The screen glowed faintly in the dark.
The only sound in the room was the rapid tapping of keys and the occasional click of a mouse.
Victory flashed across the screen.
[VICTORY]
I leaned back in my chair, letting out a quiet breath.
Another win.
Another flawless match.
Another reminder that in this world—Nervanox—I wasn't just some background character.
I mattered.
"Nice play."
A message popped up on my screen.
I didn't even need to look at the username.
I already knew.
Mitsuru.
"Of course it was," I typed back. "You were late on the rotation again."
"Hey, I still carried you at the end."
"Delusional."
"Rude."
I smirked slightly.
This had become routine.
Log in. Queue together. Win. Argue. Laugh.
Repeat.
At first, Mitsuru was just another random teammate. Someone I happened to match with one night.
But somehow… it didn't stay that way.
We kept playing together.
Day after day.
Match after match.
And eventually… we started talking.
Not just about the game.
But about everything.
School.
Life.
Things we liked.
Things we hated.
Dreams we didn't tell anyone else.
"You're easy to talk to."
She sent that one night.
I stared at the message longer than I should have.
"…You too," I replied.
I didn't realize it at the time.
But that was the moment everything changed.
Because somewhere between late-night matches and stupid arguments…
I started looking forward to seeing her name online.
Started waiting for her messages.
Started smiling at my screen like an idiot.
And before I knew it—
I had fallen for her.
It was stupid.
I knew it was.
Falling for someone I had never even seen.
Never met.
Only knew through a screen.
But it felt real.
More real than anything else in my life.
So one night, after another win—
I said it.
"…Hey."
"Yeah?"
"…I think I like you."
The typing indicator appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
"…Haha."
That was her first reply.
A laugh.
Then came the message that broke everything.
"Thanks, but… you know I'm a boy, right?"
My hands froze on the keyboard.
My mind went blank.
"…What?"
"I thought you knew."
The words didn't make sense.
They didn't fit.
They didn't match the person I had been talking to all this time.
"You're joking."
"I'm not."
My chest tightened.
Everything felt distant.
Like the world had suddenly taken a step away from me.
"Then… all this time—"
"Does it matter?"
That question hurt more than anything else.
Before I could respond—
Another message appeared.
"Let's just stop here."
"…What?"
"Don't message me again."
The screen stayed still after that.
No typing indicator.
No reply.
Nothing.
I waited.
For minutes.
Hours.
Days.
Mitsuru never logged in again.
That was the last time I played Nervanox.
After that, I quit.
Completely.
Didn't touch the game again.
Didn't want to.
Because every time I thought about it—
I remembered.
The lies.
The betrayal.
The feeling of being abandoned without a word.
I told myself something after that.
Something simple.
Something absolute.
Real people can't be trusted.
So I stopped trying.
Stopped caring.
Stopped believing.
And turned to something better.
Something safer.
2D.
No lies.
No betrayal.
No sudden goodbyes.
Just perfect, predictable worlds.
Exactly the way I wanted them.
Time passed.
Middle school ended.
High school began.
And I stayed the same.
Girls?
Didn't care.
Didn't trust them.
Didn't need them.
That part of me was gone.
Or at least…
That's what I thought.
"Hmm…"
I scrolled through my phone lazily, lying on my bed.
New manga releases.
Upcoming adaptations.
Character polls.
Normal.
Peaceful.
Safe.
Then I saw it.
A trending topic.
"Famous game streamer Mitsuru reveals she is a girl."
My thumb stopped.
My breath caught.
"…What?"
I stared at the screen.
Read it again.
And again.
Mitsuru.
That name.
That same name.
"No way…"
Before I could stop myself—
I tapped it.
A video opened.
A stream.
I didn't see her face.
Not once.
The camera only showed part of her setup—
A desk.
Monitors.
Lights.
And in the corner—
A small emblem.
My heart skipped.
"…That's…"
I leaned closer.
My eyes widened.
The school gaming club logo.
My school.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
My body moved before I could think.
I grabbed my bag, rushed out of my room, and headed straight out the door.
Mitsuru.
The person who lied to me.
The person who disappeared.
The person I tried to forget.
She was here.
At my school.
And this time—
I wasn't going to let her disappear again.
I was going to find her.