Pros don’t need sleep
He blocks the opponent’s sword with a parry of his spear. The red health bar on the left side of the screen is less than a quarter of the way full, but the opponent’s health bar on the opposite side isn’t much longer either.
Beads of sweat roll down his neck. It’s the coldest night of the year, but he is warm from the heat of battle and the warm air blowing out from his desktop. The room is dark but for the light coming from the monitor and the shifting rainbow colored glow from the backlight of his keyboard.
His left hand taps rhythmically at the keyboard while his right makes adjustments with the mouse. Half of the icons in the tray at the bottom of the screen are grayed out as skills used previously wait to come off cooldown.
He leans slightly forward from his high-backed gaming chair. He has bags around his eyes from too many nights of staying up gaming, but his eyes are wide open and focused, pupils making rapid movements from opponent to status bar to skills.
Clang! Clang! Clang! The sounds of the battle flood the neon green headphones sitting atop his slightly long dark hair. The view on the screen whirls around as his character evades and blocks the enemy attacks while sending out a few jabs of his own.
Both health bars are dangerously close to zero. His heart is pounding in his chest like a prisoner banging against the walls of his cell. His bare feet press deeper into the hardwood floor.
The enemy’s sword flashes white as it slashes down with a high priority skill. He tanks the damage instead of dodging, holding his breath at the few percentage points of health left. The enemy has miscalculated, failing to kill him off in one strike. Using the extra second gained from the ending animation lag, he holds down his T key to charge up his spell, causing the black iron spear to light up with crackles of purple lightning as a dark ball of magic grows at the tip.
Releasing the spell, he maneuvers the spear to send out another stab right as the dark orb pierces the enemy’s armor and explodes, sending shockwaves of electricity through him and knocking the character backwards in a smooth arc. The swordsman lands in a bloody heap on the sandy gravel of the arena while the golden word “VICTORY!” falls over the screen.
Releasing a breath as he shakes out his wrists and leans back in his chair, he adjusts the microphone of his headset closer to his mouth.
“Come on, bruh. Are you even trying?”
June 2020
