The housing office was buzzing, phones ringing, printers whirring, stressed freshmen hovering like lost ducklings. Charlie marched us straight to the counter.
I clutched my packet like it was a shield. "Hi, um—there's been a mistake. My ID says—"
The clerk didn't even look up. "Name?"
"Kris Hart."
She typed. Paused. Tilted her head.
"Oh. You're the one assigned to Maple Hall. Third floor. Female wing."
My stomach twisted. "Right, that's the problem. I'm not—"
She cut me off with a polite, practiced smile. "If you're concerned about safety or privacy, don't worry. Maple Hall is very welcoming."
"No, I mean— I'm not supposed to be in the female wing."
Charlie folded her arms, amused. "Tell her why, Kris."
I shot her a look. "Because I'm— I'm male."
The clerk blinked at me slowly.
Then she smiled the way adults smile at toddlers who insist they're dinosaurs.
"Of course you are."
"No, really!" I said, louder than intended. "I checked the male box! I filled everything out correctly!"
She turned her monitor toward me. There it was. Plain as day if way was a weird alternate reality.
NAME: Kris Hart
GENDER: FEMALE
DORM ASSIGNMENT: Maple Hall
In bold, Inescapable letters. Complete with a picture of me. Like the universe itself had decided to gaslight me.
Charlie whistled. "Wow. They really committed."
"I DIDN'T DO THAT!" I snapped.
The clerk nodded sympathetically. "Sometimes students get confused during registration."
"I wasn't confused!" I really had put male in the check box.
"Mm‑hmm."
"I'm serious!"
She typed something calmly. "Well, according to the system, you're female. According to your student ID, you're female. According to your dorm assignment, you're female. So unless you have legal documentation to the contrary..."
"I DO!" I slapped my driver's license onto the counter. Finally something that can't be dismissed. Irrefutable proof that I was a guy! My face smug now she can't deny it!!!
She glanced at it. Then at me. Then back at the license.
"...This picture looks nothing like you."
My jaw dropped. "WHAT?!"
Charlie leaned in, squinting. "Actually... yeah, Kris. You kinda don't look like that anymore."
I stared at her, stupefied. "Whose side are you on anyway sis!?!?"
She shrugged. "The side of reality."
The clerk slid my license back. "If you'd like to update your legal documents to match your current presentation, we can.."
I cut her off.
"I'M NOT— THIS ISN'T— I'M A GUY!"
A couple students in line turned to stare.
Charlie patted my shoulder. "Easy, champ. You're scaring the freshmen."
I wanted to sink into the floor. The clerk printed a form and handed it to me.
"Fill this out if you want to request a gender correction. Processing time is typically five to seven business days. After term start
"WAIT... five to seven days after term starts!!! WHY...!?!"
Charlie took the form before I could combust. Dragging me away.
"We'll fill it out. Thank you."
The clerk smiled. "Welcome to campus, ladies."
I made a noise that could only be described as emotional static. Charlie steered me away before I could argue myself into a stroke. Towards maple hall, and my social death.
Maple Hall's lobby was a sensory overload.
Bright banners hung from the ceiling.
WELCOME MAPLE HALL RESIDENTS!
In glittery pink letters that sparkled way to much. A table of free snacks sat near the entrance, already half raided by hungry freshmen. Parents saying their good byes, as girls in pastel hoodies, and oversized shirts dragged suitcases across the polished tile. Laughing, chatting, and forming friend groups way to fast.
Charlie strode in like she owned the place.
Dragging me along like someone being marched to the gallows.
The RA at the front desk looked up. She was tall, athletic, and had a ponytail so sharp it could cut glass. She wore a Maple Hall STAFF shirt and the calm,unshakeable expression of someone who had already dealt with three crises before noon.
She smiled warmly. "Hi! Checking in?"
Charlie nudged me forward. "Yeah. He—"
"I'm not supposed to be here," I blurted.
The RA blinked. "Oh? Wrong building?"
"No, wrong wing, Wrong assignment. Wrong everything."
She tilted her head, studying me with the gentle patience of someone listening to a confused kitten.
