Chapter 4

Our Impenetrable Love

Chapter 4: 1 versus 1

“Ang kapal naman ng mukha!” Bulyaw niya at napaayos ng upo nang mabasa iyon. Talagang aalukin siya nito makapag-1v1 porke’t nanalo sila sa laro kahapon!

She was right. He really is such an obnoxious guy! Naisipan niya lang naming i-accept ito dahil manonood siya sa mga laro nito at pagtatawanan ito. You can only spectate in their game if you’re friends, ayon ang plano niya. She didn’t expect that the reason why he added her was because of this 1v1 game! They’re not even close for him to ask her that. Natapakan siguro ang pride nito dahil isang beses lang siyang napatay ng Xhyro na iyon habang apat na beses niya itong napatay.

“Takot siguro ‘to at mas magaling ako sa kaniya, e!” tumawa siya. “Syempre hindi ako magpapatalo!”

Gaming is her stress reliever and always has been. Hindi exception ang araw na ito dahil kailangan niya talagang ilabas ang pagod niya sa larong iyon. Huh, mabuti at inalok siya nito. Ito na naman ang mapagbubuntunan niya ng galit!

VS: Gen: g

Napangisi siya. Akala ata ng Xhyro na iyon ay dahil shotgun ang gamit niya no’ng isang araw, hindi na ito magaling mag sniper. In almost 2 years of playing COD, of course she’s a flexible player. Magaling din siya sa assault rifles, SMG, pati na rin ang LMG. All these guns are obviously right up her alley as well, pero walang nakakapantay para sa kaniya sa shotgun. All it takes is a bit of gyroscope and quick moves.

*gyroscope – in gaming, gamers are able to direct the moves and direction of their characters by moving their phone, tablet, etc (motion sense).

“Tagal mag-invite neto, inaantok na ‘ko,” reklamo niya. She isn’t normally tired by 9 PM, but because of her overwhelming workload today, all she wants to do is rest after a few games.

Legendary naman na ang rank niya which is the highest rank, at pagkatapos no’n ay pataasan nalang ng points. So far, she has over 60k points—which is a lot, considering the fact that each game gives you around 20-50 points depending on your gameplay, and if you lose, that’s a minus around the same number, maybe even more.

Ang technique lang kasi roon, pagkatapos ng end season kung saan magre-reset ang mga rank at bababa ng dalawang rank, isa o dalawang araw lang ang grind para makapag-legendary agad. From there, you just want to keep playing until your points are high. Minsan ay alas tres na siya inaabot kalalaro lang ng ranked games.

Napabalikwas siya nang makita ang invite nito sa kan’ya. Hindi niya alam kung bakit bigla siyang kinabahan gayong may tiwala naman siya sa sniping skills niya!

Okay, she admits. Mas magaling ito sa kaniya base sa napanood niya nang dumaan ito sa feed niya, pero hinding-hindi siya magpapatalo, ‘no! Sadyang mabigat lang ang sniper sa kaniya kumpara sa shotgun.

Xhyro Gaming has invited you – Team Deathmatch: Killhouse.

“Relax, Gen. Ang galing galing mo mag-sniper! Mas magaling mag sg, pero sige, pwede na rin,” pangungumbinsi niya sa sarili bago pindutin ang accept.

She made sure her mic is off while they were at the lobby, silent. Pwede kasing mag on-mic dito pero sa mismong laro ay hindi na nila maririnig ang isa’t isa, pero hindi naman bukas ang mic nito at gano’n din siya.

She almost jumped off her seat and her eyes widened when she heard noises from him. Kinumpirma niyang nakabukas ang mic nito at sa tabi ng profile nito ay may speaker na symbol, kaya sigurado siyang bukas ang mic ni Xhyro!

“Shit,” mura niya at nataranta, hindi alam ang gagawin. “Ba’t naka-on mic ang isang ‘to?!”

All she heard were fan noises without any voice. Baka naman namali lang ito at napindot lang ang on mic? Kahit na gano’n, nanatili siyang tahimik.

“Hi?”

Nalaglag ang panga niya nang magsalita ito. Her lips unconsciously formed into a smile when she heard his voice because even fucking actresses would bow down to such a deep and husky voice like that! Hindi niya inaasahan ito at sa napakinggan niya naman sa video niya ay hindi naman ganoon kalalim ang boses nito!

God, bedroom voices really are different!

Hindi siya nagsalita at patuloy lang sa paglunok at parang natameme siya sa boses nito. What does he look like right now with his long hair, always tied to a ponytail?

