Student Essay - Trapped – by Andy Jeong Yu Ho, Year 10, Sayfol International School

Trapped – by Andy Jeong Yu Ho, Year 10, Sayfol International School

My friends and people who knew me well called me a possessed boy who had a ‘Hand of God’. This nickname was given to me when my friends saw me playing online games. They were surprised by the fast movement of my fingers that were pressing the keyboard and clicking the mouse. It was all very normal to me because my dream was to be the best programmer in the world. I loved to play computer games and I could play them the whole day, if I was allowed to. As I loved playing computer games so much, I had to change the worn-out keyboards and mouse to new ones very often. I had analysed most of the games and computer systems in the world. One day, as usual, I was playing computer games after school when there was no one at home. Suddenly, the screen and lights blinked several times and I was drawn into the computer screen. 

I looked around the surroundings and my body. I realised that I was standing in the middle of a desolated dungeon with only green grass and rough rocks around me. I was wearing odd clothes and holding a magic stick. Because of this ridiculous situation, I was so confused that I became speechless. Suddenly, a monster appeared and attacked me. I could not move and thought I was going to die. However, I soon revived without experiencing any pain. I became curious about my ability inside the computer. So, I imagined using magic spells. A fireball came out from the stick I was holding and killed the monster. I was surprised once again. Later, I realised that I could do whatever I wanted to do in this world. I could participate in the games, open or close any programmes and even create new things. For example, I was able to run a military game and shoot other characters with the gun I made. I was so pleased with the computer world that I forgot I was trapped inside it. 

After playing lots of games, I became bored and wanted to do other real activities. So, I tried to go out from the screen by shutting down the computer. I thought that if I turned off the computer, I would disappear from it without any trace. However, it did not work and there was no way to escape. I panicked. All of a sudden, I heard a voice from the outside world. It was my mother. When I tried to shout for help, the screen turned blue and everything changed. I realised that a virus had infected the system. I could just stare at my mother who had come closer to the computer to use it. Then, I came up with a brilliant idea. I believe that, as I could do anything and go anywhere in the computer, I was able to find viruses in the computer and remove them. So, I went deep inside the computer. Before the fight, I created the strongest armour and weapons such as a magic stick and light-sabre. When I reached the dark-red cube box, I saw that there were a number of black viruses floating in the air. They started to attack me by spreading their sharp tentacles. I moved forward, blocking them with my magic shield, and eliminated them by exploding and cutting them. At the end of the box, a huge black tree was producing new viruses. I killed all the new viruses and burned the root of the virus. 

When the fight was over, the blue screen turned back into a normal screen. As soon as the monitor of the computer got back to normal, my mother noticed that her tiny son was trapped inside the screen. First, she was not sure that I was her real son and not just an image. I yelled for help and when she realised that I was real, she was as shocked as I was when I entered the screen. As I kept shouting and hitting the screen, she recovered and tried to help me get out. But neither of us knew what to do. After a few minutes, I told my mother to print me out with the printer. I thought this was the only way to get out of the computer, although it might be dangerous. She pressed the button and printed me out. I was transferred to the printer and dyed onto a piece of paper. When the paper came out of the printer, I jumped out of the paper and returned to my real shape. I hugged my mother tightly and gratefully. 

Because of this interesting and arduous affair, I learned many things. I was able to understand more intricately how computer games worked. As I came in real contact with the characters in the games, I could figure out all the details about the characters. This gave me an advantage that made me a league above other players. Moreover, after I eliminated the viruses by physically killing them, I became interested in the computer protection system. So, I studied diligently about computers and became an expert on solving computer problems. Thus, this valuable experience helped me to get one step closer to achieving my dream of becoming the perfect programmer!