The city hummed faintly in the distance — muffled sirens, the whirr of buses passing through slick streets, and the occasional bark of some angry dog echoing through a row of tightly packed flats. A faint knock tapped against Liam's apartment door, followed by a second, more impatient one.
"Pizza!" someone called, dragging out the word like an alarm clock made of cardboard and regret.
Liam groaned.
His eyes peeled open slowly, one at a time. His room was a scattered mess of empty cans, old receipts, tangled wires, and a laptop half-buried beneath a hoodie. The glow of his monitor had long faded into standby mode, casting a blinking light across the wall like a slow, artificial heartbeat.
He swung his legs off the mattress — it barely qualified as a bed anymore — and shuffled to the door, ignoring the biting cold that crept in from under the windows. His green-dyed hair, once bright and acidic, was now half-washed out, exposing streaks of dull brown underneath.
He signed the receipt with a barely-legible squiggle and accepted the pizza without a word. The delivery guy gave him a look — something between sympathy and judgment — then left without waiting for a tip.
Back inside, Liam set the box down, took one slice, then tossed it onto his desk like a notebook he didn't plan to open.
With a lazy flick of his wrist, he booted up his PC. Notifications were already flooding in — pings from servers, random meme drops, a few messages from friends, and the occasional "yo u awake?" from people he hadn't seen offline in months.
He slid into his chair, cracked his knuckles, and opened Discord.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's see who's still rotting online."
---
He took a slice of pizza, then scrolled through the unread messages. One caught his attention:
💬 [Server: #off-topic]
@Coldbit665:
> I heard GTA VI was getting delayed again
He frantically replied:
@RavenVoid:
> That's not possible, no it's impossible. I've waited almost two decades. They can't delay it any further, @Coldbit665
@Heavenlydemon7:
> Chill off, lil bro
@RavenVoid:
> Oh I'm perfectly calm, thank you. But do you seriously know how many things came before GTA 6?
1. Three Sonic movies dropped — and a Knuckles spin-off show too.
2. The MCU went from Iron Man to Multiverse Madness — we watched Endgame.
3. Cyberpunk 2077 got hyped, flopped, and got fixed (kinda).
4. The Witcher 3 released, aged, and got a next-gen update.
5. Elden Ring launched, won GOTY, and even got DLC before GTA 6.
6. Skyrim got ported to, like, your toaster.
7. Five different Call of Duty games came and went.
8. The entire Game of Thrones series aired and crashed.
9. Berserk's author passed, and the manga still resumed.
10. The PS4 was born, thrived, and replaced by PS5 — and still no GTA VI.
11. Even AI got so advanced that you can't tell the difference between AI videos and IRL.
12. And Bloodborne still hasn't gotten a remaster and is stuck at 30fps.
13. And let's not forget — a world war almost happened.
@GobGoblin:
> Ok we get it, several things came out before GTA VI.
Liam closed Discord and went to Google, searching if it had actually been delayed — but it was a lie. He took a screenshot, then returned to Discord and sent it.
@RavenVoid:
> It was a lie.
@Heavenlydemon7:
> What did you expect? Did you really think it was true?
@RavenVoid:
> Of course not. I knew it was a lie... I was just confirming something.
@i_love_Dick:
> When last did you even go out, @RavenVoid?
@RavenVoid:
> Around last month... or last week. I can't remember.
@i_love_Dick:
> Log off. Touch some damn grass. Breathe air that hasn't been in your room.
@RavenVoid:
> Says the guy who called himself i love dick. Touching grass is for the weak. My lungs would reject it like foreign DNA.
@ChadNeko69:
> You deadass been online for 18 hours. You're not waiting for GTA VI, you're decomposing.
@RavenVoid:
> Sybau I slept for two hours today. My internet was just on.
@Heavenlydemon7:
> So are you all getting the physical copy or just going digital?
@i_love_Dick:
> Digital. Think about standing in line for days.
@RavenVoid:
> Such a weak-hearted fellow. The whole point is the experience. When you go out to get it, it just makes the experience even better.
@GobGoblin:
> So I take it you'll be going out?
@RavenVoid:
> Yes. I will.
@Z3nitsuFan420:
> Don't forget to touch grass on your way there 😂
@RavenVoid:
> 😐
@RavenVoid:
> Well, I'm going to get prepared. See y'all later.
---
He went offline and picked up a bag, then packed some snacks and soda into it. He threw on a hoodie with a Miku picture on it. Liam was a big fan of Miku — he used to say to himself:
"I'm not the biggest fan, but I love her music."
