The round had already gone off the rails.
"Why is there a Class-D with a railgun?" Carter groaned over voice chat.
"Because you picked up the wrong spawn wave, genius," replied Jin, laughing. "MTF, my ass."
Their squad—five players in a chaotic SCP: Secret Laboratory match—had just survived a messy firefight. The facility alarms blared, lights flickered, and someone kept blasting music through proximity chat.
"Alright, regroup at Gate B," said Alex, the self-appointed leader. "We extract, we win. Easy."
"Nothing about this match has been easy," muttered Reyes.
As they moved through the corridor, something strange happened. The screen glitched—not the usual lag spike, but something deeper. The textures peeled like corrupted files, stretching into endless black.
"Uh… you guys seeing this?" Carter asked.
"Nope. Nope, I hate this—" Jin started, before his voice cut into static.
The hallway collapsed into pixels.
Then—silence.
Carter opened his eyes to wind.
Actual wind.
He wasn't sitting at his desk anymore. He was standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking a vast, unfamiliar landscape. Jagged cliffs stretched into the distance, dotted with strange machinery and towering structures. The sky was a pale gray, clouds moving too fast.
"What…?" he whispered.
He looked down.
He wasn't wearing his usual in-game MTF armor—or his real clothes. Instead, he had a sleek, dark uniform with a glowing insignia he didn't recognize.
"Okay. That's new."
"Carter?"
He turned. Jin stood behind him, equally confused, checking his own gear.
"You're seeing this too, right?" Jin said.
"Yeah… unless this is the most advanced VR ever made."
One by one, the others appeared—Alex, Reyes, and Mei—materializing like respawns, except far more real.
"Roll call," Alex said immediately, slipping into command mode. "Everyone here?"
"Physically? Yeah," Mei said, kneeling and touching the ground. "This isn't a game anymore."
Reyes looked out at the horizon. "Where the hell are we?"
As if answering him, a distant siren echoed across the land. Not the SCP facility alarm—something deeper, heavier.
Then came the roar.
From beyond the cliffs, a massive shape moved—too large to be anything normal. It shimmered with unnatural energy, distorting the air around it.
"Okay," Carter said slowly. "That's not an SCP I recognize."
"It's not," Mei replied. "I've seen something like that before… in another game."
Jin blinked. "Wait. Don't tell me—"
"Terra," she said. "The world of Arknights."
Silence fell over the group.
"You're joking," Reyes said.
"I wish I was."
They didn't have long to process.
A voice crackled in their ears—clear, authoritative.
"Unidentified personnel detected. Please identify yourselves."
The group spun around. A squad of armed individuals approached, their gear advanced but unfamiliar, bearing symbols none of them recognized.
Alex raised his hands slightly. "We're… not from here."
"No kidding," Carter muttered.
The leader of the squad studied them carefully. "You're not infected… but your equipment is unusual."
"Infected?" Jin whispered.
Mei stepped forward. "We don't mean any harm. We just… got here."
The soldier hesitated, then nodded. "Then you'd better come with us. This area isn't safe."
As if on cue, the distant creature let out another roar—closer this time.
"Move. Now."
As they followed their unexpected escorts, Carter leaned toward Jin.
"So… we got sucked into a game, then dropped into another game's world?"
"Apparently."
Carter sighed. "You know what? I blame Alex."
"Why me?" Alex shot back.
"Because every time you say 'easy win,' something goes horribly wrong."
Reyes chuckled. "At least we're still together."
Mei glanced at the strange horizon, her expression thoughtful. "Yeah… but this world isn't like ours. Things here—people here—they're dealing with something much bigger."
Jin smirked. "Good thing we're used to chaos."
Carter grinned. "Yeah. MTF squad, right?"
Alex looked ahead, determination settling in. "Doesn't matter where we are. We adapt. We survive."
Another roar echoed in the distance.
And for the first time since they arrived, all five of them felt it—
This wasn't just another match.
This was a whole new game.
And this time, there were no respawns.