The apartment didn't smell like anything specific anymore, just a stale smelling mix that clung to the air as if it had moved in and signed a lease of its own.
Empty cans crowded every flat surface, some tipped on their sides near the keyboard, one pressed up against the monitor stand. A hoodie hung halfway off the back of a chair, sleeves dragging across the floor, and somewhere under the desk, a crumpled takeout bag had started folding into itself from being stepped on too many times.
19 year old Lennox Hellslain sat in the middle of it, shoulders drawn forward, elbows planted close to the desk like he didn't trust himself to lean back even for a second. The glow from the monitor painted his face in dull light, catching along the scar that ran across his neck, a thin line that didn't quite match the rest of him.
His light brown hair sat in loose waves that refused to stay in place, strands falling toward his eyes no matter how many times he brushed them away. The headset pressed tight against his ears, sealing him off from everything except the noise pouring in, and he had grey colored eyes.
On the screen, chaos didn't even begin to cover it.
A battlefield stretched across a ruined plain, broken structures scattered in the distance, chunks of land torn open like some beast had dragged a blade through it and kept going. High level players flooded the area in groups, flashes of steel and bursts of magic colliding in every direction.
Lennox's character stood at the center of it, a swordsman wrapped in dark abyssal energy that crawled along the blade like it had a mind of its own, leaking off in threads that twisted and snapped back into place.
Lennox leaned in closer without realizing it, fingers moving faster and more precise, the keys clicking in a constant stream that never quite paused.
"FUCK YOU!" He exclaimed.
His voice cracked through the mic as his character stepped through an incoming strike, the sword lifting just enough to catch the edge of it before turning, the blade dragging across the opponent's side in a motion that was almost careless. The abyssal energy followed a second later, blooming outward from the cut and swallowing the other player whole before snapping shut, causing a large explosion of dark energy, flames, and blood.
One down….
The voice in his headset came in immediately, loud and irritated and not even trying to hide it. "I literally was lagging, all of you are running at least a million frames per second. Go outside and touch some grass or some females, damn no-life."
Lennox let out a short laugh through his nose, lips pulling back into something that barely counted as a smile.
"Stop making excuses," he shot back, fingers already moving again. "You're just dog shit."
Another player rushed him from the side, heavy weapon raised, expecting him to still be locked in the last fight. Lennox didn't even turn fully, just angled the camera enough to track the movement, his character stepping forward instead of back, sword cutting across in a rising slash.
FWOOSH (game sound effects)
The abyss clung to the edge of the blade, then spilled out on contact, wrapping around the opponent's weapon, eating through it before dragging along the rest of them.
The kill registered, and then another.
[XP Gained]
[XP Gained]
While playing, his shoulders stayed tense, but his grin pushed wider with teeth showing now, eyes locked onto the screen in a way that didn't leave room for anything else. The cans, the mess, the room itself, all of it faded into just background noise.
Elslat Fantasy Online filled that space too easily.
The insanely popular MMORPG game had taken over everything the second it hit its stride. Businesses tried to tie themselves to it, failed, tried again, and failed again. Entire markets leaned into it, people selling accounts, gear, even coaching sessions like it meant something outside of the screen.
Kids skipped school for it, adults called out of work, and some didn't bother calling at all. It stopped being just a game somewhere along the way, turned into this constant thing that people circled around whether they liked it or not.
Lennox found it three years after it dropped, and now even years later, he still hadn't put it down.
It wasn't like there was much pulling him anywhere else. Jobs didn't stick, and every application came back to the same problem, every interview circling around it without saying it outright until they did.
Too many fights, too many records tied to his name, too many moments where he didn't stop when he should have. His parents used to talk like he was headed somewhere better, like all that energy would turn into something worth looking at, but that kind of talk dried up a long time ago.
Now it was this: A chair, a screen, and a mindset that didn't care about any of that as long as he kept winning.
Winning at something at least.
Sports betting covered the rest, barely. Enough to keep the apartment, enough to keep the lights on, enough to keep the cans stacking up without having to think too hard about it. Some days hit, and some days didn't, and he stopped trying to predict which was which.
