Introduction

In 2020, Shawn Enfis, who was still a 16 year old, nerdy student, became the most skilled and popular gamer in the whole world. People call him, "Bushman" because of how well and intelligent he is able to use a sniper rifle, whether it was a bolt-action or a semi-automatic rifle, he'd get a straight up kill by headshot, and no one can outmatch him, even a slight chance. Knowing that his career grew strongly in such a short notice, he thought that his life was complete and safe from any possible threat that could break his career.

As Shawn finished college and reached 24, his life was now in eternal satisfaction. Then, all of the sudden, Harvey Lanchester, Damian Price, and Samantha Holman, released an early access VR game called, "WARFARE". WAFARE is a high-quality MMORPG, consisting of realism, complex customizations, sci-fi, modern civilization, and of course WAR!

After a while, the game got officially released. In just under a few months, only 6% of the population of gamers were left, playing PC games and not "WARFARE". Mostly because they couldn't afford a VR headset, or even had the skills to play the game using their own bodies instead of a mouse and keyboard, or a controller.

But what's even more worse was his reputation! Ever since the game became a huge success, his fame went from absolute triumph to an instant downfall.

"This is unacceptable!" Shawn thought, slamming his fist unto his computer desk as his camouflage themed headphones fell to the ground, making a light thud.

Three knocks came from the door, then it opened, seeing half of Jack's body, Shawn's gaming partner and roommate, smiled and said, "Hey, bud. I'm heading off to a friend's house. He's gonna help me how to play WARFARE! Wanna come?"

"Sorry, I'll have to manage something first." Shawn responded, staring at the computer while browsing through random websites. At Jack's point of view, he couldn't see what's on the computer, so he assumed it was something important.

"Look, I know it was tough and hard for you to have finally reached the top and then got left out, all of the sudden..." Jack paused after seeing Shawn's grip tightening the mouse, then let out a long sigh and added, "But I'm always here to get you back up. That is if you're ready." He left and closed the door, leaving Shawn all alone in the room, only the sound of a ceiling fan could be heard.

"Arghh!!! What's the point of keeping myself locked in this computer! There's no hope in this..." Shawn thought, tears flowed out from the corners of his eyes and fell unto the keyboard, then continued to think, "Even my tournament squad abandoned me, as if it wasn't a big deal to them at all! Not even a single one of them talked to me about quitting the team, but I'm their squadron leader! Only Jack was in touch."

Shawn couldn't hold unto himself any longer, then threw his wireless neon dragon themed mouse towards the wall behind him and let out a loud scream. The room had soundproofed walls, so no one could've heard him scream at all.

After a while, Shawn walked out of his room, then got out of the apartment, wearing a dark blue hoodie and some unwashed khaki pants. The hoodie had a big squadron logo that covered the back portion of the hoodie, it has a shoulder patch on its left shoulder, that had Shawn's nickname, "Bushman" on it, then on the right side has his name on it. But what made the fans of his squad get attracted by their looks was their slogan, written on the front of his and all of his fellow members' hoodie that said, "I Am A Soldier". Still, it was so cliche but effective in making other gamers believe that they could achieve what Shawn and the others had accomplished all throughout the years. But, that was all in past now.

Shawn went to a food park, 5 blocks away from his apartment, bought a decent meal that costed him only a decent amount of money from his wallet, sat at an empty table, then started to dig in. The weather was getting colder, assuming that winter would come sooner or later, luckily he decided to go for the hoodie instead of a plain white T-shirt.

"Shawn! Shawn!" A familiar voice came from behind Shawn while he was still savoring the delicious food, but he stopped then turned around and wondered who it was.

It was Eve Hawkins! A famous YouTuber known for her sweet and beautiful looks, she has over 8 million subscribers but wasn't a professional gamer. Though, Eve would usually come to Shawn for some help in playing games that she couldn't handle without a guide. Her long and silky black hair was so glamorous, along with her colorful, rainbow sequenced hoodie and tight jeans, she looked absolutely stunning!

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Shawn asked while he was in shock upon seeing Eve, he did not expect to meet up with her again, at all.

Eve walked up to Shawn, sat on a seat, opposite to him and said, "Oh, you know. Catching up with a little friend of mine in the new game called "WARFARE". I mean, how much cooler would this game be if it had a huge upcoming update?!"

After hearing her describing the uniqueness of the game, Shawn started lowering his head in shame, but continued to drink his soda in a meantime.

"Oh, I-I uhh..." Eve didn't know what to do anymore and thought, "Right! I forgot that his reputation got down real fast after the release. I need to say something, quick!" Then she finally broke the silence and said, "How are yo-"

"There's no need for you to say that. It's quite obvious of my current status and it's been really rough on me nowadays..." Shawn coldly interrupted on Eve, then continued to speak, "I'm just history now."

"Look. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had the courage to do my best in becoming a famous YouTuber. You can still be the man I used to look up to!" Eve replied in a fierce tone. The people around the food park sooner realized that she was chatting with Shawn, then gossips started filling up the air.

Shawn was much more unwilling to finish his meal and stared at Eve, not minding the people who kept whispering over and over about what they're witnessing.

Eve stood up and said as she was about to walk away, "Listen, you can't just give up. Not now, not yet. You're my idol, and I've shown you my full support throughout the past years. But, it's too early for your career to end."

"What's the point. I don't even have a VR headset. I can't play the game." Shawn kept a cold tone everytime he spoke, setting aside his unfinished meal.

"I can help you! Well..." Eve's face made a light blush after jumping up while gently slamming both her hands unto the table "Y-you know, i-if you want to." She added and withdrew her hands.

Shawn's eyes lit up for a bit, not knowing what to reply, he was speechless at that moment.

Eve walks closer to Shawn and bends slightly to reach the same level as his ear, her long and luscious hair ran down his shoulder and neck, feeling a tingling yet unimaginable sensation as her sweet scent of perfume passed unto him, whispering, "There's a private internet cafe that I usually go to play WARFARE. Meet me there if you want." Then she walks away, waving goodbye with a cute smile on her face before disappearing into the crowds.

Shawn was awestruck. Upon realizing that his apartment's curfew was almost time, he ran as fast as possible and made it back to his room in only a few minutes.

Jack was already in the room, on his bed, texting a friend through his phone. After seeing Shawn enter, he immediately sat straight up and puts his phone away, "Where were you?" He asked.

"I had to eat outside, luckily I didn't miss the curfew." Shawn replied, taking off his hoodie and wearing a white T-shirt instead, then jumped unto his own bed.

In their room, they had separate beds, placed on each corner. The two computer desks were near the door, the cabinets at the other corners which are facing at the door. The room was a bit small but they somehow managed to organize their room well and neatly.

"Oh. I almost forgot. Eve said that she takes the subway at 7:00 am and she'll take you to the place she mentioned. If you don't make it, she won't be there to wait for you furthermore." Jack said in a kind manner, then smirked, looking at Shawn, "I know you're up to something!"

"F*ck off, man! It's none of your business." Shawn pouted and looked away from Jack, then added, "Besides, how did you even know about this?"

"Your computer was still on when you were away, so I helped myself and looked through your account, then came the text from Eve. After that, I turned it off." Jack said, chuckling for a bit then lied down on his bed.

"Ugh..." Shawn sighed and fell asleep afterwards, so did Jack in the next hour. One thing that Shawn could never argue with Jack was his honesty, he's always loyal to Shawn, even after the game release, "Alright, it's time to man up, for once." He thought before falling asleep.