"Ohhh," she said softly. "You must be overwhelmed. That's normal."
"I'm not overwhelmed," I said, already overwhelmed.
Behind us, a group of girls walked by. One with short black hair, one with a stack of pillows taller than she was, one wearing pajama pants with cartoon ducks. They all glanced at me, smiled politely, and whispered to each other.
I caught snippets:
"She's cute."
"Shy, probably."
"First‑years are adorable."
I twitched.（￣+ー￣）
Charlie smirked. "You're making friends already."
I glared at her.
" Ok what's your name. " Her professionalism kicking in.
"Kris hart..." sounding more drained than I looked.
The RA typed something. "Let's see... Kris Hart... Maple Hall, third floor, female wing. Everything matches."
"It DOESN'T match!" I snapped. "The system is wrong!"
She turned the screen toward me. Like before
NAME:KRIS HART
GENDER: F
DORM ASSIGNMENT: Maple Hall
STATUS: CONFIRMED
It felt like the universe itself was mocking me.
"I'm telling you," I said, voice cracking, "I'm not—"
And then my vision tilted stopping my next words instantly. A warm pressure bloomed behind my eyes.
The lobby noise faded. The chatter, the suitcase wheels, the RA's typing. All of it muffled like someone had stuffed cotton in my ears.
Then a voice sounded soft, steady, warm like a hearth fire sliding into my mind.
"KRIS."
I froze, and Charlie nudged me.
"Shrimp? You okay?"
I didn't answer. The voice continued,gentle but absolute:
"ACCEPT THE SELF."
My breath hitched. No No no no. This was from the DOL . From the weird divine nonsense after I fell on the cave. How is this possible. I'm going insane that's it. It has to be.
"ACCEPT THE SELF YOU KEEP RUNNING FROM."
My entire body went cold.
The RA's voice sounded far away. "Honey? Do you need a minute?"
I couldn't think.Couldn't move.Couldn't even blink. Girls walked past us, giggling, chatting, tossing glances my way, but they felt like distant shadows.
Charlie stepped in front of me, waving a hand. "Kris? Earth to Kris?"
The voice pressed on, warm and unyielding:
"TOU ARE NOT BREAKING."
"YOU ARE BECOMING."
My throat closed. Everything I'd been about to say. Every argument, every protest. All of it evaporated like melted ice . I stood there, staring at nothing, heart pounding so hard it hurt. Charlie grabbed my shoulders.
"Kris! What's wrong?"
I finally managed one word. Barely a whisper.
"...oh."
Because for the first time...I wasn't sure what was real anymore, And that terrified me,as the world snapped back into place.
The RA was still staring at me with concern. Charlie was still gripping my shoulders. Vise like and slightly painful. A girl with a messy bun walked by, sipping iced coffee. She glanced at me and whispered to her friend.
"Aww, poor thing. First‑day nerves."
I wanted to scream. Instead, I forced my face into something resembling normal.
"I'm fine," I managed.
Charlie didn't buy it. "You just froze like a statue."
"I'm FINE," I repeated, voice cracking with tension. My nerves on the edge of a razor blade. The RA stepped closer.
"It's okay to be overwhelmed. Happens to a lot of students."
"I'm not overwhelmed," I lied, even though my soul was still vibrating from the Hestia jump scare.
She nodded kindly. "Do you need water? A quiet room? Someone to talk to?"
"Nope!" I said, voice an octave too high. "Just peachy!"
A girl passing by with a laundry basket whispered, "She's totally about to cry."
Σ੧(❛□❛ )"I'M NOT CRYING," I snapped.
Charlie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Kris, you sound like you're being held hostage."
"I'M FINE."
The RA patted my arm. "You're safe here. Take your time."
I made a noise like a puffing cat exhaust Charlie patted my back.
"He's just... processing."
"I'M NOT PROCESSING ANYTHING."
"Of course you are," the RA said gently. And I wanted to scream. But Hestia's voice still echoed faintly:
"STOP RESISTING Little Fragment."
I swallowed hard, straightened my shoulders, and forced a shaky smile. I gotta get out of here the. Overly accepting RA's not helping and my brain couldn't take much more of anything else at the moment. I needed to think in a quiet place. My entire world view just collapsed and I needed to process.
