“Aiden?”

  I entered the warm-up room, and amongst the tens of nervous players doing stretches, waiting for their turns to use the two dozen warm-up game-pods available, I was faced with two familiar faces right away. None other than Sullivan and Evelyn. Eve faced me with surprise, and one could expect what treatment Sullivan gave me.

  Surprisingly, he didn't throw his fists at me. He merely looked at me as if I was a parasite trying to invade the tournament. He crossed his arms and said, “So you were a cheater all along. I’m not surprised.”

  I already wanted to sigh. “I’m playing with official untampered pods today.”

  “Will be easy enough to beat you, then,” Sullivan said.

  “Sull, let’s not,” Eve said, giving him a look.

  “No, this guy still owes me over two thousand gold,” Sullivan said. “And he’s not getting away with it. One day, betrayals will bite you.”

  I sighed. Weren’t you two supposed to break up?

  “Look, I haven’t slept all night,” I said. “I’ll fight you in the tourney in a bit. We’ll meet then.”

  I ignored him and walked past, finding a bench in the corner. The warm-up room was essentially a large backstage room separated from the main event with curtains. The lights were off, as was typical for Wonderwind events. I was so early that most players hadn’t come yet, but the warm-up pods were still all full.

  I took a comfortable seat on the bench and closed my eyes, dozing off.

  Sleeping proved to be difficult, though, as something kept tapping me in the face. I was confused the first two times it happened, writing it off as some tricks of my body, but the third time, I noticed a paper ball on the ground next to my feet, as well as Sullivan standing nonchalantly a short distance from me.

  So I told the event organizers that this asshole was interrupting my warm-up on purpose, after which I went back to sleep.

  ***

  “Aiden,” a voice said, shaking me awake.

  I squinted myself awake, spotting Evelyn. In the arena beyond the curtains, a round of applause and cheers rang. I glanced at the clock, noticing that more than a few hours had passed.

  “It’s about to start,” Eve said, pouting at me. “You’re fighting in the first round.”

  Oh shit.

  “Thanks,” I said. “So how does this work? Do I just walk in and enter a pod?”

  She crossed her arms. “You really haven’t been listening, have you? The rounds are announced right there. You’re assigned to pod number 23.”

  “Alright, thanks,” I said. I got up and showed my competitor’s pass to security, and I was let into the arena, where the intense colored lights in the dark made me squint.

  I was in the arena. Sure, this was only the open qualification event, and the hockey stands had more empty seats than people, but I had still dreamed of entering this place. The audience was packed enough that I couldn’t spot Anna or my mom. A jumbotron showed the in-game arenas to all the viewers. Underneath that on a raised platform were all the game pods. About thirty of them.

  I still felt tired more than anything as I walked to pod number 23. All around me, contestants were logging in, the players ranging from middle-aged men to bodybuilders and a few women as well. I was definitely the youngest person of this bunch. I clicked the RFID card on the pod and logged in.

  ***

  “That’s him, right!” Aree called.

  Veyra sat on the couch, silently watching a livestream on her television. New York Wonderwind One Versus One was usually not an important event. It was hosted in an arena for a surprisingly large crowd of locals, but from the research she’d done, the online broadcast for the open qualification usually only had a few hundred viewers at most.

  Currently, however, the number of online viewers was 124,614.

  It all started from a forum post titled, “Aiden “Assassin” Miller is playing locally today, in the next two hours! Cheater or not?” Aree had spotted the forum post and showed it to Veyra.

  The clock was past midnight in Thailand, but Aree stayed for voluntary overtime to watch the livestream, as she didn’t have a morning shift the next day.

  “That looks exactly like him, no?” Aree asked again.

  The livestream showed a closeup of a tall man—or boy, Veyra couldn’t decide—entering the arena from the stage rooms. Black shoulder-length hair, a black hoodie and sweatpants. He squinted like some goblin as he stepped into the arena.

  Aiden looked almost exactly like his in game character. He was a bit slimmer, perhaps, and he could have used a shave, but that was most definitely, without a doubt, Aiden.

  Veyra found herself holding her breath, chest tight. Was he actually going for a Worlds ticket?

  It didn’t look like Aiden knew he was being livestreamed to over a hundred thousand people. He yawned, and without a care in the world, he walked to his game pod, as if he was just casually visiting a corner store at three am. He struggled to open the lid of the gamepod for a bit before dipping inside.

  Aree chuckled. “Silly guy. Do you think he can win?”

  “Not sure,” Veyra said. “But if he loses… I’ll have a word with him.”

