1 My Terrible Luck

I never really expected much from life but I guess no one really expected much from me, either.

As a kid, I always was the weird kid for not trying to start relationships with other people. I mostly just skated through life. For good reason, though.

As far back as I could remember my luck has been...abysmal at best.

Any time I tried to make friends with someone, something bad would happen. Nothing too crazy if you don't count that one time in first grade I accidentally tripped and knocked my entire lunch on a girl I was acquainted with. Oh, or that other time I was laughing at a popular kid's jokes and spit my milk all over him. And that time in second-grade physical education when I threw a ball in dodgeball and it ricocheted off of at least five kids' heads. Yeah, some of them received light concussions from that...

If you still think that it was just coincidences or all in my head, then what about that time in freshman year when I was joking about Todd Forester just to find out he was in the hospital and needed serious surgery that day. Or when one of the popular girls invited me to Prom and stood me up. Okay, maybe that one was just a coincidence but it still hurt me for years!

Don't even get me started about my early college years! My life was starting to look up as I managed to skip a grade and start college earlier. A new face in a sea of strangers. I was finally going to turn my luck around and I did at first. Nothing too bad happened, and I even got my first girlfriend. So far so good!

I majored in Computer Science and minored in Web Design. I even helped start some successful projects with some new friends. We were gaining a lot of traction on Kickstarter. Our effort was just starting to bear fruit. Eventually, we made and released the mobile game we made called Arcadian Records. It became a hit especially with those who were fans of Gacha games.

I only helped with getting the Kickstarter and website together so I didn't gain too much money or fame. They even forgot to list my name in the credits, but I digress.

I was still happy that my life was turning around.

Well until one day my girlfriend came to me asking to break up. She had told me that she suspected me of cheating and had proof. When I had asked her to show me the proof, she couldn't but still insisted that we should break up.

I was heartbroken.

The love of my life had walked out of my life and she took a part of me with her.

I soon found myself becoming more and more saddened by her departure. I threw myself into my work to try and forget about her. The days passed and they soon turned into months. Eventually, I became well-known in the gaming community for my impressive bug fixes. I started to find solace in that fact.

I often spent much of my free time after work browsing Reddit and tech sites. I didn't want to lose my skills and wanted to continue to stay on top of software bugs, common or otherwise.

Before I knew it, I gained a sort of following online as the Bug Fix King. They often praised my work as both quick and efficient. I was happy again. This is what I would be known as.

I often flaunted my know-how and bug fix techniques to my co-workers to their dismay. Eventually, I was called to Human Resources many times for being 'obnoxious 'and 'rude.' I tried to tone it down after that but the power was getting to me.

For the first time in my life, I was in power. I was liked and not bullied. I felt in control and Reddit was fueling my ego and self-worth. I couldn't just stop. They must be in sheer awe of the Bug Fix King. Of course, that must be it.

So, whenever a co-worker asked me for help in identifying what kind of bug they had and what kind of fix was needed for it, I just told them. Of course, I would only tell them if they referred to me by my Reddit Handle: Bug Fix King.

I was once again called to Human Resources.

"You're fired."

"Wait, what? Why may I ask?"

The secretary at the desk stared deeply into my eyes causing me to sweat intensely.

"Let's see where to start, shall we?" She was in a black office swivel chair, the same as the last time I saw her. She moved along the floor with ease as she rolled aside and leaned over to open a filing cabinet.

She was wearing a black blouse over a white buttoned-up shirt. The first two buttons weren't buttoned so her skin was exposed revealing a bit of cleavage. I couldn't help but try to get a little peek. ' I can't believe it has been six months since Jess broke up with me...I haven't even been on a date in over half a year! I wonder would she go on a date with me. No, wait, what am I talking about! She's about to fire me after all...'

She pulled out a large manilla folder causing me to immediately jump back.

"I wasn't looking or anything! I promise!"

The secretary cocked her head to the side with a confused look on her face.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Armeyer?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all..." I quickly shift myself in my seat. "So, how are you?"

The secretary continued to give me a look. Her eyebrows slightly raise as she looks at me like I'm a madman.

