chapter 9:Gaming club

Kashmira said, "Sorry Sudhir sir, but I'm a bit busy today, you have lunch here, I'll place the order."

Sudhir sat at their table and said, "I'll have lunch here today, but how about tomorrow?"

Kashmira replied, "Yes, let's see tomorrow, can't do anything right now if time permits."

Abhimanyu hadn't started eating yet, and he began eating one sandwich from the plate Karishma brought without asking. Karishma didn't say anything either, and both started eating sandwiches. After eating the sandwiches, they both started eating chole bhature from the same plate.

Kashmira said to Abhimanyu, "You guys seem pretty close."

Kashmira asked, "Are you two dating?"

They both said simultaneously, "No, what are you talking about."

Abhimanyu changed the subject and said, "Leave ours, tell us about yours, do you have a boyfriend?"

Kashmira replied, "Not yet, haven't found anyone I like."

Abhimanyu asked, "By the way, what kind of guy do you want?"

Sudhir glanced at Kashmira intently.

Kashmira replied, "Someone who is kind-hearted, helps others, courageous, and capable of achieving something significant."

Sudhir thought to himself, "Now I'll show you that I possess all these qualities."

Abhimanyu inquired, "And how old should he be?"

Kashmira said, "Ideally, he should be of my age."

Sudhir, being 24 years old, felt a surge of excitement upon hearing this.

Just then, Karishma chimed in with a laugh, "Well, even if he's younger than me, that'll do."

Just then, a boy rushed into the canteen, shouting, "There's a fight on the ground!"

In reality, Rohit was storming out in anger upon seeing Abhimanyu sitting with Karishma, and as he passed through the ground, he bumped into Gopal. Gopal began to apologize without realizing who Rohit was when Rohit grabbed him by the collar and said, "Where are you going? Who's going to apologize to you, huh?"

Gopal was about to apologize, but then he remembered Abhimanyu's words that Rohit was also of his age, so why should he be afraid? He replied, "If there's a collision, and it's your fault, you should also apologize."

Rohit angrily pushed him on the ground and retorted, "You're getting the nerve now, huh?"

The tension escalated as Rohit's temper flared, creating a scene in the canteen.

Rohit, fueled by anger because of Abhimanyu, unleashed his fury on Gopal. He started kicking Gopal's stomach. At that moment, Gopal's friends arrived and told Rohit to stop.

Rohit warned, "Today, everyone's tongues have loosened. If I don't stop, then..."

Varun rushed towards Rohit with anger in his eyes, intending to hit him. But Rohit swiftly kicked Varun on the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Rohit remarked, "Good, I was getting bored just hitting one pest anyway."

Then, Rohan and Mohit also charged forward to attack him.

Rohan and Mohit teamed up to attack Rohit, but Rohit swiftly dodged their punches and delivered blows to each of their stomachs, causing them to double over in pain.

Seeing the situation escalate, Abhimanyu and the others intervened, stepping outside.

Kashmira shouted, "Rohit, stop the fight now and come with me to the principal's office immediately!"

Rohit's mood had already soured, feeling like everyone was taking him lightly today. It seemed they had forgotten who Rohit was; he would have to remind them. He said to Kashmira, "If you have the guts, then take me to the principal's office yourself."

As Kashmira stepped forward to take Rohit with her, Sudhir intervened and said, "Rohit, let it go, he's your classmate's teacher."

Kashmira remarked, "I didn't know you were such a coward, Sudhir, but today I'll make sure Rohit accompanies me to the principal's office."

Sudhir retorted, "Oh, Kashmira ji, you don't know, he's the son of a gangster. You might escape from here, but his father won't spare you."

Kashmira replied firmly, "As long as he's a student in this school, he's just a student, and I'll teach him how a student should behave."

As Kashmira continued to advance, the remaining boys from Rohit's group also arrived, totaling only 20 boys for now.

Rohit's gang consists of over 100 boys studying in different schools.

Rohit said, "Let's show this Kashmira who Rohit really is."

Upon his command, five boys stepped forward to attack Kashmira.

Kashmira warned, "If you step forward, I'll report you."

