Sofia did not even bother to close the door of her bedroom. She had been so sleepy that after her head touched the edge of the table, her consciousness drifted away.

Just as she fell asleep, Stephen was also awakened by the coldness of the floor. He slowly stood and stretched his body. A yawn escaped from his lips.

He was tempted to open his phone but as he examined his pocket, the device was not there! His eyes blinked a few times and scanned the area until his eyes darted at the widely opened door of Sofia's bedroom.

From his location, he could see the girl was curling on the table with her head touched on her keyboard.

Stephen furrowed his brows and grabbed the blanket from the floor. He quietly walked inside and throw the blanket to Sofia.

The girl hugged the linen and a small smile appeared on her lips.

"You don't need to work so hard." Stephen's hoarse voice sounded inside the room. He saw the notebook containing Sofia's sketches dropped beside her feet. On the corner of the page, he saw few letters scribbled on it.

LZYS

He picked up the notebook and placed it on the monitor. Then, Stephen quickly went out and closed the bedroom door. He swiftly walked back to the sofa and did not think of looking at his phone.

"Did Joey and Clark went home last night?" He wondered while his body comfortably laid down. He let his arms rest on his forehead and decided to sleep again.

Thursday, Feb 9, 2017, 5:00 AM

Despite the lack of sleep, gamers like them can actually survive and continue the day without proper sleep.

Claire was the first to wake up in the morning. As she opened her eyes, she immediately looked at the table and saw Sofia sleeping on the chair.

This scene slightly surprised her after noticing the blanket in Sofia. She remembered that they placed it on Stephen before the went to sleep!

"Hah!" Claire pursed her lips. She walked out of the door and slightly glanced at Stephen.

After a while, Claire went out of the building and walked towards the convenience store. True to its name, the establishment was always open 24/7 giving the students like her the convenience they needed.

"Good morning, Claire!" the salesman greeted her with familiarity. She had been a regular customer of the store that she already memorized the shifting of its staff.

"Good morning! My friends are staying over at my place, may I take out 5 cups of plain coffee? Add some single packs of creamer and sugar also. I don't know their preference. And 5 servings of bacon and egg sandwich," Claire narrated. She usually orders 2 cups of coffee with two packs of sugar and 3 creamers. Yet, she discovered the other day that Sofia's taste preference had changed. Her friend had been drinking pure black coffee.

A weird taste but Claire did not question it. She just guessed that it could be because of Sofia's lack of sleep that the lady wanted a strong coffee than the usual creamy one.

"Playing games?" the salesman smiled at her offering small talk while her bacon was still in the fryer.

"We did not play. We were watching the gameplays," Claire responded.

The salesman muttered a remark but she was still sleepy and did not catch what he said. She was in daze.

Outside, there were a group of students jogging on the side of the road. The dawn gradually breaks into daylight. Claire silently watched the passerby while waiting for her order.

After several minutes, the salesman packed everything she ordered in one bag. Claire made her payments using her online payment app, then, she quickly returned to Sofia's unit.

She knew that the guys have classes, so, if they refused to wake up, she will have to force them to wake up!

As she entered, the lingering smell of coffee dominated the place. The strong coffee aroma awakened Stephen.

"Hey!" he greeted and walked towards the table.

"AHH..." Claire jumped in surprise. Stephen just laughed at her reaction.

"This is so thoughtful of you, my friend! Why is it five? Joey and Clark did not go back to their home last night?" Stephen commented when he noticed the 5 cups of coffee and a bag full of food.

"You're welcome, Stephen. Clark and Joey are on my unit. Could you wake up the two?" Claire asked.

"Oh, I see. It's just a floor down, right?" Stephen clarified.

"Yes," Claire mumbled as she also walked towards Sofia.

Waking Joey up was easy. A light nudged on his shoulder and he already opened his eyes.

However, Clark's situation was a different feat.

Stephen had been shaking the boy's body side to side. Yet, Clark did not even show any hint of stirring from his rest.

"What the heck is this guy?! AHH, Rich kids are really troublesome!" Stephen had almost kick Clark out from the sofa that he was sleeping. The boy just buried his head on his pillow not moving an inch. He was fully undisturbed despite the shaking that Stephen was doing!

"CLARK! WAKE UP!!! BOYYY! HEY, WAKE UP!" Stephen shouted near his ear as if calling his soul from its deep slumber.

Nothing! There was no physical response or whatsoever from Clark.

Joey helped Stephen, but their efforts did not have any result. The two sighed in frustration and went back to Sofia's unit.

"Clark won't wake up!" Stephen hatefully stated. He had never met someone who could sleep like Clark!

Claire who was about to bite her sandwich paused halfway and put her food down. She silently walked towards her unit, leaving the two guys without a word.

"Dude, it's almost 6 AM. You better wake up or I will spill a cup of coffee on you!" Claire threatened while standing on her door.

As if by some miracle, or perhaps a survival instinct, Clark bolted awake. He gulped and stared at Claire with fear.

