"Come on Keitaro, you have to come." Shirai whined as the group of three exited the restaurant they were in.

"You use to be the best of us before you went all study crazy for Tokyo University." Haitani chimed in after his stout friend.

"I know I use to be the best." The man raised his hands defensively. "I just don't know about it though. It's been years since I last touched a computer. I mean I have done it for papers, but I haven't played a video game in years."

"Years?" The lanky male gasped. "We have to get you to a computer immediately."

"Yes," the shorter man agreed with his colleague.

"Come on guys, you know I can't." Keitaro said looking between his two friends.

"No." The two said firmly. Grabbing their friend's wrists forcing him to stop.

"What?" Keitaro said in the clutches of the two men next to him.

"Keitaro," Shirai started walking while still holding his friend. "You need this."

"Why would I 'need' this?" he air quoted.

"You haven't spent anytime with us since the last half of high school! The last time you seriously did we were working." Haitani yelled continuing to pull his friend along.

"I suppose you guys are right."

"Suppose?" Shirai gasped. "No, we are right."

"Fine." Keitaro submitted. His two captors cheered before high fiving one another.

"I can't wait!" Haitani pumped his fist in obvious excitement.

"I know," his stout companion concluded. "We are finally going to have the legendary 'Black Smudge' back on our the squad. We are going to destroy."

"Hey," Keitaro looked skeptically at the two. "I don't think I am going to be that good again."

"Nonsense," His taller friend put an arm around his shoulder. "It's like riding a bike. You never forget it." This invoked a skeptical look from Keitaro. "Stop worrying, will you?"

Keitaro chuckled softly. "Since I am in the hole already, why not dig myself deeper."

Shirai broadly smiled. "This is going to be sweet!"

The trio continued onward and to Haitani and Shirai shared apartment. It was a bit messy, but for being as major gamers as they were, it was pretty good. Keitaro remember some nights that when they played they didn't even bath for a good two days. Let's just say his parents didn't really approve of his ripe smell. So much in fact they dumped a bucket full of soapy water on him while he was asleep.

Now the trio made their way to the backroom of the apartment. He eyes opened slightly in surprise at its contents. It held four whole computer systems, a huge amount of cables, and a working television. The room wasn't very large either. It was just so full of equipment he could feel the temperature difference between it and the rest of the rental unit.

Now Shirai and Haitani took two computers next to each other motioning for Keitaro to take one of the ones across from them. So he did. "So what game are we going to play?" The two looked at him like he was stupid. "What?" Shirai just shook his head, while Haitani answered him.

"It's your favorite." Haitani gave him a cheesy grin before moving his face behind the monitor again.

Realization suddenly struck Keitaro. He moved the cursor and clicked on the icon he knew both were referring to. They were right it 'was' his favorite game. He smiled while thinking about his past. Many of hours spent staring at a screen waiting for some unlucky fool to come into his line of sight.

He was not a 'Camper'. This terminology is given to a player who waits in one place for the whole game killing people who pass by not expecting their fate. No, Keitaro was a sniper.

While he may have had to sit in one place it was because the rifles used for sniping were no good at close range combat. So no one got mad when they got killed from halfway across the map with a headshot.

He was amazing at this game before he quit. He actually got people to quit the game when they saw his username in the pre-game lobby. Even his friends never wanted to verse him. The brown-headed boy couldn't get knocked out of a spot once he dug in. He knew all the spots as well. So if by the off chance he wasn't getting enough kills in his current spot, he could just move spots and not get caught

Now that it has been a few years since he played he wasn't so confident. A lot can change in just a few years. He knew that first hand. Look at his relationship with the other tenants of the inn. Now he wasn't hated, just mildly disliked.

He sighed as the game got to the main menu. 'What is the lobby number for the game you guys are in?" He logged into his old account absent-mindedly. He smiled when he realized he didn't lose his old name, or his class setup. A surprisingly good pinch of luck had come across his path.

"Lobby number 19." His slim friend called to him, but one second later he looked back over to him and said, "It seems like you still remember the control scheme."

"Okay," The bespectacled man searched for the lobby and nodded. Upon finding it he double clicked on it. He felt his palm shake slightly. Yet he wasn't anxious like normal when this happened. He felt something welling up inside of him. He recognized it.

He was excited, he was pumped, and he was stoked! He hadn't felt this way in years. He put the headset on that idly sat in front of him then he was assaulted by the lobby laughing.

"Hey!" The voice said before laughing over the headphones. "It's another 'Black Smudge' imposter. Let's kick his face in." Keitaro scowled. He already didn't like these people.

