The students kept playing, and the room was bursting with noise—explosions from the simulation, clanging weapons, screeching sound effects, mixed with rowdy laughter and relentless trash talk.
"I hit him first! You saw that, right?"
"Bro, you were hiding behind that barrel the whole time!"
"I was STRATEGIZING, okay?!"
"Strategizing my ass! That Bloater was about to sneeze and you alt-tabbed in fear!"
Laughter echoed like waves crashing into each other, full of light and joy, growing louder, overlapping until it became impossible to know who said what.
They weren't even following the objective anymore—they were just ganging up on the Bloater in the most absurd ways imaginable.
"Let's all use nothing but kicks!"
"Wait, who's the guy using his head as a weapon?! That's illegal, but I love it!"
