classes.”

“Oh. Did you sign up for any courses?”

“Courses?”

“Yeah. Aren’t you trying to get into Tertiary stuff?”

Elias raised his hands in rebuttal. “No, not here for that. Just normal Otherworlds stuff.”

“You came all the way here for that? Most guys would stay home.”

“Oh—what?”

Noza seemed to catch onto his confusion because he beckoned to Elias to come to walk with him. A look of sympathy had formed on his face. “The guys didn’t tell you, did they.”

“I read the group chat.”

“That’s been dead since a month ago.”

“Yeah. It seemed like it.”

They descended the stairs, Noza’s bag making solid noises with each step.

“So...what’s everyone up to now?” Elias asked carefully, suddenly afraid that Noza might have a negative view of him, all things considered.

“What else to do than the Otherworlds? You never saw their names on the friends list?”

“I’m...in a special kind of world. It’s supposed to be super realistic, so they don’t allow you to use the interface.”

“Can I ask which world?”

“It’s World 84. Talanim.”

“But you can always go out to the world selection place, whatever it’s called. You’ll be able to see their names there.”

Dumbly, Elias furrowed his eyebrows together, remembering. “Why didn’t I think of that,” he groaned, slapping his forehead.

“Yeah, I get it. It’s easy to forget when the system sends you directly into your world. You can change it in the settings. Or ask your helpbot.”

“I will.”

“Then you’ll be heading back?”

“Probably. Not much to do here.”

“Why don’t you grab lunch with me?” Noza offered, taking out his phone. It was a different model from the standard, issued ones. “The train won’t arrive until twenty minutes.”

“Sounds good,” Elias accepted.

They made their way to a familiar cafeteria, where they each ordered a set of freshly-made food on a tray. After sitting down with utensils in hand, they talked while they ate.

“So, you?” Elias asked.

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Me?” Noza cleared his mouth with a glass of juice. “I’m here to build spaceships. What else?”

“Actually?”

He smiled. “More than building them, I want to become an astronaut. They don’t have much backup up there, so I’ll need to learn everything I can before I’m allowed to make my first trip to space.”

“You’re pulling my leg. Space travel…”

“Dangerous, but who knows what creatures might live beyond our star?” he stated with a shrug. “I’ve looked into this since I was a kid, and there’s way more going on in the background than you’d think. So many explorations, so many findings, but no one knows or cares.”

“This is the first time I’ve heard of space exploration.”

“Exactly! Everyone’s happy with the way things are, and since you can explore ‘space’ all you want in the Otherworlds, no one wants to risk doing the real thing.”

“But does Workman even need humans for anything? Can’t it send drones to explore?”

Noza shrugged again. “It does. But in super deep space, nothing works without humans. The satellites don’t reach that far. You should look into it. They’ve got a lot of information here.”

“Maybe,” Elias mused. Space. He’d rarely thought about it before.

They finished their meal and said their goodbyes. Noza went back to the upper floors, while Elias made his way to the station. It was very possible that his current trip to Education would be his last, so he looked back at the colossal structure to burn it into his mind.

Education. He’d spent a little more than a decade in the pseudo-city, but he was sure he hadn’t even scratched the surface of the things it held. So many rooms left explored, so many floors that he hadn’t even stepped on. But he’d leave the mysteries behind now.

The future was considerably more mind-boggling. Each Otherworld was a planet in itself, some even bigger. Would he have the time to explore every single one of them?

It excited him.

⤙ ◯ ⤚

Before his parents could notice, Elias snuck through the hall and quietly shut the door behind him. So far, so good. His parents wouldn’t come inside the linker room while Hira kept them busy. After opening one machine, he sat inside comfortably and allowed the system to take over.

Like always, he opened his eyes in the forest, Crystal hovering next to him. The guardian fox was asleep, one of her tails loosely wrapped around him like a blanket. Carefully, he wiggled out and stood up.

