Albany, New York, 2025.

"Mason, what the fuck are you doing, man? We can't lose to these bastards… Jimmy! Where the hell are you?! Are you guys taking this seriously at all?!"

Deep red kept on flashing in a dark room. A young man seated in front grasped his mouse tighter as he watched his life bar dwindling. The screen was the only light source in the room, dyeing his surroundings with such an angry yet desperate color.

"Calm down, Adam. It's just a game.” Jimmy sighed, without a care of the enemies’ kill count on the scoreboard. “Even if they win… huh? Motherfucker! He muted me! Fuck you, Adam!"

Amidst Jimmy’s incessant cursing, Adam stared at the words 'You lose' plastered across his screen as if his life ended with the game.

"Those fuckers. They did this intentionally. Our perfect streak is gone," Adam said, his voice slightly hoarse and a wry smile tugging at the side of his lips.

Covered by a thick duvet, he reclined on his trust-old chair; and his brown eyes lingered on the Doom poster just above his set-up. He parted his disheveled black hair to the side, revealing thick black bags under his eyes. The defeat had drained both him and his will to continue.

"Adam, you there? Hey? You there, man?"

Mason's voice carried into Adam's ears as he reclined on his chair; however, he had no intention of donning his headset once more. Instead, he continued to stare at the system message proclaiming his loss.

"Our four years unbeaten streak… gone just like that..." Adam muttered. Stretching his left hand, he grabbed a half-eaten protein bar while his right hand reached for Thunder, the only energy drink he would ever drink.

"Hey, dumbass. You know we can hear you eating, right?” Mason snorted. “Are you ignoring us because of your stupid record? You…"

Adam spat out his drink on his screen. "Stupid record? Can you hear yourself? We spent four years unbeaten?" he blurted out..

"Dude, we are the only ones who still play this dead game. It's 2025; nobody plays Co-op Battle Royale anymore," Jimmy retorted.

"Are you guys kidding me? We used to be…" He brought the food down and held onto the duvet in dejection.

"Give it a rest, Adam. The only reason we are still playing is because of you. You know we lost interest since last year," Mason added.

'Assholes. How can they forget we used to be world champions? What the hell happened to these guys? When did it get so cold here?' Adam thought as his grip on his duvet tightened.

"Yo, Adam? Are you there? Don't be mad at us; we really tried. How is your prep for the SAT coming along?" Mason suddenly jumped to another topic as if anticipating a good result.

"Mas, you're kidding, right? Adam could probably crush it in his dreams. Why are—?"

"I don't think I'm going to college," Adam interjected. He then realized something before murmuring, "My mom put you guys up to this, right?"

Silence greeted his words.

"You fuckers. I knew it.” He slammed at the duvet on his lap. “How much did she give you guys? No wonder. Damn it! I knew it."

With each word, Adam's voice grew louder. Although a chilling air filled his room, his anger warmed him like the noon sun.

"Dude, your mom reported us to our parents. Apparently, we are the bad influences in your life. Our dad wants us to study abroad. Dude, because of you, we might not go to MIT. What the hell happened to you, man?” Jimmy gave up in hiding the truth. Also, it was as if he was given up as well. “You're like the smartest guy I know. What happened to our goal of being billionaires before we turn thirty? Are you going to bail on your best friends?"

However, silence greeted his words, which soon grew awkward.

"Adam? Still there? Jimmy, I think he choked on Thunder. Hope you kept your suit from prom? We might have to attend a funeral," Mason suddenly cracked a joke, Jimmy's laughter echoed through Adam's headset.

However, Adam was not in the mood to banter.

'What the hell is wrong with Mom? It's my life, and I can do whatever I want with it. What am I going to learn from some miserable bastards who couldn't make it in life? I don't need a college degree to make it. Why won't she understand that?' Adam thought as his fingers drummed on the armrest of his chair.

While Adam mused, the brothers continued to throw banter between themselves. However, a fourth voice soon drifted into Adam's ears, waking him from his pensive state.

“Brothers! It is I—” However, Mason muted him before he could finish.

"Dude, that guy is back. Adam? You don't want to miss this. You're the one who said you wanted to listen to him," Mason said, trying his best not to laugh. However, Adam could hear Jimmy's laughter through his headset. It sounded as if he was being choked.

For the first time, a smile donned Adam's lip. "Are you guys sure it's the same weirdo? Unmute him, guys. Jimmy, what kind of laugh is that?"

Just as Adam finished his statement, a deep baritone voice filled his ears, "Behold, I bring thee a chance, one sought after, but not seen, one for the ages, but never taken. Mason Alexander, I bring fulfillment of thy soul. What does your soul seek? Tell me, and I—Korgrath—shall make it a reality. But at a price… which is your soul. What do you say? Forsake your soul, and I will give you the desires of thy heart."

