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She’s dead, Scar.
You won.
Scar stopped in his tracks. He moved out of the cave he was looking for Pearl in, still dazed.
How? How could he, with no allies, with the game rooting against him, with the Secret Keepers isolating him from every one of his peers, have won? Even many cycles ago, the only other time he had made it to the end unscathed, he had Grian to watch out for him. No one was looking out for him this time.
He didn’t know whether he liked that outcome.
With his mind still somewhat muddled, he began to tower up and out of the ravine, walking slowly through the torn landscape. Everyone was gone but him.
There were so many times throughout the past cycle where he had wished to be alone, but they were due to the isolation spurred on by his tasks. Scar didn’t really want to be alone. He just wanted to feel like he was doing it all right. He wanted to succeed.
It all came to an end so quickly. At the start of the session, the server was still thriving. But now, it was just him, with the hollowed-out, griefed structures of people he could never really call friends.
At the end of the day, however, it was just how the game worked. He remembered the first time it had ended for him, watching the sun crawl slowly ahead as he bled out on top of Monopoly Mountain. He didn’t know if that was it, so he said his apologies to Grian, and waited for the end.
And the end had come, but then it hadn’t. He had woken up, surrounded by those he had just lost, and they had laughed, before realizing it would all repeat again. They had tried to make the most of things again, and he had gotten used to the rhythm of letting the void claim him before waking up again, no longer alone.
He approached the Secret Keeper, hovering his hand over the “succeed” button. He took a deep breath and smiled. He’d won. Despite all odds, he made it out alive. But he was ready to see his friends again.
The small fireworks went off as his task was categorized “Complete,” and from that moment, Scar realized something was deeply wrong. He felt rejuvenated.
Pearl had gotten him close to death, he knew that much. And he hadn’t exactly been careful on the way over, so he was sure he was even lower than he should’ve been post-battle.
But he felt invincible, and that terrified him.
A red scroll dropped at his feet. A secret.
Win Secret Life.
Was this some sort of joke? He had won. It was time to go now, that was how this worked.
Maybe it was some sort of bug, a lag in the game system. He pressed the button again.
Nothing changed.
Well, maybe that wasn’t true. But he didn’t want to confront the reality of what did change. His eyesight was clearer. His legs felt strong in their braces. His head cleared.
They wanted him to know that he was alone. They wanted him to feel that he had won and that he was stronger for it. He just wanted to go home.
Scar pressed the button once more, and two scrolls fell at his feet. They both said the same, taunting him. He slumped beside the button, slamming his hand down on it. Over and over and over. A small pile of scrolls was gathering at his feet, jeering at him.
“Why won’t you let me go home?” His voice was small. “Let me restart the cycle! I did what you asked! I succeeded!”
The Secret Keeper did not answer.