The boys laughed but didn't stop.

One boy had a stick in his hand. Swinging it towards Kashmira, he aimed to hit her.

Abhimanyu swiftly caught his arm and, with a kick, knocked the stick out of his hand, making him fall back. Abhimanyu didn't hit too hard, fearing he might kill him.

Rohit said, "Come on, you've finally shown up. I've been itching for this."

Abhimanyu replied, "Take a shower next time, you won't itch."

Rohit instructed his boys, "Go on, see what you're waiting for."

The other four boys nearby rushed to attack, but Abhimanyu swiftly grabbed one and kicked another, causing him to fall. Seeing this, the third boy considered kicking Abhimanyu, but the one Abhimanyu had grabbed acted as a shield, and he ended up kicking his own friend. Abhimanyu then delivered an elbow strike, causing the third boy to fall, and turning to the fourth one, he kicked him from behind. After that, he struck the first boy with the stick he had taken from them earlier.

Seeing all the boys attacking Abhimanyu at once, Karishma stepped forward and placed herself between them and Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu asked her calmly, "What's wrong? Why are you stopping me?"

Karishma replied, "The principal is here now. If you do anything, he'll take action against you."

Rohit, who hadn't noticed the principal's arrival and was angered by Karishma's intervention to protect Abhimanyu, asked, "Why are you protecting him?"

Karishma responded, "He's my friend, so if you want to fight him, you'll have to fight me too."

Abhimanyu asked Karishma in a teasing tone, "Just a friend?"

Karishma replied, "If I told him more, he might misunderstand and think you're interested, and he'll go to his father to have you beaten up. I don't want to cause trouble for you."

Abhimanyu provocatively asked her, "And what if he finds out that we've slept together several times?"

Karishma replied calmly, "We were kids back then, and let's not discuss this in front of others."

Just then, the principal arrived and asked, "What's going on here?"

Seeing the boys on the ground and Abhimanyu holding a stick, the principal assumed Abhimanyu was beating the other boys.

In anger, the principal said, "I thought you came here on a scholarship to study, but you're engaging in hooliganism."

Kashmira immediately interjected, "No, sir, you've misunderstood. Rohit was the one engaging in hooliganism, Abhimanyu was just..."

The principal interrupted her abruptly, saying, "Enough! I can see who has the stick in their hand. Abhimanyu, to my office immediately!"

Seeing the boys on the ground and Abhimanyu holding a stick, the principal assumed Abhimanyu was beating the other boys.

In anger, the principal said, "I thought you came here on a scholarship to study, but you're engaging in hooliganism."

Kashmira immediately interjected, "No, sir, you've misunderstood. Rohit was the one engaging in hooliganism, Abhimanyu was just..."

The principal interrupted her abruptly, saying, "Enough! I can see who has the stick in their hand. Abhimanyu, to my office immediately!"

In reality, as soon as the principal heard Rohit's name, everything became clear to him. However, he didn't want to confront Rohit, so he decided to ignore everything else and focus on punishing Abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu entered the principal's office, followed by Karishma, Aliya, and Kashmira. Sudhir also joined them, trailing behind Kashmira.

Upon reaching the principal's office, the principal stated, "Your punishment is to clean the sports gym."

Abhimanyu asked, "But what am I being punished for?"

The principal replied, "For fighting with other students and causing trouble in school."

Abhimanyu questioned, "Did you witness it yourself, or is there a witness to this?"

The principal said, "I may not have seen you fighting, but I saw the stick in your hand."

Abhimanyu asked, "Which stick? My hands are empty."

The principal said, "Are you trying to fool me?"

Abhimanyu replied, "Now you're saying this, but you must have been mistaken. If there was a stick in my hand, where is it now? If there's no evidence or witness against me, why do you think I'll accept any punishment?"

The principal was not prepared for Abhimanyu to demand evidence, so he said, "The entire school saw you fighting."

Abhimanyu said, "Sir, what are you saying? No one here can attest to me being involved in a fight at school."

The principal looked around at everyone present, but no one said anything. He glanced at Sudhir because he knew Sudhir wouldn't want to confront Rohit either.

