The next morning, Lawson walked to the mall as usual. A sleek blue car slowed down beside him, and the window rolled down to reveal Katie's radiant face.
"Morning, my model employee! Hop in, I'll give you a lift!"
Lawson hesitated, waving his hand. "No need to trouble yourself, Boss... it's just a short walk."
"Don't be so formal! If I leave you here, people will say I mistreat my staff. Get in!" Katie insisted with an irresistible enthusiasm. Lawson couldn't refuse and awkwardly climbed into the passenger seat.
"Had breakfast? Today's going to be a marathon. We'll probably skip lunch and dinner." Katie chatted as she expertly handled the steering wheel.
"Had a bit... thanks for asking, Boss."
"We're off the clock, Lawson. You can just call me Katie. We went to the same high school, remember, Senior?"
The word "Senior" made Lawson's heart skip a beat. He looked out the window, embarrassed. "Hearing you call me that... I'm really not used to it."
"What's there to be shy about? If it weren't for your help back then, I wouldn't be where I am today," Katie smiled sincerely.
"Well, you've been 'supporting' me these past few years. Without this salary, I wouldn't even survive. We're even," Lawson quipped. Facing the successful Katie, he felt a twinge of inferiority—he was two years older, yet she was a business owner while he was still drifting through life.
"A salary can't buy off a life-saving debt," Katie said softly as she pulled up to the mall. She pressed the store keys into Lawson's hand. "Go on! Open the shop before the mall fines us. I'll find a parking spot and join you."
Later, after setting up the displays, Katie nodded toward a bag of food while she handled paperwork. "There's food over there. Eat while it's quiet. I know you didn't have enough this morning."
"You don't understand, Boss. Gaming is my only spiritual fuel," Lawson replied without looking up, his fingers already dancing across his phone screen.
"Morning! To my favorite junior and my best bud!"
Dodge's arrival was always accompanied by a sonic boom of a voice. Both Katie and Lawson replied with a synchronized, deadpan "Morning."
"Why so gloomy?" Dodge draped himself over Lawson's shoulder like a boneless sack. "Still playing Armor Link? Man, this game is older than your work history!" Dodge enthusiastically shoved his phone forward. "Check out Armor Link: SB! Look at these graphics! Look at these effects!"
Lawson pushed the phone away in disgust. "SB? More like Stupid Business. Paid level unlocks, gacha pulls, SS-rank starter packs... that's not a game, it's a scam. You rich whales enjoy it, I'm out."
Just then, Dodge's phone erupted. "You brat! Where did you go? Get back to the shop before I skin you alive!"
"Old man's furious! Gotta run!" Dodge vanished like a whirlwind.
"Finally, some fresh air," Katie exhaled, then looked at Lawson curiously. "Why are you so obsessed with that old game? Ten years... shouldn't that obsession have a limit?"
"Because..." Lawson's gaze fell upon the armor on his screen—a suit he had polished for a decade. His voice dropped. "It's the only connection I have left to my late father."
Katie's fingers froze on her keyboard. She looked at Lawson's lonely silhouette, her face full of regret. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked."
The mall was quiet on a weekday, but Lawson had no time to enjoy the peace.
"Boss... I'm dying... lunch was toxic!" He groaned, clutching his stomach and sprinting toward the restroom.
In the stall, he habitually opened Armor Link, but the app failed him. No matter how many times he tapped, the program that had run for ten years remained unresponsive.
"Damn it! Freezing now of all times?" Lawson was frantic. Reinstalling, rebooting—he tried everything. The screen remained a lifeless brick.
A wave of panic surged through him. To him, this game was his life. "No... please, don't do this to me..."
His vision blurred. Years of suppressed stress, inferiority, and longing erupted. He broke down on the toilet, sobbing like a child who had lost his entire world. Suddenly, the lights in the restroom began to flicker violently. A second later, the world was swallowed by total darkness.
"Power out? This restroom is as dark as my soul right now... hic!"
Lawson was still sobbing when a blood-curdling scream tore through the silence from outside!
"AAAHHH! HELP! WHAT IS THAT MONSTER?!"