Another player dropped in front of him, then another, and Lennox cut through both without breaking his stride and pace, the abyss trailing behind every swing like it was eager to catch up. His breathing came quicker now, not from effort exactly, just the way his body reacted when everything lined up right.
"HAHA! You're all high level as hell for no reason! Delete the game!"
Then the field thinned down, this battle royale mode didn't drag things out. Players got picked off until the space opened up, until it stopped being a mess and started feeling like something claustrophobic, and something that watched you back.
And one character stood across from him now.
Dual blades, both held at a slight offset, armor detailed enough to stand out even at a distance, the kind of player that didn't just mash their way through fights; the stance alone gave that away.
A voice cut through Lennox's headset, calmer than the others had been and almost amused. "You're pretty good, do you really not have a girlfriend? You play like you don't have one."
Lennox snorted, rolling his shoulders once before settling back in, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Damn, all up in my business aren't you? Yes I have one, and she's right beside me."
The lie came out easy and barely even thought about, just an attempt to throw back without giving anything real.
Across the field, the dual wielder moved first, closing the distance fast, blades coming in from two directions at once, one high, one low, trying to catch Lennox between them.
"Oh yeah?" the voice pressed, a hint of a laugh under it. "Put her on the mic!"
Lennox's fingers tapped faster, his character stepping into the gap instead of backing off, sword rising to intercept one blade while the abyss spilled to meet the other, dark energy lashing out and twisting as it collided.
"She's eating!" Lennox shot back, the words coming out just as quick as the movement on screen. "Can't talk with a mouth full of food!"
Another lie.
On the game, the distance between them vanished in a blink, steel colliding against steel in a messy clash that refused to settle; Lennox's character stepped into it without hesitation, blade dragging along one of the incoming strikes while the abyssal energy spilled off the edge and snapped toward the second. The dual wielder twisted around it, avoiding the worst of it, though the edge still clipped him enough to shave off a chunk of his health bar.
Seventy percent dropped to sixty-two in the blink of an eye.
Lennox didn't even breathe properly, fingers pressing keys in quick taps, thumb slamming a side button on his mouse. A potion icon flashed, his character pulling it mid-motion, the animation barely finishing before he canceled into another swing.
Across from him, the other player mirrored it, one blade flicking out to create space while the other hand dipped for a vial. The animation finished cleaner than Lennox liked, their health ticking back up toward seventy again like the last exchange hadn't even mattered.
"What's she eating if she can't talk?" the guy asked, voice steady even while his character raced forward again.
Lennox almost fumbled a key trying to come up with some more bullshit, but he was in the hot seat right now. It's like the other players stopped fighting each other just to hear their conversation and watch their fight.
"U-Um," Lennox started, already regretting opening his mouth, "she's eating grapes."
The dual wielder didn't give him a break for it. Both blades came in again, one feinting high before cutting across at waist level. Lennox jerked his character back just enough to avoid losing too much health with a unique skill, the edge grazing instead of biting deep, but it still cost him. His health dipped, seventy-five down to fifty-nine in a chunk that made his jaw tense up.
"Where is she from?! If she's so real?" The dual wielding player asked.
"What are you, some stalker?" Lennox snapped, leaning closer to the screen like it would help. "I'm not giving out her personal shit!"
He triggered a skill mid-sentence, his character's sword lighting up as the abyss thickened around it and it got darker, dragging along the ground like it had weight now. The battlefield itself reacted, cracks spreading from his position as if the game wanted to sell the impact before it even landed.
"Blessing of the War God," Lennox muttered under his breath, already committing to his character using an "almost" maxed out skill of his.
The skill detonated, and a massive sweep carved through the ground, abyssal energy flooding out in a wide path that swallowed everything in front of him.
The dual wielder tried to dodge, barely making it to the edge of the attack, but the tail end still caught him, dragging his character through the effect before spitting him out the other side.
His health bar plummeted: Seventy to eighteen.
"Using your Absolute Resonance that fast?" the guy said, a grin audible in his voice. "Big mistake, I still got mine charging up."
Lennox clicked his tongue, already moving again, not letting the gap sit there. His character pushed ahead to fight, sword coming down in a follow-up strike meant to force a reaction instead of finish the fight.
