Master of None

“I swear I don’t know anything.” My mother looked at me with anxiety-ridden anguish.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Carlos, you have a briefcase handcuffed to you. Not only that, but I find you passed out on the porch. So I am going to ask you again, what did you do last night?” She looked at me with disappointment. It was hard to look her in the eye because I didn’t have an answer for her.

Instead, I chose to open the case in front of me. I felt my pulse stop to see several stacks of $100 bills. I stood frozen as my mother came around to see what had made my heart stop beating. She started to frantically pace back and forth between the living room and kitchen. I can already hear her unspoken word she shot with her eyes. You better have a good explanation for this.

I reach for the little black book I saw in the inside lid of the case. Written on the cover was something familiar, “Master0fN0ne”...my gamer tag. I knew in that instance that I had one of the most exciting nights of my life, and I was about to read about it. “Ma, just please sit down, and hear me out.”

Page One: The Game

Congratulations! You have been selected to participating in this year’s Chaos Royale. All participants are given their gamer notes as a recollection of the night’s events. For the keepsake of this event, we require you to permit us to erase your memories of this event.

Your main goal: Be the last one standing. The winner will get a jackpot cash prize. All battles are virtual and must be recorded on your Bestia One Virtual Reality Device. Select “RR Model” and begin.

I look at my mother’s interested face as she asked. “Chaos? That's the game you play all the time. Does this mean you were the winner?” She looked so confused but encouraged me to keep reading the highlights of the event.

As I read the little black book’s contents, I started recalling small glimpses of the event.

Master0fn0ne Level 1.

Master0fn0ne ranked 229 of 500.

Master0fn0ne found Galant Radiant Sword.

Master0fn0ne found one health globe.

Master0fn0ne hit by TheBigCheese2.

Master0fn0ne landed a critical hit.

Master0fn0ne eliminated TheBigCheese2.

Master0fn0ne Leveled up.

Master0fn0ne unlocked new skills.

Master0fn0ne has entered Dungeon 2.

Master0fn0ne Level 3

Master0fn0ne ranked 220 of 400.

I looked at my mother and explained the best I could. “All year, we have been having online events like these. Chaos Royale would take our stats and invite us to what you can call an invitational. The first event hosted over 10,000 players. And every “invitational” would host half the amount of the one before. Everyone starts as a level one and the default build. Our skill is evident as we level up and create our builds.”

As I explained, I found myself lost in my memories. I remember getting every invitation to participate. I always felt so giddy and proud of myself though others would feel I was wasting my time. One of those people was my mom. Looking at her face now, I know she still doesn’t get it, but at least she is hearing me out.

As I kept reading off the Player’s Diary, I could see my mom tense up whenever a new gamer tag would show up. The first four dungeons would hold 100 fewer players than the last. Then the number would decrease by increments of ten until we got to dungeon number 15. It was there that the top five players scourged the map to find each other. The game dropped us all on opposite ends of the map. We all hid from each other as long as we could. All it took was three words that sent us all to become the last one standing.

TheOnlyMusicMan eliminated Panko721

My mom stopped me at that moment. “Can you remember how you felt when those words appeared?”

“When you are playing, and you know you are just a few players away from being number one, all you can think of is ‘it has to be me.’ Especially since we didn’t know what the winner would get. The invitation mentioned a jackpot, but it could have easily been in-game currency. But I think it was best we didn't know it was $20,000. I would have died if I was this close and didn’t win.”

Master0fN0ne hit by TheOnlyMusicMan.

Four players left, and I had no more health globes. TheOnlyMusicMan was level 45, and I was level 43. I had already lost. Just then, three more words appear.

LuckyJackie7 eliminated Squidink70.

I knew the name of my future opponent. All that was in my way of being number one was two more players. I ran towards TheOnlyMusicMan and used a combo that would either eliminate him or leave me vulnerable.

Master0fN0ne used Fireblade.

Master0fN0ne used Teleport.

Master0fN0ne used Sandtorm.

Master0fN0ne used Hailing Arrows.

Master0fN0ne eliminated TheOnlyMusicMan.

One more player. I could feel my mom’s anxiety match mine as to when I was part of the event. “At this moment, I had half a health bar, and I need to find a health globe to heal; otherwise, I wasn’t going to make it,” I explained to her that at that moment, I looked on the map to find a loot chest. As I headed over, I noticed I wasn’t the only one approaching the chest. I rolled to my destination, hoping my stamina boost would kick in incase LuckyJackie7 grabbed the loot.

LuckyJackie7 was level 48. One hit, and I would be number two. I had to get the globe.

Master0fn0ne found one health globe.

I could see that Lucky had only half a life bar. I had a chance.

Master0fN0ne used Fireblade.

LuckyJackie7 used Sandstorm Torment Tornado.

My Health dropped to half with just one attack. I wasn’t going to make it.

Master0fN0ne used Hailing Arrows.

Master0fN0ne used Teleport.

Master0fN0ne stamina boost activated.

Master0fN0ne used Sandtorm.

Master0fN0ne used Fireblade.

Master0fN0ne used Sandtorm.

Master0fN0ne used Hailing Arrows.

Master0fN0ne used Teleport.

LuckyJackie7 used Sandstorm Torment Tornador.

LuckyJackie7 used Lightning Blades.

LuckyJackie7 used Hailing Arrows.

LuckyJackie7 used Teleport.

We both had a sliver of health left. Then the words that gave me hope.

Master0fn0ne Leveled up.

Master0fn0ne unlocked new skills.

I stuck with my last hit and new power.

Master0fN0ne used Sandstorm Torment Tornado.

Master0fN0ne eliminated LuckyJackie7.

My mom and I jumped up in excitement, and I said as she hugged me, “Winner! The next thing I knew, you were yelling at me on the porch.”