August 3, 2020

Gwarimpa,

Nigeria.

The year of the pandemic was a year that we welcomed into our lives with one of the most dangerous illnesses mankind has ever known, COVID-19. Millions lost their lives to it, and many more were hospitalized in isolation because of it.

It was truly an illness on a scale the world had never seen. It affected everyone; people's sources of livelihood were cut short since few people worked in industries deemed important enough to keep running.

However, while this was going on, there existed a certain human who didn't even notice the effects of the pandemic. David was a 22-year-old man, an introvert who enjoyed his time indoors and thus spent most of his time indoors.

His source of income wasn't greatly affected considering he didn't have any mainstream jobs; instead, he was a writer and a gamer. Both earned him a bit of money that was more than enough to take care of himself and live comfortably.

The young man couldn't say that he was happy about the pandemic, but he could say that it brought some good news to him: friends who he hadn't played with in a long time returned. There were even more readers for his books, which also meant more money.

Life was going great, all things considered. His health was also up to par, and he hardly went outside, so he wasn't going to get infected anytime soon. Instead, David spent his time playing video games and live streaming them for other gamers to watch.

"No, no, no, don't go in there; there's an entire squad waiting there!!" David screamed as the words 'Game Over' appeared on the screen.

"My guy, are you a newbie or what?" David asked into his headset.

"Well, even if you deny it, you play like one. How about this: you follow me and listen to my instructions, then maybe you can level up and become better," David said, feeling a bit too generous and happy today.

"Good. First, since you're still starting, I would suggest you equip a gun that doesn't slow you down. Shotguns, snipers, and every marksman rifle are out of the question. Use any other one but always check if the control and damage stats are green before you select it, okay?" David said a few seconds later, as he guided the new player.

"Excellent, and as for your secondary weapon, if you think your fingers are fast enough, I suggest a melee weapon; they offer instant kills."

David continued for a while before the newbie was finally done. Even he was surprised at how patient he was; normally he, or practically any other gamer out there, would have simply kicked the newbie out of their team, but here he was guiding the newbie for some reason.

"Are you ready now?" David asked after nearly three minutes.

"Good, let's go," David said, then began the match.

Though he had no idea why he was guiding a newbie, he did know that it would surely get him even more viewers if he somehow managed to win the game, which would be incredibly difficult considering that the other players were on his level, and he was guiding someone who just began playing.

*Team Death Match*

The game was announced as the game began. The rules of the game were simple: deploy from your base and kill the enemies. David, who had played the same game over and over again for months now, expertly began to maneuver his character around, killing the other players while instructing the newbie on what to do.

He followed the newbie, ensuring that he or she was safe as they attacked the other players. Basically, David was playing like a real soldier, covering his partner's six, or back. His role was simply protecting the newbie so he could win the MVP of the match.

*Winner*

The game was announced after nearly thirty minutes of gameplay. Despite all his efforts, though, the MVP title was given to him instead of the newbie, so David and the newbie continued to play so that the newbie would get good enough to get the MVP title.

"Yes!!" David shouted after nearly an hour, or probably even more.

The MVP title was given to the newbie, who he could hear celebrating over the headset. It was a joyous moment, but David looked outside only to see that it was already dark... really dark. He immediately checked his phone, only to see that it was already midnight.

"Hey, I'm sorry, it's already midnight in my country. I have to sleep. You'll come online tomorrow, right?" David asked as he began tidying his desk.

"Well, then, good night or afternoon for whatever country you're in," he said before exiting the game and turning off his PC.

He may not have anywhere to go the next day, but it was better to wake up the next day without a massive headache due to sleeping late. He still had a novel that was serialized to complete, but that wasn't something he wanted to do with a headache, so he immediately laid down on his bed and after plugging in his phone, he forced himself to sleep.

Or at least that's what he hoped for since no human has control over sleep. It comes when it wants, and when it does, you need outside help to overcome it if you're in a situation where you don't want to sleep. David stayed awake for some time until everything eventually went dark. He had fallen asleep.

"Oh good, I caught you before Morpheus did," an ancient-sounding voice was heard as David sprang up from his bed.

"Who's there?!!!" David shouted in shock.

The environment was still dark, very dark. Even darker than things would normally be at night. The bed was still there, but there was nothing else; the window that used to be directly beside his bed was gone, and the TV was gone. Everywhere was just dark and seemed to have suddenly grown in size.