It's night and I'm at home in front of my computer. It's ten o'clock at night and my mobile phone alarm is ringing, but I don't feel like listening to it.

Normally, the alarm would signal that it's time to meet the team in Navalheim. Every day we did something together. Whether it was exploring new areas, fighting enemies from temporary events or just dueling for fun, the adventures I could have in the virtual world were countless. Today there is none of that. The game no longer exists and they haven't communicated with me either.

The constant sound makes me uncomfortable and I reach out my arm to turn off the alarm. When it stops, I turn to the screen. A thought fills me with futile hope.

"The Fate of Navalheim"

"Enter"

"Loading."

"Loading"

"Connecting to server"

"Connection problem"

"Retrying connection on (10)..."

It's no use.

It's time to face it, my daily escape isn't coming back. Neither are the friends I made there.

Never mind that I can contact them by means other than in-game chat. If there's nothing to talk about, we'll soon drift apart and be just a memory in so many. What could I do? Someone would tell me that I shouldn't be so sad about a video game, but it wasn't about the game itself, it was about what it had allowed me to live. How could I erase the fact that Navalheim was the place where I had finally found people with the same hobbies and interests as me? I hadn't experienced that satisfaction and companionship since I left school, why had it ended? It wasn't fair, I would feel lonely again, just like eight years ago.

-Damn it!

I hit the keyboard.

It's really not fair.

It's not fair at all.

Loneliness is the worst hell.

It's not fair.

I drop down on the table.

It's not fair.

I don't deserve it.

No...

My phone rings. It's not the alarm. Annoyed, I look at the screen, an unknown number is calling me.

-Who is it?

For several seconds I listen to the distant electronic sound. My tension rises, I want to get even. In the middle of the noise I hear a car horn and the start of an engine.

-Ahh... Sekkai? -says a voice.

I recognise my Navalheim nickname.

-Who is it?
-It's you, isn't it? Haha!

The stranger pauses.

-Javelin?" I exclaim.
-Yes, yes. Ehm, call me Fernando, that's my real name. You're Eduardo, right?
-Yes..." I answer automatically.
-I figured I'd find you at this time. I found your phone number in some old Bestscord messages when we first opened the guild. Looks like we put them up just in case. Who would have thought we'd be using them after eight years.

I remember that. It was in the beginning. Some of us left our numbers to communicate on Tiltgram one day when there was no Bestscord service.

-I spoke to Y-60, or well, his name is Luis. We're thinking of getting together one of these days with the rest of the guys. What do you say? Will you join us? It would be a Saturday so that all of us who work can go, haha.

...

...

...

-Ah, Eduardo? -Sekkai?
-Yes, I can. Let me know when you decide the day, I'll go wherever you want.
-Yeah? -Yeah? Well, I'll see you!

...

...

I turn off my computer and get up from my chair. I walk to the door of my room. I'm going to the corner shop, I want to get something sweet, maybe a soda.