Eli started helping. He wasn’t a coder, but he could moderate chats, test updates, and talk to new players so they didn’t feel lost. As the days passed, the clicker stopped being a distraction and became a thing he contributed to. He took pride in patch notes and bug fixes, in members thanking him for resolving a trade glitch. The glove that had been his first prize took on the weight of a talisman—a reminder of when a single click had led him to belonging.