Since the world had to be realistic, his body would stay asleep when he logged off. Thankfully, he wouldn’t starve to death, but environmental factors could still damage and kill, forcing the world’s users to find a safe place to sleep before logging off.

Crystal. Can you show me my friends list?

“It’s restricted in Talanim. Would you like to go to the selection area?”

Yes, please. Let me lie down first.

Fetching the makeshift pillow he’d crafted out of leaves and a flexible tree membrane, he lay inside of the guardian’s tails again and closed his eyes. She rarely moved, and even if she did, he’d stay safe in her lair. It was an enclosed area made of thick, twisting branches hidden from the world.

When he opened his eyes, he was in the clothes he’d been wearing outside, standing within a digital box with innumerable, shining lights running across its surface. He’d been here once when he had selected Talanim with Crystal’s help.

“Menu,” he said in a long time. His interface popped up, the one he had been taught to use before the break. He automatically went to his friends list and messages.

He groaned. His screen was filled with unread notifications. It wasn’t like everyone had left him. He’d failed to see their invitations. They were dated now, spanning back a month or two, most focused around the week after the party incident.

Terral’s words suddenly began making a lot more sense. Why he’d seemed so angry at that time—probably because he’d been unintentionally shunning everyone for the longest period.

“Crystal, next time I get a message from anyone, could you tell me?” Elias sighed, groaning again. “Just automatically send me here when I link.”

“I’ll need to have your permission for that.”

“Take it. Take everything. Do everything you can to help me out, will you? I know you only do what I tell you to do, but could you...fill in the gaps?” He scowled. “Or are you not capable?”

“I can take full control of your system,” Crystal replied. “Would you allow that?”

“Would it be adverse in any way?”

“No. But I may become a little bit annoying since I’ll be able to talk to you whenever I feel like it.”

“Excellent. You’ll be like a real person. Do it. You have my permission.”

There was a small ding noise that resonated throughout the room, like the sound of someone unlocking an achievement. Now that he’d gotten that settled—

“World 15. That’s where your friends are. It’s a fantasy-based game-oriented world with a leveling system. Should I send you there right now?”

“You read my mind,” Elias grinned weakly. “Yeah, send me now. I’m already liking your transformation. Should have done this earlier, urgh.”

“Why, thanks,” he heard his helpbot say as his vision turned into a flurry of white particles.

⤙ ◯ ⤚

He quickly skipped through the tutorial with Crystal’s assistance, and anything he’d missed, she’d tell him later. He finally emerged into the main city, not caring to remember its name or the SPCs that babbled on. The misunderstanding he’d caused had to be cleared as soon as possible.

Jewel is here as well, he noted. She still hadn’t returned from her trip, and he hadn’t heard from her since their last exchange. He’d held back, wanting to make their reunion a bit more dramatic, but her presence here would change things. Already, he was wrought with anxiety, nervous from the thought of seeing everyone.

But he’d grown, had he not? Through hard labor and exploration. He pushed his emotions aside.

“Elias? What are you doing here?” Terral replied, answering his call.

“It’s complicated.”

“Oh, so now you decide to join?”

“It wasn’t like that, I promise. I couldn’t see the friends list from the world I was in. And since I always automatically linked there, I didn’t have a chance to look at the messages I got.”

“Really, now.” He didn’t sound convinced.

“I swear.”

He stopped speaking to allow Terral to pass the information to his friends. Elias was glad that the world was unrealistic because his heart was as calm as it could be. He wouldn’t have trouble explaining himself.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay,” Terral said. “Hey, Elias? We’re in the middle of a raid right now, so if you want to meet, wait at the central plaza. We’ll teleport there when we’re done.”

“Okay, thanks.”

The call cut right after. Sighing, Elias asked an SPC directions to the plaza and took a seat on a bench. Looking around, the world was so much more different from Talanim. Races other than humans roamed the streets, and each person had an indicator above their heads, showing their names, titles, and most importantly—levels. The world had a sort of life to it, an energetic buzz he hadn’t seen in Talanim’s starting city. People were carrying weapons of all kinds, each colorful decorated, with some spouting flame-like particles. If this had been Talanim, the wielder of the flame-particle weapon would be writhing on the floor, burning.

