War Grounds

Al was jerking in tears as he fumbled his way through the phone's formatting interface. He kept on cl.i.c.k.i.n.g the different parts of the screen, hoping that his previous actions would be undone. Unfortunately, nothing happened.

'Come on! Come on! All of this is just a joke, right?' Al was now terribly shaking his phone, but the system reboot kept ongoing.

After another three minutes, a system prompt popped up.

[Restart completed. SARS successfully installed.]

'What?' Al was dumbfounded, to the point that he had dropped his phone. Fortunately, he was sitting on his bed at that time, and the gadget safely landed on the blanket.

The boy felt uncomfortable due to the sudden changes. His accounts, applications, connections, and every file on the phone were now all gone. He was shaking in fear as he worried about the mishap when suddenly, a mechanical voice sounded. It jolted him back to the present.

[Hello, Loser. My name is SARS.]

'Kill me now!' Al was spooked out, his mouth gaped, and his eyes enlarged as he scrambled his way to the room's door.

[Warning! Warning! Ten seconds left, before I self-destruct. Please, enter your details, Loser. This is your last chance.] The notifying sound halted Al's steps.

The boy paused as he gulped down his saliva. He was caught in between escaping or returning to his bewitched phone.

'Damn you, Osho! This is all your fault!' Finally, Al had mustered the courage to pick up the phone and enter his details quickly.

On the black screen was an interface.

[Say Hi to SARS, Loser.]

[Enter your (Name), Loser.]

'Tsss. This 'loser' is getting into my nerves!' Immediately, all the fear in Al's heart was replaced by fury. He violently entered his details - 'Al Gentrix So Strong.'

[Welcome, Loser, Al Gentrix So Strong. It is an honor to pull you out of the trash. Again, my name is SARS. What game would you like to master?]

Al was tightly clenching his left fist as he held the phone with his right hand. "Seriously, I'm gonna beat the hell out of this bot! Stop calling me, Loser!"

['Stop Calling Me, Loser' is not an available game choice. Pick other games. ]

"@[email protected]##@#@!" (At least twenty different curses from Al that were too explicit to be revealed.)

"Seriously? How could I pick a game if all of my phone's contents were already gone?" The boy continued to grumble.

[I can restore your phone contents, but your game choice would only be limited to one.] SARS offered.

"Tsss. There's only one game in my mind, anyway. Deal! Now, restore my phone's contents!"

[Wish granted, phone's contents restored, especially the wallpaper of a beautiful lady ;D]

Al blushed upon the mention of his wallpaper. As a gamer, his heart was not only dedicated to War Grounds, but a portion of it was also allotted to his crush too - 'Sophia,' his daily inspiration, whenever he plays.

"You...!" Before the boy could defend his case, another system prompt in red and yellow colors appeared.

[Warning! Warning! Pick your game now.]

'Hehehe. It's time for my comeback!' Al's mood quickly shifted as he was now in an ecstatic state, picturing himself becoming an overlord in the game.

[Al Gentrix So Strong had chosen 'War Grounds by Yoshimitzu Corporation.' Are you sure?]

"Very sure! Get on with it already!" Al's impatience was getting the best out of him.

[Entering War Grounds' Ecosystem.]

[Bypassing system's security...Please Wait.]

[System Integration Complete. No account detected.]

"Oh, shit! My account!" He immediately minimized SARS and opened the game.

[Loading Failed]

[Please mount your phone to your gaming helmet and turn on your 'Battle Station.']

'Fvck! Fvck! Silly me! How could I forget about that!' Al clutched his c.h.e.s.t as his heartbeat was racing fast, afraid of permanently losing his progress in the game.

After turning on everything, he hurriedly inserted his phone to the gaming helmet and equipped it on his head. Al immersed himself to the loading screen of the virtual reality game, troubled by the thought that his account was really deleted.

[Welcome to War Grounds, New User. Click 'continue' to create an account.]

"WTF! SARS! What is the meaning of this?" The veins in Al's forehead were bulging as he screamed inside his gaming helmet. He dedicated most of the past two years into the cultivation of 'Udil,' but now it was gone.

[It means your account is gone, and you'll have to start again, Al Gentrix So Strong.]

"Wait! Wait! Urghhh! It's a scam! It's a scam! Give me my 'Udil' back, you stupid bot!" Once again, Al entered into another episode of rage as he stomped on the floor, and wildly slashed the air. He was so expressive of his anger and frustration, but his account was never restored.

"Damn it! Damn it! Self-destruct now, you stupid bot!" The picture of Sophia in the background was not able to soothe the seething anger in Al's heart. He tapped hardly on SARS' installed application and chose the 'Uninstall' option.

[Action cannot be completed. You had unlocked another bargain with SARS.]

[Hello, Al Gentrix So Strong. It saddens me that you had thought about saying goodbye. In exchange, I have an offer.]

"Is this another scam of yours, you stupid bot? Just give me my 'Udil' back!" This time, Al was already doubtful. However, he had no other options, so he continued to click.

[Exchange your 'Udil' account, with a New One. This time, I'll guide you from the start.] The bot's mechanical tone was dead serious.

[Agree or Disagree?]

'This!' Al was not ignorant of the capabilities of a bot's assistance in other games. However, War Grounds did not offer this feature, so he was not sure if SARS' offer was legit. Anyway, he had no other d.e.s.i.r.es than becoming the best War Grounds player.

'I hope that this is not a scam. Gods of Fortune, please just this time. Bless me!' Al gestured a prayer before he chose 'Agree.'

[Welcome to War Grounds!]

[No accounts linked. Please create one.]