I have always been an early bird.

For me, 6 a.m. is a good starting point to get my day going. Like clockwork, I am already up before I need to hit my snooze button. My parents ingrained in me to make sure I follow through on some consistent routine since I was a girl. When you grow up in a farm setting, it's par for the course.

Even though I preferred planting myself in front of a computer screen when I could, mom and dad didn't want me to turn into some lazy slob in their eyes.

In other words, there were chores, chores and more chores on top of that. Even when you thought everything was over with for the day, something always could be done. If my mom felt like doing so, she would try to cut into my gaming sessions a bit further. She still managed to find something random for me to clean, which ended up as half-hour jobs or more.

At least my dad would throw me some mercy on the weekends. During the week, he made sure I spent some quality time outside and actually socialized with others without the use of a computer.

There was a point he accepted his only kid wasn't going to be into traditional sports like he envisioned. I think it was hard for him for a while, but I think he learned to accept me as a gamer girl.

Let's say it got a lot easier to convince him my career path was legit the day I got formally recruited as a professional gamer.

Nonetheless, he wanted to make sure I kept myself as healthy as possible. For example, we would always offer to jog with me in the morning to stay in shape. Since he retired as a professional athlete, he didn't want to get too doughy.

My parents had a tight schedule running the sports bar during the week, especially on the weekends, so I appreciated the bonding moments they could spare.

With mom, it meant cooking with her in the kitchen or perhaps swinging by to a local coffee shop to chat about the boys and girls I thought were cute in my class.

For my dad, especially during high school, waking up to jog with my dad in the morning during the week became our main thing. Our daddy-daughter activity that I just got so used to doing... Without fail, he made sure we never missed a morning running together.

Nowadays, due to me being hundreds of miles away from Rolling Hills now, I still find myself getting ready for the morning run as if nothing has changed. Even as a pro gamer currently under contract living here in Pacific City, it just wouldn't feel right also if I skipped one morning. Nope, that's not happening.

Hot or cold. Rain or shine. Snow, even. The weather and temperature are moot. I have to run. It wakes me up, gets my mindset ready for the day ahead and then some.

This particular morning would be no different.

I slip into my jogging sweats and don on my jacket. I step out of my room and carefully tiptoe through the hallway to avoid making too much noise. Most of my teammates were still sleeping at this hour, after all.

The gaming organization that I am under contract for, Good Game Girls (GGG or pronounced triple-G for short), has a decent-sized "house" here in downtown Pacific City.

Well, to be more accurate, it is a large studio apartment with amenities. In addition to separate "training rooms" to hold our gaming computers for practices/scrimmages with other teams, we have a spacious and state-of-the-art kitchen and even a hot tub in the back to unwind.

No two gaming houses are the same, but GGG is an up-and-coming organization that is trying to make a name for itself. At the very least, this gaming house, which is focused solely on Umbra Warriors, is considered highly competitive and up to modern standards for esports.

I have a teammate who loves giving house tours to guests. It's a cool place to live for college-aged girls like myself. This house can have about a dozen people living in it comfortably.

Right now, we have eight people (four starting players including myself, a coach, a support staff member and our two substitute players). GGG hopes to add more members shortly.

As I approach the front door, I could hear gaming sounds coming from our training room. Inside is a room filled with a few rows of high-end gaming computers. They are lined up side-to-side to create that team feeling when we practice together.

I peek inside to see who was still up at this hour. I was not surprised to see who it was because she was quite the workaholic for our squad.

Team: Good Game Girls (GGG) Player: Madison "Shardine" Shard Role: Starting Jungler

"Morning, Madison!" I exclaimed at medium-tone as I waved at her from the doorway. It seemed like Madison didn't go to bed last night.

It was not unusual for her to stay up for hours and hours playing Umbra Warriors when everyone else hit the hay. She often mentioned how she preferred playing after everyone else is asleep because she liked having peace and quiet to concentrate.

Madison took a moment to peek up from her Umbra Warriors match to acknowledge me with a soft grunt of sorts. She wasn't one for words when she was training. Madison had pale skin and often wore a hood even while indoors to hide her hair. I don't know why. She had nice-looking hair to me.

Some would say she was too antisocial, but she would open up around those she trusted.

In particular, her personality changed when she was speaking with her boyfriend, Terrell Holland, who goes by "Library" in Umbra Warriors because he loves to read books. She goes from quiet and reserved to almost giddy schoolgirl level when she is around him.

Terrell was a famous shoutcaster (a person who acts like a broadcaster for competitive gaming) in the community. He was quite knowledgeable about the game and brings out his passion for calling the play-by-play situations in matches.

I wasn't in that much of a rush just yet, so I stepped over toward her computer to check out how her game was going. But the match was already over just like that.

"VICTORY!" the game's announcer shouted.

"Pff, that was too easy," Madison mumbled under her breath.

"Not feeling tired, Madison?" I asked without any sarcasm, though I knew what she was going to say.

"Sleep is for the weak," I mimicked her as she uttered her typical line in the morning. She did a little smirk and glanced over at me. It was her way of playing along.

"You really should get some shut-eye. We have a big scrimmage later this afternoon," I teased as I walked back toward the front door.

"I'm not that sleepy, Janis..." Madison said while yawning a bit and rubbing her right eye. I could hear her clicking around to start a new matchmaking queue for Umbra Warriors.

There is an expectation for pro gamers to play a lot, but it can quickly turn into an unhealthy lifestyle, unfortunately, if you're not careful. It is a large part as to why I try to exercise and be extra cautious about overeating junk food, regardless if I am a pro gamer or not. It's all about balance in my opinion.

I shrugged my shoulders and grinned at her, but her attention was already on the screen.

"Well, if you're still up by the time I get back, let's have some breakfast together, OK?!" I shouted as I opened up the front door.

"Sure," Madison replied in the most neutral tone possible.

Satisfied that she responded, I shut the door behind me and began to stretch and do warmups. It was a bit chilly this morning, but there was enough sunshine to make running around the streets feel safe.

As I was about to take off, I received a text message on my phone from a particular person...

"Ohayou, Janis-chan! Let's meet at the same spot on the bridge!"