Mute.

A temporary silence followed the declaration. Seconds later, Adam, Jimmy, and Mason unleashed thunderous laughter.

"Who the hell is this guy? Bro, you're fucking good. Mason, you weren't kidding, this guy is a riot," Adam said, unable to control himself. His sullen mood was suddenly lifted by a weird kind of entertainment.

"Dude, I told you I wasn't kidding. Jimmy's laughing like he’s having a seizure. Korgrath? What the fuck is that? Hahaha…"

"The guy is probably a YouTuber. I thought nobody does this kinda prank anymore.” Adam managed to squeeze in some words through his laughter. “Mas, change your ID, man. Who uses their real name as their ID?"

"Hahaha... Do you know how many Mason Alexanders there are in Albany alone? What's the point? Not like this guy can track my IP address," Mason chuckled smugly.

Listening to Mason's words, Adam's lips curved into a smirk.

"Unmute him, Mas.” Adam popped his neck. “Let me have some fun with him."

Seconds after he finished his statement, Korgrath's voice echoed through his headset again, "Mason Alexander, will you forsake your—?"

"Dude, I'll take you up on the offer," Adam interjected.

"You will part with your soul to fulfill your desires? Is this right, Bootysmasher?" Korgrath asked.

Adam, Mason, and Jimmy could not control themselves as they heard the declaration. All three could feel their stomachs ripping apart as Mason managed to mute the man.

'What a dumbass. But I give him points for staying in character. Let's see the person behind this voice.'

With this thought running through his mind, Adam opened a new window on his browser and got to work, trying to figure out the identity of the mysterious Korgrath.

"Dude, he s-said it. This guy is the shit! I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Jimmy, don't die on me, man."

As Adam searched for Korgrath's identity, Mason's words filled his ears. He, too, could not stop laughing.

A few minutes later, the laughter of the brothers still reached him. However, Adam furrowed his brows at the message displayed on his screen.

'What sort of nonsense is this? I can't pinpoint this guy's location. How can he be present in seventy countries at the same time?'

Just as this thought filled Adam's mind, Jimmy's voice reached him, "Adam, how was it? Any luck?"

"I don't know why, but I can't find him. What about you guys?"

"Same. Mason couldn't find anything, too. Does this guy work for the CIA or something?" Jimmy said, not believing his search results.

'CIA? Don't be stupid, Jimmy. They're not that good not to be tracked by us. This guy is too good. At least, he hasn't tried to hack us. That means he is only doing this for fun. Well, we might as well have fun, too.' Adam thought.

"Unmute him, Mas. Let's crack this guy," Adam said, his lips curving into a wide smile.

"Bootysmasher, you will part with your soul to fulfill your desires? Is this right?"

"Yes," Adam said.

"Wonderful. What is your desire?" Korgrath asked, a smile beginning to split his face.

"I don't have one."

"Huh? What do you mean?” Korgrath hummed in confusion. “Every being has a desire. No matter how grandiose, I will—"

"I don't have one man. Is that a problem? You can still have my soul."

"Really? Bootysmasher, you want nothing; but you will also give me your soul?" Korgrath asked.

"Yes. So how does this work? How will you take my soul? Do I get hit by a bus or something?" Adam mocked the man, unable to suppress his giggles.

"Let it be known that on this day, Bootysmasher surrendered his soul to me, Korgrath. Two days from now—at noon, lightning shall tear through the skies; and I will take your soul."

"Hahaha… dude, are you some kind of actor or what? Dude, at least, tell me your YouTube channel?" Adam roared through his headset, loving the ridiculous act of Korgrath.

"Adam, the guy left.” Mason chuckled with a smirk on his face. “Why didn't you wish for a billion dollars or something?"

'Oh. Why did he leave? I was just starting to enjoy myself.' Adam pouted in displeasure.

"Asking for money, women, and power is the standard formula for these guys. I wanted to know how he'd react if I didn't ask for anything but still gave him my soul. His reaction was gold. He almost broke character," Adam explained.

"Hahaha… I noticed that, too… dude, our mom just came home. Got to go. Tell me if lightning strikes you in two days. Hahaha…"

'Dumbass. Wouldn't I be dead if I got struck by lightning?'

Adam could not stop himself from giggling. With Mason and Jimmy logging out, he rose to his feet, stretching his legs and arms.

"How long has it been? We started playing fifteen hours ago, right?” Adam glanced at the clock on his screen, muttering, “Man, I need to sleep. Yeah, I'd better sleep before mom comes home. Can't have Mom nagging on me."

Wasting no time, Adam trudged to his bed, collapsing into its embrace. Within seconds, he had wandered into the realm of dreams.