When Majiku opened his eyes again, the sky of Eien was crimson. The digital sun hung low, bleeding over the horizon like a dying ember. He stood on a cobblestone street in the city of Luntharion, where glowing mist rolled between narrow alleys and flickering lanterns. The air smelled of metal and rain.
He remembered the last time he was here. The glitch, the panic, the sudden end.But now, he felt something different.The world seemed heavier — like it had been waiting for him.
Majiku brushed off his cloak, the black fabric still soft against his hands. His reflection in a puddle showed that same older version of himself: tired eyes, a faint smirk that didn't belong to a child. He still didn't know why this was happening — how a seven-year-old with a life like his could wear the body of a figure far wiser looking. But he didn't care.Here, no one looked at him with disappointment.No one yelled.No one knew his name.
He could be whoever he wanted.
The Encounter
As he walked through the market square, voices echoed around him — players shouting about quests, weapons, food, and treasure. The noise was almost overwhelming, but Majiku found it comforting. It sounded alive. He passed through the crowd quietly until a commotion broke out near the fountain.
"Hey! You can't just take that quest without the Misty Three's approval!" someone shouted.
"The Misty who?" Majiku murmured.
A group of armored players argued loudly near a quest board. In front of them stood three figures cloaked in black, their emblems gleaming gold in the fading light. They stood out — not just for their appearance, but for the silence that seemed to radiate from them. As they looked smug to have finally found a third member.
Majiku's eyes widened.He recognized those emblems.The same as his.
The tallest among them — a figure with tired blue eyes and a scar across his cheek — stepped forward. His voice was calm but sharp."Let it go. The quest's open to anyone."
The argument dissolved almost instantly. The crowd parted. The three cloaked figures turned away, and for a moment, the blue-eyed person glanced toward Majiku.
Their eyes met.
Majiku froze. Something deep in his gut stirred — something he didn't understand. It wasn't fear. It wasn't admiration. It was familiarity.
Before he could speak, the figure nodded once, as if silently acknowledging him."Come with us," he said.
And Majiku followed.
The Misty Three
They led him out of the city and into the misty hills beyond, where silver fog covered the ground and fireflies floated in the dark. A small campfire flickered at the base of a ruined tower, its light painting their faces in amber glow.
The tall figure sat down, resting his sword beside him."I'm Kael," he said. "And these two—"He gestured to the others. "—are Mira and Ryn."
Majiku looked at them — a person with long dark hair tied back beneath her hood, and a younger kid with sharp eyes and restless energy. They all wore the same cloak as him, marked with the same golden emblems.
"And you," Kael said quietly, "you're new here. But that emblem… you've been chosen."
Majiku blinked. "Chosen?"
Mira smiled faintly. "The system doesn't make mistakes. If the Misty mark appeared on your avatar, it means you're one of us now."
"One of you…?" Majiku echoed, his voice trembling slightly.
Kael nodded. "Welcome to The Misty Three. Or should I say... The Misty Four Now"
A Family Without Knowing
They talked through the night. Kael was quiet, careful with his words. Mira laughed softly but her eyes were always distant. Ryn was loud and clumsy, constantly poking at Majiku's equipment and teasing him for being new.
It felt… strange.
Majiku didn't remember the last time anyone had asked him questions. Real ones. About what he liked. About what he wanted to do. He didn't have answers for most of them, but they didn't seem to mind.
At one point, Ryn threw a pebble into the fire and said,"You fight like you've got something to prove."Majiku looked down at his hands."Maybe I do."Kael glanced at him from across the fire."To who?""…I don't know."
Silence settled over them, broken only by the crackle of flames and the distant hum of digital wind.
For a moment, Majiku wanted to say everything — about his parents, his loneliness, the small apartment, the cold dinners, the endless silence. But when he looked up, Mira was smiling at him, her eyes soft and kind.
"It's okay," she said. "You don't have to know yet."
Majiku didn't realize he was shaking until she reached over and placed a hand on his arm. It wasn't real — just data, just light — but it felt more real than anything he'd ever known. Almost to real.
He blinked rapidly, looking away."Why are you being… nice to me?"Ryn laughed. "What, you'd rather we hit you?""No. It's just… people don't usually…"He trailed off.
Kael's eyes softened, though he didn't show it much."Because we were all lost once," he said quietly. "You'll learn that soon."
Battle in the Mist
The next morning, a quest alert appeared — a creature called The Mistborn Leviathan had been sighted nearby. Most players avoided it. The Misty Three didn't.
Kael handed Majiku a sword — elegant, silver, almost humming in his grip."You're coming with us," he said.Majiku hesitated. "I don't know how to fight."Mira grinned. "You'll learn. We all did."
The battle was chaos — wind, light, and steel flashing against a monster made of smoke and shifting teeth. Kael shouted orders with calm precision; Ryn darted between attacks like a shadow; Mira's spells illuminated the fog like burning stars.
Majiku froze at first — too afraid to move, too afraid to fail.But when the creature turned toward Kael, he saw it — the same expression his father sometimes wore at night. Exhaustion. Resignation.
Something snapped inside him.
