Despite her slender frame and girlish good looks, Sheylara is no damsel in distress.
The Singaporean, a former gaming magazine editor, took her nickname from a princess in a game she wrote.
Now, she will be the one rescuing Xbox users who have run into problems - whether it is how to use the guide button on their Xbox 360 or how to synchronise their extra wireless controllers with the console.
Sheylara, who is under contract Xbox Xpert by Microsoft, will "look after the fans of the Xbox".
She aims to bring the community of Xbox users together by linking them up with one another and help them discover the true potential of the gaming console.
While many macho male gamers will scoff at having a female teach them how to play, Sheylara - whose real name is Shen Qiaoyun - believes that they should just put their egos aside.
"You shouldn't judge gamers' skills based on gender," she said, "because girls and guys have different skills, talents and abilities.
"Girl gamers are joining the fray in a very big way, and their numbers have been exploding exponentially since three or four years back."
PLAYING SINCE 7
Sheylara, who also acts and has made appearances in movies such as Singapore
Dreaming and I Not Stupid Too and television serials Incredible Tales and Living with Lydia, will be available online two days a week on the Xbox Live service to answer questions from other Xbox users.
Sheylara, who says she is "forever 25 in her heart", has been playing computer games since she was 7, after having been influenced by her older brother.
Although she could not remember the first game she played, she "really enjoyed the game"s ability to transport (her) into another world".
She plays games not just on the PC or Microsoft Xbox, but on the Sony PlayStation, the Nintendo Wii and the DS Lite as well. She creates games, too, having written a role-playing game 10 years ago.
The Xbox Xpert has a blog (www.sheylara.com) where she writes a Gamer Girl Friday column about the latest games, and as many as 26,000 different people visit the blog each month.
Mr Alan Chou, regional marketing manager for Xbox 360, said that this was the first time they were having a human face to welcome users of the Xbox, help them troubleshoot, and even link them up with other Xbox users.
Describing it as a "trailblazing" move, he said: "We hope that gamers here will feel that they are being looked after."
ADDICTION
Sheylara, who is no stranger to difficult missions in cyberspace, also has a real-life mission: To reach out to gaming addicts.
A self-confessed former gaming addict, she feels that she can give some advice to others in the same predicament.
When she was taking her course in classical studies in the University of Melbourne, where she studied ancient Greece and Romeshe used to play games for more than 12 hours a day and did not even stop to take breaks for meals.
The addiction was so bad, it caused her to flunk subjects.
She said: "It was a slow realisation that gaming was taking too much time, and if I did not put in more effort in my work, I would be a bum, and I wouldn't be able to go anywhere."
Today, she is still helping other gaming addicts on a personal basis when people approach her, and is part of a group of gamers who have named themselves "Study Group", to encourage one of their members, a girl who is taking her A levels this year, to study.
Sheylara said: "When we see that she's spending too much time online, we will nag at her to make sure she studies."
Ms Jennifer Kwek, 28, who is a member of "Study Group" and who does administrative work in a shipping company, met Sheylara while playing Everquest 2.
Ms Kwek said: "She may be a model and an actress, but she doesn't put on any airs. That's what I like best about her."
She recalled a gathering when the whole group was playing games, while Sheylara was trying to study for a Japanese test.
Laughing, Ms Kwek said that she admired Sheylara's determination: "I don't know how she was able to resist the temptation! She is a good role model for me."
This story was first published in The New Paper on 3 August 2008.