  The livestream showcased the in-game battle arena next. There were three different types, all circular sky islands. The first was a bright grassy arena with trees and rocks to use as cover. The second was a water arena with streams and pools hindering movement, and the last was a fiery lava arena with puddles of lava that would kill anyone that fell in.

  People spawned into their respective one versus one arenas, and the livestream did its best to show all the players, with so many fights ongoing at the same time. The announcer listed a few names of more popular players from New York, though Veyra hadn’t heard of any of them, except for that one axe-wielding idiot from the Cupcake Crew. New York had a large number of Wonderwind players, but only Henrift was famous enough for outsiders to root for. He didn’t seem to be competing today.

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  That was probably good. Against him, Aiden would actually need to prepare.

  Aiden received by far the most screen time. He spawned into the fiery arena alongside a player called Sicho, some unknown local New Yorker. Sicho was also an assassin, and looked to be a bit older than Aiden, body built like an athlete’s. He had a decent high mid-game build. He was probably a few levels short before he could enter the Ray Dragon event.

  The camera panned back to Aiden, and Veyra spotted something.

  “Wait,” she said, squinting at the small charm on Aiden’s cloak. That was definitely Charm Of Shadowfang.

  The useless quest item that gave nothing but monster avoidance.

  “Why is he rocking up to a competition with his monster avoidance build?!” Veyra blurted out. “How will that help?”

  He was yawning in game, examining the arena around him, until he spotted his opponent. Sicho went into stance, frowning. Aiden gave him a quick nod, while spinning the daggers nonchalantly.

  You’re like some edgy teen! Veyra thought. It was almost embarrassing to watch. The livestream chat also shared the sentiment, calling, “Lmao, this flimsy guy can’t be the same one. He’s a cheater for sure.”

  But Veyra could not look away. The count-down began, and the commentator called, “Fight!”

  It began immediately, skills flashing into action. The details were hard to tell through television, but Veyra saw Aiden turn to a shadow, until the camera panned to a close-up of Sicho, who took a defensive stance, cautiously eyeing the battlefield.

  A slash echoed as Cursed Lichfang landed straight into his brain.

  Veyra’s head flinched up.

  What?

  “Ahh, come on, broadcasters!” she grumbled. “What’s with this camerawork! We saw nothing!”

  The livestream commentator’s voice was just as confused. “Wait, Sicho… Sicho has died? Assassin wins his first match?”

  The stands in the arena were absolutely silent. The ambient talking stopped entirely. Nobody cheered. Rather, they were too shocked to know how to react. Aree, too, was silent, until she laughed. “He did it? He won the first one? What did he do?”

  “Replay!” Veyra yelled at her television. “What was that? Broadcasters, show the replay!”

  The livestream began showing the other fights.

  “No, nobody cares!” Veyra said. “Show the replay!”

  The livestream chat moved so fast Veyra could barely read it.

  “Wtf happened??”

  “Lololololol, really? 1 second!?!??!”

  “Replay! Replay!”

  “Show the replay, you idiots!”

  Finally, the broadcasters listened, showing the replay of Aiden killing Sicho. The cameraman struggled to find a good angle, and instead opted to show the full arena from the side.

  The full fight lasted for less than a second.

  Aiden [Shadow Dashed] forward and up, where he quite simply threw his dagger down with perfect precision. Sicho, the poor guy, didn’t see Aiden, let alone the dagger, before his brain was already pierced with an easy crit one-shot.

  Aiden then fell graciously to the ground and recalled his daggers, spinning them before he sheathed them.

  Then he stood around awkwardly, as if wondering what he was supposed to do next.

  The livestream chat continued going crazy.

  “What the fuck??? There’s no way, that’s impossible!”

  “So he’s not a cheater?”

  “That had to be cheated, WTF”

  “Did he hack the pods already?”

  “Holy shit… Better than SoulShadow?”

  Aree placed a hand on Veyra’s shoulder excitedly. “He did it, no? He’s not cheating!”

  Veyra snorted, taking a breath to calm down. “Of course. Nothing out of the usual. Just Aiden playing the game like he always does. That’s just the result of years of practice, really.”

  The livestream chat and the commentator seemed to disagree. They showed the replay in slow motion, ignoring all of the other duels. Veyra found her eyes glued to the slow-mo as well. Aiden was already throwing the dagger when [Shadow Dash] ended. How did he take aim so fast?

  The mood in the livestream chat switched entirely. Nobody was calling Aiden a goof anymore, although some haters still called him a cheater, despite the fact that he just played with an official game pod.

  The stream showed Aiden stepping out from his game pod. He stretched and yawned, until he spotted Sicho also getting up from his pod. Aiden walked up and offered a handshake, grinning, before he walked back behind the curtains.

