Radomir Mirchev is a seemingly common person, a law graduate. However, every day he enters many different roles. His friends know him by the nickname Gadina Prokleta (damned swarming) which he gave to himself due to his deep obsession with a Terry Pratchett’s book. The nickname is so successful that even some of his friends don’t know his real name. The man is also terribly busy – he edits legal editions in a publishing house and then he has his hobbies – he fights with mystical creatures in his favorite role-playing games /RPG/. He is also a part of such games’ creative team, as one of those is on the market, very successful at the same time. He also creates online games. What makes Gadina Prokleta enter into armor and fight with his friends?

“One finds his role in this world, enrolls and attends the event which is no longer than three days. At the end you are happy, exhausted and charged with energy within a somewhat different adventure, with fake weapons, but true armor. Whenever the game is fantasy I play an elf character, I shoot arrows or fight with a spear. In post-apocalyptic scenarios I am an evil doctor who tortures his patients.”

No matter that RPGs’ creation might sound like fun, it is not a joke at all. Time flies by and the control over a team of artists is not something simple. Rado tells us more on his new idea:

“We kicked off work on a new space game. There are several space civilizations in war with each other, as it turned out that people in outer space were not welcome. The name of the thing is Place under the Sun, because that is what they all try to do.”

Rado’s life was relatively calm though, till that moment when he got arrested at an anti-governmental protest while throwing several tomatoes on the parliament’s building. Photographers took a picture of the handcuffed young man and that was when the whole thing started. Rado was released with no charges pressed and he soon forgot about the arrest. Until one day when his friends started asking him why he had robbed a bank, why he beat up an elderly woman etc. Rado was surprised to find out that his arrest photo was across all media, “covering” most different crimes – from serious to absurd ones. Only the back of the man is visible on the photo, but his long blond hair and tattoo definitely testify on his personality. Media saw him as a true villain and a growing number of articles began to arrive. His mother lives abroad and Rado is thankful that he has managed to warn her on the situation. Otherwise she could have got scared by the “evil activities” of her son here, in Bulgaria. Here is more from Rado:

“Different people still continue to send stories to me, though the picture was taken nearly 3 years ago. Obviously there is some editor out there, who thinks that the photo illustrates well a young villain in handcuffs. I clarified the whole story in my social media channels, in order to expose it, but it is a black spot on my image. I accept it with a sense of humor though. I can try to bring the media to court, but it will be a tough thing in Bulgaria and with its clumsy system of justice. The question is: am I distinguishable in this photo? Well, if people recognize me then I am…”

The photo is still used, even after Rado’s participation in several media shows, where he talked in public about the problem. He has decided that for the moment he will not take any more serious measures.

So, no matter what your life is like, one day it might turn upside down due to something completely unexpected.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev