Spoiled By The Ruthless Esports Captain

Kaitlynn stared at the glowing monitor, her eyes burning from the lack of blinking.

Her fingers hammered against the mechanical keyboard, the plastic keys digging into her skin.

On the screen, the massive Shadow Treant reared back, its bark-like skin splitting open to release a wave of toxic green sludge.

Kaitlynn slammed the movement keys, trying to force her mage, Aetheria, out of the blast zone.

The edge of the venom splashed across her character's robes.

Her health bar plummeted, the green line turning a flashing, critical red.

Kaitlynn sucked in a sharp breath.

The cold air hit the back of her throat.

"Oh my god, I'm dead," she gasped into her headset microphone, her voice trembling.

"Roll left. Now."

The voice in her ears was low, calm, and slightly distorted by the Discord server.

It was Hex.

Kaitlynn's body reacted before her brain could process the command.

She slammed the dodge key.

Aetheria threw herself to the left, the pixels of her robe barely scraping past a massive, deadly root that smashed into the ground where she had just stood.

The Treant froze for a fraction of a second, stuck in the animation of its missed attack.

A black blur shot out from the blind spot on the right side of Kaitlynn's screen.

It was Hex's assassin.

His daggers flashed in a blinding sequence of silver light, the skill effects illuminating Kaitlynn's dark bedroom.

The boss's health bar melted, dropping so fast it triggered the final enrage mechanic.

The ground on the screen turned completely red.

Spikes began to erupt from the floor in a chaotic, unavoidable pattern.

Kaitlynn's eyes darted across the monitor, searching for a safe zone.

There was none.

Her stomach dropped, and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable death sound.

It never came.

Hex abandoned his attack combo.

He used his ultimate mobility skill, teleporting directly in front of Aetheria.

A golden, translucent shield erupted around his character, an extremely rare absolute defense skill.

The ground spikes slammed into the shield, shattering it into digital dust.

In the exact millisecond the shield broke, Hex used the invincibility frame of his recovery animation to throw a single, poison-tipped dagger.

The blade struck the Treant right between its glowing red eyes.

The monster let out a deafening roar and collapsed into a pile of rotting wood.

A massive, golden banner flashed across the center of the screen.

The bright light washed over Kaitlynn's face.

She ripped the headset off her ears.

She jumped up from her ergonomic chair, her knees knocking against the desk.

Her half-empty can of Coke wobbled dangerously, almost spilling over her mousepad.

At the top of the game interface, a server-wide announcement began to scroll.

It declared that Hex and Aetheria had claimed the world-first kill of the Whispering Forest.

The guild chat box in the bottom left corner exploded.

Hundreds of messages scrolled by in a blur of exclamation points and worship emojis.

Kaitlynn's hands were shaking as she pulled the headset back over her ears.

"Thank you," she stammered, her chest heaving. "I... I can't believe we did that."

A low chuckle vibrated through the headset speakers.

The sound went straight to Kaitlynn's chest, making her heart skip a beat.

On the screen, Hex's assassin walked over to the boss's corpse and clicked the loot chest.

A blinding purple light shot out of the box.

It was a Mythic-tier staff crafting material, the only one of its kind on the entire server.

Kaitlynn stopped breathing.

She stared at the glowing icon, her mouth hanging open.

A system prompt popped up, waiting for the party leader to distribute the loot.

Kaitlynn gripped her mouse, fully expecting Hex to take the item he had earned.

Instead, Hex dragged the purple material directly into Kaitlynn's inventory.

Kaitlynn's eyes widened so much they hurt.

"Wait, no," she blurted out, her voice cracking. "That's too expensive. I can't take that."

"Take it," Hex interrupted.

His tone left no room for argument.

"It's a reward for my student."

Kaitlynn stared at the glowing purple crystal in her bag.

A strange heat spread across her chest, a physical ache of being completely spoiled.

Hex's character turned to face hers and triggered a waving animation.

"I need to sleep," he said.

Before Kaitlynn could even form the word goodnight, his avatar vanished.

His name in the party list turned gray.

Kaitlynn sat alone in the quiet room, staring at the empty space on her monitor.

Kaitlynn moved her mouse, her index finger trembling slightly.

She hovered the cursor over the purple Abyssal Crystal in her inventory.

The massive magic power stats popped up in a tooltip box.

She slapped a hand over her mouth, her teeth biting into her palm to stop herself from screaming.

She opened her friends list.

Hex's name sat at the top, completely grayed out.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard for a long time, the plastic keys cold against her skin.

She finally pressed down, typing out a long, rambling paragraph of gratitude.

She hit enter.

Immediately, the guild chat icon flashed violently.

The vice-guild master sent her a private message.

"Did Hex just adopt you as his personal sugar baby? That material goes for at least a grand on the black market."

Blood rushed to Kaitlynn's cheeks, making her skin burn.

She slammed her fingers onto the keys, typing furiously.

"We are just master and student! It's pure!"

The vice-guild master replied with a laughing emoji.

"Nobody gives away a thousand dollars for pure reasons, Aetheria."

The words hit Kaitlynn's chest like a physical weight.

Her heart started to hammer against her ribs, the rhythm fast and erratic.

She closed the chat window and clicked on Hex's profile picture.

She wanted to find something, anything, that proved he was real.

The profile page loaded.

It was completely blank.

No linked social media, no bio, no location tags.

Kaitlynn let out a frustrated breath.

She pushed her feet against the floor, rolling her chair back.

She tilted her head back against the headrest and stared at the white ceiling.

An image formed in her mind.

She pictured Hex in a tailored suit, a Wall Street elite with sharp jawlines and cold eyes.

She shook her head, her hair rubbing against the leather chair.

No, his voice was too commanding.

Maybe he was a retired military guy, someone used to giving orders under fire.

Then, a darker thought crept in.

Maybe he was just a guy living in a basement, surrounded by empty pizza boxes, typing with greasy fingers.

She shuddered, a physical wave of goosebumps breaking out across her arms.

Regardless of what he looked like, that low chuckle echoed in her ears again.

Her stomach did a strange, tight flip.

She glanced at the digital clock on her desk.

The red numbers glared back at her: 3:00 AM.

She groaned, her throat dry.

She reached forward, closed the game client, and yanked the headset cord out of the USB port.

She pushed herself up from the chair.

Her joints popped as she stretched her arms over her head.

She walked over to the window and pulled the plastic blinds shut, blocking out the orange glow of the streetlamp.

She crawled into her bed, pulling the heavy comforter up to her chin.

She closed her eyes, but the image of the Treant falling kept flashing behind her eyelids.

She rolled onto her side.

She reached under her pillow, her fingers finding the cold metal of her phone.

She unlocked the screen and opened Twitter.

She tapped the trending tab.

Right at the top, the number one trend was "AethelgardWhisperingForest".

She clicked the hashtag.

Thousands of tweets were pouring in, linking to clips of Hex's final dodge and dagger throw.

A hot wave of pride swelled in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

She double-tapped a tweet calling Hex the only god of the server.

She pressed the power button, plunging the room into darkness.

She shoved the phone back under her pillow and forced her eyes shut.

Sleep pulled her under slowly.

In her dream, she was standing in the Whispering Forest.

A tall, broad-shouldered shadow stood in front of her, blocking the toxic sludge.

The shadow turned around and reached a hand out toward her.

His face was covered in a thick, gray fog.

Kaitlynn strained her eyes, stepping forward, desperate to see his features.

A loud, sharp banging noise shattered the fog.

Kaitlynn groaned, grabbing her pillow and smashing it over her ears.

The banging didn't stop.

"Kaitlynn! It's almost noon!"

Her mother's voice, muffled but angry, pierced through the bedroom door.

Kaitlynn's eyes snapped open.

She sat up violently, her heart racing from the sudden wake-up.

She dragged her hands through her tangled hair, the reality of the morning crashing down on her.

Kaitlynn threw the comforter off her legs.

Her bare feet hit the cold carpet.

She marched across the room and grabbed the brass doorknob, yanking the door open.

Her mother, Martha, stood in the hallway.

She was wearing a floral apron, her right hand gripping a spatula covered in white flour.

"You stayed up playing that stupid game again, didn't you?" Martha snapped, her eyes narrowing. "You've wasted the entire morning."

Kaitlynn looked away, staring at a spot on the hallway wallpaper.

She chewed on the inside of her lower lip.

"I was finishing a group project." she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep.

Martha let out a harsh scoff.

She turned around, her slippers slapping against the hardwood floor as she headed for the stairs.

"Ten minutes. Downstairs for brunch. Don't make me come back up here. And we have a lot to do this afternoon-the guest room needs to be cleaned out."

Kaitlynn blew out a heavy breath.

She walked into her attached bathroom and turned on the faucet.

She splashed freezing water onto her face, the shock making her gasp.

She grabbed a towel, dried her skin roughly, and pulled a massive, faded UCLA hoodie over her head.

She slipped on a pair of gym shorts and shoved her feet into her slides.

She dragged herself down the wooden staircase.

The smell of frying bacon and bitter coffee hit her nose before she even reached the bottom step.

Her father, Arthur, was sitting at the kitchen island.

He was staring at his iPad, his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose.

Kaitlynn pulled out a tall metal stool and sat down.

She reached across the marble counter, grabbed a piece of burnt toast, and took a massive bite.

Martha walked over and slammed a plate of scrambled eggs onto the counter in front of Kaitlynn.

"We are having a very important guest this weekend," Martha announced, her tone leaving no room for debate.

Kaitlynn chewed the dry toast, swallowing hard.

"Who?" she asked. "Is the HOA coming to fine us for the grass again?"

Martha glared at her.

"Aunt Eleanor's son. Jorden. He's coming to Seattle to stay for a while."

Kaitlynn froze.

Her brain scrambled, digging through years of buried memories.

An image of a seven-year-old boy with mud smeared across his cheeks and a missing front tooth flashed in her mind.

She curled her upper lip in disgust.

"Why is he coming here?" she asked, her voice tight. "Is he going to steal my Legos again?"

Arthur lowered his iPad.

"Jorden is a professional esports player now," Arthur said, his voice calm. "He just flew back from a tournament in Korea."

Kaitlynn's hand stopped halfway to her mouth.

The word 'esports' made the muscles in her neck tighten.

"I don't understand how playing video games is a real job," Martha complained, wiping down the stove. "And they pay him for it."

Kaitlynn slammed her toast down on the plate.

"Esports is a real athletic competition, Mom," she argued, her voice rising. "It takes insane reflexes and talent."

Hex's impossible shield-block from last night flashed behind her eyes.

That was a real god.

Martha tapped the spatula against the counter, a sharp, warning sound.

"I don't care what it is. You will be polite to him this weekend. No attitude. And I need you to clean out the guest room this afternoon. Change the sheets. Put out fresh towels."

Kaitlynn rolled her eyes, her shoulders slumping.

A guy who ate mud was probably sitting on the bench of some amateur, second-rate team.

"What team does he even play for?" Kaitlynn asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Arthur pushed his glasses up his nose and looked at the Wikipedia page on his screen.

"He is the captain of... SG."

Kaitlynn's breath caught in her throat.

Her stomach tightened. "SG? The massive esports org?" she blurted out, her gamer instincts overriding her annoyance for a split second. "Don't they only play games like Valorant and League of Legends?" Even if they didn't play her game, she knew the name.

SG. The biggest, wealthiest esports organization in North America.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing her face to remain blank.

It didn't matter. Even if he was the captain of SG, he was nothing compared to Hex.

Kaitlynn groaned, dropping her head onto her arms on the counter. "Fine, fine," she muttered. "But he better not steal my stuff like he used to."

She shoved the rest of the toast into her mouth, grabbed her coffee mug, and slid off the stool.

She practically ran out of the kitchen, her slides smacking against the stairs.

She slammed her bedroom door shut.

She threw herself face-first onto her mattress.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, her thumbs flying across the screen as she opened Discord.

She opened Hex's chat, ready to complain about the absolute nightmare that was about to ruin her life. Some annoying guy from her childhood was showing up this weekend, and she was stuck cleaning out the guest room.