I forgot even to go to my part-time job, wandering the streets all day like a soulless husk, a walking corpse drained of life.

From dawn till deep into the night, I walked until the scenery grew hauntingly familiar.

Wasn’t this the road home?

I might as well go back…

But the heavens showed no mercy. Halfway there, rain began to fall from the night sky.

*Pitter-patter—pitter-patter—pitter-patter—* The downpour grew louder, soaking me to the bone. I didn’t bother dodging it. Let it pour. Maybe it’d clear my head.

Standing before my family’s mansion, I found all my belongings dumped outside—a suitcase and a beat-up game helmet, both drenched.

I pulled out my keys, but the lock wouldn’t take them. It had been changed.

Suddenly, a window on the second floor slid open. My older sister, Zhuo Yinghong, appeared, her gaze icy with contempt. "Do you even know what you did at school?"

"…" Rain streamed down my face as I stayed silent, just staring at my own blood.

"How dare you show your face here after pulling something so vile? You might not care about shame, but this family still has honor."

"…"

"That’s all your luggage. From today on, get lost—as far as possible. I never want to see you again." She looked at me like I was trash.

"I…"

"Still here? You’ve disgraced this family enough."

No place left for me in this world. I turned sharply, grabbed my suitcase and helmet, and walked away from home.

The home I’d lived in for sixteen years—I’d lost it too.

The sister I’d always admired had abandoned me. The woman I’d loved had abandoned me. The whole world had cast me aside.

---

Somehow, this hollow shell of me carried my luggage to a nearby park, huddling beneath children’s playground equipment to escape the rain. I didn’t sleep all night. My mind was blank. My clothes clung, ice-cold against my skin. Sleep never came.

Only when hope is snatched away the moment it blooms do you truly know despair.

I’d just cured my lifelong holographic motion sickness—only to be thrown out by the world. Now I understood that saying completely.

I buried my face in my knees, back against the wall, shivering beneath the slide in the dead of night.

Morning came. Sunlight filtered through. The rain had stopped.

It was a beautiful dawn. Yet my heart was shattered. After a night of thought, I’d decided to end my life.

I stepped out from under the slide, suitcase and helmet in hand, and walked on instinct.

Passersby eyed me with confusion, but I ignored them.

I reached my destination—a small bridge. I scanned the area blankly. Too many people. If I jumped here, someone would stop me.

I turned and headed under the bridge instead. Few came here. No one would interrupt. Standing by the riverbank, clutching my suitcase and helmet, I felt no joy, no sorrow—just readiness to sink quietly into the water with my game helmet.

"Hey, kid. What’re you doing?" A man’s voice, close and laced with amusement, cut through the silence.

I whirled around. A young man—ordinary-looking, early twenties—sat casually by the water’s edge, watching the scenery. I hadn’t sensed him at all. He’d appeared like a ghost.

"Who are you?" I asked. Something about him felt dangerous.

"Me? Just a tourist. New to this Game City."

"I won’t disturb you."

"You were about to jump, weren’t you?" He stood, smiling.

"…" I froze. "How did you know?"

"I can feel it. Your heart’s drowning in despair. No hope left."

"Are you some fortune-teller?"

"Kid, you’re young. Don’t throw your life away over a bump in the road. As long as you’re breathing, you’ve got no reason to quit."

"Do you even know what I’ve been through?"

"Do *you* know what *I’ve* been through?" He chuckled, pointing at the bridge’s underside. "You look like you got kicked out. Let me tell you—I lived in a place like this for years. With my little sister. Then my dad sold us."

"…" Words failed me.

"I thought about ending it too. But I never did. I had a reason to live: my sister. I couldn’t let her suffer."

"I have no reason."

"Really? Think harder." He grinned, standing up.

Silence.

"Do you really want to die like this? Let everyone who looks down on you keep looking down? Is running away all you’ve got? Suicide’s the stupidest thing you can do. The one thing I despise most." He walked past me, clapping my shoulder. "Go ahead and jump. I won’t stop you. Tomorrow, I’ll just smile at the newspaper and laugh at you in my head."

He turned toward the stairs leading up from the bridge.

"What’s your name?" I called after him.

"Me? I don’t have one. Goodbye. My sister—my wife, my daughter—they’re calling."

I watched his back until he vanished. The urge to die dissolved. I stepped forward, tracing his footprints out from under the bridge.

*Right.* I refused to accept this. I refused to let them look down on me. I refused to die like this—like a criminal fleeing justice, like a coward taking the easy way out.

I’d prove myself. No matter how hard the road, I’d never give up again. I’d make everyone who scorned me regret it. I’d prove in-game that my life wasn’t worthless.

As long as I had my game helmet, I still had a chance to turn the tables.