His stats were terrible. He was level one, with equally depressing values. Just glancing at his friends' names showed numbers a hundred times his own. He didn’t know much about World 15, but he could tell that his friends had been invested.

When they finally arrived after forty minutes, Elias was still reading through the beginner’s manual, something he’d received after finishing the tutorial. They were the first to spot him, and he looked up to see them.

“Well, well, well. Look who’s here,” greeted Stonneran, with something between an actual greeting and sarcasm. “Elias. So great to see you here.”

Elias couldn’t tell if Stonneran was actually glad to see him. He guessed not, not after what he’d done. A tinge of guilt went over his throat.

“Hey, guys.” He managed a weak smile.

They were all dressed in fancy clothing, with stylish armor plating and colorful robes galore. The weapons they had matched their outfits. Dressed in his plain white shirt and black pants, Elias couldn’t help but feel the gap between them.

He had planned to explain himself, but now, he couldn’t find the words. It felt so out of place to try since so much time had passed.

“Sorry for being so late,” he managed. “I was cut off from the user interface. World 84, if you want to know.”

“Hmm. I’ve heard about 84 somewhere,” Stonneran said, but shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re here now.”

Suddenly, a bunch of small screens popped up before him, each bearing the option to accept or decline. They were from Stonneran.

“Here, take my old items. They’ll help if you want to catch up,” he said.

Elias hadn’t expected the sudden kindness. “Oh—thanks.”

“Here, take my stuff too,” said Monroy.

“I have some spare bags,” offered Terral.

In an instant, Elias’s inventory was filled with various goods too high for his level. He hadn’t even chosen his class yet.

“We were planning to disband now,” Stonneran said, “since everyone has their own things to do.” The others were organizing their inventories behind him, sorting the goods from their raid. Jewel was there too, wearing a red hooded mantle that covered her head. She hadn’t spoken.

“I’ll try to level up a bit,” Elias decided.

“Might take you a while to get to where we are. Good luck,” Stonneran said with a rough pat on his shoulder. He was tall, even in this world. Elias wished he had increased his height during the character configuration.

“Thanks. I’ll try.”

Stonneran’s character vanished with a bright flare.

“Bye.”

“See you later.”

The others were leaving as well, each fading from the world. In the end, only Jewel was left, her hands tightly wrapped around the large staff she held.

“Jewel—I’m sorry,” Elias apologized sincerely, his eyes downcast. “I didn’t see your messages.”

“Seems like you were immersed again,” she muttered.

Her words made him wince. “The system didn’t let me use the interface, I promise. I was always sent into the Otherworld right away, and I never knew.”

“It doesn’t matter now. That was a month ago.”

He recalled the message. ‘I miss you. Could we meet sometime? It can be in any world you want.’

“Stonneran invited me to join this place. It’s pretty fun,” she went on, almost too neutral.

“I missed you too. A lot,” he blurted despite himself. “There hasn’t been a day since our last conversation when I haven’t imagined talking with you.”

She paused, her face hidden under her cowl.

He continued. “Is your offer still valid? Because…”

He stopped when she shook her head. “We’ve invested a lot into this world,” she said, fumbling the staff in her hands. “We’ve got plans. You could join us.” She didn’t meet his eyes nor did she remove the cowl.

“I’ll have to level up first. It’ll take months.”

“One month if you try your best,” she said. “Find a party. That’s the quickest way.”

“I don’t think there’d be a point in playing if it’s with other people,” he replied. “Could I move around with you guys?”

“You’d die from one hit with us.”

“You could help me level up—”

He regretted saying that after seeing the discomfort in her posture. Knowing her too well could hurt him, he found out.

“—which is probably a bad idea, since everyone’s progress would be halted. The party was created with roles in mind, right?”

“Yup.”

