Chapter 1 - Lost Again

Lost Again

The sun was gloomily peeking through the classroom window at the student that was standing in front of the writing board, solving a tough mathematical formula with handsome ease. His class teacher was standing right beside him, earnestly. The whole class had failed today's test. Jake, on the other hand, was constantly putting numbers on the board with his left hand; he was a math genius and the teacher used him as an example to inspire the rest of the class.

"Yes, he will become the first handicapped engineer." The class biggest insecure kid spoke up. He found his worth in making the rest of the class laugh at his insensitive commentary. The class teacher heard the remark but thought it better to ignore it in the hope that jake might have not heard it. Jake had heard it and he took it on his heart. He lost the enthusiastic drum in his stance, instead, he simply solved the question- the feeling of victory completely washed away.

At the same time, the bell rang and the class was over.

The teacher left the classroom. The students circled the math genius, mockingly.

"This math genius is a defected piece, he always supposes 'x' stands for his right hand which is not present." The students laughed, connivingly.

"Stop it; it will gain its strength after surgeries," Jake answered knowing that these class fellows were pushing him to his limits.

A tall burly student punched his face upon hearing his frustrated tone, "Will this hand of yours be able to stop my punches after getting normal?"

Jake fell on the ground with this punch. The second student was ready to kick him when another leg interrupted and the student fell instead.

"Do not ruin the class atmosphere! Especially, when it is recess time. Do you want me to break your leg?" Class CR stood up in front of the bully and glared him down. The student glared at her and left the class.

Jake stood up and sat on his seat. It was just another average day for him. Jake Lin hated being called defective. He was told that his hand will work normally after the surgeries but that day never came. He turned fifteen hearing all those repulsive and unpleasant remarks. He knew the shallowness of the words that uttered from his mouth. He was sure that his hand would get better with the surgeries but where would he get the money that was required for these surgeries?!

The school bell rang putting a temporary end to his permanent misery. He walked heavily across the school corridors as all the students were looking at his hand, his eyes boring holes in the ground.

"How do you play games with one hand?" someone shouted from behind as he was walking out of the school gates.

"Shush...he must be a loser in any game." The other students laughed loudly so that Jake could hear it. Jake hastened his steps pushing the distance behind. All the buildings; streets and the people walking around seemed to be mocking his defective hand.

"It will get healthy after the surgery, I said." He growled lowly, more like reminding himself of it rather than answering other people.

Jake walked back home with a painfully fake smile on his face. He saw Patina, his older sibling, playing the famous game called 'Sovereign Rulers'

Jake sat in front of the second gaming console to join her. Patina had bought it for him. He started the game; entering one after the other small quests and ending last because the time given to finish a task was short and with only one hand working; it was impossible to surpass the other players. Finally, he stood up shutting down the screen.

"Get me a mug of coffee little Jake," said Patina when she saw Jake going toward the kitchen.

After losing the game hundreds of times just in one sitting; Jake got up frustrated. He glanced at the gaming screen where a character moved at an agile pace and left the opponent behind. Patina was much superior to a pro. Her skills as well as the choice of actions brought wonders for the spectators. This was the reason that she was among famous players. Several thousand spectators watched over her live matches. The Sovereign Rulers game developers were ready to hire her as a professional player.

"I will get it for you," Jake answered making two mugs of coffee. He looked at his hand and shook his head with disappointment. According to doctors tissues of his right arm were strained and they could work better after some surgeries. Lack of money and a poor background played the main role in stopping them from expensive surgeries. "Don't worry; after the surgeries, your hand will get better and you will defeat me in the gaming; believe it or not I can already see you defeating me and snatching my position shortly." Patina followed behind him into the kitchen after asking for the coffee. She was well aware of what Jake was thinking after losing so many times.

She patted on his shoulder and smiled. Jake knew that his older sister was saving money for the surgeries as well as running the kitchen and the expenses of the school. He was indebted to her in many ways.

"I have not a single reason to worry when you are around." Jake developed sensitive nature after his mother died and the father left saying that he did not want to waste his life on two 'puny scums' It was five years ago. Things changed a lot, however, his hand continued to remain the same and so did the taunting in school.

Jake learned to fight with the harsh circumstances seeing Patina working hard for everything.

"Patina, I am going for coaching classes; do you want me to bring something on the way back?" Jake swallowed down his tears.

There was hope shimmering in Patina's eyes and disappointment in his. He forced a smile.

"Nothing other than your smiling face." Patina cupped his face in her hand and confirmed.

Jake nodded silently saying,

"Best luck with today's competition." Jake left in a hurry to hide his crying heart.

Patina saw him leave and before she could reach the door and bade him good luck; her phone beeped signing a text message.

She read through and deleted the message and sent it to the spam folder. She had received this similar text message seven times within the past two or three days. These messages were ruining her mood. Today it was her live competition again. The competition was about to begin. Patina had decided to use the code action during the competition for testing the worth. It was not a good decision. They had targeted her after knowing that she was a poor gamer and needed money.

…

"This time she will follow the text message. Get ready." A seemingly powerful, cunning man that was sipping on the tea spoke, grimly. His customized suiting and the grand office building had a big sign on its head, 'Optimal Crown' the headquarters of the number one gaming company.

The president of the company was extremely worried because of the popularity of the 'Sovereign Rulers'.. The 'Sovereign Rulers' was gaining excessive attention. If this game continued to gain momentum as it was getting right now, the day 'Optimal Crown' would get dethroned by it didn't seem far away, And before that day comes; the president was rolling out his master plan for the decline of 'Sovereign Rulers'