Introduction

I lived in a different world, my own World. Away from stress, sadness and depression. There are two types of worlds that exist in my vocabulary. The RPW or Role Play World and Reality.

In the RPW, I can be who and whatever I wanted to be. I can act as the coolest kid or the richest bitch, but in reality, my life sucks. Boring? Sobra! Ano pa nga ba ang aasahan ko? Hindi naman ako kasing bibo at kasing talino tulad ng iba. Simple lang naman ako, hindi rin masyadong kilala. Invisible sa paningin ng iba, hindi rin masyadong maganda. Wait! Hold on! I take it back! Maganda pala ako hindi lang nag aayos. Charot! Tsk, iyon lang naman ang puhunan ko, ang ganda ko, self-support ika nga.

I'm Meann, 24 years old, a call center agent. Though I get to talk to a lot of people every day over the phone, I don't have a social life. No physical connection and real interactions with people. I was so busy with work on the graveyard shift and when I get home, I was asleep the whole day. Ang saklap hindi ba? Gustuhin ko man lumabas at mag gala wala rin naman akong makakasama. Sumpa sa mga single, plus, tamad is real! Kung hindi sobrang init at humid ay sobrang lakas ng ulan. I'm not being defensive, I'm just making excuses for being an introvert.

I like to stay in my room, for me it's my sanctuary. With my computer I can go where ever I want to go, I rely on the cyber world. The closest thing for me to have an interaction with others was through chat. I'm a chatter and I have lots of friends from around the world. I met all of them through chat. Well, I met some of them in person, through a group EB or Eye Ball and we meet always as a group. Takot kasi ako makipagkita nang nag-iisa mahirap na, sa ganda kong ito baka pa magahasa. Because in chat you're not sure if they are really who they say they are. Besides, I only chatted for pleasure and for fun. But I do hope that someday I may be able to connect with someone.

Due to modern technology and the arrival of new applications, games and social media platforms people became busy and addicted that they've forgotten about the chat sites. You often see chatter's only parked their username/handles in the chatroom, but they are no longer active like they used to. They are so hooked with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, online gambling and other online games. Even if I wanted to talk to someone, nobody is there to chat with me. It's like they are physically present but mentally absent. Well, you know what they say? If you can't beat them join them.

So, I tried online games, first is the RPG (Role Playing Games) or war games. To be honest, I'm not good with instructions and maps. I always got lost in the game and never get to the next round, in the end, I always end up dead. Then, I tried games on Facebook, the farm, and cooking in restaurant or other games similar to that. At first, it was fun and exciting, but in the long run, it became stressful and I started to feel the pressure. I got frustrated when I don't get to harvest the vegetables on time, they all end up spoiled and have to do it all over again. Imagine I have to wake up at midnight just to harvest and plant seeds!

I've been obsessed for a while that I don't get to work properly and instead of attending to a client or doing reports, I was serving meals in my cyber restaurant. Because of the non-stop arrival of my customers who were so hungry for my menu. Oha, kahit man lang sa cyber world marunong akong magluto. I have to cook food enough for all the customers, in order for me to level up. Such a waste of time, effort and a lot of energy. I realized that I'm living in a cyber world and married to a machine. Creepy! Minsan ka na nga lang magkaka-lovelife sa hindi tunay na tao pa. At least in chat sites, I get to chat with a real human being may be a different personality but a human being.

I decided to leave my imaginary kingdom, cyber hacienda, huge farm, high-level restaurant, pet in the fish tank. I gave it all up. Hindi na kasi ako natutuwa, hindi na rin masaya. Sa kagustuhan ko maglibang, at mag tanggal ng stress lalo pa yata ako na-stress.

Sinubukan ko ulit mag-browse sa internet and one site caught my attention. An online game website named "GAME IT ALL". At first, I was like, ah ok, another game again. Heto na naman ako makikipag laro sa machine. But when I started to look at the page and run through the entire site, I saw that there is another option where you can play with another player. A real human being. My eyes widened and to my surprise, there are lots of games and options to choose from.

Hundreds of thousand gamer were active on that site. Curiosity hits me. Bigla akong nakaramdam ng kakaibang saya at excitement sa katawan. Wala naman mawawala kung susubukan ko hindi ba?

Finally, I decided to join and be part of that world. Here goes nothing...