The teenager left the house slamming the door, furious. Her aunt was unmoved, other than frowning slightly, and went on with her work.

She was fifteen years old, and wore gothic black clothes and makeup in the same style. It was a common for her to get angry with her aunt, because she felt terribly frustrated, without really knowing why.

At the tender age of three years old, her parents had died in an accident, and her aunt had taken care of her. She had done it out of responsibility, out of obligation.

The woman had given her niece everything she believed the girl needed. She didn’t mind buying her clothes, or paying for her ballet, martial arts or swimming classes, or other any other extracurricular activities. However, she was unable to give her what she needed most, love.

If her niece brought bad grades or created a problem, she would punish her, without further ado, without getting angry at her, without paying more attention to her. She was simply fulfilling the obligation as a legal guardian, without realizing that it was her attention that her niece demanded.

If the girl got good grades, she would congratulate her, even give her money as a prize. Nonetheless, there wasn’t any feelings, as if it were an automatic reaction.

Her niece didn’t want that money, just a smile from her. She wanted to go shopping with her aunt, go for a walk, talk to her, get some affection.

All this had made the adolescent feel terribly lonely. It also caused at the same time that her attitude at school was distant and irascible with her classmates. So, she had no friends, which worsened her loneliness.

Outside of school, the teenager wasn’t much luckier either. She had learned ballet as she believed it would satisfy her guardian, but she had left it after realizing her aunt’s indifference.

She had later joined various gyms where they taught martial arts, which she was passionate about and quite good at. However, she had ended up leaving them, or being expelled from them after attacking some of her classmates. She was angry because the boys had said that “girls aren’t good at that”, or even insulted her. Many times they were just envious because she was better than they.

Although what really bothered her weren’t their insults but feeling apart from the group, feeling alone, terribly alone.

Only in a computer game, in an MMORPG, had she found relief from that loneliness. Fortune or fate had made her meet with two players with whom she, in some way, had hit it off.

Until then, she had been playing practically alone. The teenager had occasionally joined some groups for specific activities, and had also become one of the best players in PvP, combat between players. In fact, it had been her main activity until she had met them.

Since then, she had discovered friendship, almost a small family, in which she had been able to laugh, joke, or simply feel at ease, appreciated. With them, she was part of the group, even if they didn’t know each other in person.

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In fact, when they had ever talked about meeting, she had been afraid, that when they knew her, they would reject her. Therefore, they had never met outside the game, which she sometimes regretted.

Also, in the game, she had discovered an NPC who had become someone very special to her. She was the main reason why she had continued to enter even when her friends had left it. In addition to sweeping away her opponents in the PvP area.

Not a few times she had been accused of cheating, of using hacks, which was false. She was just very skilled. Somehow, she felt very comfortable in the game. Sometimes, it was as if she was experiencing it in person.

Now, it wasn’t long since the servers had shut down. That had deepened her loneliness, her moodiness

“Bam!”

She suddenly found herself on the ground, somewhat sore from the blow. She was absorbed in her thoughts, and had bumped into someone. That someone was a young woman in her twenties, in a pastel yellow dress.

“I… I’m sorry! Are you okay?” the woman apologized.

“Yes, yes… It’s my fault, I was distracted,” she apologized.

They both got up and looked around. Their gazes met a teenager’s one. He was in front of a video game store, staring at them, not knowing whether to laugh or to go help them. They both blushed, looked at each other for a moment, and then hurried on their way.

Without looking back, she headed toward her favorite spot, by climbing several hundred stairs. It was a look point next to a lighthouse, a secluded place where the majesty of the imposing cliff could be seen. It was shocking to look down, to see the impressive drop down onto the rocks and into the sea.

She peeked out carefully after sneaking in. It was forbidden to go there, as that place was considered dangerous due to lack of maintenance. The railings were rusted, and they didn’t look very solid.

“Oh, look what we have here. She’s a bit extravagant, but not bad,” a voice could be suddenly heard.

She turned, and frowned at the sight of three young men between seventeen and twenty years old who were approaching.

“Hi babe. Do you want to come with us for a drink? We’ll have a good time,” one of them walked towards her.

“No, thanks,” she replied coldly, somewhat concerned.

“Don’t be so distant. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

He put his hand on her shoulder, or he tried. She turned, hit the young man’s leg with hers, and knocked him over. Then, she grabbed his arm and pinned him down. With her other hand, the girl was squeezing a taser that was inside her bag, ready to take it out at any moment.

“What do you think you are doing!? Damn bitch! You don’t appreciate kindness! It’ll have to be the hard way!” another of the young men rushed towards her.

When he lunged at her, she pulled the taser out, and caused an electric shock that stunned him. However, he had already slammed into her, and pushed her against the railing.

The blow hurt, though it was something she could bear. However, the deteriorated railing couldn’t, and gave way due to the hit. She was dragged along with the young man, they both fell into the void. She only had time to push him away, and look down in terror at the rocks on which the waves were breaking.

They say that your life passes in front of your eyes at the moment of your death, but she only had one thought.

“What an absurd way to die.”

When her aunt returned from the funeral, she felt strange. It was when she entered her house, when she saw her niece’s empty room, that she burst into tears. She had always been cold, distant, focused on her work, on her career. However, now that she had lost her, she realized what she had had, what she had failed to appreciate.

The woman would have wanted to hug her, tell her that she loved her, but it was too late. She laid on her bed, while hugging a huge teddy bear that she had bought for her in the past, one of the few times they had gone out together.

Back then, her niece had seemed like a burden, an inconvenience, a responsibility that she had no choice but to shoulder. But now…

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, unable to hold back the tears.