Call of Duty Player's Asus Monitor Stops Stray Bullet During Late-Night Session

A Call of Duty player says their Asus gaming monitor stopped a stray bullet that passed through their wall during a late-night gaming session, possibly preventing serious injury.

Reddit user ‘antisocialnae’ shared the experience on November 2, explaining they were playing "late-night Call of Duty" when they heard loud bangs from outside.

They dropped to the floor and called 911, later discovering a bullet hole in the wall behind their setup and finding the round lodged in their main monitor, an Asus TUF VG258QM 280Hz display purchased five years ago for $280.

"I couldn’t believe the monitor held the round in from possibly hitting me head on, hurting me really badly, or absolutely destroying my PC build depending on the trajectory it was going," the player explained.

Photos show a bullet hole in the exterior wall, drywall dust coating the back of the rig, and a cracked LCD panel, though the display reportedly still works aside from the damaged portion.

"I cried so much when everything calmed down and I realized how close I was to meeting my maker," they admitted.

Asus responded directly to the Reddit thread, with a company representative writing, "While we pride ourselves on making durable monitors and making gaming seem lifelike, your monitor definitely went above and beyond in both regards."

"We’ll reach out to you soon to see what we can do to honor its sacrifice," the representative added.

When asked if the warranty covered "stray 9mm rounds," the Asus representative joked that such damage would normally fall under customer-induced damage or an "act of god," but suggested the unusual circumstances might warrant special consideration.

"Doesn’t mean we can support, but if you do customer service long enough, there are cases that obviously stand out from the rest," they explained.

The company has promised to investigate but has not confirmed a replacement monitor.

The player noted they had planned to upgrade anyway and still have two other Asus monitors for gaming, and they had not yet turned their PC back on to check if it survived the incident.

The incident is remarkably similar to a 2022 incident involving an Apex Legends YouTuber, whose monitor was struck by a bullet that reportedly missed his head by just three inches.

Earlier in 2026, a woman credited her gaming PC with saving her life after it deflected a shot fired through her neighbor’s wall, and a few years ago, a Razer headset was reported to have stopped a round.

The Asus TUF line undergoes U.S. Department of Defense MIL-STD-810H testing for shock, drop, vibration, temperature, humidity, and sand and dust ingress, but bullet ingress is not part of the protocol.

The player called the monitor "the best $280 I ever spent."

The TUF VG258QM generally competes with pricier rivals and often misses best-monitor lists, though one recent review awarded it an Editor's Choice and high scores.