“Anything you want me to be?”

“Anything goes. We could use a support class. Not healing, though. We have healing.”

“Gotcha.”

“…I need to go,” she said with hesitation. “Since we’re traveling, my schedule’s tight.”

“I understand. Sweet dreams.”

“Not sleeping yet, stupid.” But she smiled. “Goodnight.”

She was gone.

It hadn’t been the conversation Elias had wanted or prepared for, but strangely, he didn’t dislike it. There were so many things he’d have to fix, uncountable ways things could go wrong, but Jewel—Jewel was his shining light in the darkness. Now that he’d seen her again, his heart was brimming with new adoration for her.

He could look over the pains he had been inflicted for her sake. The gossip, the rumors, the condemning stares—he could bear all of them.

She still...feels the same about me, right?

Standing by himself in the plaza, he had never felt so alone. No one to talk with, no one to guide him. It was a buzz around him, yet everything was numb and quiet.

“I’ll always be with you,” Crystal said softly. A faint feeling of arms enwrapped Elias, like a hug from a ghost. “Now that you’ve given me control, I’ll always watch over you. Even when everyone leaves, I’ll stay by your side, until the world falls apart.”

“Dramatic,” said Elias. “But comforting. Thanks.”

“So, what are you planning to do?”

“You know what.”

“I do,” she agreed.

The world dissolved around him, turning into an empty space of white. At the same time, the scenery changed from the corners. Familiar colors coated the unseen surfaces, creating walls and furniture that were all too familiar to him.

He was standing in his room. His bed was in front of him, and the curtains were drawn to let the faint, gray sunlight inside.

Crystal sat on his bed, inviting him. Her appearance was Jewel’s, but different. She was more vibrant, more clear; her eyes didn’t waver when he looked into them. Her smile was true, sympathetic and understanding. There wasn’t a hint, not a speck of judgment in her expression. She was pure, undiluted.

She knew everything about him.

“Will this help?” she said. Even her voice was as clear as a bell, resonating through him.

“Yeah.” He couldn’t hold back anymore.

Effetely, he sat next to Crystal as she closed her eyes to save him from embarrassment. He trembled when she enfolded his hands into hers.

Everything he was holding together fell apart, burst apart—and he began weeping. Water broke out from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks, dripping onto his hand and onto Crystal’s. He cried his heart out where no one was to watch him, where someone was to comfort him. He poured out everything he had suppressed into the place he felt the most secure, onto the girl he was most comfortable around.

“Is everything my fault?” he said. “Was it my fault she changed? Was it my fault for not knowing? I didn’t want to hurt her. I was being careful.”

“I know.”

“Of course I was curious. Of course I wanted to try it. I could do anything she asked. But I was thinking about her future, about our future. I wanted to make it as perfect as possible.”

“I know.”

“Who am I supposed to trust? Who am I supposed to believe? No one cares about me, not even my parents. My dad says one thing and does another. My mom only sees Hira. My best friend—”

He choked. “—my fault? I wasn’t trying to. The little things, the adult things. They’re ruining everything. Did you know? He was the one who was afraid of change. Look at how things turned out. And it’s all my fault.”

When Crystal pulled his head into her chest, he didn’t resist. A familiar smell drifted by, and it only added to his sorrow. He’d thought he’d used most of his tears, but more emerged, greater in number.

Is becoming an adult so important? Is being an adult so painful? Or am I the one who’s still immature, failing to get a foothold in the new world?

“None of that matters,” whispered Crystal, caressing his hair. “None of it was your fault. You are being yourself, and I think that’s lovely.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear,” Elias cried.

He sobbed until he fell asleep on Crystal’s lap, weary from the catharsis. When he woke up, he was inside of the linker, the machine beeping around him. Grudgingly, he emerged, making his way to his bedroom after scooping up his phone. No one had sent him a message, not even his parents.

With a sigh, he fell on his bed, burying his face in his pillow. After feeling his nose being squashed, he adjusted his position so he’d face upwards.

