On my phone, I opened up the website for “New York Wonderwind,” the official website for anything Wonderwind in my city. From there, I found the one versus one PvP competition—the biggest Wonderwind event in New York with a grand prize of ten thousand dollars and a Worlds invitation ticket, accommodation and flights included. The event was always held in September, one month before Worlds in October.

  I should have probably applied earlier, considering it was currently September 5th, but I hoped I still had time. Wonderwind was known to have an impulsive community when it came to competitions. Even the arrangements for Worlds brackets weren’t fully completed until just a few days before the event would take place.

  Applying for New York’s competition was thankfully simple, as it was designed to be inviting. This competition didn’t require agents or teams—all I needed was a New York ID or driver’s licence, and a high level Wonderwind account.

  On the website, a button read, “Check if your account is eligible to compete in the 2026 PvP tournament.”

  I had clicked that button many times in the past. It had declined me every time, claiming that I was too underleveled. And to be fair, I had always been way underleveled. The lowest level player that applied for last year’s tournament was level 180, back when I was still 168. This year, the average level would be higher due to power creep, but I was also well beyond 200 now.

  I better still not be underleveled, I thought. I connected my Wonderwind account, and clicked the button.

  [Checking character details for Assassin…]

  [You are eligible to enter the Open Qualification Event for “New York Wonderwind One Versus One 2026”]

  [All events related to “New York Wonderwind One Versus One 2026” are held locally in Barclays Center arena. Please select your preferred date.]

  I blinked, surprised, as the website gave me a schedule of all the events about to take place. The open qualification event essentially replaced the usual group stage that tournaments had.

  For the open qualification, all competitors gathered in the arena to play against randomly picked opponents for a total of ten matches, with dozens of matches ongoing at the same time. Winning a match offered points. At the end, after everyone had fought ten times, the thirty two players with the most points would advance to brackets, where the real tournament would take place.

  Should be easy enough, I thought and opened the schedule.

  The closest date was September fifth, six hours from now. The next on September sixth, and the last on September seventh.

  Oh shit, I thought, what timing! The website still allowed me to apply for the one starting six hours from now. That was perfect. I was mildly tired from the dungeon hunt after staying up for eighteen hours straight now, and I wouldn’t want to fight any finals right now, but the open qualification event shouldn’t have been a problem.

  I applied for the competition. I was accepted, and the website gave me the instructions on where to enter, as well as a number I needed to show to the reception there. It told me to show up at least an hour early with a valid ID.

  I was about to call a cab to the arena, when I spotted a text from my sister from two hours ago.

  “Hey, mom wants to visit the cafe you’re at to see how you’re doing. Just warning you. She’ll probably come today.”

  I smiled. Funny, my family’s way of caring about me. I wrote back. “I’m heading to the Barclays Center for a competition right now. Feel free to come watch.”

  She read my text right away and wrote back. “Really? Do you need a ride? We can come pick you up.”

  I felt like this was a trap. If nothing else, my parents and sister wanted to inquire about my new lifestyle. Anna sounded worried, though, and she had always been pleasant to be around. It would have been rude to just abandon them.

  I wrote, “Sure, I’ll take a ride. Not paying you though. I’m at The Cave right now.”

  From there, I bought a quick hotdog and took a shower in the lone shower The Cave had. Of course, it was vacant. I was probably the only one who even occasionally used it here. I picked the final clean shirt I had remaining and prepared to see real sunlight for the first time in ages.

  ***

  When I returned from the shower, I found Anna and my mom standing around in The Cave’s lounge with apprehensive postures like some aristocrats who accidentally entered a black market. My mom’s blue blouse had more happy colors than the rest of the place combined, and my sister’s black hair was done in wavy streaks. Her makeup alone had more effort placed into it than all of The Cave’s customers had placed into self-care for the last month combined.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  My family watched as a random hunched up game addict yawned, walking sluggishly to the counter to order a hotdog and to replenish his game pod rent for another week.

  “Hello,” I said, walking up to them.

  My mom blinked at me, Anna looking absolutely horrified.

  “Aiden…?” mom asked. “I saw you tell Anna that your living situation was fine.”

  “Better than ever, actually,” I said with a grin. “My gear’s almost all epics or above now, and I’m earning more than enough to keep living.”

  The guy at the counter slowly turned his head, hearing me mention epic gear. My mom and sister stayed doubtful.

  “Anyway, I need to get to the competition,” I said. “Barclay’s Center. We can talk in the car.”

  Both of them seemed to be eager to get out of The Cave as fast as possible. While we were exiting, my sister asked, “Are you really entering a competition?”

  I squinted, holding a hand over my face as morning sunlight hit me in the face. “I’m telling you, I’m doing really well,” I said. “It’s a lot easier to grow in the game after there’s no rent to worry about.”

