AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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After what felt like an eternity, the mental pain stopped. "Huh...huh...huh...I'm alive" after a few seconds to get his bearings Sorin opened his eyes to find himself in his old apartment.
It was small with only a small bedroom, a small bathroom and a kitchen that was half turned into his gaming studio. It wasn't very livable or very neat. Hell, it was damn dump, but it was his, so it was home after he left home to be a professional gamer. Before Astria launched, Sorin worked as a full time streamer working with the outdated equipment he bought off one of his more well off friends after he upgraded his setup for cheap.
Sorin looked around and felt a wave of nostalgia. This is when life was simple and enjoyable. He had a fan base, while small, followed all of his streams. The streaming didn't pay well, but he recognized the returning users who supported him.
He looked around to find his smart phone to see which cruel motherfucker would kidnap him and put him here. Looking around made the world have a little bit of color, yet it's the good times that hurt the worst as it just makes him remember how dull and lifeless his current life is.
After looking all over the room he could not find his smart phone but found a brick of a phone charging on a foldable table he would use to call his parents. Once he turned it on he found the calendar said Oct. 31, 2025.
'That can't be right. I know it's 2033, it must have been dead for ages' Sorin questioned, 'In fact, I sold this apartment, but the old equipment and studio pieces I sold in pieces when I upgraded to a VR capsule.' After looking for some of the unique parts that he remembered chipping or scratching he became even more confused.
'Hold on' He marched to the bathroom to check his face and was utterly shocked. He looked like he did when he just left high school to make money streaming full time. He had a stupid mop of black hair with a green highlight down the right side. I looked ridiculous because his hair was unnecessarily curly so it looked like a intimidating black mushroom with a mold spot on it.
"Back in time cliche? Does that mean that bright light was death? Is this a second life? When is this?" he muttered. He knew this because he cut the hair when he became more popular in Astria and he never grew it out again.
Not trusting that antique of a phone, he booted up his 5 year old rig and checked the digital time.
'So it is Oct. 31, 2025. Well that is close to two months till Astria launches, but is that what I want to do now that I have a second chance?' If he could succeed once he could definitely do it again with all the knowledge on game events, item locations, raid strategies, etc. He could be the top of the gaming world...again. 'It all seems so pointless, obtaining fame and money seems so easy. I could quit and do something else but all I ever succeed at was gaming and it is all I know how to do.'
'Wait, I somehow traveled back in time and maybe even died which means I have no responsibilities except bills. No contracts, no setting an example for the guild, no having to meet a quota, no guild wars, no power leveling. I don't have to be the best in the world. I don't even have to play the game every day for 12-14 hours a day. I can do what fascinated me about the game in the first place, the game, the world, Astria. That's it. Fuck the leader boards; let someone else have the top spot. Fuck the guilds; who needs a commitment like that anyway. Fuck the sponsors, I will just live off stream revenue when Astria becomes popular.' thought Sorin excitedly.
After some mental and emotional gymnastics, Sorin finally had a goal.
'Ok i am 18 years old, living on a few hundred dollars in the bank from stream revenue, and no girlfriend. In order to make it for the pre-order exclusive sale I need to make 3 grand while paying for bills. It seems I am overdue on my rent for this month so I need to fix that. Ok what was I playing' scrolling through his game library 'I see I was playing mostly Black Ops 8, Elder Scrolls 6, and Starcraft 3. With the reflexes I cultivated over the past 8 years I should have a distinct advantage over these kids and should focus on Black Ops 8. I will send clips of incredible gun play to other, more popular channels to get featured and strategy guides on how to improve reaction times.'
'That should bring in cash flow and popularity to my channel for a while. It is a shame I need to give the channel up. As it stands, the channel is publicly attached to my email address, so when I make a stir in Astria I cannot have those silk pants threatening me in real life to sell the account to them.'
'It sucks, but I am going to need to start over.' Sorin sighed. It took blood, sweat, and tears to build up that channel. He made a lot of friends those streams.' smiled Sorin then quickly turning into a grimace, 'That is until money is involved.'
After the game became a world phenomenon, people began to sell their accounts for real world cash. Some of his longest supporters and best of friends he made over the stream sold their items he world give them for cash and leaked game secrets for fame for themselves. After all was said and done, none of his original 'friends' remained in the guild he made.
'Whatever, it's in the past', he said as he cracked his fingers, booting up Black Ops 8, 'lets see what this piece of junk can do.'