“He’s winning, right?” Mom asked.

  Anna didn’t have time to respond before the male caster’s confident voice echoed through the speakers. He’d introduced himself as Artonis before the match.

  “Team Solo Mage loads into the final match of the day against Luxueux with a perfect score of three to zero, despite entering the tournament as a duo, with dominance we’re only used to seeing from the five gods. Veyra’s quick-casting has been utterly unbelievable!”

  The female caster, Leona, responded, “It’s impossible to tell if they are yet on the gods’ level, but I am interested to see how they will fare against the gods, as Annath herself dominated group A in similar fashion earlier today. If Assassin A and Veyra can continue this performance, we will get to witness them face off against Annath and the DJmikolele later in the brackets.”

  “Who’s DJ Mico… lel?” Mom asked.

  Anna sighed. “He’s a good player that Aiden will have to fight against. Just let me listen.”

  “Luxueux has also shown a dominant performance of three to zero,” Leona said. “Neige’s Greatbow Of Might has dealt an insurmountable amount of damage in many tournaments this year, and his positioning has made him impossible to deal with, even for Errin and Nomnom Catones.”

  The casters continued talking about the other teams, mentioning that if Nomnom Catones lost one more match, they would have to start from the losers’ bracket. Anna waited for the match with Aiden and Luxueux to begin.

  He’ll advance to the winners’ bracket anyway, Anna thought. They’d already won three rounds, while many others had lost two. This match wouldn’t really matter. But Luxueux was one of the top five contenders to win the tournament, Anna had read. If Aiden could win this one… he could probably advance far.

  The match finally began. With five battles ongoing at the same time for the first day, the display was divided, making it harder to see, but Anna focused entirely on Aiden’s small figure.

  She still had no idea what was going on. She kept up with Wonderwind player drama and famous clips, but she didn’t play the game herself. Aiden just turned to a shadow, dashed at his opponent, and they started fighting.

  The archer, Neige, shot an arrow straight at Aiden’s chest, which passed through, but that only strengthened him, giving Aiden a bright aura.

  He didn’t ravage the tank player like every other time. Instead, he ran straight for the archer, who ran.

  Except, the archer’s feet were frozen.

  “Veyra and Assassin A caught Neige!” Artonis was yelling. “Five seconds into the match, Absolute Zero has locked him into place! One more good combo, and the Frenchmen’s damage dealer will be out! Can Fuhad protect him—no he can’t, Neige is eviscerated out of the match!”

  The caster’s commentary was much easier to follow than the screen itself. The battle moved so fast, with Aiden and Veyra teleporting from place to place, killing everyone.

  The screen focused on Veyra’s staff as she cast some sort of time blast, while the French assassin player kept defending, running. None of the opponents so far could keep up with Veyra’s spells. She kept shooting everything much faster than anyone else. It really seemed like she was the one who let Aiden fight as well as he did.

  “Luxueux simply cannot deal with this level of quick-casting!” Artonis continued. “SevenStrife is back, ladies and gentlemen, and she is not cheating, as Veyra absolutely dominates Luxueux’s tank! Sloudon doesn’t have a single response to her flurry of spells!”

  The fight between Aiden and the Funnyhaha assassin continued, while their knight in armor, the tank player, hopelessly ran around and was not helping at all. His job on the previous rounds had been to protect the archer player, but now that the archer was dead, he only kept taking damage from Veyra’s rift spell.

  Veyra used her portal to go high in the air. Her staff glowed with time magic as Anna finally recognized a spell being used. Time Freeze, the back-line nuke.

  Aiden used his dash upward just before impact, hugging Veyra.

  The spell hit the front line this time. Both Sloudon and Fuhad took the spell to the face, dying. Aiden didn’t take damage.

  He just hugged her in the middle of a match!

  “And Luxueux is the first to fall in a forty-five second stomp!” Leona called. The other matches were still ongoing, but everyone’s attention was only on Aiden and Veyra. “Unbelievable! Team Solo Mage dominates group C with a four to zero performance!”

  ***

  I logged off back into the real world, having killed Luxueux as fast as possible to go meet Veyra. We had no more matches until tomorrow. I got off of my gamepod.

  The commentary of ongoing matches echoed uncomfortably loudly. I probably shouldn’t have gotten off yet with the other matches still ongoing. One half of the audience clapped at me awkwardly, while the other kept watching the matches.

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  I turned to the nearest organizer, a man in the back, and asked, “Did I get out too fast?”

  He shook his head. “It’s just the group stage. You’re free to leave. Congratulations on winning.”

  I glanced at Veyra’s pod. Her assistant, the black-haired Thai woman, opened the lid, where Veyra’s eyes were open. The assistant helped Veyra out from the pod, placing her on the wheelchair. They, too, received cheers.

  We began moving backstage, passing the curtains. I grinned at her. “We did it.”

  “Yeah…” she said softly. “But those weren’t our hardest opponents.”

  The confident voice that I was used to from her in virtual reality was now quiet, as if she wanted to hide. Her eyes pointed straight ahead, right hand stiffly pinching her jean pocket.

  “Are you still feeling off?” I asked through my own nerves.

  “No, no!” she said with a wave of her hand. “I’m fine! Thank you. I’m just… not used to being around people.”

  Veyra avoided my eyes with flustered embarrassment—the same expression she always gave online at my dumb attempts at flirting—and her face was red, just like it always was when we talked about dates online.

  She was the same Veyra I knew. Flustered, awkward, and always stressing about something that seemed totally trivial to me.

  My heart was about to melt.

