Episode One: One Step Forward ❓🪔🪔🪔
Game On👾⚔️⚔️
(Shadow Web 🕸️🃏🃏🃏)
Ricky Clove opened his result and checked the offer from Auremont University. He saw how badly he had failed his final exam. He knew that without a better result, like a credit, he would lose the offer to study Computer Science. He just stared at it. He knew it from the very start. He just couldn't bear the aftermath of his actions.
Ricky Clove is eighteen years old. He is a student of Millaton High School. He is one of the students you could call a genius. He had passed a lot of tests and exams worth commending. He just had one addiction, which slowed him down: video games!!! Ricky started playing them at the age of three. Now, he skips reading for them.
Ricky Clove is a lazy genius. He won games because of his genius. He failed his exam because of his laziness. What an amazing irony.
Ricky Clove looked at the screen again. "Big bro gonna kill me!" He lowered his hands and wiped his tears. "I'm in big trouble." He sighed.
Someone was knocking at the door. He stood up to check who it was. "Oh, Damon," he shook Damon’s hand. "Great goodness, you are here! I'm in big trouble!"
"Talk your mind out, nigga, 'cause I have something to tell you," Damon said.
Damon Biggs is Ricky's best friend and works at an arcade game store, where Ricky spends all his coins and nights. He is two years older than Ricky. He is a Black man and has been a help to Ricky more often by filling him in on new games, fresh news, and offers.
"You know the offer I tried to secure with the help of my big bro and those silly nights I spent reading?" Ricky asked.
"Yeah, about studying Computer Science in..." Damon replied quickly.
"Not anymore." Ricky sounded down. "I failed my final school exam."
"Why should you fail it? I told you to read."
"I... I... I tried, but..." Ricky was troubled to say his mind. Then, a message entered his PC (personal computer).
"Check it. Maybe that is your last option."
Ricky stared at the screen and bit his lip. He moved his cursor to the message and clicked on it. He glared at the message. It was from a game called Umpire. He had just won a challenge in the game.
The game sent him two offers. The first was a money offer. The second was a Silver Young Master title. He checked the screen and accepted the two offers. He saw more challenges for Silver Young Masters on the screen. He was glad.
"You made it," Damon said. He was elated. "You don't need the university anymore!"
"Wait, did you know before?" Ricky asked.
"I heard that Derrick lost in the game. Who would get it if not for you?" Damon said, feeling proud of his friend.
"Derrick might be the best player here, but there are more monsters out there." Ricky lectured him.
"You are the best. Aren't you the winner?" Damon said. He looked at the PC. "They updated you." Damon looked at the screen properly.
"I can probably see it." Ricky looked at it. He read:
Dear Ricky Clove,
Join in this adventurous challenge, prove your worth, and advance.
"Try it. Ricky, try it," Damon said, looking happy.
"It must be a new game," Ricky said.
"You just won a thousand dollars from playing a new game. Trust me, the newer it is, the easier the competition." Damon tried to persuade him.
Ricky kept reading the words.
"I'll try it later, but you know that I just failed my final-year exam?" He looked at Damon.
"Look here. There is a path. Just move forward," Damon said.
"But my brother, my family..." Ricky hesitated to give a definite answer.
"Your parents will trust this decision. Just put in your best, you hear?"
A step forward might be the only answer to the future. 😢