Few players of the online video game Free Fire know that one of their top opponents is an 81-year-old grandmother from rural Chile.
很少有在线视频游戏《Free Fire》的玩家知道，他们最大的对手之一是一位来自智利农村的81岁老奶奶。
From her professional gaming chair at home in a small village, Maria Elena Arevalo becomes a hunter.
玛丽亚·埃琳娜·阿雷瓦洛住在一个小村子里，当坐在职业游戏椅上，她摇身一变成了一名猎人。
She shoots down opponents in a game in which tens of millions of players fight to survive on an imaginary island.
她在一个游戏中击落了对手，在这个游戏中，数千万玩家在一个想象中的岛屿上为生存而战。
Arevalo does not look like her online character "Mami Nena." That is the nickname she got from her only grandson, Hector Carrasco who is 20.
阿雷瓦洛看起来不像她的玩家ID“Mami Nena”。这是她20岁的独孙赫克托·卡拉斯科给她起的名字。
It was Carrasco who introduced Arevalo to the digital world of gaming.
正是卡拉斯科将阿雷瓦洛引入了数字游戏世界。
It has given her a new excitement for life after falling into deep loneliness following the death of her husband of 56 years in 2020.
在结婚56年的丈夫于2020年去世后，她陷入了深深的孤独，游戏给了她新的生活激情。
"I didn't even know what a mouse was," she told AFP at her home in the town of Llay-Llay in central Chile.
“我甚至不知道鼠标是什么，”她在智利中部莱莱镇的家中告诉法新社。
"Afterwards, I got excited.
“之后，我变得很兴奋。
We started to play whenever Carrasco could.
只要卡拉斯科有机会，我们就开始打游戏。
I felt better because I didn't think so much about my late husband anymore." At first "I didn't want to hurt anyone," she added, but with time, she grew more competitive.
我感觉好多了，因为我不再那么多地想着我已故的丈夫了。”起初，“我不想伤害任何人，”她补充说，但随着时间的推移，她变得更具竞争力。
Today, Arevalo plays at the "Heroic" level.
今天，阿雷瓦洛现在已经达到“英雄”水平。
That is just one level below the highest "Grandmaster" level, which only 300 players compete in.
这只比最高的“宗师”级别低一个级别，只有300名玩家参加比赛。
She has 4 million followers on social media service TikTok and 650,000 on YouTube, where she shares tips with fellow players.
她在社交媒体TikTok上有400万粉丝，在YouTube上有65万粉丝，她在YouTube上与其他玩家分享技巧。
Last year, she visited Mexico City as a Free Fire ambassador for the game's anniversary celebrations.
去年，她作为《Free Fire》大使访问了墨西哥城，参加了比赛周年庆祝活动。
The cost-free trip was her first outside of Chile.
这次免费旅行是她第一次离开智利。
"All the kids asked me for autographs...
It was beautiful.
“所有的孩子都向我要签名……感觉太美妙了。
The day I die, I'll take that with me," she said.
我到死都不会忘记。”她说。
Earlier this month, Arevalo was named one of Chile's 100 most important older people by the El Mercurio newspaper and the Catholic University for helping break down age stereotypes.
本月早些时候，阿雷瓦洛因帮助打破年龄刻板印象而被《信使报》和天主教大学评为智利100位最重要的老年人之一。
"It's totally cool, and…I feel like she's like my best friend," Carrasco said of his famous grandmother.
卡拉斯科在谈到他出名的祖母时说：“这太酷了，我觉得她就像我最好的朋友。”
Three years after starting to play Free Fire, Arevalo said she no longer feels lonely.
在开始玩《Free Fire》三年后，阿雷瓦洛说她不再感到孤独。
But a recent study found that nearly half of people over 80 in Chile say they feel lonely.
但最近的一项研究发现，智利80岁以上的人中有近一半表示他们感到孤独。
Older people are finding comfort in gaming.
老年人在游戏中找到了慰藉。
For example, a Ukrainian team known as "Young Guard" are strong Counter Strike competitors.
例如，一支被称为“青年卫士”的乌克兰队是强有力的反击竞争者。
A 93-year-old Japanese named Hamako Mori is thought to be the oldest gamer in the world.
93岁的日本人森滨子被认为是世界上最长寿的游戏玩家。
She is also known by her alias Gamer Grandma.
她的化名也叫游戏玩家奶奶。
For Arevalo, gaming is becoming harder for her because of a worsening skin condition.
对于阿雷瓦洛来说，由于皮肤状况恶化，玩游戏对她来说变得越来越困难。
But she is not planning to slow down.
但她并不打算放慢脚步。
"I love doing this. I'll keep going as far as I can," she said.
“我喜欢做这件事。我会尽我所能走得更远，”她说。
I'm Dan Novak.
我是丹·诺瓦克。
用户评论