Sudhir liked Kashmira, and he didn't want to get into trouble with Rohit, so he stayed silent to impress Kashmira.

Abhimanyu smiled and said, "If you have nothing else to say, then I'll take my leave," and then he walked away from there.

Abhimanyu smiled and said, "So, we should participate in club activities after lunch."

Karishma, elaborating, said, "Yes, there are many clubs here in school for students like the dancing club, singing club, swimming club, basketball club, football club, gymnastics club, kabaddi club, running club, cricket club, and judo club. And yes, there is also a student council that manages school events and matters like the budget."

Abhimanyu asked, "Can a student join two or three clubs?"

Karishma answered, "Yes, they can. In fact, some students are in two or three clubs, like Aliya and some other girls who are in both the singing and dancing clubs."

Abhimanyu asked, "Is it necessary to choose these clubs?"

Karishma replied, "No, it's not necessary, but students get extra credits, experience, and points from these clubs, which are very helpful for their future careers."

Abhimanyu asked, "Which club are you in?"

Karishma said, "I'm in the student council."

Abhimanyu asked, "So what should I do now?"

Karishma said, "At this time, many new students join the school, so they visit various clubs to decide which one to choose. Also, if a club has fewer than four members, it can be disbanded, and you can even start a new club. You should visit all the clubs with at least five members because besides these clubs, there are many others in the school."

Then the bell rang, and Karishma said, "I have to go to the student council now, so bye," and then she started to leave.

Aliya said, "I also have to go, bye," and both of them left from there. Sudhir had already left earlier, so only Kashmira was left there. She was also about to leave when Abhimanyu grabbed her hand and said, "You come too."

Kashmira said, "Club activities are only for 11th and 12th graders. I have to go take the junior kids' class, bye," and then she also left from there.

Abhimanyu thought to himself, "Let's just explore the clubs then. Anyway, there was nothing like this in my school." He started visiting each club one by one, which was quite enjoyable. While visiting all the clubs, Abhimanyu suddenly saw a gaming club.

Abhimanyu thought to himself as he approached the gaming club, "This looks quite interesting."

He observed several students playing video games together in the club, which seemed very enjoyable.

Abhimanyu thought, "This could be a good way to spend my time."

Upon seeing Abhimanyu, the club leader, named Vayu, welcomed him. Vayu's nickname was "The Immortal Warrior" because whenever he played the game, it seemed like no one could defeat him, although he had lost several times, yet everyone still referred to him as "The Immortal Warrior."

As Vayu approached him, he said, "Hey bro, my name is The Immortal Warrior. Would you like to try the battlefield?"

Abhimanyu asked, "The Immortal Warrior?"

Vayu explained the rules of the club to him, then he said, "You seem new to the gaming field, so let me explain this game to you. It's an online game where some people are spawned in one place. You can play this game with either solo or with a team of four players. Whether you play in a team or solo, you have to defeat all the spawned enemies to win."

Abhimanyu, sitting in front of the computer, asked if playing games in school is considered an activity.

Vayu explained that this club didn't exist before, but about four years ago, online gaming became quite popular, and after our insistence, gaming started to be seen as an online sport, and that's when this club was established.

By then, Abhimanyu had already started the battlefield. Vayu connected the headphones to the computer and said, "Don't forget to wear the headphones. This way, you'll know from which direction the enemy is coming and where they are."

Then, Vayu taught him how to create a new ID and asked him to choose a nickname. Without much thought, Abhimanyu chose his secret nickname, "Black Demon."

Vayu, upon seeing Abhimanyu's nickname, said, "Wow, your name choice is good, but it seems this name might already be taken, and indeed a message popped up saying that this ID has been created."

Then Vayu said, "Just a minute," and afterward, he wrote "Black Demon" in some special characters, which still read as "Black Demon" but with different designs for some characters. This worked, and the ID was created. Then he said, "Choose Team Death, it ends quickly."

Abhimanyu clicked on it and started the game. Tutorials started coming up. Abhimanyu carefully read through all the tutorials and positioned his fingers on the keys.

