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“Damn it!” Nene cursed, threatening to toss her phone across the rooftop, but held it tight instead, taking a breath before calming down.
Rui, who’d been sitting beside her while eating his lunch, turned to her. “Something wrong?”
She sighed, rubbing her head before turning her phone off and pocketing it. “It’s this new FPS game, it's pissing me off. It's just a glorified gacha game with a million different microtransactions for useless in-game currency. Plus, loot boxes for cosmetics that add absolutely nothing! The gameplay isn't even engaging, but I'm still here torturing myself like some kind of masochist!”
Now, Rui had been one for jargon. With a head stuffed full of random mechanical engineering terms and enough mathematical equations and scientific theories and laws to stump even the most knowledgeable STEM student, even he couldn't decipher half of what Nene just said.
“I… see…” (He didn’t, really.) “What’s the name?”
“Gun&Go. Why?”
“No reason. Are you starting another round?”
“Obviously.” She took her phone back out and opened it, beginning a new match.
♫彡*:･ﾟ✧
When Rui returned home that day, he sat at his desk and pulled out his phone, searching the App Store for the game.
This… was the first time he had ever played a game—a game that wasn't just Sudoku or Chess online. A black screen asked him to choose a name and a password.
USERNAME: kamirobo624
PASSWORD: bG1hbyBnYXk=
He started a Free-For-All match and noticed a chat system in the top right, notifying which player killed which, sprinkled with a few messages from other players.
fernmossy1: dex hacks
DEX_GAMERBOY: wtf
DEX_GAMERBOY: your js trash kid shut up
fernmossy1: ur using aimbot you shot me through the wall
DEX_GAMERBOY: L
Rui blinked. It felt as if he were reading another language entirely. There were so many abbreviations and slang terms he could hardly wrap his head around. At least he knew wtf when he asked Nene one time. ‘What the flip,’ of course. A common abbreviation used to express frustration, though Rui didn’t know why people asked what “the flip” was in anger. There were simply some things he needed to roll with that escaped any sense of logical reasoning.
But what did “js” mean? Or an “aimbot?” They had robots in the game? Well, at least now he was more intrigued, if that was the case. And did DEX forget to finish their sentence at the end?
He scratched his head, so thoroughly confused he’d forgotten he pressed PLAY to begin with. Suddenly, his screen flashed red as sounds of gunfire came his way. In seconds, he was dead. The game gave two options: RESPAWN and MENU. He picked the latter, needing first to do his research on online terminology before he could interact within the community.
And in the back of his mind, he hoped he could get closer to Nene through this.
♫彡*:･ﾟ✧
After a thorough search in his local library, Rui found a book entitled New to the Web: A Beginner’s Comprehensive Guide to Internet Language and Terminology and brought it back home. When he sat at his desk to read it, let’s just say it was the equivalent of a sheltered kid trying crack for the first time. Once he started, it was hard to stop.
He read aloud nearly incomprehensible words, getting used to the strange and almost nonsensical spellings. “A common speech pattern found on the internet is Leetspeak,” he read, “where users would replace letters with numbers similar in shape… I used to do this with my calculator back then.” He laughed to himself, closing the book and feeling enlightened. He turned on his phone and opened Gun&Go, ready to start interacting with wonderful people on the net.
He went to his profile and changed his username, changing all the vowels into numbers. It felt gratifying.
♫彡*:･ﾟ✧
She finally caved in.
Nene bought a damn cosmetic—a cute cat-themed weapon skin set—because God forbid she wanted to shoot bullets out of a Calico’s mouth. The reloading animation was also just stretching the cat out in your hands; it was hard to resist!
Maybe in another life she’d have uninstalled the game by now, but she already spent money, so that meant she couldn’t give it up until she made her money’s worth. (Or, the trap she usually fell for, continue to spend money on random skins.)
