The player climbed on to the parapet of the Estaiada bridge in Teresina. He felt much more afraid than relief, wondered all the time if he wasn't being stupid, if he still had something in his life that was worthwhile.
But nothing came to his mind, after being accused of cheating in the League of Legends national championship, he was banned from the competition for the next three years, in addition to being kicked out of his team and losing all his sponsorships.
He was the best in Brazil, one day he would be the best in the world. Not only because he had the gift, but because he was diligent, he had a strict schedule with daily training of 12 hours, slept 8 hours, and at the remaining times he ate and practiced martial arts, even on weekends his schedule did not change. Jonas was obsessed with perfection; his biggest goal was to be the greatest in the world.
And now, it's all gone, all your effort, your whole purpose of life is gone. Even his money, which despite having earned a lot, ended up due to his soon-term debts. He bought a house and car for his parents and left the rest he had as a reservation for them. All his properties were sold to pay his debts. Jonas would leave this world, but at least he would do it without a score to settle.
'I'm ready now.'
He felt the breeze, the calm sound of the water, all the emotions settled in his mind. He remembered his friends, especially Gustavo, Angela's ex-girlfriend who almost stabbed him once, but he still liked her. Your mother...
'Fuck, she's going to be devastated...'
The doubts came back stronger, he must decide, or continue, or end soon with it, anyway, could not possess regrets.
Jonas thought again, he was only 21 years old, still had time to train in another game, maybe CsGo? Or Dota 2? He was spectacular in LOL, but that doesn't mean it had to be just in LOL. His strongest feature its focus.
"I'm sure I can be the best in any game, it doesn't have to be the end."
He raised his head with a determined look on his face and began to descend from the parapet. Decided to give yourself another chance and conquer your dreams.
"Are you undecided? I can give you a helping hand," a voice said to Jonas's back. He recognized that voice, it was from his best friend Gustavo.
He tried to turn around, but before he could complete the move, he felt two hands on his back pushing him. The boy completely lost support and plunged into free fall for his death.
* * *
Gradually his consciousness was lightening, he began to feel his fingers, his tact, his hearing. Jonas heard a constant drip near his ear.
'Am I not dead?'
Slowly he opened his eyes and visualized the place where he was. It was lying on the floor, in an almost total pitch, on the ceiling there was the phosphorescent glow of what appeared to be some kind of fungus. The drip came from some nearby stalactites.
'It's a cave'
He got up still confused, looked more closely at the surroundings looking for a way out. Finally, he couldn't find any, so he decided to go in some way. Now that his senses became more evident, a hunger ache roared in his stomach.
'It's look like haven't eaten in days. I feel a lot thinner too. How did I end up in this place?'
His last memory was that of his supposed best friend pushing him down the bridge.
'That son of a bitch had betrayed me! When I get back, I'm going to...'
But can he still come back? What if this is the afterlife? An infinitely dark and purposeless cave.
'No!' he shook his head, 'I don't believe in this nonsense. I must have been brought here by the current somehow.'
During his walking and daydreams, Jonas stepped into the void, felt his whole body hang and was about to start a downward race to an abyss, when he managed to grab protruding stone on the edge. He let out a desperate scream.
"FUCKING HELL!!"
After the initial scare, he, with some difficulty, managed to hoist himself back to safety. Jonas took a few seconds to lie down trying to calm down. After his heartbeat slowed down, he turned his eyes into the abyss to check out what was down there.
Surprisingly he managed to differentiate some formations thanks to the phosphorescent fungus, there were numerous stalatopmites down there, moreover, it was a fall of almost ten meters.
'Well, at least now I know this isn't the right way'.
He got back up and while he was thinking about what to do, he came to a memory of the TV shows he watched as a child. Then he put his finger in his mouth, pulled it out and waited for it to feel some breeze. A slight cooling came from the back, so he went in that direction.
'I was able to come in, there must be a way out.'
He walked more carefully this time, putting one foot at a time, testing the soil. He observed better the fungi on the walls, they did not illuminate much, but at least marked the place and prevented him from walking in circles. After nearly fifteen minutes of walking in the darkness, Jonas heard a noise, and it was not from the river as he had hoped, but rather a growl.
'It's a beast! And it's getting closer.'
Jonas didn't think twice and ran back to where he came from. However, the beast did not lose its trace, probably followed by the smell. It´s too fast, too fast. After three minutes, he could already hear the animal's stride.
'I'm going to die! This thing is not going to get off my tail.'
In his moment of greatest despair, a crazy idea arose in his mind, the odds of successful is extremely low, but without option the hesitation disappeared. After running for another minute, he realized he was at the right point and stopped abruptly. In the darkness he managed to discern the silhouette of the creature. It was a kind of wolf, but twice the size and came growling, thirsty for meat.
"Come here, you mutt. Would you like a piece of ham? Come and get it!"
Whether or not the animal understood Jonas's words, the fact is that he seemed faster than before. The boy took a few steps back until he felt the edge. When the wolf set up the boat, Jonas rolled to the side and the creature, packed by momentum, fell with a sad howl straight into the stalagmites. The sound of the body hit rocks came from the bottom, soon after some low grunts and then the silence.
Jonas pulled the air in golf, he used to exercise and go to the gym, but a high intensity race like that would exhaust anyone. Especially someone in a debility state.
He lay down for a few minutes, simply exhausted. But there was no other solution, he needed to get to the exit and find help, it was the only way to survive. In this way, Jonas returned to walk toward the breeze. Initially he was afraid of having another wolf, but he recalled an episode of Animal Planet that wolves walk in flocks. If this one was alone, that means he got off his gang, so there shouldn't be any more nearby.
Another twenty minutes of walking he managed to see a light. Excited, he hurried the step for almost a race. In his haste, he tripped over some stouts and fell to the ground. However, when Jonas observed better, he realized that they were not actually severe.
'They're skeletons!'