Vayu could tell that Abhimanyu was playing a game for the first time. Just then, the match started, which was a four versus four battle. Abhimanyu chose a gun and took cover, but his teammates started advancing and killing everyone in their path, earning points for their team. Vayu said, "Bro, if you sit here, how will you get kills?"

Abhimanyu had understood how to play the game by now. He noticed that his team kept respawning frequently, meaning they could respawn as many times as they wanted, and points were distributed accordingly. He observed that the enemy's kill points had crossed 20.

Abhimanyu then saw an opponent approaching. He immediately aimed for the head, and a shot hit the opponent's head. However, the intense recoil caused his gun to fire towards the sky.

Chuckling, Vayu said, "Bro, there's recoil in this too, so when you fire it like a real gun, the recoil makes it go up."

In his mind, Abhimanyu thought, "If someone fires a gun for the first time, they might not know that the barrel rises due to the force." He asked, "How do you control recoil?"

Vayu replied, "Move the mouse slightly downwards as if you're trying to lower the gun."

Abhimanyu respawned again, attempted to fire sideways, followed by what he needed to do next, and then he eliminated everyone and won the game. After that, he didn't give a single kill to anyone else, not even his team, and he became the MVP.

Vayu said, "That's great, you've learned well. Since you're a new player, you'll also encounter new enemies with us."

Abhimanyu nodded, and then Vayu added him to the team and started the battlefield mode. Vayu instructed him, "In this mode, if we get killed once, we won't respawn, so play carefully."

Abhimanyu understood that this mode was a bit more realistic than the previous one, but he was still able to eliminate everyone comfortably, impressing even Vayu with his gaming skills. Abhimanyu was treating it like his training and was strategizing to eliminate everyone. He realized he could develop new tactics and practice his mindset. Vayu was surprised by his planning. They continued playing the game until they took a break, with Abhimanyu winning every time and receiving all the credit.

Vayu said, "Bro, you play really well. I can't believe this was your first gaming experience. Would you like to join our club? You'll thrive in the world of e-sports. We're even aiming to win the E-sports Battlefield Cup this time."

The club had various other e-sports games that were played competitively, and they practiced for e-sports competitions. Teams were formed for all types of e-sports games, and anyone could play any game. While they had won at least once in other games, they hadn't won even once in Battlefield. This time, Vayu seemed hopeful, saying, "Bro, if we win the competition, there's a prize of five lakhs."

Abhimanyu wasn't particularly interested in the five lakhs, but here, he could train his mind. So, he agreed to join.

Vayu promptly took out a form, filled it, and kept it with him, saying, "It's necessary to register, so let's go for the welcome party. Let's head to the restaurant outside the school."

All of them arrived at the restaurant with their bags. Abhimanyu had informed Karishma beforehand, so she mentioned that she was also heading to the same restaurant with Aliya and the other girls.

Upon reaching, they found only one table vacant, while the other tables were already occupied by students. Karishma and the girls were seated at one table. Without saying anything, Abhimanyu sat at the table with Vayu and the other boys from the club. They ordered special samosas and cold drinks and began chatting. There were about eight boys at the table. One of them, named Pankaj, said, "Bro, this time we'll definitely bring the trophy home."

Abhimanyu replied, "Confidence is necessary, but overconfidence isn't. It's not necessary that I can win every game."

Pankaj insisted, "But bro, you play really well. With you on our team, our chances of winning are high."

Abhimanyu said, "And if for some reason I couldn't participate in the competition, then you should have confidence in yourself, and if you don't, then practice until you're confident."

Sanjay, who was the other guy with them, said, "Bro, this is really motivating."

By then, their order had arrived. They clinked glasses and started eating samosas, taking sips from their glasses one by one.

Manoj, another guy who mostly talked to the girls, said, "By the way, have you noticed that the teenage girls are also sitting here nowadays? They have become quite famous, and Aliya has become even more beautiful during these holidays."

Vayu said, "You always keep talking about girls, but when it's time to talk, you go silent."

Manoj replied, "I don't go silent, I just get nervous, and then the words don't come out right."