She hopped on the game, getting into a 1v1 match against another player named k4m1r0b0624. Whatever the hell that meant. At the very least, it wasn’t a slur… or at least one she’s heard of before.
Just a glance at his stats, Nene noticed that they had a staggeringly low kill count and level. Of course, she was only a few levels above him and only started playing yesterday, but her years of experience made her overqualified for her current rank. She felt almost bad, beating up a new player, but it didn’t matter much. This would be a quick Band-Aid peel for whoever this kid was.
The two loaded in, spawning on opposite sides of the map—a giant cargo ship. Nene navigated through containers and reached the other side of the ship, where the deck was, and found nothing. Before she could react, a barrage of shots came from behind her, killing her within seconds.
k4m1r0b0624: ezez lololol
Oh. So that’s how it was going to be.
Maybe she would give them some leniency if they were truly a beginner and couldn’t aim for shit, but it was as if war had been declared. She raced through the map, back to where she died, carefully checking corners for anybody… yet nothing. When she checked inside the ship, they threw a flashbang. She shot in every direction, the screen completely white, so much so that she didn’t hear the grenade before it exploded in her face. How the hell did this kid keep one-upping her???
k4m1r0b0624: haha get pwned nub xD
And why the hell did they keep messaging like that??
p0meloo: wtf is wrong with u literally nobdy talks like that anymore???
k4m1r0b0624: wut rlly?
p0meloo: YES???
k4m1r0b0624: idc xD get r3kt
That was her last straw.
She stormed through the ship, immediately finding them and gunning them down. She chased them down to the other end of the map and killed them only a few seconds after they spawned.
k4m1r0b0624: bruhhh ur spawn camping me
p0meloo: ill stop if u apologize
k4m1r0b0624: xD newb
p0meloo: get slimed loser
k4m1r0b0624: wuts slime?
She found their character again and shot them dead, winning the match. She smiled but then realized she was hunched over like a shrimp and quickly sat back up properly. That was enough to rank her up, so thankfully she never had to see their face again—
A message popped up in her inbox.
k4m1r0b0624: ok mayb i wuz a lil rude, im srry
She sighed, holding back from rolling her eyes before she replied.
p0meloo: its fine. js dont act like that again, its rude
k4m1r0b0624: got it! thx
There—it was solved. They apologized, and Nene could finally rest, chug an energy drink before starting another hour-long marathon. Forget about this interaction like any other weird interaction she’s had before.
Yet, there was a question on her mind…
p0meloo: why in the world do u talk like that tho?? do u live in the past or something
They typed something out, deleted it, and sent,
k4m1r0b0624: wdym?
p0meloo: like… idk, but its outdated
k4m1r0b0624: what? t4lkin lik this aint lit anymore?
p0meloo: yes?
k4m1r0b0624: then wut is k00l these days?
Nene rubbed at her temple, wondering if this guy was some thirty-year-old wanting to relate to his son.
p0meloo: idrk?? anything ig. theres too many trends and memes to catch up on, its hard to keep track on what really is cool
k4m1r0b0624: wut abt dabbing? fidget spinners? bottle flips?
She felt her eye twitch.
p0meloo: those havent been cool since like 2019. where did u evn learn this stuf??
k4m1r0b0624: a b00k fam
That explained it.
p0meloo: is it with you right now? check the date it was published
k4m1r0b0624: ye hold on
k4m1r0b0624: oh
k4m1r0b0624: itz fr0m 2017
p0meloo: yeah, there’s your problem
k4m1r0b0624: so
k4m1r0b0624: ive ben talkin lk a boomer this whole time?
p0meloo: …its ‘unc’ now, but yeah. U have
k4m1r0b0624: I sincerely apologize for my childish behavior and my inept research. And for being an ‘unc.’ I hope that’s not an offensive term?
