Rei, unlike Kyle, loved games.

He wasn’t particularly good at them, but he enjoyed playing. The game itself wasn’t especially difficult — an open-world RPG, simple enough to pick up.

It was also the first game Rei had ever truly enjoyed.

‘I get why you’re into this,’ he’d said once.

The memory came back — Rei gripping the controller, absorbed and smiling.

‘This is fun.’

No. Don’t think about it.

Crying in a senior’s apartment when we barely even knew each other wasn’t exactly appropriate. I forced myself to tear my eyes away from the console.

My gaze rolled around the room instead.

It was packed and colorful.

But what caught my attention was the gleaming stack of game titles, lined up in bright, flashy colors. From that alone, I could already guess the kind of genres she liked.

I stood by the entrance, scanning the spines.

They were piled like a tower. Judging by the number of retro titles I recognized, she wasn’t exaggerating — she really did like old games. The sight hit me harder than I expected.

“You said you like games, right?”

Shu’s voice snapped me back to reality.

I met her gaze — her hands were tucked casually in the pockets of her lavender sukajan jacket — and nodded.

“Yes.”

“What kind do you like?”

“I’m not picky.”

“Hmm.”

Shu studied me with those sky-blue eyes of hers.

Why that look? I stared back, confused.

Was she disappointed I didn’t have a specific genre?

Didn’t seem like it. She just gestured for me to close the door.

I did as told, and the city’s noise fell away in an instant.

The room suddenly felt cozier. Shu slid her hands back into her jacket pockets.

“You still don’t remember anything?”

The question caught me completely off guard.

“Pardon?”

“Yeah. And seriously — drop the formality.”

“Uh, right. I mean—”

Now that I thought about it, she was one of the people who’d seen me fall straight out of the Portal. One of the few who knew just how abnormal my arrival — and my registration as a Black Badger — had been. I’d been so overwhelmed since then that I’d forgotten she even knew.

How much was I supposed to tell her?

Once again, it was the classic ‘use your discretion, but if things go wrong, it’s on you’ situation. I was getting sick of those.

After a moment of hesitation, I decided on a careful answer.

“Some things are coming back, but... I haven’t recovered all my memories yet.”

“Yeah?”

Shu said it quietly, her tone unreadable.

She looked me over again, as if inspecting me.

“Then... did you ever make a game?”

...What?

I blinked at her, thrown off by the sudden question, then shook my head.

“I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so? Or you’re sure?”

“I’m sure. I don’t know the first thing about game development. I just like playing them, not making them.”

And honestly, I’d never once thought about creating one. Not even now.

I had no idea where that question had come from. Maybe my face showed it, because Shu tilted her head slightly.

She stood there a moment, clearly thinking about something, then finally took her hands out of her pockets.

“Take off your shoes and come in. It’s small, but there’s something I want to show you.”

I hesitated — but obeyed. Shu walked over to the console and turned on a small gaming monitor.

That part of the room was clearly her “game zone.” Even in this cramped studio, she’d carved out a space just for it. She must really love gaming.

“Sit. There’s something I want you to see.”

I sat obediently in front of the monitor.

Shu handed me one of the Joy-Cons, then slotted a cartridge into the console. I watched the black screen light up with the game title.

I didn’t even know what it was yet, but sitting there made me happy.

Yeah. I had it bad.

The screen came to life.

Soon, a pixelated title floated across the center in soft motion.

[FROM E]

I couldn’t be sure without pressing Start, but it looked like a pixel-style RPG.

The background music — a soft, gemlike melody — matched perfectly. I wanted to play it right then and there, but I managed to restrain myself, watching the screen instead.

Shu stood beside me, observing.

“Do you know this game?”

“No, not at all. Is it good?”

“It’s... decent.”

Vague answer.

“It’s a short RPG, looks like it was made by an individual.”

“I see. May I try it?”

“Yeah. Actually, I’ve wanted to show it to you since the day we met.”

Huh?

I looked at her blankly.

But Shu just met my eyes, silent. No further explanation.

Guess I’d find out by playing.

I didn’t ask anything else — I just pressed Start.

With a cheerful sound, the title faded away.

The glowing letters shrank and vanished, replaced by a landscape of green grass and a towering castle. The detail was impressive — even in pixels, the art was beautiful. Excitement welled up as the screen stilled and the protagonist emerged from the castle. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Just like an old-school RPG — the hero stepped out, sword at his waist.

He trotted down the castle steps and stopped at the center of the screen, looking around before closing his eyes and smiling faintly.

Even as a 2D sprite, his idle animation made him bounce lightly.

A dialogue box opened at the bottom of the screen.

