He stepped past the playground, following the mission line, until the treeline thinned. Concrete poked through the dirt, then more, until cracked streets appeared underfoot. He reached the edge of the forest and finally stopped.
There, looming in front of him, stood the cathedral. Its spires were broken, vines crawling up the stone walls, but even in ruin it stood tall… an unshakable landmark. The blue exclamation still pulsed faintly above its roof.
The sight dragged him backward in time, back to his old setup at home. He could almost feel the weight of the headset on his head, the ache in his wrist from hours gripping the mouse, the way his fingers flew over the keyboard.
His avatar… the polished, cocky version of himself, stood where he now stood, mowing down endless waves of zombies. He remembered the blur of headshots, the satisfying crunch of skulls bursting pixel by pixel, and the sound of his fans cheering through the stream chat.
