Beep beep! The alarm clock blared with its usual ruthlessness. Riku barely moved, his face buried in the pillow, trying to ignore it. The numbers on the clock flashed 7:15 AM in bright red, mocking him.

"Riku! It's time to get ready for school! You're going to be late!"

His mom's voice drifted up from downstairs, but he didn’t move. Five more minutes. That’s all he needed. Just a little longer in the world where things made sense—the world of Endaria.

He rolled over, glancing at his desk. The light from his gaming PC screen illuminated the room, casting a faint glow on the clutter of empty soda cans, fast food wrappers, and old textbooks. His room was a disaster zone, but it was his zone. It was where he felt in control.

The thrill of last night’s battle with the Infernal Warden was still fresh in his mind. His hands tingled from the rush of pulling off that final blow. He could almost hear the roar of victory as his character slayed the beast, its huge form disintegrating into glowing pixels. He had barely made it, his character’s health bar hanging on by a thread.

"Man, that was awesome," he muttered under his breath, sinking deeper into his pillow, hoping to escape into his thoughts for just a little longer.

The sound of his mom’s footsteps echoed up the stairs. "Riku! I’m not calling you again!"

"Yeah, yeah, I’m up," Riku groaned, swinging his legs off the side of the bed. His feet hit the cold floor, and the sensation of reality came crashing back. It was just a game. He couldn’t stay in Endaria forever.

He glanced at the clock again—7:17 AM. Great. He had less than fifteen minutes to get ready.

He tugged on his uniform: a white shirt that was always a bit too tight and navy slacks that had seen better days. As he moved to the bathroom, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His hair was messy, and his eyes were heavy with the weight of another sleepless night. He didn’t feel like himself—not in the world of school and responsibilities.

It wasn’t that he didn’t try. He just couldn’t find the motivation. Math tests, history lessons, random trivia—it was all meaningless compared to the world he had saved last night. In Endaria, he was a hero. At school, he was just another face in the crowd.

The lunch bell rang, but Riku wasn’t hungry. He wandered through the crowded hallways, weaving between groups of students. His friends called out to him, but he didn’t feel like talking. Haruto was already surrounded by a few others, laughing about some random viral video, while Riku simply watched from the sidelines.

He found a quiet corner by the vending machines and sat down, his gaze drifting to the window. Outside, the sky was a perfect shade of blue, and the warm sun bathed the school courtyard in light. It was a beautiful day—too beautiful for him to be stuck here, staring at the same four walls.

"You know," Riku muttered to himself, "I could be out there, fighting monsters, saving worlds..."

He couldn’t help it. His thoughts always wandered back to Endaria. The battles, the leveling up, the rush of victory after a tough fight—it was all so much more meaningful than this. In Endaria, he was the hero. Here, he was just another student, fading into the background.

A shadow fell over him. He looked up, startled. It was Haruto, a grin on his face as he pulled up a chair. "What’s up, man? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

Riku shrugged. "Just thinking."

"About what?" Haruto pressed, raising an eyebrow.

Riku hesitated, not sure how to explain. "About... stuff."

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Haruto didn’t press further, but his eyes flickered to the screen of Riku’s phone, which had a notification from Endaria. "You’ve been playing again? You know you’re going to get in trouble with the school if you keep bringing that thing around."

Riku ran a hand through his messy hair. "Yeah, I know. But what else is there? This place is boring."

"Dude, you’re seriously obsessed," Haruto said, shaking his head with a smile. "You should try doing something else, like sports or maybe, I don’t know, actually talking to people."

Riku couldn’t help but snort. "Yeah, sure. Maybe if I had a sword and armor, I’d be more interested."

Haruto laughed, but Riku’s eyes drifted again. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep pretending this was enough. He wasn’t normal, not really. He didn’t fit into the neat little boxes that everyone else seemed to.

"You’re gonna burn out, man," Haruto added, his tone a little more serious now. "You can’t just keep living in a game. Life’s not a video game."

Riku didn’t answer, instead gazing out at the courtyard once more. It was like a game to him. It was his escape. But it wasn’t real. He knew that. And it was starting to hurt.

The rest of the school day passed in a blur of bell rings and passing periods. Riku was mentally checked out by the time the final bell rang. The hours seemed to drag on, each one taking him further from the world he wanted to be in.

Math class had been a complete waste of time. The problems on the board made no sense, and he kept zoning out, his mind replaying last night’s fight. He could still feel the adrenaline, like it was running through his veins. If only he could stay in that moment forever. The real world just felt... empty.

When the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, it was a relief, but it also came with that familiar sinking feeling. Another day of dull routine behind him, but nothing had changed. He wasn’t any closer to being where he wanted to be. He wasn’t even sure where that was anymore—somewhere far away, maybe, somewhere without all the constraints of reality.

As he walked out of school, the sun was starting to set, casting long shadows over the sidewalk. It should have been a peaceful walk home, but there was something about it that felt different today. The air was heavy, as if something was about to change. Riku couldn’t shake the feeling that his ordinary life was about to be upended.

"Dinner at 7. Don’t be late." His mom’s text message pinged, pulling him out of his thoughts. He tucked the phone back in his pocket, but the message didn’t sit well with him. Dinner was the last thing on his mind.

When Riku stepped inside his room, he tossed his backpack onto the floor and flopped onto his bed, his mind still lingering on the events of the day. School was done, but it felt like a hollow victory. He didn’t know why he kept doing this—waking up, going to school, pretending like any of it mattered.

His gaze drifted around his room once more. The cluttered desk. The empty cans. The PC that had become his sanctuary. He’d spent countless nights there, grinding away, earning rewards, getting stronger. But in the back of his mind, there was a nagging feeling that it wasn’t enough. The victories felt hollow after a while. And so did the school days.

Riku was just so... tired. Tired of school. Tired of pretending to care. And tired of trying to fit into a world that didn’t feel like his own. He collapsed back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. The soft hum of his gaming rig filled the room. It was like an unspoken promise—his escape was right there, waiting for him. But something about it felt... off today. Maybe it was the exhaustion, or just the weight of everything that had been building up over the weeks.

As his eyes fell over the desk, something caught his attention.

There, sitting next to his gaming mouse and keyboard, was a strange device. It was unlike anything he’d seen before—sleek and metallic, with a faint glow emanating from its surface.

He blinked, staring at it for a moment. It hadn’t been there earlier. He was certain of it.

"What the..." Riku muttered, pushing himself off the bed and walking over to his desk.

The device looked almost futuristic, like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. It was small, no bigger than a fist, but it hummed with an odd energy. The soft glow flickered in rhythm, like it was alive.

He reached out tentatively, running his fingers over the cool surface. The moment his hand made contact, the device shuddered, and a strange symbol appeared on its surface. It was intricate, swirling with lines and patterns that seemed to pulse as if responding to his touch.

Riku’s heart raced. What was this? Where had it come from? He turned it over in his hands, inspecting every angle. The symbol on its surface was unlike anything he’d ever seen—almost alien. He wondered if it was some sort of high-tech gadget, maybe something his dad had left lying around, though he couldn’t recall seeing anything like it before.

Suddenly, the device emitted a low hum, and Riku’s vision blurred. The world around him seemed to warp, and the faint glow intensified. His heart pounded in his chest as he stumbled backward, dropping the device in shock. But before it hit the floor, the glow enveloped him completely.

"Wait, what’s—"

The words died in his throat as everything around him faded to black.