'Maybe I am turning into a lunatic..."

"I am fine, Mr. Armeyer. Now here is a list of all of the reports from your co-workers about your recent behavior."

"My recent behavior? But, I don't think I have been treating my co-workers badly or anything." She hands me the envelope as I open it up. 'There's a lot of papers in here...Wait, and they're all about me?!'

I continued to flip through the files as I scanned them all over. 'Why are there so many? What the heck! I have only been a loyal worker through and through? And some of these go back a couple of months. This one is the worst of them all!'

I pull one of the files and put it in front of the others. At the top is a name I was more than familiar with. It was the name of a co-worker I've been friendly with recently. Marcus Porter, a new co-worker I recently started to mentor here.

'Even Michael, huh?' I felt betrayed and quite possibly, bamboozled. Every day, I shared all of my best bug fixes with him and even gave him a personal recommendation to our District Manager. I know I'm awkward sometimes and I have bad interpersonal skills, but I'm willing to work on this!

"Please, give me another chance! I don't want to be a jobless person who spends all their time reading manga or light novels in their room all day! Onegai! Er, I mean please!"

The secretary could only shake her head at me, even as I was on the verge of tears.

"If this were your first or second offense, then I would be all for giving you another chance, but you've been here more than twice. Honestly, you were going to be fired sooner but due to your amazing track record we continued to employ you."

I couldn't understand what I was hearing...I was going to be fired and lose my dream job. But wait they can't fire me yet! It's just as she said, my amazing track record is too great! If I were to bring that up...'

Just as I was about to open my mouth, she stopped me.

"If you are going to tell me something like 'how are you going to replace someone like me', then you can forget it. We already have just the person to replace you. You should already know him since you taught him everything you knew."

'No...it can't be...'

"We have chosen Marcus Porter to be your replacement. He has already accepted your old position and is all ready to start tomorrow morning."

Her words broke me. 'Marcus...you bastard! How could you? I placed you under my care and you backstab me like this!"

"You can pack up all of your things and head home. Your final check will be in the mail. Have a wonderful day, Mr. Bug Fix King."

"Alright...Wait, w-what did you just say?"

"I said have a wonderful day, Mr. Armeyer"

"Will do..." I quickly went back to my desk to gather my things. 'I probably just misheard her or something. It's not like anybody here knows my online persona or anything. Even if they did, It's not like it would change anything.'

I gathered all my stuff in an old storage box we had lying around in the office and drove home.

"Haah~ I can't believe they fired me...At least I have some savings gathered up but how long would that last."

I couldn't help but start to feel lost again. The first time in a while where I had little to nothing else to put my time into. Well, besides Reddit and video games.

'Speaking of, I wonder how those guys are doing...I haven't really talked to them since college. That, and the game becoming super successful.

I decided to sit down at my computer in my room. I flipped the light switch and was greeted with my messy room. There were shirts and other articles of clothing littered around that I had forgotten to put away. 'Well, it's not like I forgot per see. I've just been so into work...No, I don't even want to talk about work so let's not bring that up right now.'

I decided to make my way to the computer and the first thing I saw was my wallpaper. The one with both me and Jessica in it.

"We looked so happy then..."

It took everything I had to quickly open up a tab to hide the wallpaper in front of me. Though this wasn't a permanent fix, it was all I could think to do at the moment. I would change the wallpaper but I would also be running away from my past. I would be lying if I said that I no longer had any feelings for her anymore. Some part of me still wishes we could get back together.

I decided to quickly clear my mind as I thought about what to look up.

'Well after a long, hard day at work, why not unwind with something nice, huh? Come on, it's been so long since you've last done it, right? So, what are you waiting for?'

I couldn't help it. I couldn't hold myself back any longer. These urges were beyond any modern mortal's control! They were now a way of life.

My fingers danced across my keyboard as I typed in the same keywords as I have always done. It was almost like clockwork.

I hit the enter key.

I was now ready to do it.

I was now ready to play video games again. I was then greeted with the same words I had always heard when I turned on the game.

"Welcome to Arcadian Records, brave player!"