He picked up his phone, popped in his earbuds, and opened the door. The fresh air felt alien to him. He didn't go out much. He just loved staying inside playing games. But there were times when even a shut-in needed to go out — and now was one of them.
---
He locked his apartment door with a soft click, slung his worn backpack over one shoulder, and started the slow climb down the narrow staircase. The concrete steps creaked under his weight, just like always. Third-floor apartments had their perks — until you had to leave them at midnight.
The cool air hit him as he stepped outside. The sky was its usual moody grey, even in the dead of night. A few orange streetlamps buzzed faintly, throwing dull halos on the empty pavement. He shoved his hands into the pocket of his hoodie and began walking, the boxed shape of the Corsair Game Store glowing just a few blocks ahead.
His boots thudded gently on the sidewalk. He passed shuttered storefronts, a sleeping cat on a windowsill, and a takeaway shop where someone inside was still wiping down counters. The city never really slept — just lowered its volume.
When he reached the Corsair storefront, the sight still made him grin.
There it was: the line.
A stretch of folding chairs, beanbags, cardboard signs, thermoses, snacks, sleeping bags, and chatter. The faint smell of instant noodles and cheap energy drinks clung to the air.
A guy in a Pikachu hoodie waved at him without knowing why. Someone else argued about whether Vice City's map was better than Los Santos.
He didn't say anything. He just nodded, picked an open patch of sidewalk near the middle of the line, and dropped his bag.
Then he sat. Cross-legged, arms resting on his knees, he stared up at the glowing billboard ticking down the hours to launch.
GTA VI: Collector's Edition – 03:14:09
He exhaled slowly, like he'd been holding his breath all day.
Then, almost to himself, he muttered:
> "More than a decade of waiting... and I still feel like a kid about to unwrap Christmas."
---
Dozens of folding chairs lined up beneath flickering street lamps. Plastic bags crinkled. Power banks hummed. Somewhere, someone strummed a guitar. The air buzzed with quiet excitement and the occasional groan of impatience.
He adjusted his hoodie, pulling the fabric down over his face as the night breeze nipped at his cheeks. A small sleeping bag lay curled beside his backpack — the same one he used during his last midnight release two years ago. This was tradition. This was release night.
He glanced at the digital countdown billboard overhead:
GTA VI – Collector's Edition. Available in: 02:46:18
Around him, clusters of strangers laughed, argued, and passed snacks. To his left, a girl with half-shaved hair and chipped black nail polish was carefully lining up her own mini shelf of collector pins along her foldable stool. To his right, a guy in a wrinkled Sonic hoodie talked loudly about how Vice City was better than San Andreas — fight me.
He leaned back against the cold concrete wall, taking it all in with a small grin.
> "This is better than Christmas," he muttered.
"You say something?" the girl beside him asked.
He shook his head, then hesitated. "Just... can't believe I'm actually here."
She gave him a knowing smirk. "Collector?"
Liam nodded. "Ever since I was eight. I've got the PS2 casing for San Andreas, unopened. Sealed in plastic. Same with Red Dead Redemption II — steelbook edition. My closet's full of junk that no one cares about but me."
"That's not junk," she said, gesturing around at the others. "This whole line is made up of people who get it. You're not alone, green-hair."
He snorted. "The dye's fading."
She shrugged. "Makes you look like you lost a bet."
From behind them, a guy added, "Nah, makes him look like an NPC who got glitched halfway through customization."
Laughter rolled down the line. Someone popped open a soda can. Another group set up a tiny speaker and began playing retro game soundtracks.
He looked around at the crowd — people wrapped in blankets, holding thermoses, slipping on TikTok. Strangers bound by a single, silly obsession.
This — this dumb line, the waiting, the cold feet and stiff back — it was everything. Not just for the game. But for the event. The shared love. The memory.
"Honestly?" he said, almost to himself, "Even if they canceled the game tonight, I wouldn't regret coming."
The girl raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
He smiled. "It's not about the game. Not only the game. It's this... feeling. Like time pauses. Like the whole world is waiting with you. I've been on Discord all week arguing with idiots about release bugs and leaks, but none of that matters here. Here, it's just—" he gestured toward the glowing countdown— "now."
And for a little while, they all just sat there, letting the silence stretch between them, surrounded by cheap coffee, dim streetlights, and a shared kind of magic only people like them could understand.
"But seriously, if the release got canceled now... that would be annoying. I'd still not regret it, butttt—"
The lady beside him sighed.
"I get it."
A couple of hours later, after talking and doing nothing,
a security guard stepped out and announced,
"Doors open in thirty — have your receipt and ID ready."
Riven glanced at the glowing screen:
00:29:45