"This is it, huh?" I muttered, swirling the liquid. It burned on the way down, but not enough to numb the bitterness in my chest.

I used to have something. I wasn't rich, but I had a purpose, a dream, and—dammit—I was living it.

"I was doing so good in my life," I said aloud, though nobody was listening. The only other customer was an old man passed out at the far table. The bartender, a balding middle-aged guy, gave me a disinterested glance before returning to his phone.

"I was a gaming content creator," I continued, voice wobbling between pride and despair. "I had… what, a hundred thousand fans? Yeah. A hundred freaking thousand. They used to wait for my streams, comment, like, donate… cheer for me."

I lifted the glass again and downed it in one gulp. The rum was sharp, but the memories cut deeper.

"But one day, some bastard… some goddamn bastard hacked my account." My fist slammed against the counter, rattling the glass. "Just like that, everything was gone. My channel, my fans, my income. Everything."

The bartender gave me a look, but I didn't care.

I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow in the tiny bar. "And it's not like I had anyone else. Parents? I don't even know who they were. I was raised in an orphanage. Yeah, one of those places where kids get dumped and forgotten."

My throat tightened as I forced another laugh. "And when you grow up like that… you don't really learn how to hold onto people. No family, no friends… just the screen and the games. That was all I had."

The words spilled out faster, a flood of self-pity that had been dammed up for months.

"I lost everything! Everything!" My voice cracked, drawing a glance from the bartender again. "I even lost my house. Do you get it? I thought I was finally winning at life. I was earning good money from streaming, so I went ahead and bought a car, a house… on EMI."

The bartender raised a brow. "Bad idea."

"I know it was a bad idea!" I snapped, then slumped forward again, sighing. "But I thought the money would keep coming. I thought I was safe. But when my account got hacked… I couldn't pay. They kept coming to my home, asking for the money. And eventually…" I choked on the words, shaking my head.

"They already took it. The house, the car—gone. Repo'd. Like I never had them in the first place."

My vision blurred. Whether from the drink or from unshed tears, I wasn't sure.

"And now?" I whispered, bitter smile tugging at my lips. "Now I'm living in a cheap rented room with peeling wallpaper and a leaking ceiling. I can barely pay rent. I eat instant noodles three times a day. And the only company I have… is this cheap drink."

I raised the glass like a toast, then drained the last drop. It tasted like defeat.

Staggering out of the bar, I walked through the dimly lit streets. My shoes scuffed against cracked pavement. Neon signs flickered above shuttered shops. The city was alive with distant sounds—cars honking, muffled laughter from strangers, the hum of a place that didn't care if I vanished.

I muttered to myself as I stumbled along. "Why me? What did I do wrong? Wasn't I working hard enough? Wasn't I finally doing something with my life?"

There was no answer. There never was.

By the time I reached the crumbling apartment I called home, the alcohol had sunk in deep. I tossed my keys on the table, flopped onto the creaky bed, and buried my face in the pillow.

"I don't want this life anymore," I whispered into the dark. "If I could just… wake up somewhere else. Anywhere else."

The ceiling dripped once, twice, water splattering onto the floor. My eyelids grew heavy. The world blurred as sleep dragged me under, deeper and deeper.

When I opened my eyes, the world was wrong.

The ceiling was gone, replaced by a vast, starry sky. I sat up, heart pounding, and froze.

The ground beneath me wasn't concrete or wood—it was made of blocks. Perfectly square, pixel-like blocks stretching endlessly in every direction. Grass blocks, dirt blocks, stone blocks… all stacked neatly, unnaturally.

"What the hell…?" My voice trembled as I scrambled to my feet.

A breeze blew, carrying the scent of fresh earth and something artificial, like a dream coded into reality. The trees nearby weren't trees—they were tall columns of wood, topped with cube-shaped leaves. The mountains in the distance rose in jagged, blocky steps.

"This… this looks like a game…"

I pinched my arm. Pain shot through me.

"This isn't a dream?"

I spun around, panic rising. There was no city, no bar, no apartment. Just endless wilderness made of blocks.

And then—

Grunt.

I froze. A shadow shuffled at the edge of the forest. Its body was blocky, its movements jerky, and its glowing eyes locked onto me.

Cold sweat dripped down my back.

"What the hell is that?!"

The creature growled, dragging its cube-like feet closer.

My hands shook as I whispered the only words that came to mind.

"…Where the hell am I?"