Project Artifice

CHAPTER 8 : PLAYER OR OBSERVER

nagaabang na may itype ako...

hmm... putting my real name would be stupid, putting my gamer name would be just as stupid... umikot ang paningin ko to think of a username to type in...

Mountain Dew? Yakisoba? Hanabishi...

nah i need something more interesting and at the same time malayo sa real name ko, i look at the books stacked sa corner ng kwarto ko and tried to get the fattest one...

Dictionary... perfect. and parang clockwork i ran my fingers across the pages with eyes close and- stop.

opened the book and first thing i found was. bacon... fucking bacon... nah, isa pa ulit... Crystal. shit pang pornstar yung name, next "Maybe" blah...

okey last one... scrolled to the pages again and stopped.

Artifice.

'clever or cunning devices or expedients, especially as used to trick or deceive others.'

Artifice would work, game... i typed in the work Artifice and click enter.

asked for my student number... hmm, i guess pang school lang namin to, wait shit... is this... The Game?

I registed my name and put everything data required. right after that i was transfered to a screen to which looks like a normal lobby...

merong rooms with titles in it, and 100 capacity per room... so basically this is a chat room.

I got curious kung anong klaseng chat rooms to, though at the back of my mind i already know that this is some sort of an argumentative kind of chatroom...

Room 3- 93/100 ang capacity, so dali dali ay pumasok ako...

if ever nakapagtry na kayo ng omegle before, this is very similar to that, ang main difference lang ay may timer sa taas ng screen, thirty minutes time limit at may vote meter sa baba ng timer, para syang tug of war kung saan pwede kang bumoto kung sino sa current player ang gusto mo and after the time ends kung sino may highest votes sya panalo.

the moment na makapasok ka sa room, you will be given a choice. isang malaking CHOICE ang bibigay sayo. PLAYER or OBSERVER

i chose the latter since gusto ko muna tignan pano maglaro, if you choose to be the observer ang makikita mo lang sa screen mo ay yung chat box nung players, timer at yung vote box, you can change kung sino ang gusto mo kahit ilang beses mo gusto.

if you choose to be a player naman things get a bit weird. kung familiar kayo sa keylogger, basically parang may ganun kapag player ka, lahat ng itataype mo ay nareregister sa screen, bawal magkamali walang delete or backspace button, at ang isa sa mga unspoken rule ay bawal mag google, makikita kasi pag nagalt tab ka since mareregister yung alt key at tab key, pati yung pag type mo sa google ng search makikita din, technically pwede ka naman talaga mag google pero the moment makita yun ng mga observer automatically they vote for the other guy.

battle of the stock knowledge.

9-10-11-12-1-2... 2AM

inabot ako ng alas dos sa pag observe ng laro... my body is tired humihikab na ko every 2 mins pero yung utak ko gising na gising pa din, damn this is good, gusto ko kung pano sila nag didiscuss ng mga walang kwentang bagay, from "which is better, fishball or squidball?" hanggang sa "sino mananalo si mewtwo o si freeza?"

nung una cringeworthy yung mga ganun lobby rooms, pero yung logic and gameplay ng mga players ang interesting... i need to play... i want to play... pero bago yun, tulog muna, madaling araw na.