Blade logged out.
The warmth of the bar, Nyx's flustered expression, Cyberius laughing — all of it vanished into silence.
He removed the headset and placed it on the desk.
The room was quiet.
He stood up, walked to the bathroom, and turned on the shower. Steam filled the space as water ran down his shoulders. He was taller now, sharper, nothing like the five-year-old boy who once got lost in the snow.
He dried off, changed into simple clothes, and went downstairs.
The two-story building was clean and minimal. No family photos. No decorations. Just structure.
He cooked something quick and ate alone.
Outside, distant fireworks cracked through the night air.
Silver Festival.
He didn't go out.
He lay on his bed afterward, staring at the ceiling.
Eighteen years old.
Thirteen winters gone.
Summerland had shaped him. A child lost. A boy trained. A survivor molded by gang leaders who saw potential in silence and precision.
Snowstar was his birthplace.
Summerland was what raised him.
He turned to his side and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow, he wouldn't log in.
Across the city, at the Wilson family mansion, silver ribbons were being tied carefully around lantern frames.
Mrs. Wilson held a small coat in her hands — preserved, untouched for years.
"He would be eighteen now," she whispered.
Mr. Wilson's jaw tightened. "Five years old… he was only five."
Their daughter adjusted a lantern string. "Do you think he's alive?"
Silence followed.
After a long moment, Mrs. Wilson answered softly, "A mother feels it. I don't think he's gone."
They stepped outside and released a silver lantern into the sky.
"For Blade," she whispered.
The lantern rose slowly, joining hundreds of others.
Far away in Cherryland, Liora Han stood beside her family at the airship terminal.
"Winterland will be crowded because of the festival," her father said.
"I don't mind," Liora replied.
Her thoughts drifted back to Stone Dragon City. To the quiet silver-haired player who removed his headgear and looked at her calmly.
She didn't know why that moment stayed with her.
The Han family boarded the airship bound for Snowstar.
Snowstar — where a missing boy had grown into someone else entirely.
—
Blade slept through the fireworks.
He never saw the lantern with his name on it.
And he didn't know that by tomorrow night, someone from another continent would be walking the same streets as him.
Closer than fate had ever allowed befo