My name is Ayvik, and I am twenty-two years old. Or rather, I *was* twenty-two. I like quiet spaces, long nights, and magical worlds far beyond the dull gray of reality. I like games—not casual ones, not the flashy, shallow stuff everyone talks about—but the kind where magic is real, where you can wield powers, explore vast lands, and make choices that actually change everything. I live for that. Those games are my true home, my escape, my kingdom.
The real world? It's loud. Crowded. Full of people pretending to care while staring at their phones. My friends—they're good people, I guess—but I've always been the third one in the group. Always on the edge, always watching, never fully part of it. I smile at their jokes, laugh when it's expected, nod when I should nod. But inside, I'm elsewhere, planning my next in-game strategy, thinking about spell systems, world mechanics, or a rare magic item I need for my quest. They don't notice this part of me. They can't. And maybe that's fine.
Tonight, we met at a small café downtown. It's a place full of chatter and clinking cups, where the lights are warm but never bright enough to hide the shadows on my own face. My friends leaned in, talking and laughing, sharing jokes I didn't fully understand. I sipped my drink, the taste bitter but grounding, and watched. My phone buzzed. A new notification from a magical game I had been waiting months for. I smiled faintly, tapping it just enough to glance at the news, the updates, the rare event that had started today. My heart raced. A thrill that real life had never given me.
I thought about all the hours I had spent in that world—casting spells, exploring dungeons, unlocking secrets, reading ancient in-game scrolls, learning every detail, memorizing every pattern. It was a universe that made sense, where I was powerful, clever, noticed, respected. A universe where my ideas mattered. The contrast with the real world was… painful sometimes.
By the time we left the café, it was almost midnight. My friends waved at me casually, walking off together, laughing as if the night was theirs alone. I waved back, my smile polite and hollow. They didn't really notice me, and I didn't really care. Not completely. I had accepted my place in their orbit. I had long since learned that trying to shine in their world only ended in quiet disappointment.
The streets were empty, except for the occasional flickering streetlight. The wind pushed at me gently, rustling my jacket. Leaves danced across the pavement. I thought about life—my classes, the tedious repetition of daily routines, the endless scroll of meaningless notifications, the people who never truly saw me. And I thought about my games, my magical worlds, the countless nights spent exploring dungeons, meeting guildmates online, learning strategies, mastering spells. Life in that world was infinite, thrilling, and mine. Life here… was small and gray.
I kept walking, my mind wandering into the familiar escape of fantasy magic, imagining myself wielding elemental spells, summoning guardians, learning forbidden knowledge. I imagined myself standing tall in a castle I had built, a mage of unmatched skill, feared and respected. In those moments, I felt… alive.
Then, headlights flashed in the distance. Too bright. Too sudden.
A car swerved violently into my lane. My heart froze. I could see the driver slumped over the wheel, clearly drunk, completely unaware of the world around him. My hands tightened on the steering wheel. Time slowed. I wanted to shout, to swerve, to do anything—but my body refused.
Impact.
The metal screamed. Glass shattered. Pain exploded through every nerve in my body. My vision blurred, spinning lights everywhere. I wanted to cry out, but no sound came. My mind raced, fragmented between fear, disbelief, and flashes of my life—my games, my quiet nights, the thrill of magical worlds, the tiny moments of happiness I had clung to.
I thought of my spells, my quests, my in-game victories. I thought of all the worlds I had yet to explore. *I wasn't ready to die. Not now. Not like this.*
But the world had other plans. Pain, sharp and burning, consumed me. My thoughts slowed, my body weakened, and a strange calm came over me, as if my soul was standing outside itself, watching, waiting. The last thing I saw was the chaotic blur of headlights, metal, and shattered glass.
And then… everything went dark.