I

Ankith bounded up the stairs,taking three steps at a time.The place reeked of marijuana, and you could see a couple of kids rolling a joint. He had reached his booth almost an hour late. His friends were already there, they had started without him. He cursed them for that, didnt these people have the decency to call and remind him? Would they be oblivious to the point so as to replace him with a complete stranger? Sup, bro. piped in rohan.the fuck are you late?

Missed my bus.next time dont EVER start without me. Ankith tried to sound as menacing as possible.he booted up the computer before him,waiting for Call of Duty to load up. Cod, the game millions played every single day. Parents thought their kids to be losers for playing that.Ankith thought otherwise.he considered this particular fps to be an art.to stalk, to hunt , to prepare you kill and to swoop in for the final assault had a rush of its own. Can I join in? a lean boy of medium built asked Ankith. yeah sure. Rohan and Anirudh had to supress a chuckle before the newbie could overhear them. Ankith was somewhat of a legend in Somajiguda.every neighbourhood kid knew of his prowess in any kind of fps,be it cod, battlefield or counter strike. People generally left when he entered, as he was bound to screw up their kill to death ratio. It was not uncommon for random strangers to drop in and play along, but to ask Ankith was suicidal.

Ankith stole a glance at the newcomers hands as he typed in his password. He had perfect keyboard laning. His fingers were aligned at a perfect angle on Q,W and E, with his pinky on Tab.he smiled ruefully. Alignment wont get you kills. Imagination does.

The map did load and it turned out to be killhouse, Anirudhs favourite. He howled even before the game started. As usual,anirudh was high again, which didnt serve to improve his kd ratio. Ankith would have to cut him loose if he kept doing crack. The teams turned out to be ankith,anirudh and rohan in MARINES, while the newbie and two kids from HPS in OPFOR. He always chose G36C , as that gun was good enough for close ranged maps and for rushing.He heard rohan slamming his desk with frustration while he was respawning. Ankith thought that to be odd, rohan never dies first.

dude you noob or what.? shut up I was not ready . Next one to die was anirudh. This was really odd.his bros were not that bad.in the next instant ankith felt two bullets punch through him form the general north eastern direction.he quickly backpedalled and hid behind a wall for cover.be calm,he told himself.he didnt lose a lot of health, but still risky if all three of his opponents ganked in on him.small chance he thought.he heard footsteps to his right .he positioned his crosshair between the two possible entries.anytime now, he thought. His body was yanked back and his throat slit with a knife. Ankith was stunned.rohan and anirudh gaped at him with their mouths open. Dude you just got knifed. never happened in the past..two years?? Ankith glanced towards the newbie. It was him.his eyes flitted across every corner of the screen, never still.he glanced towards ankith and gave him a tight smile that was almost apologetic.it was as if he felt the pain ankith was going through ,and felt for him. SHUT UP screamed ankith.he pressed the console button and typed in the commands to kick the other four out of the game.it would only be him and the newbie. He would not let one freak incident screw up his reputation.

He ran along the left flank, scouting for any sign of this freak.he spotted him across the other side, hurrying over for cover. Too late,grinned ankith , and shot him down with well placed fires from the hip.two more followed the kill to ankiths favour. He could have used radar to flush out his opponent, but he wanted this to be fair and square.he wouldnt use any perks.a fourth followed and ankith was gaining confidence. That was until he was blinded by a flashbang.he was immobilized and he knew he had lost. The timer showed two minutes for the round to end.if only he could keep up the difference.just as soon as he respawned another grenade took up half his health.too late to regenerate, he thought , and he died again. Ankith was soon behind this abomination and went in for a knife kill.his opponent jumped and twisted and sprayed with an accuracy that shocked him.it was a tie with four kills each. The timer showed 20 seconds for the round to end.both of them circled around each other, waiting, spotting for any weaknesses.the person who climbed the top of the lookout would instantly have a drastic advantage,as he would have a greater line of sight.both rushed in to climb ,but stopped in mid air to indicate that the game had ended, tying both of them with four kills each. The entire floor exploded into raucous hootings and slammed their backs as they stared at each other.both of them were perspiring. The newcomer jerked up suddenly gave him a courteous smile. I need to go now . He moved towards the door. Wait. Ankith called out after him.will..will you be coming tomorrow?again? This was a momentous point in the history of the somajiguda gaming centre.people came up to ankith, not the other way around. An invitation by ankith was as prestigious as the royal wedding. yeah sure.im new here.names Nitin by the way.Nitin said in an offhand manner.

well, then, see you tomorrow

That night as Ankith walked back home he had a broad smile on his face.yes, he had finally met his intellectual equal.