"Come on, faster," I said through gritted teeth as I slammed the "heal" button on my keyboard. Another strike from the boss hit my character, sending her flying to the edge of the cave.
My eyes were jumping between my attack options and the health bar of "The Lonely Cave Guardian," as the boss was named.
I inched even closer to the screen. This was my 50th? 60th? time trying to beat this boss, but I had never come this close. As far as the online community seems to know, nobody except a few hackers has managed to kill this boss.
I had spent days trying to beat it, as every attempt cost hours of preparation filling my inventory to the brim with potions and tools just to stand a chance against this monster.
"Die already!" The last row of pixels in his health bar just didn't want to go away as I attacked him again and again. And then, with a final blow… "Yes! Finally!" I shouted, leaning back in my chair. With my arms pointed at the ceiling, I stretched, causing a few pops and cracks to come from my shoulder and back regions.
There was never a defeat scene I enjoyed more in my life than this one. Finally, the boss I worked so hard to beat lay at the feet of my virtual character. "Congratulations… You… You have defeated me in an honest fight. Before I perish, do you accept my last gift?" the Cave Guardian asked.
A little window popped up: "Do you want to accept the Lonely Cave Guardian's present? (A Goddess's Eyes) Y/N?" I grinned. "Yes, definitely." I pressed the "Y" key.
"You have received: (A Goddess's Eyes) from the Lonely Cave Guardian." I exhaled, watching the body of the boss disappear in a burst of blue flames.
"Before I do anything else, I need to save this!" I said, speed‑clicking through the menu toward the saving options until I finally hit the "save" button.
"Verifying progress…"
"Sending data to server…"
Then all of a sudden the fans of my PC, which had been running at 100% before, suddenly spun down. "Nonono!" I pressed the escape key, but nothing happened. "Come on!!" I shouted at my screen. "It's not done saving yet!"
Then it appeared: "Automatic repair… press enter to proceed." My mouth wide open, I stared at the bright blue screen on my monitor. "No… no… NO!" Slamming my fist onto the table, I screamed. All that work for nothing? In my rage I unplugged my PC from the wall, grabbed an empty can of soda, and threw it at the wall.
"Fuck!" I shouted, standing in the middle of my dark room. I had the window shades down, like always, making the only source of light the computer screen, which was now only illuminated by the "Searching for input" sign bouncing around.
Needing somewhere to vent my anger, I took my phone and went onto the online forum of the game.
"It took me days to defeat this 'Lonely Cave Guardian' but my stupid game crashed the moment I saved!!!"
Not long after, I received my first comment.
"You beat it? No way. What did you get? The sword or the bow?" NextLevelD1CK wrote.
"What do you mean sword or bow? I got something called Goddess Eyes," I typed.
"You sure we talk'in about the same game, lady?" the commenter asked.
"Probably not, considering an item like that does not exist in the game," somebody else commented.
"Wait…" I looked closer at the second user. Next to his name was a check mark, indicating he was part of the development team of the game.
"WHAT?" I shouted, my grip on my phone tightening as I typed my response.
"I fucking saw the item on my screen! But what can you expect from somebody who can't even make a game that's working properly!" I directed all my anger at the developer.
"You have been timed out for violating the community guidelines, please come back later," the notification on my screen said.
"You stupid shi—" I lifted my arm to throw my phone, but stopped mid‑movement. "No… that's stupid." I sighed and carefully put it away.
Meow. The sound of a cat came from outside my window. "Oh, right! Your food!" I said as I opened the window. Soon after, the white cat jumped down onto the floor of my small apartment and looked up at me with expectant eyes.
I named him "Moon" after his white fur. He wasn't actually my cat, but a stray that seemed to have claimed me as his human and my apartment as his comfort zone. Using me as climbing support, he jumped up onto my kitchen counter, sniffing around the dozens of empty energy drink cans.
Then he sat down and stared directly into my eyes expectantly. "Here's your food!" I put the little bowl in front of him, and he quickly started eating.
After giving Moon his food, I walked over to my couch and shoved a pile of old clothes away before sitting down. Leaning my head against a pillow, I silently watched Moon eat before my eyes wandered across the rest of the room.
There was trash everywhere, from cans to takeout bags. "I really should clean up around here," I said, knowing that wasn't actually going to happen.
With my focus back on Moon munching on his food, I drifted into a light sleep—just deep enough for me to ignore the freight train rolling past the building and the light trembles that came with it.
Then my eyes finally closed, and I peacefully fell asleep.