He reached the end. The screen flashed: MISSION COMPLETE. REALITY SAVE GAME?

“What’s the issue?” he asked.

“Through the obstacle course,” the sergeant barked. “Don’t get shot.”

Leo looked at his dusty PC in the corner. The Allied Assault icon was gone. Deleted. As if it had never existed.

Leo looked at his own reflection in the black screen of the phone. He was wearing his usual oil-stained hoodie. But for just a second, the reflection wore a muddy helmet and a torn 1st Infantry Division patch.

A bullet pinged off the virtual rock next to him. Leo yelped and dove behind a crate. He was good at this game. He’d beaten it on Hard. But he’d never felt the supersonic crack of a bullet before. He crawled, fired, and advanced. The enemies bled in colors that weren't red—they were a shimmering, data-like amber.

He tapped ‘Yes.’

Outside his shop, a news alert blared from a customer’s TV: “Unconfirmed reports of a mass hallucination at a former military base in Kentucky. Dozens claim to have seen a ghost in combat fatigues.”