Chapter 1

"Legends of Aethelgard" was more than a game.

It was the number one VRMMO, a whole other life.

Millions plugged in every day.

The system scanned your real face for your avatar.

Then, a slider let you crank your beauty up to +100% or dial it down to -100%.

Most people, of course, went for +100%.

A new thread on the r/Aethelgard_MMO subreddit was blowing up.

"Ugliest Avatar, Hottest Partner? Nyx & Kael are #CoupleGoals or #Cringe?"

The title made Ava' s stomach churn.

Comments piled up, dissecting "Nyx" – her avatar – and Kael, her in-game partner.

It was brutal.

Ava Chen, sitting in her small NYC apartment, was Nyx.

The real Ava was beautiful, stunningly so.

It was a curse she' d carried her whole life, a magnet for unwanted attention, for harassment.

That' s why Nyx, her Shadow-Priestess in Aethelgard, was a -100% on the beauty slider.

Gaunt. Unremarkable. Anonymous.

That' s what Ava wanted.

The beauty slider in "Legends of Aethelgard" was a double-edged sword.

For Ava, dialing it down to -100% was a shield.

Nyx' s deliberately unattractive appearance was her escape from the constant objectification she faced in real life.

The game was supposed to be a refuge, not another place for judgment.

But the Reddit thread proved even virtual ugliness invited scrutiny if you were next to someone "hot."

Ava' s real-world beauty was a secret, guarded fiercely.

It was the source of her social anxiety, a touch of body dysmorphia even.

She' d built Nyx to be invisible, to find connections that weren't about her face.

She was a freelance concept artist, highly skilled, working from home to maintain that anonymity.

Her art was her life, but her appearance felt like a prison.

Ethan Thorne, or Kael in Aethelgard, was the other half of that Reddit thread' s debate.

His Paladin avatar was maxed out at +100% beauty.

He was already handsome in real life, a successful tech CEO.

His in-game persona was an amplified version of his already golden image.

He led The Crimson Vanguard, the top guild.

Nyx, despite her appearance, was his co-leader, his partner of three years.

Ava genuinely loved Kael, or at least the Kael she knew in Aethelgard.

They had built something together, she thought.

Three years of quests, battles, late-night talks.

She was his dedicated support, the Shadow-Priestess healing his Paladin.

The Reddit comments hurt, but her feelings for him were real.

Lately, Ethan had been distant.

He bailed on their plan to get the "Sunstone Regalia."

It was rare partnered gear, something they' d talked about for months.

He' d just said, "Something came up." No explanation.

Ava felt a sharp sting of disappointment.

Hurt but resolute, Ava decided to get the Sunstone Regalia herself.

The quest was designed for two, incredibly difficult solo.

She poured all her frustration and skill into it.

Hours later, Nyx stood alone, victorious, the Sunstone Regalia glowing faintly in her inventory.

It felt hollow without Kael.

Then, the game world buzzed.

Skyler Vance, a Twitch streamer known as "Seraphina," was making a hyped return to Aethelgard.

Old forum posts started to resurface, linking Seraphina to an obscure username: "Stardust_Angel."

Ava' s blood ran cold.

"Stardust_Angel" was her old username, from a music forum years ago.

A candid photo of her at a concert, taken without her knowledge, had been posted there. It went briefly viral.

She' d been horrified, then relieved when it faded.

But Ethan had once told her about a "dream girl" photo he' d seen online years ago, an anonymous beauty he became obsessed with.

He called her his Stardust Angel.

He didn't know it was Ava.

Now, Skyler Vance was claiming that name. And Ethan was with her, wearing the Sunstone Regalia.

The pieces clicked together in Ava' s mind with sickening clarity.

The Regalia wasn't for them. It was for her. His Stardust Angel.

The betrayal was a physical blow.