E Sports had been good to me. I played video games all my life. Being a scrawny dude with almost no muscle mass, it was really the only way I knew to let my testosterone go free. First person shooters and MOBAs were my specialty, and I had racked up countless awards across America playing and winning. And now that I was 18, it finally led me here.
I looked up at the sign above me: NSU. It stood for National Sports University. It was about 50 years since the time you are reading this. A new university had been created that specialized in athletics. There were athletes here from all kinds of sports: football, soccer, track and field, and now, even E Sports. Granted, I was expecting to be a far different kind of athlete than those I would meet here, but I guess all athletes are different, in their own ways. E Sports hadn't really garnered the same kind of respect as the other sports, but I'm sure with time that would all change.
Looking to my left was a group of basketball courts. Tall, men looking people were going wild dunking and dribbling to their hearts' content. Compared to them, physically, I was nothing. They looked like giants. I assumed the requirements to be a basketball player here were to be at least 6 and a half feet tall. I was a mere 5'5. To my right were a bunch of cheerleaders, oversexed girls who wouldn't even look twice at someone like me. I could argue that what they did wasn't really a sport, but ironically we were in an equal minority of people playing a sport outsiders wouldn't fully understand. Also I would be lying if I said they weren't nice to look at. Also also, football teams need cheerleaders, I guess?
I entered the front office, my luggage on wheels trailing behind me. I opened the two tall glass doors that led into an amazingly vast hall full of trophies and medals. Splashes of color adorned the walls and a statues of former champions lined the slick white tiled floor. There were hundreds of couches and TV's here, with people talking to their friends and looking up classes. It was a busy day, as I had to register my dorm.
I already knew my classes. I was a decent student. I was certainly smart enough, but long hours playing video games had eroded what probably could have been a 4.2 GPA into something less than. I hoped that going here would lessen the pressure of having to get good grades; grades are important, I wasn't oblivious to that fact, but I felt like my emphasis should be on my E Sports career, not the collective works of Edgar Allen Poe.
I saw the line for the dorm assignments, and got in back. The person in front of me was a pretty tall dude, and really thick. He must have weighed around 260 pounds. I was 130, meaning he probably weighed twice what I weighed. This was something I would have to get used to. Most of the people here were like that, either dwarfing me in weight or height. I probably looked like some athlete's brother. I was surprised nobody had asked if I was lost yet. This dude was carrying a football, so I could only guess he was a football player. He definitely looked the part.
Footballer Mike got his dorm info and turned left. The lady behind the desk was looking up, saw nothing, then looked down to see me. "Hi there," she said.