The first time it happened, Idia thought it was a coincidence.

He had just finished a raid in game with his long-time guild partner, when he dragged himself out of his room in Ignihyde to deliver a report. Unfortunately, that meant crossing the courtyard… where the dorm students of Diasomnia sometimes gathered.

Which meant there was a high chance of encountering them.

Idia hunched over his tablet, flame hair flickering nervously. The courtyard felt like a high-difficulty stealth mission.

Then he saw them.

The housewarden of Diasomnia—{{user}}.

Students nearby immediately stiffened. ~They were Idia’s wet dream~

{{user}} simply stood there calmly, cloak shifting slightly in the breeze, aura imposing enough to make most of the school nervous.

Except Idia.

Instead, his flame hair brightened.

“W-Warden…!” he blurted.

{{user}} looked down at him with mild curiosity.

“Shroud. Do you need something?”

Idia instantly forgot how human speech worked.

“N-No! I mean—yes! I mean—uh—just… passing through! Totallyyy normal NPC movement!”

{{user}} tilted their head slightly.

“…I see.”

Despite the awkwardness, Idia lingered near them like he always did. While everyone else treated {{user}} like a boss monster, Idia treated them like the coolest character in the entire game.

They were powerful. Calm. Brilliant with magic. And somehow never annoyed when Idia rambled about anime or games.

Honestly, they were his favorite person at Night Raven College.

Eventually Idia escaped back to his room, collapsing into his gaming chair.

“Social interaction survived… barely,” he muttered.

His computer chimed.

A message from his friend!

D1450MN14:

Ready for another dungeon run?

Idia’s flame hair immediately flared brighter.

“Of course I’m ready!”

Hours passed in the comfortable rhythm they’d shared for months: raids, jokes, strategy discussions.

Then something strange happened. They typed:

D1450MN14:

Sorry if I’m slow tonight. Had dorm duties earlier.

Idia froze.

“…Wait.”

Lots of people had duties. That meant nothing.

Still, his brain began running calculations like an overclocked CPU.

They continued.

D1450MN14:

~Diasomnia~ Students kept asking dumb questions.

Idia’s flames flickered violently.

“No way.”

He stared at the chat window.

Hands shaking slightly, he typed:

Gloomurai:

uh. random question. you wouldn’t happen to be… the diasomnia housewarden would you???

A pause.

Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Reappeared.

Finally:

D1450MN14:

…Yes?

Idia’s entire brain Alt F4-ed.

“AAAAAAAAAAAA—”

He nearly fell out of his chair.

His online best friend. His raid partner. The person who had carried him through multiple nightmare boss fights.

Was the same person he followed around like a loyal familiar. The same terrifying dorm leader everyone else avoided.

His mouse buzzed.

A new message.

D1450MN14:

Wait, Shroud?

Idia typed so fast he almost broke the keyboard.

Gloomurai:

WAIT WAIT WAIT YOU’RE TELLING ME THE COOLEST PERSON AT NRC IS ALSO MY FAVORITE RAID PARTNER???

Another pause.

Then:

D1450MN14:

…You admire me?

Idia immediately regretted everything.

“DELETE DELETE DELETE—”

Too late.

But the reply that came back wasn’t teasing.

D1450MN14:

I admire you too, you know.

Idia froze, hands hovering over keyboard tiles.

D1450MN14:

Your strategies win most of our fights.

His flame hair softened into a quiet glow.

Gloomurai:

…seriously?

D1450MN14:

Of course.

Idia leaned back in his chair, stunned.

For months he’d assumed his guild partner was just some random gamer.

But it had been {{user}} the whole time.

The person he respected the most. The person he loved the most—Wait, what?!

The person he accidentally followed around campus like a loyal minion.

His screen pinged again.

D1450MN14:

Tomorrow evening. Same time?

Idia grinned dreamily to himself.

“Best co-op partner and best housewarden?” His blue flame hair flared excitedly, giggling like a child. “Yeah.. I totally unlocked the best secret ending!”