The room was dim, illuminated only by the soft glow of multiple screens. Swift, the main character, sat at his cluttered desk, completely absorbed in the chaos of the game he was playing. His fingers flew over the controls, commanding an entire virtual world. The sounds of distant gunfire and vehicle honks blended into the real-world noises coming from outside his window.
Suddenly, his in-game character died. Frustrated, he slammed his fist onto the desk. “Damn it! Not again!” he growled. He leaned back, eyes darting toward the Twitch chat scrolling beside the gameplay.
TWITCH CHAT:
"F in the chat."
"GG, Swift."
"LOL, RIP!"
A notification popped up on screen—a new subscriber named UNKNOWN had just donated $500. Swift’s eyes widened. “Whoa,” he muttered, looking closer at the message. It came with a link. “What is this? Hey, guys, anyone know this game?”
His viewers flooded the chat with eager comments.
TWITCH CHAT:
"Never heard of it."
"Looks interesting, though!"
Curiosity kicked in, Swift clicked the link. A download window popped up, and as it progressed, the room around him seemed to shimmer. Something about the atmosphere changed—almost as if the game became alive. As the screen blinked, a message appeared:
ON-SCREEN PROMPT:
"Welcome to What If What. Choose your world."
Swift squinted his eyes, intrigued. “This looks insane,” he murmured to the chat.”He typed in his in-game name—"Swift." Another prompt appeared, showing different worlds to explore, from our solar system to galaxies far beyond.
“Look at this, guys. We can go anywhere!” Swift exclaimed. He scrolled until he found a distant planet called Exodus-23 Plutonian and clicked on it. A warning popped up:
ON-SCREEN PROMPT:
"The things you do in this world could change the course of life for its inhabitants to a point where it won’t be recoverable. Proceed?"
He laughed. “Sick.”
With the click of a button, he was transported into the game. The world was incredibly detailed, more immersive than anything he had ever seen. His excitement grew. His Twitch viewers cheered him on, asking for destruction, chaos, anything that would showcase the game’s potential.
Swift hovered over the option to launch a nuclear warhead at the planet’s surface. His heart pounded with excitement as he clicked Enter. The screen flashed, and the planet erupted in an explosion so massive, it almost felt too real. Cities turned to dust, entire ecosystems vanished in seconds.
The chat exploded with comments.
TWITCH CHAT:
"Holy crap!"
"Swift just nuked a planet!"
Swift sat back, his pulse racing. “That was... unreal,” he said, laughing nervously. It was just a game, after all. But something in his gut felt off.
TWITCH CHAT:
"Go to Earth!"
"Visit your house, Swift!"
Still buzzing from the explosion, Swift followed the suggestion. He zoomed into Earth, pulling up his own street in the game. It was disturbingly accurate—his house, the shop across the street, even the cars parked outside. He could navigate through his neighborhood like a drone in real time.
The chat buzzed with a new idea:
TWITCH CHAT:
"Bomb the road outside your house!"
"Yeah, do it for fun!"
Swift hesitated, but the adrenaline pushed him forward. “This looks fun,” he muttered, targeting the road in front of his house. His finger hovered over the button for a moment before he pressed Enter.
The explosion that followed wasn’t just in the game. His entire house shook violently, knocking over his chair. His heart jumped into his throat as he ripped off his headphones and rushed to the window.
Outside, the street was destroyed. Smoke billowed from the road, debris was everywhere. Cars were overturned, and the shop across the road was in ruins.
“No way,” Swift whispered, frozen in place. This couldn’t be real—it had to be some elaborate game effect. But the destruction was right there in front of him.
Panicked, he rushed back to his desk, hands trembling as he stared at the screen. He opened the game menu, desperately trying to find an option to quit, to stop it—but there was nothing. The game continued running, and the destruction was real.
His Twitch chat, which had been full of jokes and excitement, suddenly shifted.
TWITCH CHAT:
"Wait, Swift... is this real?"
"Did that just happen?"
"Dude, what have you done?"
Swift’s breathing grew rapid as he sat there, frozen in terror. The game wasn’t just a game anymore—he had actually caused destruction in the real world. His street lay in ruins, and he had no idea what to do next.
The chat continued flooding in.
TWITCH CHAT:
"It’s real, Swift!"
"You actually bombed your house!"
"This is insane!"
He stared at the screen, paralyzed by the enormity of what had happened. His own world, the game’s world—they were now one and the same. The chat blurred before his eyes as the reality of his godlike powers sunk in.
And he had no idea how to stop it.