  I still had to pay a thousand every month to play in The Cave, but now that I had a bigger bank and leeway, I could easily afford to invest more into my character, which was what mattered, really.

  Mom suddenly grabbed me from my shoulders, looking me directly in the eyes. “We’re really sorry, Aiden. I tried to tell John—” My dad. “—not to kick you out. He promised he would not. We want the best for you. Always.”

  She looked sincere, yet I still found my eyes wandering away. “You know…” I said. “I would have liked to hear that when I was actually struggling. Not when my career is actually going well.”

  “The rent money you’ve paid, we’ve saved all of it,” mom said. “We always intended to give it back to you, just when you could prove to us that you had a stable life under control. We are ready to take you back any time you want.”

  I shrugged, only mildly surprised. I knew my dad really didn’t need the rent money I paid. He was always just an extreme believer of tough love.

  “I know you want the best for me,” I said. “But I’m also not broke anymore. I can handle myself. I’m not moving back to the house.”

  She looked at me with saddened puppy eyes.

  “Thanks for the offer, mom,” I said, “but I’m really doing fine.” I then turned to Anna. To her, I spoke with much more enthusiasm. “So, are you excited to see me prove I’m the best in New York?”

  Anna gave me a look. “Last year you didn’t even qualify for the qualifiers.”

  “This year, I’m going to Worlds,” I said. “I’m actually pretty good at the game now.”

  The doubtful stare continued as we entered the car. I took the back seat of our SUV next to Anna, and mom began driving us to the arena. A small wave of dizziness hit me when the car began moving. Probably not a good sign for my health. Maybe I should also start running a bit and actually going outside every now and then.

  I asked Anna about how her last year of high school was going, to which she confidently responded she was getting all straight A’s.

  School talk was probably boring to us both, though, so I pulled up my phone and showed her the clip of me and Veyra one-shotting Nova Imperium. “I went on a date with that girl, by the way,” I said.

  Anna tilted her head. “Wait. You? A date?”

  “Yep,” I said proudly.

  “Was it online?”

  “Yep.”

  “Do those count?” Anna asked.

  “Of course,” I said. “Real life girls can’t cast that kind of magic, now, can they? Did you see that spellcasting? She one-shotted the enemy’s full backline, all top players. Then I dueled that guy right there, and we got the boss. We went on a date right after.”

  Anna listened in and watched the clip, but she seemed to just be examining Veyra’s appearance rather than her spellcasting. Anna kept up with Wonderwind news, but she didn’t actually play the game.

  “Is she your girlfriend?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” I said. “Maybe we’ll meet in real life one day.”

  Hopefully in Worlds.

  I chatted with my sister about dating and various nonsense for a bit, sitting through traffic lights, until we finally arrived at the arena. The parking lots weren’t huge here, but there was space, considering we arrived six hours early.

  From there, we followed the signs that read, “Contestants,” leading me to a side door by the arena.

  “You’re seriously playing here?” Anna asked. “Your first competition? In an arena like this?”

  The building was positively huge and decently new, commonly hosting sports games. Wonderwind was the biggest video game out these days, but the size of even smaller events still surprised me. The arena was booked for just New York’s local Wonderwind events for a full week.

  I thanked my mom for the ride. They wished me good luck, and I entered a modern, well-cleaned hall. TV-monitors with schedules and advertisements hit me right away, while I waited in line behind other players registering themselves.

  After five minutes, I faced one of the contestants’ receptionists. A tall man with side-parted hair in a blue tuxedo. “ID and your registration number, please.”

  I offered both, and he studied my information on the computer. Examining my information took a lot longer than with those prior. He squinted.

  “Assassin?” he asked. “You’re from New York?”

  “What, am I famous?” I asked.

  People were looking at me and whispering to each other, I realized. My face was pretty much the same in real life as it was online. If someone had seen my face, they’d recognize me.

  The receptionist smiled awkwardly. “It has been a while since we’ve seen a cheating accusation this large. Good luck on the competition. If you can perform here, it should prove you’re not cheating.”

  “I’m not cheating,” I said. “It’s called practice.”

  “Then you should definitely be a top contender,” he said. “Although, I doubt anyone can beat Henrift.”

  Henrift? I thought. Oh, right. He’s from New York.

  I knew right away he’d be my toughest opponent. Henrift was one of the members in Zenith Protocol, the best guild in the game. He was somewhere around the top 50 of the global leaderboard, and considered the best player in New York. He was a death knight tank, not the best class for PvP domination, but he probably expected to steamroll straight through New York’s local competition, considering we only had one or two players in the top five hundred leaderboard total.

  “Here is your pass,” the receptionist said. The competitor’s pass had my name, face, registration number, and an RFID code to let me log into the game pods. “Good luck, and happy killing.”

  20 chapters ahead on !