Page 72 of From Drummer to Gamer

“Wait… you are a man, right?”

I blinked. “It would seem so, given my voice,” I deadpanned.

“It’s just that…” She let out a shaky laugh. “You could never trust anyone on the internet these days.”

“That you can’t.”

“Fifty-six.” She sighed.

My brow furrowed. “Fifty-six?”

“Yeah,” she muttered. “That’s how many words you’ve spoken to my thousand sixty.”

My lips twitched. “You’re keeping count?”

“Definitely not, seems tedious. But you know it wouldn’t hurt to add a few more words to your sentence. People do say I speak a lot sometimes. I ramble when I’m nervous, a lot… to the point people have given me weird looks.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am,” I muttered.

“Of course you are, teammate,” she said, her tone dripping with joy. “Do you want to raid my cave?”

I choked on my next breath.What the fuck did she just say?

I heard a squeal before a yelp. “Notmycave,” she shouted. “Definitely not my cave. I mean, I don’t even know you, and you can’t be raidingmy cave,right? What I meant was the cave… Yes,thecave, so we could gather some more loot before we meet the final boss,” she huffed out, and I could hear her breathing hard on the other end.

“Sure.”

It only took thirty minutes this time before victory splashed over the screen. The entire time, Luna danced with her dagger while I tried my best to keep up with her commands, among which she spoke a thousand miles an hour about anything and everything.

Like how much she didn’t like to drive, how much she thought waking up early should be a crime, and how much she wanted to win the tournament more than anything.

For some reason, I listened to every word she said, like Sier…

My breath hitched. I hadn’t thought about Sierra once since I started gaming with Luna.

Ever since Sierra Chan entered my life, there hasn’t been a minute that slipped by without her invading my mind. It was either about the way her soft lips curved into a smile, or the way her cheeks pinkened at my vicinity, or the way she would peek at me through her lashes when she handed me my coffee.

“So I must say. I like playing games with you, Matty.” Luna’s voice snapped me back to the present.

“Likewise,” I replied, still cramming my head with thoughts of Sierra.

“We should play often then.”

“Okay.”

“Friend me in Gamer Legends.co.”

Gamer Legends.co was a social media app for the game, where people can share their stats, pictures, and chat with other players, and do whatever else they do on social media these days. I did have my own social media accounts on other platforms but my team managed it because it was never my thing.

“I don’t have one.”

“Ah, then create one.”

I could create a dummy account without showing my face or giving away my identity, but still, did I want to? It seemed like a hassle that I would never be bothered with under any circumstances.