A Veteran Gamer Of Project IGI: The Sad Retirement.

For years, The player had been the ultimate Project IGI veteran. He knew every enemy location, every sneaky backdoor route, and every rooftop jump to avoid alarms. His muscle memory was so sharp that he could complete a mission without breaking a sweat, one hand on the keyboard, the other holding a cup of tea.

Back in the day, he would speed-run the game with unmatched precision. Guards were predictable, alarms were easily avoided, and the game was a playground of tactical mastery. If he had a dollar for every time he heard “Hey, you! Stop there!” in a poorly acted Russian accent, he’d be rich.

One day, he heard the news—Project IGI Remastered had arrived! The game had been upgraded with realistic graphics, improved AI, and new mechanics.

“Pfft,” he scoffed, installing the game with the confidence of a war general. “It’s the same game but shinier. I’ll finish this blindfolded.”

With a smug grin, he launched the first mission. The nostalgic opening music played, filling him with memories. His fingers twitched in excitement as he prepared to breeze through the game like before.

Then, reality hit.

As soon as he stepped forward, something felt… different. The ground wasn’t flat and lifeless anymore; it had actual grass. Individual blades of grass swayed in the wind. “Wait… since when is the ground textured?” he muttered, crouching to admire it.

BANG!

His screen turned red.

“WHAT?!”

Mission failed.

He blinked. “Wait, wait, wait… who shot me?”

Restart.

Determined, he tried again, moving cautiously. But the enemies weren’t standing around like they used to. In the old game, they would just patrol in slow, predictable loops, oblivious to a guy sneaking behind them. Now, they had brains.

One of them spotted him from what felt like 100 meters away. “Hey! Intruder!” screamed the guard.

Panic set in. “They weren’t this smart before!” He ducked behind a rock, waiting for them to give up like in the old days.

Then he heard a clink.

He turned his head slowly.

A grenade rolled next to him.

BOOM!

Game over.

He sat in silence, staring at the screen. “Since when do they throw grenades?”

Restart.

This time, he went prone and crawled through the bushes. “Stealth mode, like the old days,” he thought, carefully moving through the grass. He was almost at the enemy base when suddenly—

BARK!

A dog.

A German Shepherd came sprinting toward him.

“DOGS?! THERE WEREN’T ANY DOGS BEFORE!”

The animal lunged at him. In a panic, he tried to shoot but forgot to reload. The gun clicked uselessly. The dog tackled him to the ground.

Game over.

Now, things were getting serious.

Restart.

He decided to go full Rambo. Forget stealth—he grabbed an AK, ran straight into the base, and fired at everything in sight. It worked! Guards fell left and right. “Haha! I’m unstoppable!”

Then he ran out of ammo.

“Oh no.”

He tried to switch weapons, but the new inventory system confused him. Instead of selecting his pistol, he accidentally pulled out a grenade. In his panic, he pressed the wrong button and threw it… at his feet.

BOOM!

Respawn.

By this point, his confidence was in shambles. His once-warm tea had gone cold. His palms were sweaty. His brain refused to accept that this wasn’t the Project IGI he remembered.

One more try.

This time, he played smart. He carefully planned his route, eliminated guards one by one, and successfully sneaked into the mission objective. His hands were shaking, but he was finally doing it. Victory was in sight.

As he exited the building, he heard a low rumbling noise.

“What was that?”

He turned his head.

A tank rolled into view.

A TANK.

“THERE WEREN’T TANKS BEFORE!”

Before he could react, the cannon fired.

BOOM.

Game over.

He sat there, mouth open, brain fried. His entire gaming career had been a lie.

This was not the IGI he knew.

Slowly, he moved his mouse. His cursor hovered over the Uninstall button. He clicked it.

The original Project IGI was reinstalled within minutes.

Back in familiar territory, he booted it up, sighing in relief as he watched a guard stand motionless with zero awareness.

Now, this was his IGI.

And he never spoke of the remaster again.