A Collision of Hearts and Heroes

Chapter 12

Clarissa's POV

Drunk Message

"Ano ba pwedeng gawin para magkaroon ng extra income?" I unconsciously asked.

I'm in a café right now with Lyle. I just want to have chill snacks to clear my mind, and it happened that Lyle called and came with me. Kumakain lang kami ngayon ng croissant at may nakita na naman ako online. Palagi 'yong nangyayari kaya gustong gusto kong magkapera.

"Sa 'kin kasi ay mag-pilot ako ng account sa ML. 'Yong iba naman ay stream," he said while clicking his phone. "But you don't play ML, so I can't suggest. Siguro post mo nalang sa Facebook mga gamit mo na hindi mo na ginagamit. Preloved gano'n," he chuckled a bit.

He's playing ML right now. Sabi niya ay wala naman daw ginagawa sa kompanya kaya naparito. I doubt that.

"Hoy, mag-download ka na kasi ng ML. Para sabay tayo. Nakakaumay walang ka-duo," he told me when his hero got killed.

"You have a lot of friends you can play with. Ang arte mo," I rolled my eyes.

"Ikaw 'yong gusto kong ka-duo."

"Hindi ako naglalaro, saka kapag naglalaro ako, kabobohan lang ambag ko."

"Tuturuan nga kita," he insisted.

"Ayoko, andaming toxic sa ML," ngumiwi pa ako n'yan na akala mo ay hindi ako nakikipag-sabayan sa pagiging toxic ng mga tao roon.

"Ipagtatanggol naman kita, e," pagpumilit niya.

"Kahit na!"

Until now, I'm still hesitating to inform him that I've been playing Mobile Legends. I'm still in the process of learning—though I can confidently state that I've improved compared to my performance before, I want Lyle to know that I'm playing when I'm already an expert. Nang sa gano'n ay hindi na ako pabigat na kakampi.

After minutes of being with him, I decided to go back to the resort, and Lyle went back to the company. Hindi pa rin maalis sa isip ko na gumawa ng sideline work para magkaroon ng extra money. I can't avoid being attracted to things I used to love and inquire about before, so I'm determined to do extras to gain extra money, too. Napaisip ako sa sinabi ni Lyle. I'm not that good at playing yet, but my desperation to have money is more important.

"What are you doing? Nag-edit ka?" Zedi asked when she accidentally saw the screen of my iPad.

"Uhm, yup! I'm planning to post these on TikTok to gain followers. Mag-stream kasi ako," I said with a mix of excitement in my tone.

I once asked Kuya Emerson what I needed to get so I could do live streaming. Sabi niya kung sa tiktok ay kailangan may 1K followers ako bago makakapag-live. I have a public TikTok account and it has thousands of followers already, but I want to create another solely for gaming. Aside from that, I don't have plans to reveal myself, either.

I just started recording my gameplay, so I can get a highlight to edit. Ngayon ako nagsimula para ma-post ko mamaya. I'd make sure to edit the most captivating combo to catch other gamers' attention.

That's what I always focus on, and as each day passes, I've already reached 1K followers. I took it step by step until the time came when I decided to make my first live stream. Hindi agad-agad marami ang manonood pero kalaunan ay unti-unting nang dumadami. A few of them have already sent presents, and I was genuinely delighted about it.

"Good luck with your game. Balitaan mo ako ha," I told Zedi as I hugged her.

Ngayon siya babalik sa Heideu dahil tournament na nila sa Monday. Kuya Emerson will drive her there, and we were currently at the garage, bidding goodbye with each other. Nasa loob na ng kotse si Kuya habang si Zedi ay nakikipag-usap pa sa akin.