OFFLINE REALITY

Sky is gloomy.

Sky is not your average person.

First off, he does not like people. He didn't want to nor could he sustain a conversation longer than three-seconds with anyone at all. Ever since young, he was never good at talking to others. When people attempted to strike a conversation with him, he would either answer in single-word sentences or not answer at all. He wasn't being arrogant or "full of himself" as other people would call him, he just wasn't good at talking.

For someone who finds it difficult to communicate with others, you can pretty much guess how it is like for Sky when it comes to physical interactions with people. He was never with any group; nobody wanted to be near someone who was "weird". As the people in secondary school would say, "he talks like a machine and it's annoying". It was almost natural that Sky was outcasted. He didn't have any friends and was always left alone. Since he didn't like to talk to people, if people didn't like him too, it made his life a little more bearable.

To add to how socially awkward Sky was, it didn't help that Sky has never once cared about what he wore or how he looked. His hair was only cut once a year and it often covered his eyes. Behind the fringe was his thick frames that hid his face more than it should. Sky did not follow any fashion trends because it was considered too much trouble for him. He would always be seen wearing the basketball pants that he has worn since primary school (amazingly, he could still fit in them) and old shirts that had holes around the collar. His socks were always mismatched and he has never changed his converse sneakers for as long as he could remember. Or maybe since three years ago.

If you see Sky in real life, you would most likely stop, stare and think about how sad-looking this boy was. It happened all the time and Sky was used to it.

However, in contrast to his real life, Sky was slightly famous online. He was a part-time streamer as he still had to complete his studies. Going by the name T-IAN on his social media platforms, he had many subscribers and followers that would watch him stream his first-player-shooter games. Sometimes, he would just be talking with the people in his chat. Yes, he talks to his chat because it was much easier for Sky to talk through a screen than in real life. Since he hardly talked in real life, no one has heard his voice before so it made it easier for him as he was not recognizable. He also did not use any webcams so it added a sense of mystery for the people.

Right now, Sky was in his last year of polytechnic, studying game design. A fitting diploma for someone who was always staying at home. He hoped that he would find a job in the future that allows him to work from home full-time, or at least 75% of the time, creating games that everyone would like to play. But for now, he would first need to make it past the year to attain his diploma.

Sky walked into his elective class with his old and mismatched clothing, along with a black hoodie over him. He had his bag slung over his shoulders and head hung down as he tried to avoid his classmates' eyes while walking to the back of the classroom. He hated elective modules because it meant that his classmates would change, unlike his core modules where the people were all the same. If his classmates change, it meant that he needed to get used to their reactions all over again. It was tiring to get used to new people and their stares.

Sky finally made it to the back and took a seat down at the corner of the classroom. That was his haven, his spot. In his head, he thought that his classmates would think that it is too much of a hassle to turn their heads around to the back just to look and talk about him. If they were going to talk, he would rather not see their faces while they were at it.

He quietly took out his notes and stared at the notes full of symbols and weird writings. Sky thought that it would be nice to learn a new language, so he took up conversational Japanese for his last elective only to regret it after looking at the notes. He didn't know that he had to learn the symbols too. I'll just try to read the English spelling that is at the bottom, he thought.