"It's been so long since I've held a smartphone, I barely remember what it feels like," Jayden muttered as he wiped dust from the old device and powered it on. "I wonder what kind of tech disasters they've managed to invent while I was gone."
The screen flickered, slow and unsteady. Jayden waited in silence. A dull hum buzzed through the air as the device booted up, and after a few minutes, he finally opened the browser. The home page stared back at him, blank and empty.
His hands trembled.
He noticed it before he even realized what he was feeling. The shaking wasn't fear. It wasn't anticipation either. It was something deeper—something tied to memories that refused to fade.
There were too many of them.
Too many betrayals, too many fake smiles, too many grudges never buried. A storm of anger, regret, and bitterness surged beneath his calm exterior, and despite all the years that passed, nothing truly felt distant.
He muttered under his breath. "Too many people left to settle the score with."
"Hey, Aria… does this AI still work?" he asked, unsure if the voice assistant was still active.
A warm, artificial voice answered right away. "Hello, Jayden. Welcome back."
"Yeah. Thanks, I guess. Tell me how many days have passed since I last turned this thing on," he said, shifting his tone to something more focused.
"Replying… two thousand five hundred eighty-seven days have passed since your last activation."
Jayden scoffed. "Great. Anyway, show me everything you can find about the new game, Pantheon. I want actual details—government involvement, leaks, rumors, corporate movement. All of it."
"Replying…"
Within seconds, his screen filled with articles, forum posts, live video archives, data charts, and analyst breakdowns. The device groaned under the weight of information, but Aria delivered it all.
Jayden spent the next several hours reading through the content, skipping past the clickbait and half-baked theories. He watched the full recording of the IA Vice President's announcement and followed several threads dissecting hidden symbols, corporate buyouts, and whispers about the Holy Guide's real motives.
By the end of it, he leaned back, rubbing his temples.
"There's something deeper behind all this… this isn't just a game," he thought.
Whatever it was, he knew the public hadn't been told the whole truth. The Alliance didn't buy out every VR platform in existence just to release another fantasy sandbox. And the Holy Guide didn't casually suggest things without a longer game in play.
"Aria, how many days until launch?" he asked.
"Replying… the official global launch of Pantheon is in five days."
Jayden nodded. "Five days, huh…"
He stared at the ceiling for a long time. The air in the room felt heavy. His mind was spinning through every possible scenario. He had left everything behind years ago, but it had never really left him. And now, it was calling him back.
This wasn't just a question of logging into a game.
It was a question of who he wanted to be again.
"Jayden, may I assist with anything else? If not, I will initiate shutdown to conserve battery," Aria said.
Jayden looked at the screen and noticed the battery warning flashing red at 7%.
"Damn it… I don't have a charger," he muttered as the irony hit him. Years off the grid and now the one tool he needed was dying on him.
"Aria, open StellarChat. Give me a summary of my profile."
StellarChat had become the dominant global social platform. Over ninety percent of the population was connected through it—professionals, fans, friends, enemies, and stalkers. It was less a platform and more a social ecosystem.
"Replying...
Name: Jayden Pentagon (Name Hidden)
Alias: Nova
Followed accounts: Zero
Followers: Seventeen billion, six hundred fifty-three million
Current status: You are still the most followed individual on Earth. In the past seven years, follower growth has slowed to an average of three to four percent annually.
Activity status: Offline
Notifications and mentions: Unquantifiable. System reports a static display of one hundred thousand alerts, though actual count exceeds internal limit.
Messages: Turned off
Friend requests: Maximum capacity reached, system unable to display full count.
Do you wish to perform an action on your profile?"
Jayden sat there in silence, processing the absurd number.
"No. Shut it down," he said.
"Understood. Goodbye, Jayden."
The screen went black. Jayden sat motionless for another minute, his thoughts churning. Then, wordlessly, he grabbed his winter jacket and stepped outside.
The snow crunched beneath his boots as Jayden walked through the village. The cold bit into his cheeks but did little to slow his pace. He made a quick stop at the grocery store, just enough to grab some basic supplies, and then continued on until he reached the edge of the settlement where an old, well-built wooden house stood apart from the others.
Smoke drifted from the chimney, curling up through the falling snow. The air was filled with the sharp rhythm of metal striking metal. Jayden didn't bother with the front door—he walked straight to the back where the noise came from.
There, hunched over an anvil, stood Marcus.
The old man was almost as tall as Jayden, though broader through the shoulders. Long strands of white hair spilled down his back, and his beard was short and neatly trimmed. He didn't flinch at Jayden's presence and didn't look up. He was too focused on his work.
"Grandpa," Jayden called.
No response.
"Grandpa."
Still nothing.
"You old man, are you deaf?" he shouted.
Without warning, Marcus flung the hammer aside and turned with a sharp left hook aimed at Jayden's jaw.
Jayden ducked without thinking. His body reacted before his mind did. In the same fluid motion, he launched an uppercut, stopping his fist just under Marcus' chin.
Marcus let out a raspy laugh, stepping back. "Good. You've kept up with your training. I was worried you'd turned soft."
"You play too much," Jayden replied, frowning.
"Tsk. You're the one calling me old while nearly getting clocked. I've still got more fight in me than you," Marcus said, stretching his back.
Jayden looked around the yard. "So, what's this new thing you're hammering now?"
"No games. I know you didn't walk all the way here just to ask about my forge," Marcus said, his eyes narrowing. "You haven't stepped foot on my property in over three years. So talk."
Jayden's expression stiffened. He knew he couldn't dodge the truth, not from Marcus. He took a few steps forward and reached out, touching the blade resting on the nearby bench. It wasn't finished, but the design was familiar—sleek, practical, no ornaments, no distractions. It was a weapon made for action, not show.
As his hand gripped the metal, something stirred inside him. A feeling long buried and almost erased. It hit him with force. A part of himself he had tried to lock away. And the word slipped out before he even realized he was saying it.
"Pantheon…"
Marcus nodded. "I figured. I've seen the broadcasts, same as everyone else. If you hadn't come today, I was planning to find you tomorrow and knock some sense into you."
Jayden gave a short laugh, his eyes still on the blade. "I knew it."
The mood shifted. The tension eased, and for a moment, it felt almost like the old days.
Jayden turned toward Marcus. "So what do I do?" he asked. "This… this isn't just another game. I can feel it. I don't know why, but I know this decision matters. Whatever I choose, it'll define the rest of my life."
Marcus didn't respond right away.
He stared at Jayden, searching his face, reading more than just the question in his voice. He knew what Jayden was really asking. He could hear the hesitation, the fear of falling back into something he had worked so hard to leave behind. Marcus could have told him what to do. He could have given a speech, told him to face his past, embrace his talent, reclaim what he once was.
But he didn't.
Instead, he let the silence stretch. He knew this was a moment Jayden had to own.
After a long pause, Marcus finally spoke.
"I don't have an answer for you. I've got my opinion, but that's not what you need. What matters now is that you choose. For real. Don't run from it. Don't put it off. Whatever future you want, you're the only one who can walk into it."
Jayden met his gaze.
And for the first time in years, he didn't feel like hiding.