The game was called “Eden.exe.”

No one could remember who had created it anymore. There was almost no information about it online—just snippets from forums, strange videos, and posts from people who seemed to vanish from the internet after launching it.

Kai didn’t believe in such nonsense.

He was nineteen. Tall, with dark hair, a perpetually tired look in his eyes, and a habit of staring at people as if he already knew how it would all end. He rarely trusted anyone and almost never spoke about himself. To most people, he seemed cold, irritating, and too sharp, but in reality, Kai simply hated getting attached. Everything he grew accustomed to eventually disappeared.

He lived alone. He’d dropped out of school back in the winter, spent his nights at the computer, made a side hustle hacking into other people’s accounts, and couldn’t stand noisy people. He had a strange habit—jotting down his thoughts in his phone notes—because he was afraid he’d one day forget who he was.

It was raining that night.

An unknown message flashed on the screen:

> “Want to start the game?”

Kai smirked, leaning back in his chair.

“Seriously...?”

He was about to close the window, but the cursor clicked “Yes” on its own.

The monitor went dark abruptly.

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