No, that was wrong. What made him mad, were the people who defamed his hard earned reputation. To think someone would actually have the balls to do that to him. "An imposter am I?" he spoke over the microphone. "It seems I have to prove it to you I'm not."

The lobby went quiet. No imposter talked. They were nervous now. The last few seconds past before the game started. The game mode was called 'Deathmatch'. In this mode, there were two teams of six players and you had one life per round. Your team won the round by having players left. Keitaro planned for it to be his team. It was the best three out of five rounds to win the match

Now Keitaro spawned by his teammates. He looked at his weapon. It was the second to last sniper rifle you unlocked.

It was called the, 'Talt .50'. It had a five shot clip, bolt-action rifle, and it came with three spare clips. His secondary weapon was the 'Quatro .44'. It was a long barrel revolver with ironically a four shot clip with four spares. Both of his guns were meant for power. The revolver is obviously meant for close range and the rifle for long range.

When the countdown timer reached zero, his teammates left him to directly engage the enemy in a different part of the map, but he moved himself to a old spot he remembered. It was in an old building that gave him a great view of a quarter of the map.

He crept into the building listening for any signal that an enemy may be around. After a few seconds of him being still he started to creep his way to the second story of the building. He peered in and saw no one. He smiled before moving in and taking his perch.

He zoomed in using the scope on his rifle, and then waited. After a few more seconds an opponent moved into his sights. He smirked then clicked the left mouse sending a round barreling at the target. The opponent's body dropped in one hit, his head gone. The announcer called 'First Blood' then showed his name as having done it.

Two more people showed up, but they saw their dead teammate then tried to run. However, Keitaro didn't let them. He drilled the first one in the head, and then quickly pulled the bolt back on the rifle before he railed the second in the back head before he rounded the corner to freedom.

He laughed as he saw another enemy peek his head around a building. He didn't fire hoping to get the kid to come out. The unfortunate player fell for the trap then walked out. He was now wide open. Keitaro emptied another round dropping the fool.

As his character went through the reloading animation he heard footsteps behind him. He quickly switched to his secondary and looked toward the door behind him. He now heard two sets of footsteps. He crept to the corner then peeked around, and just as quickly as he looked around he pulled his head back.

He saw both of the remaining enemies. One opponent was equipped a Submachine gun and the other with a shotgun. He was definitely outgunned, however he didn't know about out skilled.

He took a calming breath then whipped around the corner bringing his crosshairs of the first opponent with the shotgun. He quickly unloaded three slugs dropping him, but he himself took a few submachine gun rounds. The rounds were mainly focused in his arms. This unfortunately slowed his reload speed by fifty percent. A very big disadvantage at the moment seeing as he needs three shots to kill someone.

He pressed the reload button and saw his avatar go through the process. His character struggled and grunted as he went through the process. He heard his opponent laugh the game chat as he approached.

However, Keitaro's character wasn't even halfway through the animation yet. 'I guess this is it for this round.' He lifted his hands from the mouse and leaned back as his killer entered the room. Just as the man was about to finish Keitaro off Haitani called out, "Got ya' covered Smudge!" Keitaro looked at his friend then as he looked back to his screen.

When he did he saw a rocket launcher round fly toward his soon to be killer and smash into his chest killing him instantly. After the 'man' exploded the screen faded to back signigying the end of the round. "Haitani where the heck have you been all game?" He shouted at his friend.

"Trying to find the enemy which you so kindly killed for us," Haitani informed his teammate. "And on a side note the look on your face was priceless when that guy's chest exploded right in front of you." The three guys burst our laughing.

Just as the next round was about to start Keitaro smiled and said to his two friends. "Thank you guys. I did need this." Shirai and Haitani shared a look before smiling to Keitaro.

Haitani held a glass toward Keitaro motioning for him to take it. Upon taking it his larger friend lifted a second glass and Shirai lifted his glass as well. Keitaro followed after his friends and brought his glass up.

You're welcome." Shirai said first.

"It's what friends are for." Haitani finished before saying, "Cheers."

They all pulled their glassed back and emptied them simultaneously. Keitaro's eyes opened as the pungent liquid entered his throat. He coughed and so did his friends.

"When did you guys get into hard liquor?" Keitaro's face cringed at the taste.

His friends' faces didn't look much better. Haitani recovered first and said, "When you got back into video games."

"This won't be a habit for you guys will it?"

Shirai spoke first, "If it always tastes this bad, then no."

"Good," Keitaro furrowed his brow then spit back into his glass. "You better not keep doing this because the next round is about to start."

"You seem eager." Shirai commented as the thin man settled back into his chair.

"It's like riding a bike." Keitaro moved his hands back to the controller and smiled. "Once you do it, never forget the felling. And trust me, you don't want to forget the feeling."