Chapter 77: Tiana's Tournament

"To the gaming cafe! Today I have a tournament scheduled for me to play. But I can't let mom know I am playing video games in a public cafe when she told me to study up programming and whatnot," Tiana said with a tired sigh as she took out a cloth mask and put it on.

Viktor had no idea that Tiana was so into video games since he had never seen a girl so eager about playing video games. At least during the times when Taya was Tiana's age, all or most of the girls rarely ever went to any gaming arcade, and most of their hobbies were related to arts or something similar.

He thought boys were the ones who were crazy about video games since he remembered seeing plenty of them crowded around gaming arcades.

But other than being surprised, he felt that it was quite interesting that she was into such things and wanted to see what kind of video games she played,

"That's great. I have heard about video games and how fun they are. I can also play, right?" Viktor eagerly asked since he really wanted to try his hand at modern games and see what was different about them.

So far, he had seen how drastically the world has changed in a decade or two, so he also wanted to see how video games changed as well.

He was not crazy about video games, but he always had fun whenever he went to gaming arcades in the past, finding it entertaining.

He even used to play occasionally with Taya and remembered how they both had a great deal of fun.

Tiana hummed as she put up a thoughtful expression and said, "Hmm, of course. But do you know how to play video games? I mean, it's not like you had computers or gaming cafes back in your village, right?"

"Well, you can teach me, right?" Viktor asked with sparkling eyes.

"No way! I don't have time to teach a newbie like you. I have a tournament to get prepared for and even do some warmup lest the enemy team gets too cocky, hmph. There's a lot at stake here, especially the ticket to participating in the national finals," Tiana said as she stretched her arms.

Viktor had a baffled expression wondering if she was indeed talking about a video game and not some sport.

Because hearing the terms 'warmup' and 'national finals' and the way she made it sound how important it was, made him feel as if she was talking about participating in the Olympics.

He thought people played video games for fun or something to pass the time by but seeing how serious and determined her eyes were, he could feel how fired up she was. It was as if she was really serious about winning the tournament.

"Alright...I will find another way then…You should focus on that tournament," Viktor said with an unnatural stiffness in his tone, which strangely pulled at Tiana's heartstrings.

However, she looked away and shut her eyes close as if she didn't notice anything. But she had no idea why she was feeling a tightness in her chest when she rejected his request, especially when he seemed so eager about it.

So she looked away to get rid of this feeling. Unlike Sayana, she wasn't patient enough to teach anyone and followed the idea that time was limited and she shouldn't waste it by bothering about other people's businesses.

Viktor inwardly smiled as he subtly glanced at her. But he was now definitely interested to see what kind of tournament this was for her to be this zealous about it.

Soon a cab came, and the two got in. After traveling for around ten minutes, the two got off near a building that was very wide, almost a block wide, and two stories tall.

The building had a modernistic design with neon lights lighting up the whole building and long glass panes through which Viktor saw many people crowded inside, so he couldn't see beyond that.

He also took a look at the building's white signboard, which read 'GG! Gaming', and the letters had black lines of streak crossing over it, making it look stylish, just like the building's architecture.

Overall, the building looked like a rectangular box from a bird's eye view but very wide.

Viktor saw many bikes parked outside, and some of them were even sports bikes, making him wonder if rich kids come here to play as well.

However, seeing how the building looked like a premium gaming center, he felt that the rates must be very high.

The glass doors automatically opened as Tiana and Viktor entered, feeling a gust of cold air welcoming them and the bustling sound of many boys crowded over. He also noticed some girls in the crowd who were at least sixteen while some others were Tiana's age or a bit older.

Of course, he noticed guys in their twenties other than the teenage kids who looked as if they were here to watch something instead of playing.

Viktor noticed Tiana's body quivering in excitement and felt that he underestimated her enthusiasm as well as the people around him, hearing many cheering sounds and claps.

'What is this place? Why does everything look so professional and cool?' Viktor's notion of gaming arcades was broken down the moment he stepped into his building.

He felt as if he was in the venue of some tournament conducted by reputed organizations. He originally thought Tiana was participating in some tournament she and some other kids might have organized among themselves.

But as he walked further inside, he saw many projectors and large displays on the walls, which showed a shooting game with high-quality graphics and realistic designs. He felt that the guns looked exactly the same as the real ones, with the only difference being that these guns were behind a screen.

He then looked at the large banners kept around, which showed an armored soldier with guns shooting at people dressed like terrorists, and below it, he read the title 'Counter-Strike: Universal Warfare' and the logo CS:UW.

'She is here to play a shooting game? No wonder…' Viktor now realized why Tiana shouted about killing and all in her room. But he still didn't know to whom she was talking to.

He saw many cushy sofas on which many youngsters were sitting, chatting, and laughing while using their phones. Some others were watching the shooting game on the big screen and seemed to discuss it excitedly.

He wondered who was playing on the big screen, but the camera angles kept changing, making him even more confused.

As the two wriggled their way in further, they came upon a male staff member wearing a t-shirt with the building's logo and a headphone with a mic over his head. Behind him was a glass door that was less crowded and Viktor saw many thin and sleek-looking computers with large monitors kept around.

He saw that these computers were being used by some teens while others looked like college boys, playing the shooting game he saw before on their computers.

There also seemed to be girls with laptops in their hands, looking busy.

The male staff member had a tablet in his hand and seemed to be very busy talking on the mic while tapping his finger on the table.

Tiana walked up towards him and showed him her mobile without saying anything.

The guy glanced at it, and after taking a good look for a few moments, he gestured her to go in. Viktor also followed her, but the man blocked him with his hand as he asked, "I am sorry, sir. No spectators allowed."

"He's with me," Tiana briefly said to which the man nodded and moved his hand away.

'Spectator, huh? So most of the guys are here to watch this game, indeed. Why is there so much hype around this game?' Viktor was feeling puzzled as he couldn't understand how a video game could garner such attention even in public, where even people would travel till here just to watch others play.

He indeed was impressed by how realistic the game looked and could see that it was quite entertaining as well to see the players shooting down their enemies.

He saw Tiana walking towards three girls hooked on to their laptops. But she suddenly turned around and faced him as she said, "I am gonna go discuss some things with my team there. You said you wanted to try out this game, right? See, there is a free computer over there with the game on. All you have to do is put on those headphones and try playing. Ask the guys nearby if you need help. But there are on-screen instructions anyways."

Saying that, she hurried towards the three girls, who seemed quite excited at her arrival, and began to eagerly discuss some things with her.

Viktor felt like a fish out of a pond when surrounded by all these next-gen gaming and hearing many jargons he couldn't make heads or tails about.

Still, just as he planned, he sat down on a free seat that was before one of the gaming computers.

Since this video game looked very entertaining to play, he was quite excited to try it out.

But just as he was about to put on the headphones, he felt a hand gripping his shoulder.

"Hey, dood. This seat is reserved for Little Butkus. So get up and leave."

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