"Can we... just get my room key?"
The RA brightened. "Absolutely! Right this way."
Charlie leaned in as we followed her. "You're doing great, shrimp."
"I'm dying socially," I whispered.
She grinned. "Yeah. But you're doing it cuteness."
_:('ཀ'」 ∠):
That's when a thought occurred to me. A horrifying world shattering life altering thought. The changes in my face my hair all the misunderstandings today.
"Oh shit!" I thought to myself making me want to vomit.
I followed the RA down the hall, Charlie at my side, but I wasn't really there. Not fully. My feet were moving, but my mind was somewhere else entirely, spinning so fast it felt like I was going to fly apart.
Hestia's voice still echoed in my skull, warm and steady and impossible.
"Stop resisting."
"You are becoming."
I swallowed hard, trying to breathe normally, The RA was talking about room keys and quiet hours and laundry rooms, but her voice sounded like it was coming from underwater.
What if that voice wasn't my imagination?
What if it wasn't stress? What if it wasn't leftovers from the game...?
What if she was real? My chest tightened. I could feel my pulse in my throat. If Hestia was real, then what did that mean for me? What was happening to me? What was going to happen next?
I kept replaying the conversation with Hestia. The link in between, the talk about dev's and causality and accepting the self in my head, the flashes of burning cities, and all of the things I'd been noticing since that morning.
Charlie staring at my face like she'd never seen it before. The clerk saying my license photo didn't look like me. The girls whispering that I was cute, shy, adorable.
The RA calling me overwhelmed like I was some fragile bird.
And the worst part? None of them were wrong. I did look... different, Softer. My skin looked clearer. My hair looked longer. My features looked... I don't know. Not like me. Not like the me I remembered. More like .... Charlie now that I think about it.
I rubbed my face with both hands, trying to feel something familiar, something solid, something that proved I wasn't losing my marbles. But even my own skin felt wrong under my fingertips. Too smooth. Too delicate.
Charlie glanced at me. "You're quiet."
"I'm fine," I lied, because the truth was too big to say out loud. She didn't push, but she didn't look convinced either.
I stared at the floor as we walked, my thoughts spiraling faster and faster. What if this wasn't a glitch? What if this wasn't a mistake? What if Hestia wasn't just some NPC with a fancy cutscene?
What if she was actually real!?!? My stomach twisted. I felt lightheaded, like the hallway was stretching out in front of me.
I didn't know what scared me more, The idea that I was imagining everything...
or the idea that I wasn't. Because if Hestia was real, if she was reaching into my head, if she was changing me...
Then what was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to become? I clenched my fists, trying to steady myself, but the panic kept rising, hot and sharp and impossible to swallow.
I didn't know what was happening to me. And for the first time all day, I wasn't sure I wanted to know. I had to get back in the game to talk to Hestia I needed answers. Even if I didn't like the idea. I had to know what was happening.
The RA her name was Alexa. Led us down the hallway, her sneakers squeaking on the polished floor. Maple Hall was chaos in pastel. Girls sat on the floor surrounded by open suitcases, string lights, and half‑assembled furniture. Someone was blasting K‑pop. Someone else was crying on FaceTime. A group of girls were taking mirror selfies in matching pajamas.
Every single one of them looked up as we passed.
And every single one of them misread me instantly.
"Aww, she's new."
"She looks so nervous."
"She's adorable."
"Is she a freshman?"
"Look at her hair, it's so soft."
I wanted to curl into a ball and roll under a vending machine my face crimson up to my ear tips and beyond.
Charlie kept glancing at me, her expression tightening each time someone called me "she." She wasn't laughing anymore. She wasn't teasing. She was watching me like I was a puzzle with pieces missing.
The Alexa stopped at a door decorated with a pink paper flower and a glittery "WELCOME ROOM 3‑12!" sign.
"Here we are," she said brightly. "You'll be sharing with Riley stokes...."
My heart stuttered.
"Riley...?" I echoed.
Before I could finish, the door swung open.
And there she was.
Riley.