Jay sat in his chair, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. The screen glowed with the familiar chat notification: "Now that I've seen what you've got, how about you join our team? Jayson Myres?"
His breath caught in his throat as the words registered. "Jayson Myres." His real name.
His palms grew clammy, his mind spiraling into a panic.
"How did Alexio know?"
Jay had kept his identity so carefully hidden, especially in a world where no one knew him for who he was. No one at school knew about his Valorant profile, no one in his real life knew he could even hold his own in this game.
He was just Jay, the nobody, the kid who couldn't seem to do anything right. The weight of it all was suffocating.
He quickly minimized the chat window, his eyes darting around the dimly lit room.
"Okay man. Calm down," Jay said to himself.
The silence in the apartment felt almost oppressive, as if the walls were closing in on him.
Was this a joke? Had someone found out? His heart pounded in his chest.
Could it be someone from school? Maybe one of the jerks who bullied him? But no, the tone didn't fit. Alexio wasn't like that. Or at least, that's what he thought.
"Alexio had an high pitched voice though? maybe they were using a voice modulator?"
A couple of seconds passed, his hand trembling as he stared at the screen. He couldn't just leave it like this. If someone knew his real name, if they knew who he was...
Jay opened his laptop again, logging into his game. Suddenly, a whisper message from Alexio#455 had popped up.
"Don't act like you don't know who I am, Jay. You've been avoiding me long enough."
Jay's stomach churned. He quickly scrolled through the message, his mind racing to understand. Who was this? Someone from school? He wracked his brain, but the name didn't click.
Alexio? The username seemed so... disconnected from anything he could recognize.
Before he could even respond, another message popped up.
"You don't have to pretend. I saw your game sense. You're better than you let on, and I know what you're really capable of."
Jay stared at the screen, speechless. How could Alexio—someone he had just played against—know so much about him?
The anxiety hit him hard. He leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair, his mind buzzing with a hundred thoughts at once.
"What is this? Was it a trap?"
"A joke? Why did Alexio know so much?"
Another message popped up, this time a simple invitation: "Come meet me at the Internet Cafe near your school tomorrow. We need to talk."
Jay stared at the message, his heart pounding louder in his ears. He didn't know if he was ready for this.
Meeting someone from his gaming world in real life... was that even a good idea? But then again, who else knew what he was going through? Could Alexio really be someone who understood?
His mind spiraled, the thoughts coming too fast.
It was hard enough living in a world where people judged him for everything—his lack of success at school, his constant struggle to prove himself to his family. To think that someone from his past, someone who knew him as Jay, might actually be on the other side of this screen... It felt like a weight on his chest.
He stared at the invitation for a long time, the words seeming to blur as his thoughts tangled together.
Finally, he sighed and typed a response. His fingers hovered over the keys for a moment, unsure, but then he pressed send.
"Alright. I'll be there."
....
It was already the next day.
School was just as irritating for Jay and with a lot of sighs, not to mention the part time job hell.
After his shift got over, he grabbed a juice box and slurped it until he reached the Internet Cafe.
Jay stood outside the Internet Cafe, his breath visible in the chilly night air.
The neon lights above flickered, casting a faint, eerie glow that only deepened his sense of unease. He had never been one for surprises, especially when it came to people who seemed to know more about him than he was comfortable with.
He glanced at the time again—8:30 PM. The message from Alexio was clear: "Meet me at the Internet Cafe. We need to talk."
That was it. No explanation, no further details. Just those words, staring back at him on his phone screen.
How did Alexio know so much about him? How did she—no, he, or was it a she?—know his real name? His fingers twitched nervously at the thought.
Jay's pulse quickened as he turned his gaze to the cafe's front door.
Jay hesitated. He wasn't sure why he even agreed to come. Was it because he wanted answers? Or was it because he was curious about the person who had so easily seen through the mask he'd worked so hard to keep intact?
His mind raced. What if it was a trap? What if Alexio had just lured him here to make fun of him, to expose him for the loser he was at school, the one who could never seem to fit in anywhere?
He had spent his entire life avoiding attention.
It wasn't just school that had been a battlefield—his home was a constant reminder that he was nothing but a disappointment, someone who had to fight for every scrap of approval.
Valorant was the only place where he felt like he could breathe, where no one judged him, where no one cared that he was just some guy with a secret.
But now... he couldn't escape this. The mystery of Alexio was gnawing at him. He looked around again, as if expecting someone to jump out from the shadows.
Could it be one of the kids from school who had found out? Maybe someone who knew him as Jay? The possibility made his stomach twist in knots.
"Why am I doing this?" Jay muttered under his breath, his hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets. He glanced at the cafe once more, and then at his phone.
No new messages. Alexio wasn't going to give him any more clues.