[Hildebert Taleb: Another beautiful day!]

What—?

It felt like something had slammed into my head.

I just stared, mouth half open.

There on the screen, standing in the pixelated grass with a sword at his side—

The name. Hildebert Taleb.

...What the hell?

No, seriously.

What the hell is this?

My mind filled with question marks.

I couldn’t even move my fingers to press another button. The shock hit harder than the day I faced Colton.

While I sat frozen, Shu pointed at the screen.

“His hair, skin, and eye color are just like yours.”

And she was right — disturbingly so.

“White hair, tanned skin, golden eyes.”

“...What is this...?”

“That’s why I asked if you made it.”

Shu didn’t look nearly as rattled as I felt.

Maybe she’d already processed it long ago. I tore my gaze from the screen and looked at her — the two-toned-haired senior who hadn’t said a word the day I fell out of the Portal.

So she’d known about this game since then. That’s why she’d wanted to show it to me all along.

Why hadn’t she told me earlier? Then again, even if she had, who would’ve taken that seriously?

I replayed that first day in my mind and the things Shu had said since. The memories resurfaced sharply. Yeah — if I were her, I wouldn’t have brought it up either. Who would believe a coincidence like this?

Still... how had she not mentioned it until now?

Wait.

“So, did you seriously think I was narcissistic enough to make a game starring myself?”

When I looked up and asked, Shu gazed at me with her usual unreadable expression.

After a long silence, she shrugged.

“It was possible. I didn’t know you.”

“I’m not that kind of person.”

I corrected her flatly.

“I don’t know how to make games — and even if I did, I’d never create a protagonist like that.”

Shu nodded lazily, as if it didn’t really matter to her either way. She was cool in a completely different way than Yun — detached, unbothered.

Turning her attention back to the screen, she watched the moving 2D hero.

That name — Hildebert Taleb — wasn’t common. And his appearance... it was me, down to the smallest detail.

Who the hell made this?

Only the soft hum of the console filled the cramped room.

Then Shu broke the silence.

“I’ll lend it to you. Take it home and play it.”

“Ah! Thank you so much.”

“The reason I wanted to go to the game shop today was because of this.”

Her voice was calm as she removed the cartridge from the console.

And then she added something that hit me like a hammer.

“This ‘From E’ game — apparently, there are more in the series. The most recent sighting was at that shop in Harlem.”

***

We had lunch.

Something like fusion cuisine, though I couldn’t recall exactly what it was. I couldn’t even remember how it tasted. I didn’t know whether I’d been holding a fork or chopsticks — I just sat across from Shu, talking about the game.

That game.

As it turned out, Shu had originally thought I was just obsessed with “From E” — some addict deep in immersion. She thought I might’ve confused the protagonist’s name with my own, or maybe lied about it on purpose.

I stared at her, dumbfounded at the scale of her misunderstanding.

“I do like games, but I’m not that pathetic.”

“Yeah, your reputation says as much,” [N O V E L I G H T] she said easily, meaning she’d changed her mind.

“So I figured either you made it, or someone who knows you did.”

“Probably the latter. No idea who, though.”

“Got any guesses who ‘E’ might be?”

None.

I tried to think of anyone whose name started with E — Colton? No. Jaeyeon? No. Lee Seunghyun? Kyle? Rei? None of them fit. And besides, none of them were the kind to make a game.

Maybe if I played it or looked into its structure, something would come out.

Except I had no skill to analyze a game’s code.

“How about asking Yun for help?” Shu suggested.

I’d been thinking the same thing, and nodded.

“I’ll ask him once I’ve played through it myself. Thank you — really, Shu.”

“I told you to drop the honorifics.”

Right. Any more “senior this” or “senior that,” and she might actually get annoyed.

After our late lunch, there wasn’t much time before I had to meet Walker. We’d agreed to meet at the start of Harlem District. Still shaken by what happened, I only then realized I had no idea why Walker was joining us.

Even in Harlem, there shouldn’t be much danger for enhanced bodies like us.

So why was he coming?

“Why’s Walker joining us? Are you two close?”

“He said he’s got something to ask you.”

Shu dropped that bomb as casually as ever.

“Said he’s taking you to meet one of his acquaintances in Harlem.”

Great.

Rei’s memories were already enough to overwhelm me — now more pieces of the past were flooding in.

I tried to make sense of Shu’s explanation, then gave up. I’d understand once I met Walker anyway.

With a sigh, I decided to just accept whatever came next.

Hopefully, I’d be ready for whatever unexpected thing awaited me this time.

The crisp autumn wind whipped through the city streets as Shu and I walked together, passing more and more people in costume.