The silence in the room stretched on like a string pulled taut, threatening to snap at any moment. Not a clock ticked.
Not a breath stirred. Only the rising panic in Gina's chest betrayed that time was, indeed, still moving.
She sat on the edge of the bed, shoulders stiff, her hands clenching the bedsheet. Her wide eyes were locked on Mikey—confused, afraid, and barely able to speak.
"What do you mean…?" Her voice cracked mid-sentence, like glass under pressure.
"What do you mean we...we're… we're no longer in my world?"
Her voice trembled as she leaned slightly closer, her lips parted just enough to reveal a hint of vulnerability.
"Mikey… what did you do?"
And there it was. Mikey's name. Spoken aloud by her.
He froze.
Of all the time he'd spent immersed in the Web Novel Deluxe Module, all the hours playing and interacting with her in that fictional world, she had never once said his name.
