For me, my life had always been a cage… one I stood inside alone.
I watched the world like a passing shadow—unnoticed, unseen.
I lost my parents when I was eighteen, and from that moment on, it felt like everything around me was collapsing faster than I could understand it. Every dream, every attempt, every idea I once believed would change my life… shattered before my eyes like fragile glass hitting the floor.
I felt talentless, powerless, empty—like nothing in me could ever make my life different from this cage I lived in.
Yet in that darkness… there was one light.
My little brother.
He wasn't just a brother—he was the candle that lit the darkness of my days, the rope that kept me from falling apart completely.
His smile, his laughter, even his silence sometimes… all of it reminded me that life still had meaning despite all the failures and disappointments.
I loved him endlessly, enough to sacrifice the entire world if it meant I could protect the innocent light in his eyes.
I protected him from everything: from fear, from loneliness, from the pain he couldn't yet understand. I watched him grow, play, dream… and I tried to be a shield, a friend, and a guardian all at once.
Every time he whispered softly:
"You're the best… I trust you."
Those words alone made me feel like I could face anything… even myself.
And as time passed, I found an escape from my broken reality: the game.
It wasn't an ordinary game, but an advanced fantasy world, filled with challenges, magic, battles that needed strategy and skill.
It was called Intertwined Worlds, beginning in an academy where players learned the basics before being released into vast missions and adventures, each encounter testing their potential and pushing them to grow.
Each character I created reflected a piece of me, and every challenge I overcame gave me a sense of strength and control—something reality never gave me.
The game became my world.
My refuge.
The one place where I could be someone… anyone… other than the caged version of myself.
I worked day and night, juggling two jobs, coming home exhausted—barely able to stand.
My body tried to warn me, but I ignored it.
I didn't have a choice. I had to feed my brother, buy what he needed, give him a decent life despite how harsh the world was.
Until one night… I pushed myself too far.
I was sitting at my worktable, hands trembling, head spinning, heartbeat uneven and heavy.
I tried to keep going, convincing myself that endurance was all I had left.
But with each minute passing, I felt my energy draining faster and faster.
Suddenly… a crushing weight pressed on my chest, breathing became painful, and every muscle screamed from exhaustion.
My eyes closed on their own, and the world faded, voices drifting away as if I were sinking into a suffocating silence.
In that moment, the only thing that mattered was… my little brother.
His face appeared before me—his smile, his small voice saying:
"You're the best… you always protect us."
I smiled weakly, whispering:
"I'm sorry… I can't anymore."
----
Darkness swallowed my vision…
But the darkness wasn't the end.
It was a doorway—one that opened beneath me, pulling me away from everything I knew: the pain, the exhaustion, the life I thought ended right there.
I felt no body, no weight. I floated in a colorless void, soundless and still… a strange peace that resembled death, yet wasn't quite death.
I was conscious… and not conscious at the same time, suspended somewhere between life and death, between reality and dream.
And then… a light.
Faint at first, like a lone star in an empty sky.
Something about it felt familiar, as if my heart recognized it—reminding me that I was still alive.
I reached out—or imagined that I did—and was suddenly pulled toward it, as if the world itself decided to drag me back to life all at once.
....
I opened my eyes slowly.
Light streamed through a small window into a wide room decorated with carvings I'd never seen before.
Tall walls, multiple beds covered in silk sheets, stone pillars etched with mysterious symbols…
This wasn't any world I knew—
Yet something deep inside whispered that I did know it.
It was the world of the game I had spent countless hours in.
And now… I was inside it.
I managed to stand and walked toward a long mirror at the side of the room.
And time… froze.
The reflection staring back at me was not me.
Not Dan.
Not the body I'd lived in my whole life.
It was an eighteen-year-old young man with sharp, refined features.
Dark, deep eyes filled with something cold… tired of the world, as if life itself bored him.
Thick eyebrows, a straight narrow mouth that looked like it could only form fake smiles, a strong jawline, a straight royal-like nose—yet his whole face carried a silent, frightening calmness.
Something twisted inside my chest—power… strangeness… confusion…
And longing.
Longing for my brother.
His image shone in my mind.
Ryan—sixteen years old, a little slim, big honey-colored eyes full of innocence and curiosity.
His round face with soft rosy cheeks always smiling, his wavy brown hair falling over his forehead, his gentle eyebrows revealing every emotion openly. His small mouth always curved in a smile as he reassured me:
"You're the best… in the whole world."
That memory—
that smile—
dragged me back through every moment we shared.
I felt my eyes sting with tears, thick with longing and guilt.
I couldn't see him anymore… couldn't protect him…
But something inside me refused to give up.
"I must be dreaming," I muttered, grabbing the mirror.
When it shattered, I took one of the shards and pressed it against my hand, stabbing gently.
The pain was sharp, real, undeniable.
Blood trickled down my skin.
"This… is real?" I whispered.
Before I could process anything, the door burst open.
A startled female voice cried:
"My lord! Stop what you're doing immediately!"
I turned quickly, heart racing.
A young maid stood there, wearing a simple dark-blue dress, her hair tied low. She was pretty, but fear overshadowed her features.
She stepped forward cautiously, as if approaching a wounded animal.
"My lord… are you alright?"
I didn't reply.
The shard was still between my fingers, blood dripping slowly.
She gasped when she saw the wound.
"What are you doing?! Oh heavens—why would you harm yourself? Should I call the head physician?!"
I shook my head weakly. My voice came out trembling:
"I… I just wanted to know… if I was still dreaming."
She froze, eyes widening.
Then gently, she stepped forward and took the shard from my hand.
"My lord, you're not well… anyone can see that."
She wrapped my hand with a soft cloth, her voice trembling:
"Your disappearance… worried everyone. You shouldn't punish yourself like this."
Disappearance?
So this body… belonged to someone else.
I stared at her silently as she tied the cloth tighter.
Inside me, the pain wasn't from the cut.
It was from Ryan—
from his smile—
from my promise to return.
"My brother… is waiting for me," I whispered.
"My lord, you need rest. Your body is still weak."
"No… this body is strong. The problem is here."
I touched my chest.
"Here… I don't even know who I am anymore."