5 After that Player Kill

'I actually respawned before we were washing our blood away because you killed me'

Sun Liang's Wechat just pops up.

I better restrict his notification, especially when he's not a native speaker and can make mistakes that lead to miscommunication.

"How is the game?" My aunt asks.

Her name is Xiao Xiu Zhi, she works as a nurse and lives with my uncle-in-law. She gained her American Citizenship through her marriage with my Italian-American Uncle (in-law), unlike me who gained American citizenship with the Right of Soil law, because I was born in California, Los Angles, so that gave me rights to have American nationality.

"It was better than I've expected" I answered.

I never expect it to be this fun anyway, I used to play MOBA games when I was in Thailand, and I've always been scold for being a noob, and they never helped me to improve my skills or technique, all they do is just calling me a noob to make themselves superior to me.

But this semi-VR game is a little different, I can almost feel like I reincarnated into the game instead of controlling some characters inside it. People cyber bully because they are anonymous and their righteousness is blur away, but when they are facing to face with an avatar, even when they play it through PC, they are more likely to feel guilt and shame.

I'm not sure if Sun Liang is like that too. What if he is another toxic player?

"Good, you can come here next time if you want, you can even ask your uncle to drop you off for the whole day if you want"

"No thank you, I think I had enough, I mean I'm already busy enough"

We ordered some soft creme to snack on, Aunt Xiu Zhi doesn't let me have tea because she's afraid I can't sleep, but at least I know I can get some boba milk tea while I'm here.

We walked back to our car and there's my uncle-in-law waiting in the car, he must finish his dinner and received my aunt's text that I'm done playing, I sat in the back seat without forgetting to put on my seat belt while looking out the window.

The cold air condition and sign lights along the streets triggers my memory of many things, I really like this feeling, feeling nostalgia about being back then when we're going to Suvarnabhumi AirPort in Thailand, hundreds of lights along the street, and cold air condition inside the car, buzzing sounds of the motor, it's the same feeling I got when we transfer the plane in Shanghai, Xiamen, and Beijing. It's also the same feelings I got when I arrive at LAX and drive home to our rental room in America.

I wonder if this may be what Sun Liang would feel like when he travels to America to see his friend.

While wondering about my random pass, I texted Sun Liang and ask...

'I live in Santa Ana, California, I use to live in Los Angeles. What about you? What part of China are you from?'

A moment later, he replied...

'Hangzhou, Zhejiang is where I'm from. Look! we're both from a big city!'

Zhejiang has lots of esports events that I've heard of, especially Hangzhou, so now I'm not surprised that he is this crazy about gaming and takes it pretty seriously.

'Shantou isn't that big'

'I mean you, not your ancestor'

'Whatever... what about your friend in America, where is he?'

'Brooklyn New York, I think he moved to California a few months ago, Should be in Los Angeles if I remember it correctly'

'Interesting... Say Vafangool next time you see him'

'Okay, what does that mean?'

'It's a New York dialect means hello'

'I never know they have a dialect in America, thanks for the new fact!'

[Bastard! No! don't say it, you bastard! it means to go fuck yourself! Are you serious?!! I'm just teasing you] I thought, while laugh and cried inside, holding my phone while covering my mouth. I learn some Italian slang and curses words used in Brooklyn from my uncle. Luckily my aunt and uncle are talking and the radio is on, so they don't notice me.

I texted back.

'No, no, don't say it, it's actually a bad word, I'm just teasing you and no, there's no exactly a thing like a dialect in America, it's just an accent and how people call a few things differently'

'Haha, now that know you have some sense of humor, speaking of dialect, can you speak Teochew?'

'No, I'm the 3rd or 4th generation, I only know a little bit of Mandarin they taught me in school.'

I actually felt a little ashamed of myself for not knowing how to speak Teochew, it's justifiable because I was born American and raised as a Thai, although Teochew culture still heavily influenced me.

