The Calm Before the Storm
It was the spring of 2018. I was stuck at my job not doing any work because there wasn’t any work to be done. Instead I was perusing the interwebs of the internet for all things gaming-related trying to pass the time while still getting paid. Many articles I read talked about the PC game called PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
I am not a PC gamer; console is my preferred choice. The only reason PUBG caught my attention was because Polygon gave the game a 10/10. I was never going to buy it because I didn’t game on PC anyway, but when it was announced it was for Xbox One, and it was a brand new type of genre called Battle Royale, my curiosity amplified immensely.
And so before I knew it, I was on my way to Best Buy to purchase the game. I figured $30 was a fair price for a game where it has only one mode, and since it received a 10/10, I knew it had to be good.
Straight from Polygon’s review itself, I could feel the tension in the first few matches of the game. The enemies could be literally hiding anywhere, even in that bush 10 feet away from me. I had never felt tension like that in any game I had ever played in my life.
Surprisingly, I was extremely good at hiding in the first few matches of the game. I was actually surprised myself when I made it to 10th place in my third match. I thought, “Damn. I’m quite at sneaking around and hiding in this game. But I can’t shoot for shit.” I knew if I wanted to get good, I had to actually become good at shooting the enemies in the game.
But how? By the time I was able to find an enemy, I had an extremely short amount of time to aim my gun and fire. It didn’t help that I had no idea where the other players were located on the huge map. How was I supposed to get any practice shooting and aiming so I could win the coveted Winner Winner Chicken Dinner?
And so, back at work where there was no work, I browsed the internet looking for tips. They all mentioned to drop into hot zones where most of the players clustered for the best loot and weapons. And so that was how I practiced my aiming: dropping into areas where I died a lot.
But the training worked. I could finally kill the enemies with a wide variety of weapons. Sadly to this day, I still suck at using any scope higher than an 8x. Those are too rare for me to practice with, but I am deadly with a scope lower that is 4x or lower.
Into The Fire
It was a Saturday afternoon. After about three continuous hours of playing PUBG, I decided to play one final match before calling it quits.
100 players including myself jumped out from the AC-130 onto the 8×8 km map. I decided to drop into an area on the map northeast of the Military Base where there is a radio tower and some buildings.
Upon landing, I scrambled for weapons, ammo, and gear. I was able to find myself an M4 assault rifle and some 5.56 ammunition. After looting the whole building, I ran out of there sprinting down the mountain to get some buildings near the bridge I knew would have some decent loot.
However, I was out in the open.
Suddenly, gunfire erupted. I was getting shot from behind from a sniper up on the top of the mountain. I sprinted in a zigzag formation to throw off his aim.
It worked! I was able to take cover behind the buildings near the bridge at the intersection.
“Good,” I thought to myself. “I’m quite well hidden in this tall grass and under this tree. He won’t be able to find me.”
In the distance I heard the whirring sound from the motor of a Jeep. I panned the camera above me to find where it was and track its movement. I saw that it was heading down the road towards the intersection.
“I’ll just wait for him to pass by before standing up.”
I should have chose my words more carefully.
There I was, laying down in the grass on a slight incline about 20 feet from a large tree, when the Jeep went off road and barreled right towards me.
“Ohhhhh shit.”
I kept laying motionless. If I moved, he would see me, stop his Jeep, and take fire.
“Oh God. He’s gonna run me over.”
“Ohhhhh shiiiiiiit.”
As if my prayers were answered, the Jeep zoomed past me, but just barely at about six feet from my position.
“Holy crap I nearly died.”
Through the Thick and Thin
With certain death evading me. I panned the camera around again to make sure there were no more enemies in my vicinity.
“All clear.”
I ran up the incline towards the beach. To my shear amazement, I found a Jeep on the other side of the incline that was only about 100 feet from where I was laying.
“Hell yes,” I thought to myself.
I climbed into the Jeep and slammed on the gas. I drove across the bridge, not knowing at all where I was going since I didn’t have most of the map memorized at that point. All I knew was I had to get as far away as possible from the shrinking and deadly blue wall and towards the safe zone.
It was down to me and nine others. I was driving through forests and hills, not knowing at all where I was going.
Suddenly, gunfire erupted again, this time shooting at my Jeep with an assault rifle.
I let out a girly scream.
“EEEEK!”
I barrelled through the barrage of gunfire until I was far enough away. I knew if I kept driving I would most likely die, so I needed to find cover fast.
Out of the thickets, I found I tiny shack on the outskirts of the forest.
I stayed hidden in that shack for about five minutes, aiming my gun straight at the door entrance waiting for an enemy. If a player unknowingly opened that door, they would be shot on sight. My adrenaline was pumping so hard that it was almost like I was in a real fight to the death.
For the entire five minutes I was in the shack, I kept taking energy drinks and painkillers. I had no idea what they their function was — the game’s description says “increases boost by 40.” Of course, I had no idea what ‘boost’ meant. All I knew was that it did something good.
And so I kept pounding down the energy drinks and painkillers while squatting in the shack, peeking out the tiny window for enemies, and aiming my M4 rifle straight at the entrance.
“Holy shit,” I thought to myself. “I might actually have a chance at winning first place.”
The Hunt
Four enemies left. The blue wall finally moved past the shack, meaning if i stayed in there, I would eventually lose health and die. And so I booked it out of there.
Since the blue wall is a circle, I took an approach of a broad spiral path inward towards the safe zone in the center. This enabled me to march my way to safety while also making sure to spot any enemies that may be lurking near the perimeter towards the blue wall. At this point the tension I was feeling was so thick it could be cut with a knife.
I made it to the safe zone. The entire scuttle toward the center was filled with enemy gunfire, but somehow none of it was aimed at me; none of the players found me or knew where I was.
Two enemies left. I laid down in the thick grass. The terrain at this point contained a road in the middle with two differently sloped hills on either side. My hill was not as steep as the opposite hill, so I was able to pan the game’s camera around me higher than I could if I was on the other side while still laying down motionless in the tall grass.
Suddenly there was gunfire. One enemy remaining.
“Holy shit. As long as I aim my gun properly I can win.”
I inched my way through the tall grass towards the new safe zone in the center. It was the final safe zone. This was the smallest the zone could become. The only way I could win now was to kill the one remaining enemy.
If only you could have felt how fast my heart was racing at that moment; adrenaline pumping through my body; hands sweating.
I couldn’t find the enemy for around a minute.
And then.
A break.
I could see the enemy hiding in the grass on the opposite side of the road.
I took aim.
Fired.
And up popped on the screen:
Authors Note: I couldn’t find the photo of my first Chicken Dinner win that took place on the original Erangel map. The above photo was the best-looking one I could find out of all my Chicken Dinner wins that I had saved.
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