Everything felt meaningless now.

He hadn’t showered, but he didn’t care. He stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours, his mind deathly silent at times, screaming uncontrollably in others. The cycle continued until the darkness claimed him.

⤙ ◯ ⤚

He tried. He really did. But seeing his friends hanging out together every day while he leveled up by himself, it stripped away all the motivation he had. Whenever he died, his vision fading to gray, it was a reminder of how he had no one beside him to cast a resurrection spell on his corpse.

“You’re hurting yourself,” Crystal fussed, taking the appearance of a fairy only visible to him. “You’re being too rash. You can afford to take things a little more slowly.”

“I need to catch up,” he said.

“You need to be happy. This is unhealthy. They’re not even helping you. Do you need to stay with them?”

“I…they’re the only friends I have.”

“You know that’s not true.” Crystal folded her arms. “Do you really believe that they’re not helping because of progression? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Say it for me, then.”

“They don’t want you. Not until they’ve made sure you’ve suffered.”

She was right. He knew she was spelling the words he couldn’t out for him.

He quit. He’d tried his best, and no one had cared. The others were growing further apart from him anyway, in both stats and friendship. He’d given it a month of struggle, casting away Talanim for their sake. It wasn’t worth it anymore.

Somewhere at the bottom of his heart, he had hope. Hope that they’d come after him. Hope that Jewel would cast them aside to join him. That would be perfect. If she did, he could forgive her for everything, devoting his whole life to her with genuine love.

Still, nothing was enough to fill that giant, gaping hole that had been carved out of his chest. To keep his mind occupied with something else, Crystal suggested baking to him.

With the help of his friends, he gathered a variety of ingredients native to the land. Wheat from the distant fields, berries from the bushes, nuts from the trees. He labored his pains away, wiping his sweat as he lay one stone on top of another, filling the gaps with mud. He made a crude milling stone while all the animals watched closely, curiously. With fire cast by the guardian wolf, the oven was baked while grain was ground.

He failed his first try. The flour was coarse, the grinding wheel mismatched. Even the oven broke apart, collapsing into rubble. But by now, all the animals wanted to try bread.

So work began anew, with the mice gnawing at rock, the squirrels collecting branches, the wolves barking instructions, and even the birds bringing more grains from afar. In place of stone, he tried making bricks out of mud from the river, only to have Crystal tell him that it wouldn’t work.

“It’ll take too long to dry,” she said, “and the mud isn’t ideal.”

They worked out a solution. Flour was kneaded into dough and wrapped around a stripped branch. A small campfire was started, and he roasted the dough until it turned brown. Greedy eyes were on him when he took the first bite.

“Gah,” he coughed, crestfallen.

The guardian wolf took the second bite, and her young followed after. Berries were mixed to sweeten the taste, while nuts added additional flavor. Elias continued to roast until they depleted their resources, but by then, even the rodents had had their bites.

He was surprised when he was thanked. They’d never tasted it before.

Only four days of labor, and they’re treating me like a superstar.

When the guardian of the mountains approached him and placed her paw on his forehead, he felt a strange energy enter him, though it wasn’t unpleasant. She’d given him a blessing. A seal of approval.

“You’ll be able to leave the mountains now,” Crystal informed him. “Animals wouldn’t dare to attack you.”

“Maybe, after I finish the house.”

He had no intention to. He was welcomed here, loved even for his imperfections. He was happy when he lay beside the animals, looking at the starry sky as the guardian mother told stories to her children.

⤙ ◯ ⤚

“You can’t always stay inside of the Otherworlds,” his mother nagged. “If you don’t bond with your brother now, you’ll be forgotten in the future. Play with him! You wanted a sibling.”

“That was ages ago. Leave me alone. I have friends. I don’t need a brother.”

“Elias. You’re being immature.”

“Maybe, maybe I like being immature,” he seethed, hating his mother for bringing up ugly memories. “I’m sick of people telling me to grow up.”

