33 Chapter 33:

Ace took off his headset and picked up the phone in front of him, he was getting a call from his grandmother, "Hello Ace, how is the streaming going?", Ace took the greeting in stride and informed her of his growing number of average viewers, and the fact that his U-Tube channel now had almost 1000 subscribers, he also informed her that there was a tournament in a week, and if he participated and did well, it would massively boost his popularity. She seemed pleased and actually wished him luck before hanging up - something that amazed even Ace.

Ace then finished filling out the form for the tournament, it was online, and everyone 13 and up could participate, so Ace qualified. He also did not need to make a team, as the participants would be scrambled, and then teams would be formed at random. There was, of course, another tournament for actual teams, but since Ace did not think he would get one by the time, he signed up for the scrambled team one.

He also had to play with the others tomorrow, they had already set up a time: 5 pm, and they would play for a few games. Ace was still unsure of what to do, he was part of the videogames club so if they wanted to, they could conscript him to play for them in school tournaments, which he obviously did not want. He had to find out a way for them to leave him alone without Ace being embarrassed (even if he had to fake his lack of ability).

He finished the application and queued for another game as he thought of what he could do to solve the problem.

As he was streaming, a viewer asked him to make a social media account, where it was easier for fans to send him messages, and Ace could post pictures about his life. Ace was obviously not going to post any pictures, probably only clips of him playing the game, but he thought that it would be a good way to interact with fans. He had already begun to form a plan, and while he knew that it was not time to plaster his face all over social media, it would be soon. This was because this way he could also attract a different demographic: younger girls that may not be interested in gaming, but were more prone to 'have' a crush on a pretty face.

It was honestly a pretty cold-hearted tactic, but that was the way he had been brought up. If he was able to attract various demographics, his popularity would skyrocket, and he would be much closer in reaching his goal. Having a social media account would be good. He could post snippets of youtube videos where he was playing games, making music, doing parkour… He could also post pictures of himself, he was not stupid, he knew he was good looking and his face would make him gain popularity. For now, he would not, but once the time was right, he would most definitely capitalize on his looks.

Pleased with his future plan, he turned it into a presentation and sent it to Veronica so that Samantha could review it and if necessary tweak it to make it more effective.

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"I'm surprised you actually dared to join, I thought you were not gonna show." Ace recognised the voice, it was the so-called 'leader' of the team that had first challenged him when he came to observe the club.

"Yes, I came, my question is, will you be good enough for me?", Ace asked, attempting to push as much scorn as he could into his words, and overachieving, if the boy's response was any indication.

"Bah! You have only been playing for about a week, and I heard that you did all your homework and do not miss any days, so you could not have played that much.", the boy's disbelief was clear, but Ace was just laughing on the other side of the screen.

"Hmmm, if you say so. Actually, why do we not make a bet?" Ace asked, phase one of his plan was complete, and he had set the bait, it was time to see if they took it.

"Ok, what is that, and before you say anything, you better make it worth our time, if you get what I mean.", the boy was most likely grinning, hoping to gain some tangible benefits out of this.

"We will play a game, and if I get the highest points, I will get a spot on the team, if I lose, I will give you 10 points." Ace set the bait fully, and waited to see the response.

"Actually, I have another idea, me and you, we do a 1v1, of course, this does not show your full capabilities so if you wish we can also play a game."

'Oh', Ace was surprised by this, his plan was based on playing a game, beating them and after they got angry, 1v1ing the leader, and proposing another bet, but these guys just wanted to make it even easier for him. "Ok then, that is fine, however, I have another proposition then, if I win, the Video Game club will not force me into participating in any tournament. The other side of the bet will remain the same."

"Hmmm…", the boy seemed to actually be considering it, he seemed to be trying to figure out why Ace would try to make that a part of the bet, but it was fine by him, these were an easy 10 points anyway. "That is fine, I accept, I want it to be best of 5, and in a map chosen at random, same with the defender or attacker roles."

Ace accepted, he had some lawyers draft up the contract already so he already made sure it was foolproof. They used a separate software to choose the map, and House came out, Ace's favourite map. They then used a coin-flipping software, and Ace ended up being an Attacker.

They loaded into the game, and Ace picked Blitz. He was an operator that had a riot shield and a gun as a loadout, along with flashbangs. His ability was that his shield could emit a light with flashbang like effects when triggered. He was not a normal pick in 1v1s, as he required good positioning, and since there was only one attacker for the defender to focus on, he could usually be shut down.

Ace used his drone, and found out that the boy was using Doc, a defender that could revive himself as well as heal himself, and one of the most solid 1v1 picks for defenders. He was standing at the right of the main door, but he spotted Ace's drone and shot it, so he could have moved. Ace began walking down to the main door, paying attention to any spawn peeking that could happen.

He broke down the barricade, and spotted the Doc, he shot at him, but Ace backed away and threw a flashbang. He would most likely see it coming, but it would allow him to gain some space. Ace then sprinted down and laid there waiting, crouching in a corner. He waited for about 15 seconds, and predicted the boy's personality correctly. He was impatient, so Ace soon heard him moving away from his spot, which was Ace's queue to get closer. He sneaked up to him, well, as much as he could, and waited. The Doc kept on walking, and Ace kept getting closer, he was silent, waiting to hear the opponent.

As he waited, Ace mentally prepared for the eventual gunfight, he would quickly use his ability and move forward diagonally, where he would then shoot him and take him out. He kept to his slow pace, and then the eventual meeting occurred. Ace heard him running up some stairs back to the main floor, so he stood at an angle, and used his ability, so that the Doc would not be able to dodge it as he was running straight at it. The Doc tried to move back but Ace pushed forward, and when he got a clear shot he took it. A clean shot to the head taking him out.

When they had started the game, Ace had left the call, but he imagined that the boy would not be very happy. They began the second round, and this time, Ace picked Sledge, choosing to play in a completely different way. He used his drone and found out he was in the garage, so he rushed forward with a shotgun as his primary and his SMG as a secondary with and ACOG equipped, it was extremely hard to control its recoil, but Ace could manage it sufficiently well to kill someone with a burst to the chest.

He used the hammer to break through the wall, and as he came in he threw two grenades that went into separate corners of the room. They flushed out the opponent, who was playing Doc yet again, who had to move towards the centre of the room, where Ace was waiting with a shotgun equipped, and the Doc got shot in the head, one hit in close proximity enough to win him the next round.

Then, it was time to swap positions, and Ace was going to win it in the dirtiest of ways. He picked Doc himself, and chose the MP5 with the ACOG. He then stayed around the main floor, until the drone appeared and he shot it, following that, he raced to the top floor, where he made a hole in a window and prepared for the spawning of the attackers.

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As Shwan spawned in, he prepared to take over the round, he had just lost the first two, but was confident in bringing it back, the points would allow him to slack off even more, and continue to play videogames without worrying about his grades. He could make points by winning tournaments with the school, but the rest of the players were not good enough to truly make him shine. He believed that all he needed was a shot at fame, and he could finally drop his team and the squad of losers.

Just thinking of the word made him mad, reminiscing of a happier time…

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Ace waited for a few seconds, and soon saw an Ash race down the path to the main door. Ace smiled, aimed and shot, one bullet to the head, as precise as one could be, taking the round, and winning him his freedom.