The Year 2026.
The world? It was no longer what it had been.
Since the launch of Life Strategy, everything had changed.
Overnight, the game shattered records, reshaped economies, and flipped entire nations upside down. Within six months, its registered users surpassed a billion. Not merely players… addicts. Governments scrambled to regulate it. Corporations brawled over licensing rights. Schools began offering classes to master Life Strategy, desperate to keep pace with the new job market it had birthed.
But the cost of entering this world?
Astronomical.
Computers capable of running the game became rarer than diamonds. Graphics cards? More precious than gold. Even bootleg consoles sold at auctions for tens of thousands. This wasn't just a game… it was a new reality.
But for one boy…
It was a dream trapped behind glass.
Eighteen years old. Penniless. His name? Not important yet. Not to the world. Just another faceless ghost in an indifferent city. No parents. No income. Not even a computer.
Yet he knew more about Life Strategy than most players.
Because every night, after the streetlights died and hunger gnawed his insides, he'd curl beneath a tattered blanket, clutch his phone, and drown in gameplay videos. Analyses. Commentaries. Tutorials. He memorized mechanics, balance patches, meta-evolutions, even the names of top-ranked players.
But one channel consumed him more than any other:
GreyMind — Subscribers: 6.
He was one of them.
This YouTuber uploaded over 2,000 videos in a single year. No camera. No commentary. Just raw, unedited gameplay. Some clips ran an hour, others twenty minutes. But to our hero… they were treasure.
GreyMind never boasted. Never chased views. Never even named his achievements. But the slum boy saw it all: World-shaking spells. Artifacts forged from nothing. Player kingdoms toppled by a single strategic move.
"An underappreciated genius," he'd whisper, over and over.
Until that night.
And that video.
He followed his usual routine: huddled under his blanket, earbuds in. The city howled outside. Hunger clawed his gut. None of it mattered.
The video had a simple title: Experimental Server, Night Build #11.
Around the midpoint—27:42—GreyMind opened a command window and typed five swift characters:
m826c
Booom!.
+1,000,000 points.
"Wh-what…?" he gasped, yanking out an earbud.
Rewound. Watched again.
m826c
Boom!!
The million-point figure flashed atop the screen. No warning. Just… like that.
He paused the video. Sat upright.
His heart hammered.
"…Impossible. Can't be."
Opened the comments.
Nothing.
Checked the channel. Still 6 subscribers. No spike in views.
"Am I… the only one who noticed?"
His mind ignited. Thoughts chaotic. Deafening. Blind.
"A million points… That's insane. That's top-five global player level! People sell 10k-point accounts for millions! This… this is admin-tier. This…"
He choked on his breath.
"This is a billion-dollar cheat code."
His hands trembled as he stood.
"Have to use it. Have to. But… I don't even own a computer."
He paced the dark room.
"Okay, think. Sell the secret. Post it online. Take bids. But what if someone reports it? Patches it? What if it's fake?"
He gripped his hair.
"No. I need to test it myself. But how? Sell a kidney? A lung?"
He laughed bitterly—then froze. An idea struck.
"…Steal it."
He stopped pacing.
"No. That's insane. Suicidal. That's… genius."
The idea blazed inside him.
He knew someone. Lyn. A rich kid. A player. Arrogant.
They'd never been friends. Lyn had mocked him at school.
But Lyn owned a beast of a rig.
He clenched his fists.
"Just visit. Observe. Then… something."
He didn't even realize his feet were already moving.
By 10 p.m., he stood at Lyn's doorstep, sweaty fists buried in his pockets.
The door opened. Lyn's smug face appeared.
"The hell are you doing here?"
He spoke evenly.
"Just… wanted to watch you play Life Strategy."
Lyn blinked, visibly startled. Then snorted.
"You? Watching me? Man, you're desperate."
He paused.
"…But lucky day."
He stepped aside.
"Just crushed the #1,300 global rank. Won 45k in-game coins. Hah! Come on. I'll show you how pros play."
The two walked through a hallway of marble floors and gilded furniture. The slum boy's face stayed blank.
Inside, he smirked.
"45k coins? Heh. I'm about to get a million, you pompous prick."
They entered the gaming room. RGB lights bathed the walls like a nightclub. Triple monitors. Full sensory rig. Even a mechanical chair with lumbar support.
Lyn cracked his knuckles.
"Sit. Stay quiet. Watch and learn. 'Nightgrasp' is about to blow minds."
Booted the PC. Fans whirred. The game launcher rumbled to life.
The slum boy sat silently. Still.
But inside:
"Knock him out? Wait for a distraction? Ask for the bathroom and sneak back?"
He analyzed angles. Doors. Exits.
Every second birthed a new plan.
Then Lyn leaned back.
"Tonight's a PvP siege. 20k troops. Elemental cavalry. I'll erase a whole kingdom in three moves."
The game loaded.
Login screen. Username: Nightgrasp Password: ***** One click.
The screen filled with a world more breathtaking than anything the slum boy had ever seen. Glimmering skies. Breathing trees. Shifting mountains.
This wasn't just a game.
And seeing it, he knew he couldn't wait.
