“Ah, man, this guy’s more exhausting than I thought.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFirbFHjPvE
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about gaming?307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1teZEeZCxS
Do you picture a bunch of over-eccentric boys kept silent by the audio of their headphones? 307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyolylH6nB
Do you imagine a whole new world of exaggerated color schemes and characters with various hair colors?307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3tM6jnnia
Do you think of racing, fighting, shooting, skating, gambling?307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZ9srEN1c8
Do you live off of gaming? Or is it just one of those things that you’ll never understand the hype about?307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaBkzGAzFs
I live for it. Every breath I take behind my screen is new power flowing to my avatar. Every level I unlock is a whole new galaxy that I must swim through. Every character I take down, every creature I pulverize, every road I wander, every weapon I hold, every item I gain, every game I win. I live for it.307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jbBO1w2St
“Fuji. Come down for lunch before I call out your entire name.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJOVIKG8CE
“Oh. This is bad. This is bad, bad.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3TyafkPYr
But man, I’m on the last level of RawSK8.307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePRX9ohd9x
“Fuji Nak-”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tWt019Ao7
"I’M COMING!!"307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ190wur5mo1
I rip off my ultra-bass headphones while gently placing them on my grazed desk. I abruptly swirl around 180 degrees in my swivel and violently jump onto the floor with my pale bare feet. It’s so cold. Was it this cold when I was gaming? I take one step closer to my door, and oh no- I’m already looking back. The room’s dark. All of the lights are off, and the windows are shut. The heater’s just barely working, we really need a new one. My desk’s cramped up with a mountain of tissues, Cola cans (some finished and some partially full), a half-eaten bowl of Ramen noodles, some thrashed-up looking figurines, lollipop wrappers and sticks, and a bunch of gambling cards dripping off the desk like water. I don’t even gamble (yet), where the hell did the cards come from?
My eyes shift away from the hot mess and gaze into the computer screen. A mirage of colors that look so enticing it’s almost dangerous- the only thing lighting up the room, brighter than blurred city lights. I taste the sourness of adrenalin wafting through the air. Wait a second- it’s sweat, so much for having my own dramatic monologue. 307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFXezS1kdZ
I can feel my eyes gleam and grow bigger as they study the game’s interface with undeniable astonishment. “RESUME”, “HELP”, “CHANGE SK8”. These three words, floating in the middle of the glass like undiscovered planets, appear to me as Gods. Each button has a heartbeat of its own, and I can feel mine synchronize with every one of them. I get a cold sweat when competing, yet I’m on fire like never before. I feel like I’m being absolved off my sins in Church and every crack of the whip, off the game, is painful. I feel like-
“FUJI NAKAMURA, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QLDQ0rQKc
I feel like my life is about to come to an end over a bowl of miso soup. I should really head off now. 307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWaAtOcJju
“Yes, I’m here, I'm here!” 307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfKZDVnNho
“No you’re physically here, but mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and in every other way possible, you’re there.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9NyZEp0Ew
“Isn’t the existence of my body more than enough?”
“The existence of your body will no longer be if you come this late for lunch again.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7WGDLeIK2
She’s smiling, but it seems sinister. Is this a good or a bad sign? Either way, the only thing that gives me more goosebumps than losing virtually is this woman right here. Mom. 307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ILC9yIh0e
“Mom, we need a new heater.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOwUQmERl1
“Sure, I’ll sell your gaming set for it.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpwBwHLFWV
“Mom, our heaters work beautifully, the suggestion of a new heater is absurd.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4cVfte0jl
Yep, she’s the only game I can’t figure out.307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknmpUirVi6
“Okasa, tadaima!”
“Oh, a warm welcome to my much preferred child.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGasdynTZO
“Yeah, I always knew you played favorites.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6uIpHmGAm
“I did not say ‘favorite’, I said ‘preferred’.
With a short gap of silence taken to absorb the after-attack of such an already diminishing remark, all I could say is,307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuefKJXkIK
“I’m dumb, but not that dumb.”
“You’re dumb enough to have not passed a math quiz you cheated on.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaK3D0HhA2
And this is a game I’d never want to play, “The Sister Complex”, aka, Junko Nakamura. She was named after Junko Tabei, the first Japanese female climber to have climbed Mt. Everest. My parents, and their creepy obsession with the concept of overcoming situations, named her after the woman who’d overcome the highest mountain in the world. They have high standards, yet they had me. But as long as she hasn’t climbed Mt. Fuji, I’m good (wink wink). 307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1a1ahEJpaS
“I… I… I’ll cheat better next time.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsgzxIdjYL
“Dear God, I don’t know if I should be ashamed or proud right now.” 307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyRw0ttEKx
“Knowing this boy, the latter, mother. At least he’s putting effort into something other than twiddling his thumbs.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOeAJlxxe4
“Alright, foods getting cold, let’s eat. Itadakimasu.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQ9RM4p5sd
(Fuji and Junko in unison) “Itadakimasu.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduPqUUuIDU
“Geh.”307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBniD1n6zpQ
I slightly choke on the Miso soup.307Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoqKdPOSkp
It’s cold.
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