For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,134

woman, a man, or non-binary; having others think I'm cool or not? Those things don't change whether or not I can aim, if I'm going to go right or left when someone shoots at me, or anything else to make me excel in a first person shooter."

"So," the man pressed, "are you confirming that you are transgender?"

"No!" Psyc's voice cut the reporter off, and he moved to her side a second later. "New rule, and all of the high table will be following it. Sexuality, identity, race, religion? Those things are out of bounds. If you ask any of us about it, we will all stop doing interviews." He paused to look at the other cameras. "Some of the professionals have had attempts made on their lives. Maybe most of your viewers don't care, but the last thing any of us need is some crazy stalker trying to off us because they don't like some stance we have. One that has nothing to do with gaming. You use the pronouns a person gives you. You use the name they give you. And most importantly, any media outlet that outs any member of the PLG will have a formal complaint filed against them by me. I don't care if that's gender identity, sexual orientation, or some kinky fetish. Our personal lives are still ours. Now get the fuck out of her face."

Grabbing her hand, Psyc pushed the man aside and towed her toward the door. A woman further back dared to tilt her microphone toward them and ask, "Are you two a couple now?"

"Rhaven's one of the best players in my Eternal Combat outfit," Psyc said. "She's been a friend for a long time, and PsychoDreads takes care of our own. Stop insulting the new winners."

More questions came, but they all jumbled into each other until she couldn't make the words out. Psyc didn't stop, though. He kept walking, kept towing her out of that hell hole. Cameras flashed, the lights almost blinding, but it didn't matter. Psyc seemed to know where he was going. Then they passed by QQ and Void, both saying just about the same thing Psyc had.

"It's none of your business," Riley insisted. "Gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, race, and religion are no-gos. We're here to talk about video games, not politics."

The woman with the microphone held out to QQ was nodding in agreement. "Do you think this will get the focus back to things like the new maps we saw this time?"

Riley grinned. "Those were amazing, weren't they? Deviant Games is the maker of Shots of Conquest. That's the game we're using for these tournaments. Each of the maps we saw this time were unique and innovative, but still easy to understand. The rules of all FPS games still applied, but the view was so novel and fresh that it put some of us off our game." And Riley pointed to herself. "I mean, I'm not saying that's why I lost, but it's going to be the excuse I'll use!"

And then she and Psyc were too far away to hear more. He kept going all the way to the restaurant, and then stopped right inside the door to turn to her.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"I'm pissed," she told him. "Is all of this because of KoG?"

Psyc ducked his head. "Cynister said there's a lot of chatter on KoG's forums. He also said that it's directed at you right now. Seems they've found Riley's weakness. Hurting others bothers her more than coming after her, and they think you're an 'easy' target."

"Fuck that," she said, spinning back around. "This isn't a game I'm willing to play."

"Rhaven?" he asked.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she stormed right up to the reporters with Psyc trailing behind her. "Hey!" Rhaven lifted a hand, making sure they knew who was yelling. "I'm going to say this once, so turn your cameras on." Then she waited for the lights to all be pointed toward her and microphones to appear. "My name is Rhaven Moore. I was assigned male at birth. I am a trans woman. I am a real woman, and my gender is valid. I don't care if any of you like it. I'm not here to get your approval. I play in the PLG because I felt like I didn't fit in anywhere else. I started playing games because it was the only place I felt safe. Irony, right there. Killing people made me feel like I wasn't