You killed [N]iNjA_BoY

He double-clicked.

His heart was a jackhammer. His palms were wet. He heard footsteps—actual footsteps, clump clump clump —coming from his right speaker. He spun, aimed at a narrow doorway, and held his breath. A teammate ran through. Friendly fire was off. The teammate ran past him, threw a grenade that bounced off a doorframe and came right back, exploding harmlessly in a puff of grey-orange smoke.

Years later, Leo would play other games. He would marvel at ray-traced reflections, weep at photorealistic cinematics, and lose himself in open worlds the size of small countries. But he would never again feel that first, raw voltage—the pure, unpolished magic of a free download, a laggy server, and a shotgun blast that went nowhere near where he aimed.

You found Counter-Strike 1.3.

“Homework,” Leo lied, alt-tabbing to a blank Word document.