'How about you? Can you speak Hui or Wu dialect? And how did you become so good at English? I'm actually really glad I don't have to use Mandarin to speak to you because I can't.'

'Yes, I can speak a little bit of both of them and understand them since people around me sometimes use it. And I was studied in an English program for many years, my American friend also helps me with my English.'

'I see, what a good friend'

'Right? He's my good old fellow'

I look out the window. A 'good old fellow' huh? I can't remember the last time I interact with people as a 'fellow', the more I thought about it the more I pity myself, I'm anti-social, that's why tried to avoid any type of MMO games. I end up playing Peace because of a foolish reason of wanting to try out some product of a company that 'monopoly' the market and that 'Ping' sounds like my first name. Every time I interact with strangers and share my feeling or personal life, my heart just beat so fast I feel like jittering to the panic attack. Even right now chatting with Sun Liang...

Xiao Bai Mao is a suitable ID for me, isn't it? Introvert and self-centered creatures like a feline. Even my surname 'Xiao' sounds like a solitary wind.

Just like this car's air-conditioned sound, I heard it every time I travel to the airport.

Before I know it, we were back home.

I walk out of the car into the house and hang my jacket. My aunt and uncle do their things and I go get some cloth for changing.

'I gotta go, see you later!'

'Okay, have a good sleep tonight'

'Thanks, have a good day too. It's the second time we said that today'

'*laughing man-face panda meme'

"That's a very Chinese side of him," I thought.

As I get out of his chat room on Wechat, I look at my contact list, none of my contact lists were hidden, there are three people's chats in total. My aunt, my pen pal from China, Sun Liang.

'At least I have three people to chat with now on Wechat.' I thought.

I can't remember when is the last time I have that long of dialogue or chat with someone.

I walk my way to the bathroom. We live in a small house inside a gated community, it's a very small but organize and clean house, my uncle invests in decorating the house every season to make people in the community happy. I'm happy to live here with them.

Outside our window is the community's lake, I like the golden light reflect on the water at night, sometimes I use the VR and AR device to see some special effects that my uncle and neighbors installed, a very cool animation of a dragon hovering over the water is phenomenal!

I take off my cloth and turn on the shower faucet, as I wash my body I compare the experience of this with the in-game experience washing away blood and sweat. It's not like I never tried Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality or anything like that, but I've only tried it on an academic occasion, that's all. Because I set the setting to have about 30 to 50% immersive sense, I can only feel it about halfway, yet it's pretty realistic compare to the real water.

I look at the ID card on my pile of clothes through the transparent glass of the shower window. It looks like an EMV card with a golden microchip on it just like any credit card. So this game must be 'that' important that they use a card for the authentication purpose plus password in order to enter the game, people like Sun Liang and many more like him must take it so seriously that if someone stole their avatar in the game, it's like half of their life is being stolen. Meanwhile, I just use it for fun and don't give a fu*k about what's going to happen to Xiao Bai Mao.

'Potential' huh? Kendo? Philosophy? Ki Ken Tai Ichi? I've been practicing it alone countless times already! Because I do it all alone, that's why joining clubs or teams is a big change for me.

But I heard you can get a scholarship through esports too...

I'll consider that.

After I'm done showering, I put on my clothes for sleep and take that Peace ID card with me. I open my school laptop and search for 'Esports clubs near me' eventually, I came across a website offering new membership.

Most of them seem to be free, and I found one in Los Angeles. It didn't require any fee to join, the minimal age to join is over 13 so I should be fine, the club activity can be done virtually and it offers some budget for club activities, all I gotta do is just fill in the application and it said new member should go check out the club physically for an interview if possible. I should have a fine one in Santa Ana, but my aunt will go to Los Angeles very soon and I can ask her to drop me off, so maybe it's not impossible for me to join that club after all.

'Glory and Peace are sometimes one must earn by themselves' It said at the end of the application.

Alright, I'll go to bed and check it out as soon as my aunt takes me to LA then, Scholarship should be worth trying for me.

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