BECOMING MID

━━━━━━━━━━━━━ WSAC 2025 ENTRY ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Alternative Title(s): Becoming Night, Becoming Midnight, Becoming Mid(night) DISCLAIMER: This story contains elements that may be intense or unsettling, including graphic violence, disturbing themes, psychological manipulation, and emotional pressure. It also explores taboo dynamics — story-driven, not glorified. Sensitive topics such as suicide, bullying, and harassment are present. Reader discretion is advised. Every night, right after midnight, 4URmn_x, known to gamers as Midnight, reigns as Japan’s top gamer. Feared and respected across the gaming world for his unrivaled skill in MMORPGs, gacha games, and platformers, his ability to master any genre has earned him a terrifying reputation. Whether it’s 1v1 duels or team matchups, Midnight dominates them all with eerie precision. And yet, his true identity remains a mystery—no one knows who he is. His username, avatar, and profile always remain the same, a male figure in every game, but nothing more. His bio simply reads: "My name is Midnight. This account serves as your midnight nightmare, with me as your x." What makes Midnight even more enigmatic is the fact that, in all his gaming history, he has only ever lost once. Speculation runs rampant. Some claim he intentionally loses a single match to lull opponents into a false sense of security. Others think he’s simply lucky, or that he’s using an alternate account to set up a "loss" for himself. Still, others are convinced that he’s a genius, pulling off impossible feats at the last moment when his health is nearly drained. His signature move? Taunting opponents with a chilling, "Too easy. Victory is mine." before finishing them off in style. Some even suspect that Midnight uses advanced programming to predict his every move, making him unstoppable. But what happens when Midnight is unexpectedly invited to a brutal survival game? A game where the stakes are real, and the only way to win is to kill or manipulate your opponents. After being ridiculed by one such gamer who defeated him, Midnight, feeling challenged, accepts the invitation. However, he enters this new game not with his usual mastery of the virtual world, but… with nothing. No high-tech weapons, no avatar armor, and certainly no reputation to fall back on. He’s forced to confront this new world with his wits alone—completely underestimated and labeled “Mid Gamer” by the others. The game pits him against ruthless players, and with weak physical abilities and rudimentary tools at his disposal, his chances seem slim. Yet Midnight is no ordinary gamer. With his sharp intellect and uncanny strategic mind, he’s determined to prove that even without his usual advantages, he can still rise to the top. Armed only with his raw ingenuity, he faces the survival game’s twisted challenges, all while trying to outsmart opponents who view him as nothing more than a joke. Can Midnight, the legendary gamer, overcome this new world’s obstacles with nothing but his mind and willpower? Or will the survival game expose the cracks in his seemingly flawless reputation?