He screamed and swung the sword — not gracefully, not perfectly, but desperately. The blade sliced through the creature's body, scattering mist like shattered glass. His heart raced as light exploded around him. The Leviathan howled, dissolving into pixels.
When it was over, the four of them stood panting in the fog.Ryn clapped Majiku on the back. "Not bad for a newbie."Majiku smiled — small, genuine. "Thanks."Kael sheathed his sword, giving a slight nod."You've got instinct. Don't lose it."
They walked back toward the city as the sun rose, and for a fleeting moment, Majiku thought he could feel something warm inside him — something that almost felt like pride.
Echoes of the Real World
That night, back in the real world, Majiku awoke with tears on his face. His headset lay beside him again, humming softly. His parents' voices drifted through the thin walls — another argument.He stared at the ceiling and whispered,"Kael… Mira… Ryn…"
The names hurt to say out loud, but in a strange way, they made the room feel less empty.He didn't know why, but he couldn't stop thinking about them — Kael's steady voice, Mira's warmth, Ryn's laughter. It felt like family.
He turned his head to the side and saw the faint reflection of his face in the window.For a moment, in the dim light, he could almost see the him from Eien staring back — calm, strong, unbroken.He smiled weakly. "Maybe… I'm not alone anymore."
He put the headset back on.
Secrets Beneath the Mist
The next day in Eien, Kael called a meeting.They gathered at their camp again, surrounded by silver mist and whispering trees."There's something happening," Kael said. "A group called The Cult of Immortality. They're trying to break the system — to make the world eternal."
Ryn shrugged. "Eternal sounds good to me. No logout, no pain."Kael's eyes darkened. "No freedom either. They're taking people's consciousness — trapping them here."
Majiku felt a chill."Trapping… them?"Mira nodded. "People have vanished. Players who log in and never return. It's more than a game now."
Majiku looked at his hands. For the first time, he realized — what if he was one of them? What if he never really left?
He tried to speak, but Kael's voice cut through the silence."We'll stop them. But first, we need to find out who they are."He looked at Majiku."And you — I want you with us."
"Me? But I'm—"Kael interrupted softly. "You remind me of someone. Someone I lost."Majiku's heart skipped. "Lost?"Kael looked away. "A son."
The firelight flickered, painting Kael's face in shadow.Majiku felt something break inside him.He wanted to tell him — to scream that he was that friend that could maybe not be replacement but help him out with not feeling alone. But of course, that wasn't true. Not here. Not in this world.
Still… something about the way Kael said it — the tremor in his voice, the silence that followed — felt too real to be just a coincidence like he was talking about him.
The Unseen Thread
Later that night, after the others slept, Majiku sat alone by the fire. The mist swirled around him like a living thing, whispering secrets he couldn't quite hear.
He thought about his father in the real world — the person who barely spoke, who looked at him like he was a burden. And then he thought about Kael — strong, tired, but kind.They were so different.And yet… the same somehow.
He thought about Mira's laughter, how she always tried to keep them smiling. It reminded him of the few times his mother had tried to hum while doing dishes, years ago, before she stopped singing entirely.And Ryn — so full of energy, so desperate for approval — like a mirror of himself, if he'd been born with courage instead of fear.
He didn't know why he felt connected to them. He didn't know why their words made his heart ache. But deep down, something told him that Eien wasn't just a game. It was a reflection — of everything he'd lost, everything he'd wished for, and everything he still didn't understand.
The Moment of Truth
Just before dawn, Kael woke and sat beside him. For a long time, they didn't speak.
Then Kael said, quietly,"You don't talk much, do you?"Majiku shrugged. "There's not much to say.""Sometimes silence says the most."Majiku looked up at him, confused.Kael smiled faintly. "You remind me of my kid. Same eyes. Same way of staring into the fire like it's the only thing keeping you alive."
Majiku swallowed hard."Where… is he now?"Kael's smile faded."Gone. He was seven."
The world seemed to stop. The crackling of the fire dimmed. The mist thickened.
Majiku's hands trembled. His voice was barely a whisper."I'm seven."
Kael didn't react — just stared into the flames, lost in memory.Majiku wanted to tell him so badly — to cry, to reach out, to ask if maybe… just maybe… he could be that kid to cheer him up overall. But the words caught in his throat.
He just sat there, side by side with the father who didn't know he was his son, in a world that wasn't real, under a sky that never ended.
And for the first time in his short, broken life, Majiku felt… at peace.
The Closing Scene
When he logged out that night, the room was dark again. His parents were still arguing, the same cruel words echoing through the walls. But this time, Majiku didn't cry. He looked at the headset beside him, the faint hum of its power glowing against the shadows.
He whispered to it softly,"Goodnight, Dad."And then, after a pause—"Goodnight, Mom. Ryn."
He lay down, his small hand resting on the headset like it was something sacred.
Outside, the city was quiet. Inside, a world of mist waited for him — full of strangers who loved him without knowing why.
Majiku closed his eyes.
"Welcome back, Traveler of Eien."
The voice echoed in his dreams, warm and endless.
End of Episode 2 — "Those Who Live in the Mist"