om. Her fingers were clamped around a freshly sig

the hallway as fast as her legs could carry her. She just needed to esc

ston wind whipped her face, carrying the harsh smell of car exhaus

rd the subway station. She squeezed into a packed train

metal on metal masked the heavy sigh that slipped past her lips.

hoved her key into the lock

caramel macchiato hit her instantly. Her roommate, Erika, was curled up

ace. She immediately capped the polish, slid her feet into flu

Her voice dripped with exaggerated sympathy, b

orced the corners of her

d to deal with som

d her toward the sofa. She leaned in close, dr

ou that look again?

ted. The cardboard cup buckled under her grip. Hot coffee s

in, dabbing at Grace's skin. Bu

like him doesn't deserve you anyw

the energy to navigate Erika's toxic probing. She muttered a quick

rug and let her body collapse onto the soft ma

ting. She needed noise. She needed something to drown

nightstand. She flipped it open and clicked the

creen. It was a stream with over a million active vie

leek, black mask logo in the corner of the screen. The audio w

came through

he left. One by the rock

incredibly deep, calm, and la

frayed nerves. Her heart rate slowed down. She pulled the l

He snapped his Kar98k sniper rifle up. Bang. Headshot. Bang. Headshot

d across the screen: Winn

r of text, thousands of people w

chest. She wanted that. She wanted to be in a world where she had total

the Steam application. She typed fo

idn't even blink. She linked her

cross the screen. Grace stared at it, a

e phone. Grace grabbed her noise-canceling headphones and clamped them

and started typing: PUBG beginner gu

h her headphones. The Ste

She hovered over the br