After a year of trash-talking my gaming nemesis online, we agreed to meet up for a duel. But as soon as I got there, I was stood up. [Can't make it today. Saw my dream girl. Rain check.] Before I could even type out a curse, someone spoke to me: "Hey, what a coincidence running into you here." 1 My fingers, poised to type a string of expletives, froze. I looked around. A handsome guy with slightly red ears was talking to me. "Fate must be bringing us together," he said, looking awkwardly shy. I blinked, confused. "Do we know each other?" His face turned bright red. He coughed awkwardly and stuttered, "I-I'm Liam, from Physics 101. We were paired up for that lab freshman year? And... and we volunteered together at the sophomore carnival..." "Last Friday, 6:30 PM, dining hall, line A. I let you have the last chicken leg." He rambled on. The chicken leg part sounded vaguely familiar, but barely. "Oh. Thanks," I replied, distracted. "You're... you're... welcome," Liam stammered, getting worse. I didn't have time for this. I was scanning the crowd for the dog who dared to stand me up. I was going to find him and beat him up. 6'2", black hoodie, jeans, earring in the left ear. Where was he? I scanned the area but came up empty. "Are you looking for someone? My vision is 20/20 in my left eye, 20/15 in my right. Maybe I can help?" The stranger was back, eager to assist. I took a step back, instinctively rejecting him. "No need—" Wait. I hadn't looked closely before. Why did this guy named Liam look so familiar? He matched my nemesis's description perfectly! I hesitated, then probed, "What brings you here today?" "Some noob... I mean, a new player thought I was hacking because I'm too good, so they challenged me to a duel." He almost said "noob." I caught it. "Where is she then?" I asked. "Don't know. Probably saw me and ran away in shame." "..." That familiar arrogance. I was basically certain. The guy I'd been flaming online for a year was standing right in front of me. I'd never met anyone with a more toxic mouth. "Can I add you on WeChat?" I needed to be absolutely sure. "Me...?" The surprise hit him like a truck. Liam froze. I had to call his name a few times to snap him out of it. "Yes! Yes! Absolutely!" He whipped out his phone, fumbling with the app because his hands were shaking. Ding. Added. I saw the familiar avatar and username. It really was him. I sneered internally. 2 My feud with Liam started a year ago. I suck at games. Usually, I play against bots. But the moment I tried a real match, I got thrown into a high-ranked lobby. After feeding the enemy team 17 kills, a player named [X] finally turned on his mic. "Archer, just stay in the fountain." I thought he was being nice, telling me to stay safe. Then he continued. "Don't get killed by the minions." "Archer, are you playing with your feet?" "Archer, stop farming steps on the map." "Archer..." I knew I sucked, so I stayed quiet. But after the game, [X] sent a friend request. Message: [First time seeing a bot with personality. Thanks for the free win for the other team.] Maximum emotional damage. High insult level. I accepted. Everyone makes mistakes. When he called me trash, I waited for him to slip up and flamed him back. "Wow, Mr. Pro Gamer died? I thought you were immortal." "So generous, giving the blue buff to the enemy." "Why aren't you taking the dragon? Do you not feel like it?" "Oops, the 'God' died again..." Later, typing wasn't enough. I made a smurf account just to troll him. At first, we had some semblance of manners. Now, the first thing we do every morning is insult each other's ancestors. It was a complete disconnect. The guy in front of me, whose voice was so soft it was practically squeaking, was the same person who called me an idiot daily. If he hadn't pitched his voice up, I might have recognized him sooner. Thinking about his excuse for standing me up... I realized something. The "dream girl" he mentioned... seemed to be me. I didn't rush to reveal myself. This was too good of an opportunity to pass up. 3 "You sit here and rest. Tell me what he's wearing, I'll go find him right now," Liam said, eyes burning with determination. He really wanted to impress me. "No need." I made my eyes red and wiped away imaginary tears. Liam panicked. He frantically offered me tissues, confused by my sudden sadness. "What's wrong?" I put on my best victim voice, choking back a sob. "The person I was supposed to meet isn't coming." "What?!" Liam was furious. More angry than I was. "Who dares to stand you up? Tell me who it is, I'll teach him a lesson!" It's you, idiot. I suppressed a smirk and looked pitiful. "I'm sure he didn't mean to. He must have had an emergency..." Hearing me defend the "other guy," Liam got even madder. He looked like he wanted to murder his imaginary rival. "Emergency my ass. Probably rushing to jump off a cliff." Calling himself a dog. I wished I could record this and play it back to him later. Feeling better, I plotted my next move. "What game were you talking about earlier? I'm bored, can you teach me?" I pulled out my phone and asked softly. "Huh?" The righteous hero looked blank. "I said, can you teach me how to play?" I secretly deleted the game app and opened the app store, asking again. 4 Liam was a top-tier player. Multiple server titles. He was like a math genius who couldn't comprehend why someone couldn't solve 1+1. I was waiting for him to snap, to reveal his toxic nature and shatter his "dream girl" image of me. Hehe. But... I seemed to be wrong. My shallow understanding of humanity didn't prepare me for this level of double standards. I died to a minion at the start. Liam laughed. Not a mocking laugh. A doting one. Like dying to a minion was the cutest thing in the world. It was terrifying. I got goosebumps. If this were my smurf account, Liam would have already asked if my brain was fully developed. I didn't give up. I bought random items. I remembered once I lost a bet to him, and he made me write out item descriptions fifty times. He wouldn't be able to hold it in. He'd curse. "Wow, you learned how to buy items already! Smartest beginner I've ever seen," Liam praised, looking genuinely proud. I was stunned. Bro, are your eyes open? Can't you see I bought six mana crystals? I took deep breaths, forcing back the urge to curse his ancestors. I didn't push towers; I ran around the map. He said: "Great mobility." My team started a team fight; I farmed jungle camps. He said: "So smart, avoiding the crowd." I... I was defeated. For the first time in twenty years, I felt like a masochist. I desperately wanted Liam to yell at me. The meaner the better. No, this was too gross. If I stayed any longer, I'd suffocate. "My mom's calling me for dinner. Rain check!" I practically jumped out of my seat and fled. It was a polite dismissal, but Liam took it literally. "When? I'm free tomorrow! And the day after! I'm free 365 days a year!" He shouted it so I wouldn't miss it. People stared. So embarrassing.
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