"Ugh."
I can't help the sigh that escapes my throat as I trudge forward, finally reaching the front door of my one-room apartment. I nudge the door closed with my foot and drop into my chair. The familiar hum of my PC greets me like an old friend. My room smells faintly of vanilla from a candle I lit earlier, mixing with the buttery trace of popcorn resting in a bowl on my desk. Monitors glow softly in the dim light, bathing the posters of my favorite games in a dim azure glow. My headset sits neatly on its stand, and a few empty soda cans line the desk like quiet trophies.
It's not spotless—there's a hoodie thrown over the back of my chair and a pile of controllers haphazardly stacked on the bed—but it's mine. Warm. Lived-in. A little universe tucked away from the world outside.
I wiggle the mouse, and my screen flickers to life. Fates Pull—a game I hadn't touched in years—stares back at me, its anniversary banner flashing like it's been waiting. On a whim, I click.
The gacha wheel spins, colors spiraling in a way I don't remember, the familiar jingle stretching into something almost… alive. My room feels suddenly brighter, like the monitors are breathing light. I lean closer.
The wheel stops on a rainbow pull. My heart skips. Then, without warning, the light surges from the screen, wrapping around me like warm water.
I don't have time to scream. My chair vanishes beneath me, my room dissolves into pixels, and for a heartbeat, I feel weightless—like I'm falling through the monitor into a world I thought I'd left behind.
The sensation of falling lasts only a second before my feet slam against solid ground.
Grass. Real grass.
I stumble forward, catching myself on cool, damp blades. My room is gone—replaced by a vast meadow bathed in sunlight, the air fresh and impossibly crisp. Rolling hills stretch into the horizon, and beyond them, the silver-tipped spires of a walled city gleam like something out of a dream.
I freeze. I know this place.
This is the starting field from Fates Pull—the game I'd sworn I'd quit years ago.
A soft chime rings in the air. I glance up and see a translucent banner hovering above me:
WELCOME BACK, TRAINER.
My chest tightens. It can't be—
"…Is it… really you?"
The voice comes from behind me.
I spin around.
She stands there—a vision carved from the heart of this world. Seraphina.
Her armor gleams white and gold, polished to a mirror shine that catches the sunlight and splinters it into shards of brilliance. The intricate filigree etched along the breastplate glows faintly, runes pulsing softly like a heartbeat. Her halberd gleams with deadly elegance, the blade sharp and curved like a crescent moon.
Her silver hair, once just a cluster of pixels on my old monitor, cascades past her shoulders in waves that shimmer like spun starlight, catching the breeze and flowing around her like liquid light.
But it's her eyes—emerald green and fierce—that grip me hardest. They flash with a wild mix of surprise, relief, and something deeper, almost like hope.
My throat goes dry. I know her.
"Seraphina," I whisper.
She freezes, mouth slightly parted, as if trying to find words she never thought she'd speak again. For a moment, her expression cracks—shock, disbelief, and something almost like relief.
She takes a hesitant step forward, the golden plates of her armor shifting smoothly with the motion. "I… I thought you'd left us forever," she says, voice trembling with years of emotion. "Years… it's been years since you last called me."
Guilt stabs through me like a dagger. She remembers. All this time I spent living my life, chasing other games, forgetting the hours I'd poured into this one—she was here, waiting.
"I…" Words fail me. "I didn't think…"
"You wouldn't come back," she finishes softly. Her knuckles tighten on the haft of her halberd. "We waited. I waited. And now… you're here."
I can only stare, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. In the corner of my vision, a faint, ghostly interface flickers into life, displaying a team roster I haven't seen in years. Every hero I ever summoned, frozen in time, waiting for me.
Seraphina steps closer, her gaze glimmering with the weight of unsaid words. "You don't know how long I—"
A deafening roar shatters the moment.
The ground trembles under my feet. Birds scatter from the nearby trees as the air fills with the sound of snapping branches and crushing footsteps.
Seraphina whirls around, her halberd snapping to a battle-ready stance, shining brighter than ever. Her voice sharpens like steel. "No… not now."
Something massive emerges from the treeline—a hulking, horned beast, its body stitched together like someone mashed up a dozen low-level enemies into one nightmare. Its eyes glow a furious red, locking onto me.
"A Riftbeast," Seraphina hisses, voice tight. "It must have sensed your return."
I take a step back instinctively. "Sensed my what—?"
The ground shakes again as the creature charges, each thunderous step bringing it closer.
"Trainer!" Seraphina shouts, leaping in front of me. "Summon someone to assist-NOW!"
My mouth goes dry. My team. My heroes. I glance at the flickering interface hovering in my vision, showing four empty slots and a single word blinking red:
SUMMON.
I raise a trembling hand toward the panel, my heart hammering. I don't know if I remember how to do this. I don't even know if I can. But as the Riftbeast lets out a bone-shaking roar and charges, I have no choice.
My first gacha pull in years… is about to decide if I live or die.