My hands are shaking in fear as my thumb is nervously clicking the app icon of the game. I feel the lump in my throat due to nervousness and looking at the surroundings frantically. Sweating bullets, l gulped hard as I clicked 'Install'.
After learning South's secret last week, I decided to take a research on the game (after I studied for the exam of course) by using the incognito tab. I found out that a lot of famous gamers have been streaming the game for a long time (dear readers, Glided Heroes Chronicles was released 5 years ago) and it was awarded as the 'Game of the year' 3 years ago. I decided to read the synopsis of the game via a wiki website.
The game tells the story of a normal student who is doing what every normal student is doing (you can choose the gender of the student, as the student itself is the avatar) when suddenly, a mysterious portal pulls him/her in while walking home from school where he/she ends up in a medieval world. He/she was referred to as the chosen one as the world was in the middle of the war against the darkness and the chosen one must stop the darkness with the help of the allies he/she met along the way.
Typical story for every anime or video game in that particular genre, right? (And thanks to Anton for the Anime and Video Game 101, by the way -_-)
But the twist is that, the goal of the bad guys is that they want to revive the Evil Overlord to completely annihilate not only the medieval world but to other worlds as well. In order to achieve it, a powerful dark seed was sent in every world. Those who make contact with it become evil and if left unchecked, it will have the capacity to destroy the world it inhabited as well so, the Avatar and his/her party must embark on a journey to different worlds which is far more dangerous than the last to stop the bad guy's plan.
The game is an open field play where the player can freely explore, and the graphics are fluid and eye-catching. To hop into the next world via a portal, you must finish a set of quests in the current world, as well as finishing some certain but important quests that are connected to the main story. I admit, the developers got a good job for that.
But what I noticed in the promotional video of the game is that the avatar is not like your average 'cardboard personality' or a 'self insert Mary/Gary Sue' sort of Avatar. (Again, thanks Anton -_-) The avatar has a personality and it was greatly developed over the course of the story.
Of course, there are the parties that you could obtain via the main story. They are your typical knight/mage/mercenary/thief type. What did they look like? I'll tell you the details later.
Now back to the situation at hand. I looked at the phone again and the notification shows that the app is still downloading. Who ever thought that the size of this game is very huge, considering it was five years old when suddenly I heard a knock on the door. "North? Are you awake?"
Shit! Its Dad!
I hastily lock the new phone, put it inside the drawer along with the box, get some random book from the bookshelf, stand up and open the door.
"I'm still studying, daddy." I answered as he walked in. "Something wrong?"
He looks around in my room. He hummed before he answered. "Nothing. I'm only checking by to make sure that you are not hiding something from me and your mom."
"Don't worry, daddy." I reassured him. "I am only studying at this hour. Honest."
Which is a big, fat, lie with a capital L.
"Okay, I believe you." Dad believed in my answer. Great relief! "But!" I shivered in fear as he looked at me as if I was looking at a ferocious bear. Daddy sure is scary even with just a glare alone. "I make sure that you will not be doing anything that is against the rules of this house."
I gulped in fear. "Yes, daddy."
"Good." Then he walked towards the door and opened it. "It's already late. Go to bed already."
"Okay. Good night, daddy."
"Good night." And by that, he shuts the door behind him.
When I heard the footsteps farther away, I sighed in relief. I was able to get my phone from the drawer and unlock it only to find that the download is already done.
"Oh well." I said to myself as I disconnected the wifi on my phone, locked it and put it inside the drawer. "Guess I should tinker on it by tomorrow."
*
Students erupted in cheers as they packed up their things and got out of the room one by one on a rainy afternoon. The teacher announced that the local government declared that all classes from elementary to senior high school are suspended due to flash floods caused by the bad weather, since it was announced on the news early that there will be a tropical storm approaching the country.
Seriously, why did the announcement come out late, when all the students are already inside the school building?
"Geeze." I complained. As I put the last of the books into my backpack, Anton stood in front of me with a huge grin on his face.
"So, how did you find the game? It is good, amirite?" he asked while jumping like a five year old child.
"I haven't touched the game yet, thank you very much." I replied as I wear my backpack. "By the way, are you going home straight today?"
"Nah, maybe I will stay in your home for the rest of this afternoon." Anton answered. "Ate (big sister) is going to be late since they have cheerleading practice."
"Okay. Did you tell anyone that you will be staying with me?"
"Don't worry. I called yaya earlier so it's okay."
*
"So, you bought an extra smartphone and created another email address so that your parents won't catch you playing the game?" Anton repeated as we went inside to my bedroom and sat down at the edge of the bed. Prior to this, I explained everything to him: from South playing the game to me installing it. "And you haven't started the game yet? Where is it? Gimme!" he demanded like he was a little child.
Seriously.
Well, I got the phone inside the drawer and unlock it (by the way, I put my password a little bit difficult so that mommy and daddy won't find out.) before handing it to Anton.
"The problem is, this is my first time playing it." I said while sitting next to him. "Since I don't know mobile games, or any video games in general, can you give me a walkthrough of the game?"
"Hm,hm. You are looking for the number one expert of this game!" Anton declared as he was the master of the game. "And I, Anton, will teach you the basics of Glided Heroes Chronicles."
"Okay, okay. Now stop the theatrics before any of my younger siblings not named South gets into my bedroom and tells it to mommy and daddy that I played mobile games."