Chapter 5

And so the online pursuit ensued.

Psst... Narnia. U asleep.

Yes.

Hey, c'mon, lets cht.

This was the third night Chen tried to talk Irene into meeting him. Still Irene refused. But unlike the real life Chen who would have probably faltered and gave up from the first ‘No’, the Legendary Guitar Man persevered.

I wanna sleep.

No, u dun. It's only 9.

I sleep erly. Nd my beauty sleep.

You're already too beautiful, he wanted to type, but Chen managed to keep a hold on himself.

He does not want to appear like a erted online stalker.

C'mon, talk2m.

After a short silence, Chen tried a new approach.

Hv u chckd out DOTA's new edition?

It was not fair, but he was desperate.

And true to his prediction, his excited narration and review of the popular online game's new features brought Irene slowly but surely out of her recluse.

They spent the next half hour, doing what they normally did together, as G-Man and Caspian, discussing and bantering on the pros and cons of the game before the discussion took them to other related games and programmes.

Irene, Chen finally typed. Cm create a game wth me.

What?

U know I've alwys wntd 2 create one.

 I do. Bt I dun thnk it's wise.

C'mon. Thr's a cmpttn cmg up. The prize is a startup prog in the Valley.

Slcon Vally?

Yeah, we may x win. Bt just mkg to the Top10 wud b fun, no?

Hmmm....

C'mon. U know no one else work bttr wth me thn u.

Did u try CrazyAdam? Irene asked, speaking of another online illustrator.

No, I dun thnk hs style is right 4 wat I hv in mind.

Ok, we can do it totally online.

U know how diff tht wud be. Ths is x a simple YT video.

I dunno...

But Chen could feel the ice thawing. He knew Prince Caspian or Irene rather, would be too excited to let this opportunity go.

He knew Irene was just as passionate in creating games as he was.

C'mon, dude. The words just slipped from him automatically. Let's mt up & discuss.

And after a long while, she finally replied.

Mebbe... bt nt yet. Gimme sm time.