The afternoon heat pressed heavily against Siti's skin as she left school. Motorbikes roared down the road, and the smell of fried snacks from roadside stalls made her stomach growl. But food could wait. She had one mission: to finally buy PlayStation Plus.
She stopped at a small game shop near the bus stop. The glass display was lined with colorful prepaid cards, each decorated with the familiar PlayStation logo.
"Hello, dik," the shopkeeper greeted kindly. "Looking for top-up card?"
"Yes," Siti replied, trying to sound confident even though her voice trembled. "PlayStation Plus… three months."
The shopkeeper nodded, pulled out a blue card, and handed it to her. "RM89. Once you redeem, you can play online. Good luck, ah."
As she paid, Siti felt her hands tingle. This small card wasn't just plastic—it was a key. A key to the battles she had been dreaming of for weeks.
---
That night, after dinner and chores, she rushed to her room. She carefully typed in the code from the card, her heart hammering. When the confirmation screen appeared—"PlayStation Plus: 3 Months Activated"—she couldn't hold back a squeal.
"It worked!" she whispered, hugging her pillow.
She launched Mortal Kombat 11, selected Online, and for the first time, the gate opened. The screen showed matchmaking. Searching for opponent…
Her palms sweated as the loading bar moved. Then, the screen lit up: Opponent Found!
On the left side appeared her chosen fighter: Mileena, with her menacing grin and flashing sai. On the right, a fierce-looking Scorpion controlled by a player named ShadowKiller97.
The announcer's voice boomed. "FIGHT!"
Siti panicked at first. The Scorpion player moved fast, chaining combos she barely understood. Her health bar dropped dangerously low. Her thumbs fumbled, her breathing shallow.
"Don't give up, Siti… you trained for this…" she whispered.
And then it happened. She landed her first combo cleanly. Mileena's twin sai struck in quick succession, followed by a spinning kick that knocked Scorpion backward. A thrill surged through her chest.
She pressed on, chaining what she had practiced every night. Before she realized, Scorpion's health bar was gone.
"ROUND ONE: MILEENA WINS!"
She gasped, covering her mouth. "Ya Allah… I did it… I actually won a round!"
But the second round was brutal. The opponent adapted quickly, punishing her mistakes, and soon Scorpion landed a crushing Fatal Blow. The defeat animation played out, and Siti winced.
"ROUND TWO: SCORPION WINS!"
It all came down to the final round. Both fighters traded blows, health bars shrinking evenly. Her heart pounded like drums, her thumbs trembling on the controller. At the last second, she mistimed a combo, and Scorpion landed the final strike.
"SCORPION WINS."
Siti leaned back, letting out a long breath she didn't know she had been holding. She lost… but she wasn't sad. Instead, she felt alive.
"That was… amazing," she whispered, smiling wide.
---
For the next hour, she fought different players. Some crushed her mercilessly, their combos too advanced for her. Others she managed to defeat, Mileena's sharp strikes carving her path to victory.
Every win made her cheer softly. Every loss made her more determined.
By the time she logged out, her eyes were heavy, but her spirit burned bright. She finally understood what Asmawati and Suhaimie had been talking about all this time—the thrill of testing your skills against real people, the rush of victory, and the sting of defeat.
As she set her controller down, she whispered to herself, "This is just the beginning."
And deep inside, Siti Suhaili knew: she was no longer just a beginner. She was becoming a gamer.