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By Amelia Wong and Chong Shin Yen
THEY got to know each other while slaying monsters in an online game.
David Hartanto Widjaja, 21, and Chua Jia Yu, 18, were so hooked on Destiny Online that they would play every day for hours on end, sometimes till as late as 4am.
Although they never met in person, he developed feelings for her over time and the pair would chat online and SMS each other daily.
But despite the number of hours they spent together online, Jia Yu said Mr Widjaja did not share his problems with her and had never told her that he was upset or stressed over his studies.
She also said that Mr Widjaja would talk about his family only when she asked him.
'I knew that David came from an financially average family and he also told me that he was on a scholarship,' she said.
'He said that his parents gave him a new handphone when he went back to Indonesia during Chinese New Year.'
Jia Yu, a first-year student at Singapore Polytechnic, gave a glimpse into their relationship when she took the stand yesterday, the fourth day of the coroner's inquiry into Mr Widjaja's death.
Mr Widjaja, a final-year Indonesian student at the Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Electrical and Electronic Enginneering (EEE), fell four storeys to his death at about 10.30am on 2 Mar.
He had allegedly stabbed Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk, 45, the supervisor of his final-year project, in his office earlier that day. Jia Yu told the court that after completing her 'O' levels in October last year, she started playing the online game Destiny Online.
She said: 'I can play the game (for the) whole day. It involved selecting a role in the game to kill monsters to gain points.
'During the game, other people who are online can join in to kill monsters with me.'
It was while playing this game that Jia Yu got to know Mr Widjaja in November last year.
She was known as Wringles while he called himself Majin (Japanese for demon god or magical being).
She said that Mr Widjaja later told her his real name.
In the three months that they knew each other, they communicated daily through SMS or by chatting online.
Some time later, Mr Widjaja revealed his feelings for her.
'Although we were not yet an item, David revealed to me that he liked me. But I did not reply to that,' said Jia Yu.
She added that at that time, her online character was already 'married'.
'David then suggested that I break up with my 'husband' and 'marry' Majin instead,' said Jia Yu.
'I did that and I believed this sealed our friendship to greater heights.'
She told the court that in an online marriage, there would be a casual ceremony and gamers could invite their online friends to attend it.
A check of the game's website by The New Paper showed a step-by-step guide on how 'couples in love' can get married in the game.
Before they do so, they have to fulfil three requirements: reaching at least Level 30, the couple must be heterosexual and that the online characters must divorce before 'marrying' someone else.
Such was the make-believe world which Mr Widjaja had immersed himself in before his death.
Jia Yu added that an online marriage would not give her or Mr Widjaja any advantage in the game, such as advancing faster through the levels.
And they would still be able to fight monsters together even if they were not married.
Mr Widjaja's close friend, Mr Hardian Setiawan Winata, told the court last week that Mr Widjaja's grades had deteriorated because he was spending more than 10 hours daily playing computer games in his hostel room.
Mr Widjaja's grades slipped to such an extent that he received an e-mail from NTU, warning him that he could lose his Asean scholarship.
Mr Widjaja confided in Mr Hardian that he got to know a girl online whom he was interested in.
Mr Widjaja also told him that the girl's photograph was in his handphone and computer.
Jia Yu smiled when she walked into the courtroom yesterday. She giggled at times during the half-hour that she was on the stand.
Lawyer Shashi Nathan, who is holding a watching brief for Mr Widjaja's family, wanted to know why she did not reply Mr Widjaja when the latter told her he liked her.
'Because back then, I was still 'married' to another person (online character),' she said.
Mr Nathan then asked her if she felt that Mr Widjaja was getting more 'romantically interested' in her.
Jia Yu replied, with a giggle: 'Maybe.'
When he asked if she felt the same towards Mr Widjaja, she again giggled before saying yes.
The court heard that the pair saw each other's photographs on Facebook but they never met in person.
Jia Yu said that some time in January or February, Mr Widjaja requested to meet her face to face on her birthday. It was not mentioned in court whether she agreed to meet him.
Jia Yu added that as it was her school holidays, she would spend the whole day playing the game with Mr Widjaja.
After she started school in February, she gave Mr Widjaja her password and allowed him to use her account to play the game.
The court heard that in Destiny Online, Mr Widjaja had reached Level 114, one of the highest levels in the game.
Mr Widjaja also once told Jia Yu that the game master was not developing the game to a 'higher level'.
Jia Yu said that Mr Widjaja's last SMS to her was on 1 Mar, the night before his death.
'He SMSed to tell me that he couldn't log in to his character (in the game),' said Jia Yu.
This was the last she heard from him.
Jia Yu learned about Mr Widjaja's death only when the police called her the next day.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
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