Ares

Chapter I

I look at the time at the top of my screen and take a deep breath. There are only 40 seconds left of the match and things do not look good for my team. However, I do not let the anxiety get to me. We have been in situations like this before and I know that we can take this last round of the tournament.

“There’s one in church, one in site and one in blue.” Oskar, the team leader, informs right after the death of his character in the game.

The places he is referencing are usual for a defensive team in the map we are playing. However, challenging those angles is dangerous in this specific circumstance.

“Take the defuser and let’s try going in B”, Marcus, my only companion alive, suggests while walking carefully inside the room where the bomb labeled B is.

For us to win, we would have to either defuse a bomb in one of the two sites available or kill the three people on the other team. Right now, Marcus’ idea seems to be the best one. Thus, I follow him undoubtfully.

With the information gathered by our teammates, Marcus is able to kill the player in site with a bullet straight to the head. However, one of the enemies takes him down before I can prevent it from happening.

Fortunately, his early callout helps me find one of the remainder defendants.

“There is only a man in blue.” Oskar reminds me as I position myself behind a pile of boxes in the middle of the room, vigilant to the hall with blue lightning that the team’s captain mentioned.

The two options pop in my mind again as the clock goes down to the thirteen seconds mark. Finally, I decide to start defusing the bomb. After all, if I manage to plant the defuser, the defensive team will not only have to kill me, but also will have to destroy the device.

My hands are slightly shaking. Even though I have been in events like this before, the pressure has never been over my shoulders during the final moments of the matches.

I am halfway through with the defusal when I hear mild footsteps to my left. This means that the only player alive in the other team is walking closer to the room I am in. To secure the kill, nonetheless, I must let him walk through the door. That is why I stick the plant, ready to let go of the F key on the keyboard and flick towards the only area the enemy could be in the site.

He takes the decision of walking in and I hear it. However, my left hand seems to be paralyzed, for it does not react in time to stop the animation. As a result, I fall victim to the last member of team Dragoned, meaning that they are the champions of Dreamhack Montreal 2018.

The yelling of the crowd can be heard weakly through my headphones. The screen in front of me displays the enemy team as the absolute winners before changing to the scoreboard. I look down at my left hand, stretching my fingers to make sure they are still working properly.

I find it strange that they move swiftly and with no difficulty but I can’t put more thought into that as all my teammates have gotten up from their seats to congratulate the winning team and I must mimic them.

“Good game”, we exchange, mostly by the commonly used slang: gg, as we give handshakes to the winners.

We have already tasted victory. It is their time to celebrate what they have earned. However, I can’t help but feel disgruntled by my performance at the end of that final round.

It does not take a lot for Marcus to read my features while I watch the other team receive the trophy. He offers a hug and I accept it almost immediately.

“Don’t worry Kathlyn. We will win next time”, he assures, his hand drawing comforting circles on my back before we pull away.

The rest of the team smile at me, repeating the same thing in silence as we walk off the stage.

Although my spirit is down, I know that it does not matter how many times I lose, the love for this game will always bring me back to continue trying.

Besiege of combat  is an extensive game based on communication and strategy. A team of attackers must locate and defuse one of two bombs while the defenders try to stop them by killing every member of the team or by destroying the defuser after it has been planted. First team to get 6 rounds wins the match.

The differences between it and other first-person-shooter games are the emphasis on environmental destruction and the variety of characters you can choose from to attack or to defend. In this game it is crucial for you to have a specific operator to complete tasks, such as opening walls or destroying the opponent’s gadgets.

While some character’s abilities give the players an advantage, it does not always determine who wins or who loses, which creates exciting scenarios when played correctly.

These characteristics have made it a fun game to play since it was released. I have spent hundreds of hours playing and trying to equal the skill of the professionals. Consequently, Ethereal Gaming picked me up when I was just climbing up the standings with an unknown team.

Now I am competing at the highest level with teammates that have become a part of my family in the one year we have been working together. Atem, Oskar, Marcus, Aaron, and Liam, without their support I would have probably left the professional scene after all the critics I got during my first public appearance.

Playing on a stage in front of thousands of people put unnecessary stress on me during the first tournament I played in the team. Even though I had heard several advices, nothing could have prepared me for that moment. Unfortunately, I could not shake off the nervousness until the event was over. Experience is what ended up teaching me what I tried to learn from other players.

This recent loss should help in the same way. I cannot let this happen again or else I would have wasted the opportunity I was given. There is nothing else to do here than to learn and prepare for the second half of the tournament in North America. Though we are currently in the first place, that can easily change since there are seven matches left to be played.

I must not let a mistake get to me.

“I know you are not in the mood, but you should come to the party”, Marcus offers as we exit the building.

Taking a deep breath of cold air, I let the question linger between us unanswered for a couple of seconds. He is right. Staying alone in my hotel room may end up darkening the thoughts about the last match we played.

“Sure, let’s have fun before going back to Seattle”, I say with a nod. “Just don’t make me take care of you.”

His wide smile lights up the mood. “Never.” He zips up his dark jacket with the logo of Ethereal Gaming displayed on the front before we wait for the rest of our teammates to join us on the sidewalk.

We soon arrive to the hotel we are staying at. After taking to our rooms the things we used for the tournament – such as keyboards or mousepads – we take the elevator one more time to go to the event’s room without Liam, our coach, who prefers to rest in his bedroom.

The members of different teams we come across in the hallways congratulate us for playing good matches and express their sorry for the last loss. Oskar simply thanks them as we continue our way back to the convention center.

Once outside the area destined for the party, Marcus Howell leads the way through the multitude. Since this was an international tournament, there are some new faces here and there.

I decide to stay nearby my closest friends as we find a table to sit by. There is a huge variety of food on a table at the back of the room. We divide the group and take turns to get our meals.

Atem and I wait patiently for our friends to come back before getting up and making our way to said table. Although there is not a thing that I would like to eat at this moment, I take a couple of slices of pizza and wait for Reed to finish adding rolls of sushi to his second plate.

“I thought you didn’t really like parties”, someone says loud enough for me to hear above the music.

I turn around to face a young player known for the precision of his shots, Philip Sanders. He plays for Limitless, a team that has always tried to stay in the top three of the Europe region.

“I don’t”, I accept with a toothless smile just for curtesy. “There is nothing to celebrate, really. I just wanted to have fun.”

“Let’s have fun then”, he offers, motioning to the packed dance floor.

I look back, a little desperate to find Atem. He seems to know what is happening. However, he misunderstands my scream for help.

His hand reaches for the plate I am holding. “I’ll take care of that for you”, he guarantees, not waiting for a response from me before walking back with our teammates.

It’s impressive to see him carry three plates of food without them falling. However, the fact that he left me in this situation makes me wish some of his rolls of sushi somehow fell to the floor.

“Just one song”, I reluctantly accept, gaining an understanding nod from him.