Umiling-iling siya at sinampal ang sarili. Get your shit together, Genevieve!

“Start ko na ‘to. Mag-sniper ka, ha? Marunong ka naman ata magbasa,” he chuckled.

Agad na tumaas ang kilay niya. Kung sana pagkatapos ng ‘hi’, e nag-off mic na siya, mas matatanggap niya pa! Talagang makapal ang pagmumukha nito!

Tumikhim siya nang ilang beses bago i-on ang mic niya.

“Edi start mo!” sigaw niya.

She turned her mic off and covered her mouth. Did she sound like a boy? Hindi niya naman inipit ang boses niya, diba? Baka boses nanghahamon ng bardagulan na iyon.

Bahala na. Basta ang importante ay matalo niya si Xhyro.

“Ay, babae nga,” he remarked with a sexy laugh. “Goodluck, Miss Shotgun user Gen.”

“Walang good luck sa’yo,” she said to him boredly.

Bago pa man siya nakasalita ulit, he started the game already. Here we go, 1 versus 1. She’s confident she can at least kill him a few times, but kill him 15 times first? She hardly doubts that. Kung ibang baril ang labanan, baka nanalo pa siya. But she’s determined to get back to him, kaya talagang aayusin niya ang laro.

The countdown started. She has the upper hand in this because aside from the fact that he streams and she’s seen some videos of his, nakalaro niya na rin ito at medyo alam na ang iba nitong galaw. But she’s going to lose if he gets serious, alam niya iyon. Pero dahil hindi nito alam na maalam din siya mag-sniper, hula niya kung may puso pa naman ito ay dadahan-dahanin lang nito ang laro, he won’t be too aggressive.

“Girl, ginawa niya talaga ‘yung naiisip ko!” She laughed out loud and held her stomach while she literally rolled on the bed, laughing.

“Mabait naman pala ‘to ng very slight, e!” komento niya. He’s obviously just teasing and going easy with her dahil akala nito shotgun lang siya marunong!

Pinakitaan siya nito at siya ang unang pinatay. However, after respawning, he just kept playing around while she pretends she doesn’t know how to use sniper!

Natawa siya nang makita ang chat nito sa laro. Hindi nila maririnig ang isa’t isa, ngunit pwede naman sila mag-usap sa chat.

XhyroGaming: ano, seryosohin ko na ba? baka umiyak ka diyan ‘wag ka mag quit ha

Muli siyang natawa at hindi ito nireplayan. She fixed her position and got ready to be serious in the game.

One. Napatay niya ito nang pa-chill chill lang ito sa gitna. He didn’t expect she’d make a move.

Two. Naisip niya sigurong naka-chamba lang siya sa una pero nang mag-respawn ito ay inabangan niya muli kaya napatay niya na naman si Xhyro.

Came the third, fourth, and fifth. Sunod-sunod niyang napapatay si Xhyro at tawang-tawa naman siya roon at lamang siya sa laro.

On the sixth where he respawned again, ramdam niya na ang higpit sa laban dahil nararamdaman niyang nagseseryoso na ito.

She laughed. He’s still restricting a bit. Hindi pa ito sobrang magalaw kagaya sa napapanood niya, which means this isn’t his full potential yet and she’s going to take that to her advantage.

When they tied at 10-10 and there’s only five kills left until someone wins, halos maduling siya sa bilis nila gumalaw.

“Napapractice ang sniper skills ko rito, ah!” Natawa siya habang sobrang lapit na ng cellphone niya sa mata niya at hindi niya na ito matamaan.

14-14. Fuck, she’s never going to make it! Masyado itong naging agresibo at nahalata na siguro nitong gumagamit din siya ng sniper at hindi nakaka-chamba lang. Well, her gyroscope is 300 and she knows how to use that to her advantage. This means only a little move of her to her phone will automatically move her character’s perspective.

Then, she saw an opening. Habang naglalabanan sila sa gitna, bigla nalang itong tumigil.

She took that chance to quick scope him and immediately kill him, making her the victor.

“Sorry ka nalang, Xhyro!” Tumawa siya nang makarating sila sa lobby at nag-on mic siya para marinig siya nito. “I win on this one!”

Malakas ang kabog ng dibdib niya nang makitang nagbukas ulit ito ng mic.

“Hala, gago,” rinig niyang mura nito. And why does that cuss sound sexy to her? “Inagaw ng pinsan ko, e! Hindi ako ‘yon! Isa pa!”