•CHAPTER 3
Simple ignorance of the obvious is an antecedent to a catastrophe. It should be our first realization, not when time has withered away.
* * *
Staring, glaring, caressing, polishing. Andrew did all sorts of things to the game box after returning home that day. His cats became the least of his worries, and his mobile phone remained untouched. PUBg never for once crossed his mind. Whenever his eyelids open and his gaze settles on the game box, he smiles as he imagines himself swimming in a pool filled with $500,000, because who else can be as lucky as a regular nerdy college boy who didn't make as much effort as to find this?!
Andrew sits down on my bed, fantasizing about the kind of phone, digital camera and new clothes he would get with that money. Of course he was going to settle the boys - and by the boys - Allen and his closest friends from PUBg - probably a hangout. And his mother -
Oh. Her.
Andrew sulks as he stared down at my palm, his thumbs caressing the scar just like she had done on that day. The day he vanished, never to return. He stared at the portrait which sits on the desk he had his laptop sitting on; holding a memory of the time when it was just his mother and him. When no third party interfered in their lives and happiness.
The door to his room bursts open, and Allen walks in with Caitlyn trailing behind slowly. She was holding a cup of coffee, and …
"You mentioned that you needed our help in helping you figure something out." Allen boomed, landing a firm tap on Andrew's shoulders.
"Yeah. Hey," Andrew waved at Caitlyn, getting up to help her with the door, "what's this?"
She chuckled, "What does it smell like? I'm crashing in here for the rest of the day. Feel free to beg and you'll get a spoonful."
Andrew smiled wryly, closing the door gently. Allen clears his throat as he sinks into the bed, his favorites - Pixie and Axle - ready to cuddle.
"What's this about, Drew? You're lucky you called on a weekend; otherwise, I wouldn't have shown up."
"Did you guys check into Discord at all? Yesterday?"
"What about yesterday?" Caitlyn chips in, settling down for Andrew's favorite chair. Andrew's min travels around wrong misconceptions, noticing how she was making his favorites hers and -
"Yeah, what about yesterday, Drew?"
Andrew clears my throat, "This is unbelievable. You guys check in almost every day. Well, have you guys heard about that quest stuff? The one with a prize of $500,000 for whoever turns up with some lame game box stuff?"
Caitlyn and Allen stare at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Andrew raised a brow, puzzled. "What's wrong?" He asks.
Caitlyn held a hand against her chest as she tried to control her chuckles, "That lame announcement? That's what you call real?"
"Of course, it's real. Has Cole ever lied to us about any tournament? You both know he's given us countless opportunities for many tournaments,"
"Yeah?"
"... and he only speaks if there is another tournament to prepare for. So how can this not be real?"
Allen taps Andrew on the shoulder, helping himself to the kitchen. "He said it himself," he gestures to Caitlyn, "he only speaks if there's a tournament."
Andrew tries not to gnarl out of frustration. What made him angrier was that a part of him wished to agree with them.
"Come on guys," he mumbled, "I didn't call you guys here to discourage me, I just wanted to hear your opinion on this. You know, whether I should take it on or not."
Allen was already in the kitchen, his words blocked by the sound of plates clinking against the marble kitchen countertop. Andrew turned to face Caitlyn, who raised her hands in response.
"Really?" He scoffed in disbelief.
"What do you want me to say?" she laughs again. "Andrew, we've got exams in a few weeks."
"Fuck exams."
"The so-called lost game box is said to be in our country here; lost somewhere. Do you know how large North America is? Where would you begin your search?"
Only if he could scream to their faces that he had found this game box already. Only if he could tell them that a nobody like himself received all the luck of the entire universe to locate this same game box that had been lost for years just laying carelessly in an antique shop he frequently visits since he commenced college.
Andrew made a quick resolve to make them regret this day. Just a little more time of concealing the truth.
"But if I were to find it," Caitlyn groans as he says this, turning her attention to Maggie, "you would accompany me to get the prize money, wouldn't you? You crazy motherfuckers!"
Allen chuckles as he stuffs his mouth with a spoonful of oats.
"Why would I even accompany you to someone – or maybe it's more than one person – some strange people that I haven't heard about in my life since the year I began gaming?"
"Goodness, these people are real! I searched about them on …"
"Don't tell me that was why I saw it on your laptop days ago."
Andrew's mouth seems to forget its duty for a moment as he becomes mute all of a sudden. Laughter erupts in the room again, and he spends the rest of that afternoon trying to prove to them that this was a life-changing opportunity.
* * *
The room suddenly lost its vibrant colors after Allen left. He eventually stayed back with Caitlyn to discuss the pending issue the college has to deal with a relationship between a lecturer impregnating a student which has caused a serious reaction from the student's parents. Many lectures were canceled, and somehow, Andrew wondered if the universe was making things happen in his favor.
He stares at his mobile phone, surprised he still doesn't have any interest in playing any video game. It's more like a game fast, but only for like 48 hours. He decided to force himself to sleep.
Caitlyn and Allen weren't any good at encouraging him to go along with what he already decided to do. Somehow, he knows deep down their opinions always mattered to him. Only if they knew what he had discovered.
His eyes traveled towards the corner where he had placed the game box. It was still in the carton he had covered it with. Something else was off; it emanated a pink glow.
Did it perhaps turn itself on? He thought.
He rubbed his eyes and got up to inspect the box.
There was no glow. He was hallucinating.
He chuckled dryly to himself, pondering on whether or not he would test the disc game out. It was a dating game; not Andrew's kind of thing, but one of Andrew's opinion goes thus:
It doesn't hurt to try out new things.
The warning attached to the announcement skids past his memory like a gentle morning breeze.
It doesn't hurt to break a few rules either.