Inside Arthur's dormitory—
Ranni, Hermione, and Melina quietly watched him sitting there with his eyes closed.
Meanwhile, Arthur was currently communicating with the System in his mind.
"System, begin drawing the next mini-game."
[Command received. Beginning extraction… Extraction complete.]
[Congratulations, host. You have obtained the game RAFT.]
Arthur: "...What?"
If he remembered correctly…
This game had absolutely zero fantasy elements.
RAFT—also known as Raft Survival—was a survival adventure game.
Players began stranded in the middle of the ocean atop a tiny raft made from four wooden planks.
Their only tool was a crude plastic hook.
The entire gameplay loop revolved around using that hook to collect floating debris from the sea in order to survive, expand the raft, and slowly build a home upon the ocean.
The game contained virtually no supernatural elements whatsoever.
Which meant it offered no direct mystical power to Arthur at all.
At least Cat Quest had transformed his Animagus into a magical cat capable of casting spells.
But RAFT?
Arthur genuinely couldn't imagine what kind of completion reward it would provide.
What—
Would it just hand him a raft?
Arthur immediately questioned the System internally:
"Explain yourself."
"Why does this game look so underwhelming?"
[Please rest assured, host. Products produced by the System are always premium quality.]
[This game has been modified extensively by the System.]
[A complete marine ecosystem and island ecosystem have been added.]
[The diversity of monsters has been greatly expanded. The game now contains far more than just sharks, hyenas, and bears.]
[Additionally, the technology tree has been significantly upgraded by the System.]
[The host may even upgrade the raft into a full aircraft-carrier-class warship.]
Arthur raised an eyebrow slightly.
If that was the case…
Then the game suddenly sounded extremely interesting.
Back in his previous life, the reason he quit playing RAFT was because endlessly collecting garbage alone in the ocean became too repetitive.
Plus, he had no friends to play with.
But now—
The System had massively expanded the gameplay.
And this time, Hermione, Ranni, and the others could accompany him.
Arthur suddenly found himself genuinely interested.
Even if the final reward truly ended up being the raft itself…
He honestly wouldn't mind.
After all, by the time he completed the game, that "raft" would probably already have evolved into a massive aircraft carrier.
And receiving an aircraft carrier as a completion reward actually sounded pretty awesome.
Thinking this through, Arthur asked:
"System, what's the win condition for this game?"
[The completion condition for RAFT is finishing the game's main storyline.]
Arthur blinked in surprise.
"This game has a main storyline?"
[Yes.]
Arthur continued:
"Can you give me a simple explanation of the plot?"
As mentioned before, he had abandoned the game in his previous life long before reaching the story content because the repetitive ocean scavenging bored him to death.
So he genuinely had no idea the game even possessed a narrative.
[The game world is set after an apocalypse.]
[Rapid glacial melting caused sea levels to rise dramatically, submerging nearly all land on the planet.]
[Several major story islands exist throughout the world.]
[The player must locate these islands, solve their mysteries, and gather fragmented information revealing the truth of the world.]
[Ultimately, the player must reach the location known as "Utopia."]
Likely in order to preserve Arthur's gameplay experience, the System didn't reveal any deeper spoilers.
It merely summarized the general progression.
But honestly—
That was already enough for Arthur.
Piecing together a complete narrative from scattered fragments?
That was practically second nature to him.
He had spent years wandering the Lands Between doing exactly that.
After all, Elden Ring itself was the perfect example of fragmented storytelling.
Even an insignificant item description could conceal an entire hidden tragedy.
Suddenly, Arthur felt someone poking his cheek repeatedly.
Opening his eyes, he discovered Hermione leaning extremely close to him.
Seeing him awaken, Hermione asked curiously:
"Cousin, why did preparing this new game take so long this time?"
Arthur immediately pinched her cheek in retaliation for poking him earlier.
"I finished preparing it ages ago," he replied calmly. "I was just learning about the game itself."
Hermione tilted her head.
"What kind of game needs that much explanation?"
Arthur grinned.
"We'll talk while playing."
As he spoke, he materialized RAFT into his magical grimoire before distributing copies onto everyone's iPads.
Then Arthur dragged the three girls into the game and launched multiplayer mode.
Tonight was clearly destined to become another sleepless night.
…
Of course—
Arthur's group wasn't the only one staying awake.
Harry and Ron were also still awake back in Gryffindor Tower.
At the moment, Harry was attempting to comfort a thoroughly depressed Ron.
Ron, driven by the logic of:
"If my brothers could become Prefects, then surely I can too!"
…had enthusiastically participated in Gryffindor's Prefect election.
Unfortunately for him—
Hermione also ran.
As a result, Ron received exactly zero votes.
The other candidates at least managed to earn a few pity votes from close friends.
Ron?
Not even that.
Because Harry himself had voted for Hermione.
That single act completely shattered Ron emotionally.
Harry's reasoning, however, was perfectly straightforward.
Arthur had helped him countless times.
And Hermione was Arthur's cousin.
So naturally Harry wanted to support Hermione as a way of expressing gratitude toward Arthur.
Besides—
Even without Harry's vote, Ron never had a realistic chance anyway.
And honestly?
Harry knew his best friend well enough to understand that Ron would probably forget the entire thing within a day or two.
Sure enough—
Just then, the iPads resting beside their beds suddenly vibrated simultaneously.
The two picked them up.
Arthur had released a brand-new game update.
Harry waved his iPad toward Ron.
"This one has multiplayer too, just like Forager."
"Want to play together?"
Ron remained silent for a moment.
Then finally squeezed out a single word:
"…Play."
And just like that—
The two boys embarked on their cooperative ocean survival adventure.
As for the Prefect election?
Please.
How could being a Prefect possibly compare to gaming?
(Arthur: "Sorry, but right now the Prefect is definitely more fun. [smile]")
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