Lawson's heart hammered. He scrambled out of the stall, wiping his tears, and ran toward the corridor. What he saw turned his blood to ice. A beast with savage fangs, razor-sharp claws, and brownish-grey fur was pinning a passerby to the ground.
"Am I dreaming? A 'Shadow-Mimic' from Armor Link... in real life?!" He pinched his cheek hard. "Ouch! It's real!"
Suddenly, his phone vibrated violently. A glitchy dialogue box popped up on the black screen: Armor Link: [YES] [NO].
The monster caught his scent. Its blood-red eyes locked onto him. With a roar, it lunged!
"WAAAAAH!" Survival instinct took over. Lawson turned and bolted!
The mall had turned into a slaughterhouse. Screams and the sound of shattering glass filled the air.
"HELP!!!"
Lawson turned his head and saw Katie. She had fallen near the ruins of her shop, her elegant dress torn, her face pale as she stared at the approaching beast. In that moment, fear was replaced by something fiercer.
"Damn it! I'm being chased too... but to hell with it!" Lawson roared. He skidded to a halt, turned toward Katie, and slammed his finger on [YES]!
A cold, mechanical voice echoed through the hallway:
"—ARMOR LINK!!!"
The space around Lawson distorted like a lake hit by a stone. Deep blue energy vortices erupted behind him.
Clang! Schlick!
Metallic parts glowing with a cold light shot out from the vortices, snapping onto his limbs and torso with surgical precision. The chest plate locked, the gauntlets sealed, and the visor slid shut.
The armor was a masterpiece of crimson and silver, flowing with power. A blue V-shaped light ignited on his visor—the visual interface of a future soldier. At the center of his chest, the Player Emblem glowed with a ghostly blue light—the core of his strength.
[Basic Armor: Red Vortex - Custom]
The familiar weight anchored him. This was his old comrade, the suit that had carried him through a thousand digital battles.
"It's my first time in a real fight..." Lawson tightened his fists, feeling the surging power. He stepped in front of Katie, his voice echoing from behind the mask. "But these moves? I've practiced them ten thousand times in my head!"
VROOOOM!
The energy core roared. Deep blue inferno flames erupted from his fists. Lawson lunged, his leg thrusters igniting and leaving two streaks of blue starlight on the floor.
He was a blur. Before the monster could react, a heavy fist infused with blue fire slammed through its chest!
Pshhh! The monster let out a short shriek before the blue flames incinerated it from the inside out. It dissolved into a puddle of foul black mist.
"Katie! Are you okay?" Lawson turned, his scanning visor whirring as it locked onto the beast that had been chasing him earlier. He leaped like a fired shell, spinning in mid-air to deliver a Flying Kick!
The strike branded a glowing blue rune onto the monster's chest. It shattered instantly, evaporating into black smoke.
"Katie! Talk to me!" Lawson hurried over.
Katie stared at the towering steel warrior. Only when she heard that familiar voice did she whisper, "Lawson? Is that... you?"
"It's me!"
"What is going on, Lawson?!" Her mind was at its breaking point.
"I can't explain now! Hide somewhere safe while I take care of the rest of these bastards!"
He turned and bolted toward the sound of another roar.
"Stay back! Take this!" Dodge let out a furious scream, swinging a heavy metal gym bar with all his might. But the monster didn't even flinch. It snatched the bar, bent it into a U-shape, and tossed it aside like trash. As its claws rose for the kill—
BOOM!
A flaming blue fist punched through the monster's back, erupting through its chest. The beast dissolved into ash.
"Dodge! You good?"
Dodge stared at the crimson and silver armor. "Is that... the Red Vortex from the game? And you... you know my name? Wait... Lawson? Is that you, you loser?"
"Shut up! Who else would it be?" Lawson's electronic voice cracked.
"HOLY CRAP! It IS you!" Dodge shouted, his brain melting. "Are we in a movie? What's with the monsters and the kick-ass suit?"
"No time to talk! Hide!" Lawson's voice was full of newfound authority. "The mall isn't cleared yet!"
He charged back into the fray, striking down monsters and shouting warnings to the fleeing crowds. "Get to safety! I'll handle this!"
After a flurry of brutal, efficient strikes, silence finally returned to the mall. Lawson stood amidst the debris, the survivors staring at him with a mix of awe and terror.