When I jokingly mentioned that they looked like something I could make in MS Paint, the vibe shifted. In the metaverse, insulting someone’s NFTs is the equivalent of insulting their firstborn child. She didn't argue. She didn't even say goodbye. She simply . One second she was there, and the next, she vanished into a puff of digital smoke, leaving me standing alone on a silent, lagging pier. The Aftermath: Back to Reality

In the height of the 2022 crypto bull run, "the metaverse" wasn't just a buzzword; it was a digital gold rush. We were all convinced that by 2023, we’d be attending board meetings as 3D penguins and buying virtual real estate next to Snoop Dogg. Naturally, I decided that if I was going to find the love of my life, it wouldn't be on a dusty app like Tinder. It would be in .

The disaster peaked when she asked if I had seen her latest "drop." She led me to a digital gallery and showed me a series of pixelated rocks she was selling for 2 ETH each.