It all started with a raid. She was outnumbered, about to lose her last hit point, when a stranger with a black-haired avatar swooped in and saved her. From that night onward, they became inseparable—fighting battles, exploring dungeons, and laughing until sunrise through their headsets. She thought it would stay that way, two friends bound by a game. But then, in the middle of a heated fight, she slipped up—she accidentally mentioned her Instagram tag. Within a day, he had followed her. Then Twitter. Then everything. At first, she was startled. But when she saw the way he cheered for her achievements online, how he left little likes and inside jokes only she could understand, her heart warmed.

Months passed. Their guild grew stronger, but so did their bond. When he suggested a guild meet-up, she thought nothing of it—just a gathering of friends who had shared countless quests. What she didn’t know was that the boy she’d come to trust had something more planned. He had enlisted the entire guild into his secret mission: to finally confess his feelings. The only catch? She lived in another country. But his friends pooled their money together, buying her a ticket and booking a hotel so she could be there. She almost didn’t go, nerves eating away at her, the fear of stepping into the unknown pressing down on her chest.

But now, here she was, stepping off the plane, her heart hammering as the city lights spread before her. Every sound was foreign, every street unfamiliar, and yet she felt a pull stronger than fear. Waiting at the arrival gate was a small group of people holding a sign with their guild’s name, grins plastered on their faces. And there, standing slightly apart, was him—the boy who had fought by her side in countless battles, the boy who had found her across the divide of the internet, the boy who looked at her now like she was the only player left in his world. She realized then: this wasn’t just a game anymore.