  The camera zoomed in through the hole in the curtains and showed Aiden walking straight to the first benches he saw, where he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  That idiot, what’s he doing!?

  Veyra’s heart was pounding way too fast. She grabbed the remote and shut the television.

  Aree blinked at that.

  “Looks like he’ll win,” Veyra said, taking another deep breath to calm down. “No need to watch him stomp the competition.”

  Aree grinned. “You’re blushing, Veyra.”

  “No I’m not,” she argued, looking away.

  “He’ll really win and get a Worlds ticket,” Aree said with a teasing smile. “You’ve found quite the boyfriend.”

  “I’d be more popular than him if I competed,” Veyra said curtly. “For sure.”

  “You could compete,” Aree said. “Thailand has a one versus one competition as well, right? I could take you there. Then you can prove you’re not cheating, and earn a Worlds ticket. Those include flights too, right? You could both meet in Sweden!” She gushed at that, as if she was witnessing some romcom.

  Veyra couldn’t figure out a response over her beating heart. Aree didn’t know she had a ticket. Veyra really didn’t know if she should reveal that…

  “Veyra?” Aree asked, her voice calming down. “Sorry, I’m moving a bit fast, aren’t I?”

  Veyra sighed. She spoke with her head low. “Aiden has been suggesting the same thing… He really wants to meet me at Worlds.”

  Aree’s grin widened. “Isn’t that perfect? What do you think?”

  I don’t know… Veyra thought.

  He looked like a good person. Still just as goofy, but he was a goof who shook his opponent’s hand. He didn’t even know he was being livestreamed; otherwise, he would have slept properly and taken care of his appearance. Although, even in the hoodie and with his unshaven start of a beard, he really didn’t look bad.

  The problem wasn’t him. It was her.

  She was paralyzed. She was miserable. She hated looking at herself in the mirror.

  She definitely couldn’t show herself in public. No, never.

  “I can’t fly there anyway regardless,” Veyra said. “Getting to a plane would be impossible, and flying would be too painful. Arranging it just isn’t feasible.”

  “No, it’s possible for sure,” Aree said. “I could come with you as an assistant for the full trip.”

  “And I’d need to pay for your flight, which I can’t afford,” Veyra said. “You know, since I’m still saving for my mom’s surgery.”

  Aree pouted at her. “Surely, we can come up with something. Competing in Worlds pays a lot as well. And I’m sure Wind Virtual would be sympathetic. If we reach out, maybe they’d let me come as an assistant for free as well. You’d just need a Worlds competitor’s ticket first.”

  “I already have one…” Veyra said with a sigh.

  Aree lifted her head. “No way. You do?”

  “From a quest, yes.”

  “Oh my god,” Aree said. “You’re not thinking of letting it go, are you?”

  Veyra shrugged with her right arm. “They can pay for flights and accommodation all they want; I can’t fly there. Not unless someone’s there to change my goddamn diapers and watch that I don’t die when my stomach flips itself over.”

  Aree pointed at herself.

  Veyra turned away and pushed herself down, burying her face in the corner of her couch.

  “Sorry,” Aree said. “I’ll stop pressuring you. But I personally think that going to Worlds would be an opportunity of a lifetime. Especially considering how good you two are at the game.”

  “I don’t know…” Veyra said. She angled her face sideways. She put the television back on, though lowered the volume while it showed some random fights of low-level New Yorkers throwing their skills at each other.

  “I just don’t want everyone to know my identity, I guess,” Veyra said. “I like the privacy in Wonderwind.”

  “Yeah, I suppose that’s a tradeoff,” Aree said, troubled. “But please think about it. I’m sure we can arrange a flight there if we put in some work. I’ll do the heavy lifting. I’ve always wanted to go to Worlds as a guest. Going with you would be amazing.”

  Veyra really didn’t know what to say. She continued staring at the TV.

  “Well,” she eventually said. “It’s not like Aiden has a ticket yet. I might think about it if he gets one. I guess.”

  Aree smiled at her. A genuine smile.

  No matter what Veyra chose, she knew Aree would remain her friend. She couldn’t be luckier to have someone like Aree as her assistant.

  “I need to start heading home now,” Aree said. “Is there anything you need help with first?”

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Veyra said. “This is comfortable enough. I’ll sleep here. And thanks for staying with me.”

  “No need to thank me,” Aree said with a laugh. “Friends don’t thank each other for hanging out, do they?”

  Veyra was about to say something witty, but instead said, “Thanks. See you tomorrow.”

  Aree gave her a peace sign before exiting the apartment.

  Aiden was just about to start his second fight. Veyra lay sideways on the couch, where she continued watching the rest of the competition, until she fell asleep.

  20 chapters ahead on !