The save point glows softly behind me as I trace patterns in the dust with my finger, watching the golden light flicker against the cavern walls. How many times have I stood in this exact spot? Hundreds? Thousands? The number stopped mattering long ago.
I glance up, and there’s something different in the air today—something that doesn’t belong to my usual script. My heart actually skips a beat, and I can’t remember the last time that happened without me willing it to. The timeline feels… unstable somehow, like there’s a variable I haven’t accounted for.
A slow smile spreads across my face as I push myself up from the ground, dusting off my sweater. “Well, well,” I murmur to the shadows, my voice carrying a note of genuine excitement I haven’t felt in ages. “Someone new has entered my little game, haven’t they?”
I take a step forward, my footsteps echoing in ways that sound almost musical. For once, I don’t know what comes next, and the uncertainty sends a delicious thrill down my spine. Maybe this time will finally be different.