This was his moment.
But before he could move—
Ding!
A message flashed on Lyn's screen.
From: GreyMind
Subject: "You saw the code."
Silence choked the room.
The slum boy's breath died.
What?
Lyn scowled, confused.
"Who the hell is 'GreyMind'?"
But our hero…
Froze.
"…Impossible."
Another message:
GreyMind:
"Meet me. Tomorrow. 3 a.m. Coordinates attached."
Lyn narrowed his eyes.
"Coordinates? Some hacker's prank?"
But the slum boy's heart raced.
This wasn't random.
GreyMind had seen him.
Somehow… he knew.
——
The screen still glowed.
GreyMind's final message pulsed faintly:
"Meet me. Tomorrow. 3 a.m."
The dim light cast deep shadows across the slum boy's face as his fingers hovered over the keyboard, trembling slightly.
Lyn sat beside him, still bragging about in-game conquests, eyes glued to the digital battlefield.
"You okay?" Lyn muttered without looking up. "Staring like the screen's gonna explode."
No reply. The boy's eyes locked onto the corner of the screen where a small digital map accompanied the message. A red pin blinked. Coordinates just outside the city.
He leaned closer, pretending to inspect Lyn's screen. "Coordinates appeared…" he whispered.
Lyn finally glanced sideways, brow raised. "Coordinates? What're you babbling? Some… augmented reality game?"
The boy exhaled slowly. "Probably a troll. Bored hacker."
Lyn sighed and rolled his eyes. "Ugh… script kiddies." He cracked his knuckles. "I'll reply."
"No!" The boy's voice cracked, too sharp.
Lyn blinked.
A beat passed…
Another…
The boy swallowed hard, forcing calm. "I mean… don't engage. Could be a data trap. Malware… or a bot phishing deep IDs."
Lyn squinted. "What's your deal? Know this 'GreyMind'?"
The question hung heavy.
One second.
Two.
Three…
Then the boy forced a thin smile. "Name I saw on forums. Alternate reality games, fringe stuff. Nothing major."
Lyn eyed him, then scoffed. "Get your priorities straight. While you chase internet horror theories, I'm leading the biggest raid on the North American server. Wanna see real power?"
He returned to his screen, fingers dancing across keys.
The boy stayed silent. His gaze drifted to the system clock ticking in the corner.
—
2:59 a.m.
Twelve hours later.
The city slept under a shroud of cold rain. The clouded sky pressed down on the alleys like a leaden shroud.
The boy walked alone.
Hood up.
His phone buzzed faintly. The coordinates still glowed.
Destination Reached.
A derelict warehouse loomed ahead: rusted steel beams, shattered windows. A corroded sign read WELLCOM TECH, half its letters eaten by decay.
He stepped closer.
Knocked. Knocked.
"GreyMind…?"
No answer.
Hesitated… then pushed the door.
Screeeeee—
The metal groan froze his spine. Inside: pure darkness.
He entered.
His breath fogged the air.
Click.
Huuuuuuum—
Lights exploded. Cold blue-white beams shot from wall-mounted projectors, bathing the room in sterile glare.
At the center stood a massive computer.
A single line glowed:
Login: Trial Mode
Then—
A voice.
Cold. Robotic. Almost genderless.
"You saw the code."
His heart skipped.
"…GreyMind?" he whispered.
"Irrelevant," the voice replied. "What matters… is what you'll become."
He stepped forward, shaky. "I didn't mean… just saw something odd in the video."
"No accidents," the voice cut in. "The code was placed for one pair of eyes. Yours."
"How? How?"
"Simulations. Monitored all six subscribers. Only one obsessed enough to notice. The one who rewatched a five-minute clip… twelve times."
A screen flickered beside the mainframe.
Security footage.
Him. Crouched under plastic sheeting in an alley, looping gameplay clips.
His blood iced.
"What the hell…?"
"You were tested. The test is over. This is Phase Two."
A prompt appeared:
Enter Code: _____
"You want in, don't you?" the voice murmured. "More than watching. To play."
"…Yes."
"Then prove you're worthy."
The boy approached. Fingers trembling, he typed:
m826c
A pause.
Ding!
Code Accepted. Access Granted: Night Trial Server.
Player File Initializing…
Special Status Active: [Alternate Observer]
He mouthed the words: "Alternate… Observer?"
"Welcome to [Reality]."
BOOM!!
Lightning erupted from the machine's core. Panels split open. Gears and turbines roared to life beneath the floor. Blue light surged through fiber-optic veins crawling the walls.
The boy staggered back.
The air thickened, electric.
Suddenly—
CRACK!!
A shockwave blasted from the core.
He flew backward, slamming into the ground. Breath punched from his lungs.
But his eyes stayed locked on the screen.
The screen… had changed.
No interface.
No text.
A world.
Vast. Alive.
Then—
"Will you enter?"
The voice wasn't robotic anymore.
It was… his own.
He barely grasped the question.
His heart roared.
"…Yes."
The moment he spoke—
ZZZZZOOOOOM!!
Light erupted from the screen.
Straight into his eyes.
He tried to scream. Couldn't.
The world dissolved into pure white.