"HA! Good, you are awake!" Claire commented and left.

She assumed that Clark would follow her yet when she turned her head around, the boy was nowhere near her! The hallway was empty!

Claire gritted her teeth and stormed back to her unit. She saw that Clark had gone back to sleep!

"You really want me to pour a hot coffee on you?!" her voice was too loud that her friends in Sofia's unit could hear it.

Clark quickly stood straight and blinked his eyes to adjust from the light. "I'm awake... I'm awake," the boy mumbled. He slightly walked out of the apartment.

Sofia woke up and saw the two guys on the table.

"Is Claire shouting? It's too early to be angry..." she trailed and sat on the chair opposite Stephen's seat.

The guys stared at her with an awkward expression. The dark circles below her eyes have gone bigger and there a red pimple at the center of her forehead.

"The civilization made another branch," Stephen laughed.

Sofia absentmindedly traced her fingers on her jawline and frowned.

"It's on your forehead, now." Stephen casually told her and took a pack of sugar and creamer. He carefully mixed it on his coffee.

Sofia slowly rubbed her forehead and felt dejected. "I need beauty rest after our tournament. A week of sleeping is a must," she muttered.

Joey quietly ate his sandwich. His eyes observed the two. While Stephen added sugar and creamer to his coffee, Sofia just gulped the liquid.

"That is so bitter!" Joey finally spoke after seeing how Sofia drunk her coffee without any sugar.

"It is." Sofia nodded and picked a strip of bacon from the pack.

Joey gawked at her in disbelief. Nobody drank a coffee like that!

Sofia was not aware of Joey's reaction and continued to drink her coffee until it was finished. She then opened her phone and check her unread emails. One particular message caught her eye, she saw the tournament's update.

~

40-Player-Map - One round game. One survivor squad could proceed to the next match.

The line up of Contenders:

The Chronos Squad vs. Elite Players Squad vs. Legendary Gamers Squad vs. Noob Amateurs Squad vs. Beast Squad vs. Pilot Gaming Squad vs. Hidden Wind Squad vs. HyperCarry Squad

Submit your squad's official player for the elimination round before 3 PM today.

~

The last note was the squad who got more than 5 members. Since every match, there were only 5 members required, these squads were required to select official members for the elimination round.

In the next round, they can appoint other players. This is the benefit of a squad with many members. Players can just rest and watch their fellow members play.

Unfortunately, for the squad like Sofia's who are just on the minimum members, they won't be resting. All of them would need to play all the way to the finals!

Sofia took her notebook then quickly flipped the pages, searching for the opposing squads' names that they would soon be facing for the elimination round.

She reviewed all the game highlights that she had been scribbling all night.

One by one, her eyes were meticulous, scrutinizing every strength and weakness of their opponent. Not long after, she started planning their formation.

Clark, Joey, and Stephen called her to say goodbye. She just waved her hand and did not look at them. Her fingers were fast, drawing the same circles with labels on the page.

It was a bit tricky since there would be 8 bases inside the map. For them to win, they need to destroy the 7 bases. Or they could defend their towers and wait as their enemy fight each other.

Sofia had not also neglected another possibility that could occur with the kind of map that they would be using.

With the 8 squads competing, some squads may form an alliance to destroy the others first. Then, they would cross the bridge after their team would be left. After all, they were gamers. And the possibility inside the game is infinite.

One could find a wall but would also look for a loophole to escape on it.

Sofia thought carefully, 'Is alliance applicable in the Chronos squad? If we will not find an ally, then, we would be an easy target! What should be the best option to do?'

After several minutes of careful consideration, she came up with an answer. 'Although I am confident with my skill in using a tank my teammates have not grasped their full potential yet. Their abilities are still developing. I could try to contact these squads and offer a possible alliance.'

She immediately sent a brief chat message to the squad's other leaders.

But soon, Sofia was slapped with the reality of the Chronos squad status. The response she got from the leaders was all rejection and ridicule.

They were just a newly formed group. They have no solid gameplay to back up their standing. In the eyes of the leaders, her squad would be seen as a freeloader!

Her squad was nowhere near the prestige and reputation of the other squads. Hence, nobody wanted to be their ally!

Sofia was not upset. She just combed her short hair and twitch her stiff shoulders. The situation was understandable.

No squad leader would want to team up with a group that could potentially let them sink! Their decisions were all reasonable.

Sofia sighed deeply, "There has to be another way."

Her mind slowly drifted to the crucial games that had overturned the result of the entire match. One player had created a legendary combination of a hooking skill and the teleportation command. A genius IQ in gaming.

This was in the memories of the real Sofia. Perhaps, the original owner of her body idolized these kinds of players and made her inspired to work hard to practice her gameplay.

For the entire day, Sofia read all the in-game characters' data. From their skills to their cooldowns. She also examined the inventory items that the characters could buy during the game. She checked all the costs and the cooldowns.

"If I can't make an alliance with the other squads, I will make the game allied on us."