When Rita first won the Snowfield Pact from the Diamond Miner game, it only had about a hundred and fifty days left on its timer. Who could have predicted that a single Divine Game event would pull her out of the world for five whole months?
She had already braced herself for heartbreak before taking it out. But when she saw that the snow inside the Snowfield Pact had completely melted away, the ache in her chest still hit hard.
She'd always been like this with games—too sentimental about rare items to actually use them, saving them until she eventually quit the game altogether.
Rita picked up the glass, intending to place it in the most visible spot on her shelf as a reminder not to repeat the same mistake. But as she moved it, she noticed something else inside.
Aside from the twig, there was another object.
She turned the glass upside down and lifted it again. Out rolled the twig—and a small, diamond-shaped crystal glowing a vivid blue.
"What's this?" she asked.