Nene’s jaw barely dropped at the sudden tone shift, but she just went with it anyway—definitely a thirty-year-old.
p0meloo: what are you trying to do anyway
k4m1r0b0624: You see, I have this friend who is quite interested in online gaming. I wanted to find something to relate to her with, since we don’t have much in common.
k4m1r0b0624: This is my first-ever online gaming experience, to be honest. Unless playing against other people on chess.com counts. These kind of games aren’t exactly my fortè.
p0meloo: i guess?
p0meloo: but youre not js forcing yourself or anything tho, right?
k4m1r0b0624: Not at all! This match has been amusing and eye-opening. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
k4m1r0b0624: Though I would like to ask for your advice, if that’s alright.
p0meloo: abt the game or your friend/
p0meloo: ?
k4m1r0b0624: Both, if that’s alright?
p0meloo: well, u got the game down tbf. i dont see ppl use tactics like that often
p0meloo: u got me at first
p0meloo: but it does get tired after a while
p0meloo: so when i came in at full brute force, u didnt know what to do
p0meloo: a lot of the time, u will need to think on ur feet
p0meloo: so trying to plan things out in advance can only get u so far
k4m1r0b0624: Understood.
p0meloo: and for your friend…
p0meloo: js keep at it. youre already doing enough
p0meloo: im sure shell appreciate it
p0meloo: for a beginner, you learn quick
k4m1r0b0624: I see.
k4m1r0b0624: I appreciate your help. Thank you.
p0meloo: its aight
p0meloo: i gtg take a break for now
p0meloo: gl to you
She turned off her phone and stretched on her bedside, yawning. That match was certainly… eventful. Whatever this person was going through with their friend, she wished the best for them. It was already thoughtful enough, wasn’t it? To try something out of your comfort zone for someone else.
It reminded her of how Rui would sometimes play with her whenever he came over. He’d play as Luigi in Super Mario, or Mugman in Cuphead… granted, he almost always died within a few minutes—sometimes seconds—but the thought and effort were there.
Her heart panged dull, but that was something she’d consider in the future. Right now, she really needed that energy drink.
♫彡*:･ﾟ✧
Back on the rooftop at lunch, Nene lay down on a bench, head in Rui’s lap as she held her phone out, about to start a new match on Gun&Go.
“Oh, you’re playing?” Rui asked.
Nene hummed in response.
“Mind if I join?”
Nene choked on her own spit, coughing as she sat up. “W-What? You… You have an account?”
“Of course. I started playing just yesterday.” Rui took his phone out, showing his account and username.
“YOU’RE THAT GUY?!” Nene’s jaw dropped to the floor.
Rui blinked and finally noticed Nene’s account. “Oh.” He glanced between both their screens, then at her face. “Ohhhhh.”
“Wait—Kamirobo… Okay, you know what? That’s on me, I really should’ve known sooner.” She deflated, shoulders hunching. “You really started playing for me? Seriously?”
He nodded, and he looked… flustered. Nene never thought she’d see him like this in her lifetime. “A bit embarrassing that I got advice from the same person I was trying to… ha.”
“Rui, you really didn’t have to… I should be the one doing more for you! Sometimes it almost feels like I don’t…”
“That’s nonsense, Nene. Of course, I don’t expect you to get into mechanical engineering, I just thought that this could bring us together… Perhaps we could play more games together, too.”
“You big idiot…” Nene sniffed, shaking him by the shoulder. “We’re doing an unranked 2v2. I’m carrying you.”
He smiled and accepted her party request. “Yes, thank you, Pomelo. Maybe you can go in all guns-a-blazing, and I’ll pull the same tricks I pulled yesterday?”
“That… That could work, yeah,” she said as the two loaded into the match, showing the two players they were fighting against were two leaderboard players. She gulped.
Rui laughed. “I don’t suppose we’re going to get ‘slimed?’”
“Please, don’t force yourself to use slang. It sounds so weird coming from you.”
“Got it.”
They proceeded to get absolutely wiped across the floor, but to them, that was fine. Spending time with each other felt enough, just like it always has.