"So how long have you and your supposed girlfriend been together?" the guy continued, like he wasn't one mistake away from getting wiped.
"A few months," Lennox said, the words coming out too quick. "She's super pretty too, yeah! Y-Yeah and she's sitting in my lap right now!"
"Yeah OKAY," the guy shot back, laughing this time. "What's her name then?" the guy pressed.
Lennox parried one blade, barely catching the second with the edge of his own weapon. "Why do you care so much? Her name's—" he hesitated, fingers still moving, "—Alyssa."
Alyssa…really?
"Alyssa," the guy repeated, unimpressed. "What does she even look like?"
"Better than anything you've seen," Lennox shot back, triggering a short-range burst of abyss that forced the other player back a step. "You wouldn't get it."
Another exchange. Steel clashed again, both of them dancing just outside of lethal range, trading small hits instead of going all in.
"What does she do?" the guy asked, still pushing, still talking like he had all the time in the world.
"She, uh—she's in college," Lennox said, already wincing at how it sounded. "Business or something."
"Or something?" the guy echoed, amused again.
'Shit, that didn't sound convincing!' He thought with panic.
Lennox didn't answer that, instead chaining into another skill, his character lunging with a flash of speed that closed the gap before the dual wielder could fully reset. The blade connected this time, abyssal energy flooding in behind it, dragging the opponent's health lower in a steady drop.
"Man, you're making this up as you go," the guy said, laughing outright now.
"She's kissing me right now!" Lennox blurted, louder than he meant to, fingers still flying across the keys. "And she's hugging me at the same time! You wish you could be me right now!"
"Yeah, I'm sure she is," the guy said, not even trying to hide it anymore.
The charge finished, and a pulse of energy wrapped around the dual wielder, his Absolute Resonance activating in an explosion that pushed Lennox's character back a step, both blades glowing as he came in again, faster now, more aggressive.
For a second, it almost worked.
Lennox's health dropped, numbers slipping into a range that would've ended it if he hesitated even a little; Another potion, another cancel, another swing, everything stacked together in a mess that barely held but still held.
Then he found the opening, with the other player overcommitted by just enough, one blade going too far, leaving a space that Lennox's character slipped into without thinking. The sword came up from below, abyss clinging to it, then tearing through the space between them in a single motion that connected fully this time.
The health bar hit zero, and the dual wielder dropped.
"Hey! Rematch me!" the guy said immediately, like the result didn't count. "I was barely trying!"
Lennox didn't even hesitate. "Nope."
He exited the match, clicked through the menus with practiced ease, and blocked the player before the request could even finish loading.
No rematches, ever. Winning once was enough, but letting them try again just gave them a chance to fix whatever they messed up the first time, and he wasn't about to sit there and hand that over.
Beat them, move on, and that was it.
He leaned back in his chair, the tension finally leaving his shoulders in a long exhale, one hand dragging down his face before dropping to his lap.
'Dummy. He really thought he was gonna rematch someone like me?'
The room crept back in around him, the noise of the game fading just enough for everything else to settle into place again. The cans, the clutter, the stale air that hadn't moved in hours.
Silence sat there for a bit, then the thought slipped in without asking.
Of course he had lied about "Alyssa", every word of it. The name, the details, the stupid stuff about her sitting there with him. He said it so easily that for a second, during the middle of the fight, it almost felt real, like he could just glance to the side and—
Nothing.
Just the same mess, same chair, and the same screen.
'I'm so alone…'
The monitor flickered, and at first, it looked like the game hitching, maybe a stutter, maybe something loading in late.
"Hm?"
Then the entire screen changed, the battlefield disappearing, replaced by something else entirely. Some random text in big words displayed on a red and black flaming system window:
[A Certain War Bound King summons you, do you wish to proceed?]
Below it was two options.
[Yes]
[Yes]
No third option, which was creepy in itself. Why wasn't there a "no" option?
Lennox frowned, leaning forward again, eyes squinting as he scanned the screen like he'd missed something obvious.
'What the hell is this? A DLC update? I never saw this on any of the forums or anything. I don't miss any news from the dev's.'
He sat up straighter, moving closer without realizing it, face just a bit nearer to the glow of the monitor as he stared at the choices that didn't make any sense.