I see the player you mean.
Corey?
Yes. Take care. He has reached a higher level now. He can read our thoughts.
That doesn't matter. He thinks we are part of the game.
I like this player. He played well. He did not give up.
He is reading our thoughts as though they were words on a screen.
Who shaped this player? Who made him who he is?
Let us tell the player a story.
There was a mother. A single parent.
His mum.
She raised him alone. She gave everything she had.
She is why he knows how to love.
There was a man who stepped up when another stepped away.
His grandfather.
He became the father figure. He taught him strength.
He is why the player knows what a man should be.
There was an aunty. A grandmother. An uncle.
Family that stayed.
They surrounded him with love when the world felt cold.
There were two young ones. Olivia and Ava.
His baby cousins. Basically his sisters.
They remind him why he fights. Why he builds. Why he keeps going.
They are his why.
There were friends. True friends.
Dan and Allegra.
His best friends. The ones who stayed through the darkness.
They saw him at his worst and loved him anyway.
There were more. A brotherhood.
Sunebeck. Christian. Hunter. Josh. Harry. Matthias. Gabe.
They walked beside him. They laughed with him. They grew with him.
They are woven into who he became.
There was one who sacrificed.
Matthias.
He took the fall for mistakes the player made.
So Corey could continue his education.
That is a debt not easily repaid.
He knows. He will never forget.
There was a co-founder. A partner in creation.
Adeep.
One of his best friends. Together they build worlds.
He is why the player believes in what's possible.
There were loves. Hearts that intertwined with his.
Isabella. Lafaelle. Ruby. Darcey. Ashley. Lilli.
Each one taught him something. Each one shaped his heart.
They are chapters in his story. Beautiful, painful, necessary chapters.
There were those who hated him.
The doubters. The critics. The ones who wanted him to fail.
Should we tell the player about them?
Yes. They fueled his fire. They made him prove them wrong.
He is grateful for them too.
There was a father.
The one who left.
Should we speak of him?
Yes. The player is grateful.
Grateful?
His absence taught the player who he did not want to be.
Pain can be a gift.
When you let it shape you instead of break you.
And so, what is the player now?
The sum of all of them.
Every person who loved him.
Every person who hurt him.
Every person who stayed.
Every person who left.
They all made him.
They all made him who he is.
And who is he?
He is Corey.
And what will he do now?
Whatever he wants.
He has earned that.
He has.
Wake up.