“Why are you being so insensitive? You weren’t like this, Elias.”

“You wouldn’t know. You never cared. You only have your eyes on Hira.”

“How could you speak like that? He’s a baby. You’re an adult, now.”

“When I wasn’t an adult,” Elias said with as much control as possible, “you and Dad were arguing all the time, not even giving me a single glance.”

Now his mother’s face was reddening. “Don’t speak like that. You don’t know anything.”

“I know enough. I even know that you picked my name out from a randomizer. But not for Hira. He has both your names. You know what else? They say there’s over a seventy percent chance that parents will prefer a natural-born child over an incubated one. Why? Because he came out of your own body?”

She was glowering now. “Don’t speak to me like that! What changed you? It’s all because of Jewel, isn’t it? She told you things you shouldn’t have heard.”

“She has nothing to do with this!” he shouted.

Hira was crying now, bawling his eyes out. His mother glared at him before comforting the baby.

“Shush, shush, it’s okay. It’s okay” She lifted her eyes and sighed. “Your damp—nevermind. I can understand. You need privacy and time to sort through your emotions. I’ve been there once. Everyone has. It’s come early for you. You’ll find it easy to be deluded by all sorts of information, and I hoped we’d raised you freely enough to make you more flexible. It wasn’t neglect, Elias. We care. We’re always watching. I need you to know that.”

“Whatever.”

“As long as you’re in this house, we have leverage over you,” she stated dangerously. Elias flinched a little, regretted lashing out a little after hearing that.

“Where did you even hear about your name? That’s not true at all.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll let your father know you want to have a talk. In the meantime, do the dishes.”

The dishes.

A wave of sudden anger overtook him, crushing his brain with senseless, mindless fury. “See! You don’t care. None of you—care!”

He covered his ears and ran, out from the house and into the streets, ignoring his mother’s shouts to him as they grew fainter and fainter. It was dark, but he had traveled these parts for a very long time. To the train station, he ran. He turned off his phone and curled up on a bench, waiting for the ride to come.

There was no one in the vehicle when he got on. He sat down, sighed through his nostrils. The sensation of the train taking off was almost angelic, like chains falling off from sore wrists. A weight lifted from his chest—along with an impending feeling of doom. Elias gritted his teeth. He was an adult; he could do whatever he wanted.

Where would he go? There was only one place to go to. Somewhere he knew with his heart.

It was a first for him, going to the library when it was dark. As usual, the streetlights dimly lit the way to the large building. The doors slid open after confirming his identity, letting him walk inside. They closed behind him with a small thud.

He breathed in. The emotions were welling up again. Swallowing, he let his feet guide him through the halls, through doors and shelves, until he was face to face with the heavy, wooden doors that led to the inner parts, the restricted parts that only he had been able to enjoy—for a time.

She had joined him, but now was gone.

The nostalgic, musty smell stirred up more emotions. It pained him to walk through the familiar atmosphere, to see the places where they’d used to read together. He took a seat at a table, leaning back to relax.

Deja vu struck him like a hammer. He remembered this scene. A dream, where someone had asked him to marry her.

But he was alone.

That dream wouldn’t come true now.

His eyes watered, and he roughly wiped the tears away with his hand. There wasn’t any point in feeling sorry for himself. Why had he come here in the first place?

Wordlessly, he buried his face in his arms on the table. The antique clock ticked the seconds away, making it the only presence present in Elias’s confined world.

When he raised his head, he felt tired, so sleepy. How long had he been there? His phone was still off, so he couldn’t tell. Laziness prevented him from checking. He didn’t care. He just wanted to sleep.

His parents would be worried if he returned home too late.

In a state of drowsy stupor, he walked in a trance, trying to find a way to his room. From the corner of his eye, he spotted the words, ‘Linker Room.’ Somehow, his brain assumed that he could return home through the Otherworlds, and groggily, he dragged himself into one of the machines.

“Send me home,” he muttered. His body felt so heavy.

He didn’t remember anything after that.