Skyler stumbled to his feet, his legs unsteady beneath him.
The world around him was pure chaos — burning cars, crumbling buildings, people screaming and running in all directions. The sky above pulsed with red lightning, and that monstrous gate still loomed, swirling like a storm made of nightmares.
His mouth felt dry. He touched his face — warm, sweaty, real.
> "Is this… a dream?"
A loud screech tore through the air. Another beast — a giant lizard with bone spikes down its back — dropped from the sky and landed just meters away. Its eyes locked onto him.
Skyler froze.
No keyboard. No health bar. No respawn.
Just death.
The lizard charged.
> "Shit—"
Instinct kicked in. Skyler dove to the side, rolling hard across the broken ground. Pain shot through his shoulder. His body wasn't used to movement like this.
He turned just in time to see the monster whip its tail toward him. But before it could strike —
A blade flashed through the air.
SPLAT.
The creature's head split in two, clean and effortless.
Skyler's eyes widened.
There he was again.
The silver-haired teenager from before — sword in hand, calm as ever. His movements were crisp, practiced. He didn't even glance at Skyler as he stepped forward and cut down another beast behind them.
> "He's fast… way too fast."
Skyler's heart pounded.
But it wasn't fear this time.
It was something else.
As the boy fought, Skyler's eyes locked onto every movement — footwork, timing, the way he shifted his weight during each strike.
It felt… familiar.
Natural.
> "Wait... I know that move."
A memory flashed — his in-game character using the exact same combo. The same angle, the same delay between slashes.
> "No way. That's my Sword Form #4… but I never published that chapter."
Suddenly, Skyler felt something stir inside his mind — like muscle memory, but deeper. He could almost feel his hands gripping a sword he didn't have. His muscles tensed, as if ready to mirror the movement.
But then—
"Hey! You okay?!"
A girl's voice snapped him out of it.
He turned.
She was around his age, blood on her clothes, holding a dagger in one hand and a strange glowing crystal in the other.
She looked at him like he was crazy.
> "Are you just gonna stand there and die? Or are you coming?!"
Skyler blinked.
> "Right. I'm not in a game anymore…"
He nodded, still shaken, and ran after her into the smoke.
But as they disappeared into the chaos, one thought burned in his mind:
> "That guy… that was Daniel. The hero of my story."
"But why is he here?"
"And why am I?"