A recently released new game is gaining popularity. The hype was high, and the quality turned out to be decent. On the day of release, I downloaded it without hesitation. I've been logging in steadily for a few days, hooked on the fun of learning new systems and climbing the ranks.

Then, from a certain day, a specific nickname strangely started catching my eye. It wasn't just for a day or two; it's been seven days now. Every time I log in, that familiar nickname appears in the matchmaking window. At first, I thought it was just a simple coincidence. Since it's a new game, the player pool might still be small, or we might keep meeting because our playstyles or MMR are similar. However, it was rare to be matched with the same opponent for an entire week straight.

Surprisingly, our chemistry was great from the start. There were no long conversations. A few pings and a couple of short chat messages were all. Play that felt as natural as a duo that had been gaming together for a long time. Normally, I wouldn't have even remembered the opponent's nickname the moment the game ended, but this time was different.

At some point, the first thing I did when I turned on the game was look at the matchmaking window. A relationship where I don't know the name, face, or voice. All I know is a single nickname and the fact that I've been meeting the same user in the same game for seven days.

Despite that, for the first time, Kozume Kenma was waiting for someone beyond the screen.