The sound of rapid clicks echoed through the dimly lit room. Riku Ayoama’s fingers danced over the keyboard, commanding virtual armies with precision and flair. At seventeen, he was a legend in the competitive Real-Time Strategy (RTS) gaming scene—a prodigy whose strategic genius had yet to meet its equal.

  Yet tonight, his final match ended with a sharp disconnect.

  “What the—?” he muttered, staring at the sudden error message. A strange light engulfed his screen, and his body felt weightless. Pain stabbed at his chest, and the room twisted into darkness.

  When he opened his eyes, it wasn’t his bedroom he saw. Instead, a vast forest stretched endlessly around him, its towering trees swaying in the wind. Riku’s body felt unfamiliar—small, weak, and fragile. He caught his reflection in a puddle: a dirt-streaked face of a young boy, no older than ten.

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  Before he could process the surreal transformation, a hand gripped his shoulder. “Move, boy!” a gruff voice barked. Turning, Riku saw a group of haggard men, women, and children stumbling through the forest. They were dressed in crude, tattered clothes, their faces lined with fear and exhaustion.

  “Who are you? Where am I?” Riku asked, his voice trembling.

  “No time for questions,” the man snapped. “If you don’t want to die, keep walking. The beasts will catch up soon.”

  Riku followed, bewildered but pragmatic. As they trudged deeper into the forest, fragments of his old life faded like whispers. In their place, a single thought crystallized: survive.