OFFLINE:\Philippines\Makati City\Tejeros BLISS Garden Tenement>
It's nighttime in the walled tenement compound, yet the streets are filled with groups of teenagers, adults, and even kids. Gossips, the laughter of the children, and even the booming, profanity-laden Filipino hip-hop music are heard all over the compound.
At the 5th cluster of the beige-walled tenement compound, Ren and his teammates, gathered inside his cramped house on 3rd floor. Desiree, Ren's slennder mother in early 40's, served them glasses of cold soft drinks and sugar-glazed fried camote chips.
"So, how was your game, guys?" Desiree asked as she turned on the 20-inch flat-screen TV for a nightly teen drama-comedy, Ugly Eya's Diary.
"Well, we lost and ended up in the 2nd place" Ren bit his piece of sweet camote chip.
"Still, we got 250,000 to be shared, ma'm" one of his teammates added.
Desiree sat beside Ren in their spotty watermelon green two-seater sofa, "Well, that's still good, at least all of you earned something worthwhile by playing games,"
"Unless if you listen what we'll say next, ma'm!" Ren's teammates replied in chorus.
"What is it, son?" Desiree glanced at Ren.
Ren lowered his head, "What hurts is, we were cheated by my bestfriend's team, Derek"
Desiree's forehead formed horizontal wrinkles and widened her eyes, "Your bestfriend in that game cheated in the tournament?"
Ren nodded slowly, "Yes, mama"
Desiree raised her voice and pointed at everyone in the house, "That's what I been sayin', son! There'll be time that you and your friends will start turning against each other!" then she took a deep breath.
"Do you guys even watch the news lately?" Desiree asked Ren's team, and they all bobbed their head with downcast faces.
"Two teenagers, who are both good players just like you guys, killed each other over a game item few days ago here in Tejeros. They're now a talk of the town, that our baranggay captains--"
Ren and his teammates slapped their foreheads and he said, "Mama, how do those two teenagers connect to our problem?"
Desiree brushed her son's hair, "That type of rivalry, that you guys might take it to reality, which is really wrong, too shallow and too obsessed in your video games"
Ren and the rest of Tejeros Triggers members answered, "No, we're not that shallow to do that! We all train every Saturday afternoon as fair as possible!"
Desiree crossed her arms and her right leg crossed over her left leg, "For real? If not, even Mang Mario will bar all of you from playing on their cafe for not playing fair, okay?"
Everyone sat down and Ren gently squeezed his mother's shoulders, "Mama, let's divide the winnings now so that they can go home"
"Okay, I'll do it, you fry our dried herrings for dinner!" Desiree took the bag of money, started counting and dividing their winnings.
OFFLINE:\Philippines\Pasay City\Estelle's House>
Estelle and her family ate their excess hamburger buns for dinner while they watched the top-rating Ugly Eya's Diary.
"Mama, I saw a suspicious guy in the mall a while ago" Estelle took a bite of her hamburger buns.
Her stubby mom glanced at her, "What's with him, Estelle? Your stalker?"
YOU ARE READING
NetGameSaga.ph Stage 01 (English)
Science FictionThe drive for competitive gaming is dead for Ren Hernandez, after being cheated in a nationwide gaming tournament. He disconnected from the game he loved, his friends, until he found another game. Restore faith in the midst of the unfair lives! Reco...