  Her freckles, her nervousness, the subtle wavy streaks in her hair—they were all perfect.

  “Congratulations,” the tall woman from earlier said, butting in. “The brackets will be created once everyone finishes their matches. Remember to check your standings before tomorrow.”

  “Uh, yeah, thank you,” I said, though I missed half of what she’d told me.

  Veyra’s assistant lifted a hand slightly for her turn to speak. “Is there an accessible way out of here? We, uh, took the wrong route inside, it seems.”

  “Yes,” the woman said. “Mike, could you lead them out?”

  A muscular bald man with a Staff T-shirt got up from a computer seat and said, “Yeah, sorry about the stairs. We should have mapped the ramp routes for you. It’s been busy. Follow me.”

  Veyra’s assistant turned to me. She smiled subtly, then took a step back, showing me the push handles. “She’s all yours. Have fun!”

  “Eh, Aree?” Veyra blurted out.

  “I’ll stay close, call if you need me!” her assistant said, then waved goodbye and left us alone. She disappeared behind a corner. Veyra stared after, surprised.

  Now alone together, Veyra’s eyes panned to me.

  I couldn’t form words. I couldn’t form thoughts. The most precious human in the world—the time mage whose spells saved me from homelessness, the most hard-working girl I knew, and the smartest—she was finally here, in front of me.

  We said nothing, staring at each other like the most awkward idiots on earth.

  “Sorry, um, for not recognizing you before…” I said, while scratching the back of my head. “Would you like to go for a walk around?”

  She nodded, looking determined and nervous at the same time. “Yes. I won’t run from you anymore. Take me where you’d like. But let's stay at the event.”

  Hesitantly, I placed my hands on the push handles, feeling like I’d been given the responsibility of taking care of the whole world. Mike, the organizer, led the way.

  And we were moving. Each step was nervous. Any miss-movement would make it to Veyra, and if something happened to her, it would all be my fault.

  Thankfully, Mike moved slowly. He smirked and asked, “Have you two known for long?”

  “We just met,” I said.

  He laughed, and we moved down the ramp, through a few hallways, until a curtain connected us to the atmospheric lights of the LAN event.

  One step at a time, I pushed Veyra onto the same LAN event I’d just explored. Music was playing, and the lights felt even darker, with the event fully underway. To our left was Zenith Protocol’s merch line with dozens of people buying T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, and cards. To our right, Henrift and Zoldor were signing those cards, taking pictures with fans.

  People spotted the wheelchair and made space, a path opening for us. I took it slow, moving deeper into the LAN event.

  We were really here now. At Worlds, with Veyra in front of me. This wasn’t exactly what I’d expected—to be pushing a wheelchair—but I was honored she trusted me for the job.

  And pushing her made my heart race a million times a second.

  Is this really why you didn’t want to meet me? I thought. Because you’re on a wheelchair?

  I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to hug her. I wanted to stare at her face like a weirdo. But there was too much noise to talk, and we were in public. Where could I take her?

  She stayed silent, just admiring our surroundings. I took a deep breath and focused on making the trip safe. I was allowed to be awkward, but if I hurt her with clumsiness, I would never forgive myself.

  We walked for a few more minutes with people getting out of the way, some taking pictures from behind, though nobody approached or followed us.

  The side path I usually took to the player area had stairs. I wouldn’t even know how to get Veyra there.

  I just want to talk to you! I thought. Where could we sit and just enjoy the event?

  I looked around, when I spotted a small bench, surrounded by virtual pods. This part was calmer, with everyone in virtual pods. The lights were dimmer there, and the area was unoccupied, but for a few people, who were getting into game pods.

  I pushed Veyra there. The music was quieter here. I parked her wheelchair next to the bench beside the wall and took a seat, sitting as close to her as I could.

  It took me a while to think of what to say. “We’re really here now.”

  “Yep…” was all she said.

  We sat there, next to each other, both of us just looking at the event from the quiet corner between all the virtual pods.

  “Did I do a good job?” I asked. “Was it a comfortable ride?”

  “Yes, it was perfect.”

  Her right hand was on the wheelchair’s arm rest. Her nails were a cute black with red stars on them. Her outfit just fit so well together, from the sweater to the oversized baggy jeans, and her glasses—oh my god her glasses.

  Out of all the endless towns and cities in the world, Veyra was finally next to me, close enough to hold hands with.

  Compliment her, I thought. Hug her. Just say something!

  “Aiden, I…” she began. Her speech got faster and faster as she spoke. “I’m sorry for hiding this. I know it’s a shock. I’m not nearly as amazing in real life. I get it if you feel the ick. I’m sorry for lying… We just didn’t know well enough at first, and when I got to know you, the thought of you seeing me just terrified me, so I—”

  “Veyra?” I asked, my breath so heavy I could hardly speak. “Are you feeling okay right now? You’re not sick anymore? You won’t puke?”

  She blinked. “I’m feeling good, yes?”

  I grabbed her, and pressed my face against hers.

  She flinched at first, face wide open. Our lips touched. I waited, giving her an opportunity to push me away.

  She didn’t.

  Our tongues met, and I kissed her. I felt her hair, the warmth of her sweater, hugging her even tighter. Her sweet shampoo was like heaven for my nose, and her mouth—

  I knew nothing about kissing; I’d never even thought of kisses as something that could be attractive.

  But I couldn’t get enough of her. Her right hand slid across my back as she nervously tried to keep up with me.

  “How,” I asked through a heavy breath, “are you even hotter in real life?”

  I kissed her again.

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