Gray and Teal, 2035

Xiao Qing was a random NPC AI in a game, but she had a beautiful character model, so I stared at her every day. Then she possessed me…

This AI chirped away in my head all day, and it was pretty annoying. But after a while, I actually found myself reluctant to part with her…

All right, all right, I admit it:

On this dull, tedious journey, having a virtual girl by my side is actually pretty nice.

Besides, Xiao Qing brought me plenty of good luck and helped me make quite a few friends along the way.

Unfortunately, during an autumn outing, I was caught up in a conspiracy involving a megacorporation.

And so the boy’s fantastical adventure began!

(Slow burn)