"Miss Chen, you're having late-night snacks again..."
Chen Guo had bought back late-night snacks for the staff of the internet cafe to share. The aroma of the food spread freely through the cafe, immediately drawing wails of protest from the customers. At this hour, when everyone's dinner had long since been fully digested, catching a sudden whiff of such delicious smells wasn't enjoyment—it was pure torment.
"Line up if you want instant noodles. No cutting," Chen Guo called out.
"Miss Chen eats home-cooked meals every day while we're stuck with instant noodles." The customers, unable to resist temptation, could only make do with the cafe's instant noodles, glaring with envy and jealousy at the six dishes and a soup before her.
"If you want some, go buy it from the place across the street yourself. Stop trying to order my people around," Chen Guo said.
"How about you give us a heads-up next time and have them pick some up for us?" someone said.
"There are how many people in this cafe? Could they carry it all? Enough chatter. If you really want to eat and are too lazy to go, just call the place across the street. You think they won't deliver?" Chen Guo said.
"Miss Chen, you have their number? Let me copy it down," someone said.
"Why would I have their number? I've got people I can order around—why would I bother them?" Chen Guo said.
This time, not just the customers but the cafe staff were crying tears of sorrow together too. Ye Xiu seized the opportunity to ask, "So your surname is Chen, boss?"
"Mm. Chen Guo. I've seen your ID card—you're younger than me, so call me jie. You won't lose out and I won't mind," Chen Guo said.
"Whatever works..." Ye Xiu chuckled dryly.
"The yu-xiang shredded pork is really spicy today. Xiao Chu, you ate it all." Chen Guo hadn't eaten much of her meal either. After one bite of the shredded pork, she was gasping, tossing her chopsticks aside to get some water. Hugging her water glass, she came back and kicked the leg of Ye Xiu's chair. "Done eating? Hurry up."
"What's the rush?" Ye Xiu asked.
"It's almost time." Chen Guo lifted her wrist to show him her watch. It was 11:53 PM—seven minutes until Glory's Tenth Server opened.
"You're going in too?" Ye Xiu was a bit surprised. He had played on Chen Guo's account, Smiling Moon—wait, no, Chasing Haze—a fifth server account. If counted from the day the new server opened, that account was exactly five years old today. Of course it couldn't compare to the top accounts of professional players, but among ordinary players it was already quite impressive—not something so easily given up.
"Just going to watch the excitement," Chen Guo said.
The opening of a new server really was quite a spectacle. What should have been an ordinary day became, simply because of the new server's launch, a period of booming business for Xingxin Internet Cafe. Looking around, it was as if the new server players had booked out the entire place. Everyone had already opened their login screens, mouse cursors hovering over the still-gray Tenth Server, poised and ready.
Entering a new server meant racing for the level rankings, grabbing first kills in dungeons, setting dungeon completion records, and so on and so forth—far too many things waiting for players to do. That's what made pioneering a new server so exhilarating. Watching her customers, Chen Guo couldn't help but be swept up by the atmosphere. But when she turned back, Ye Xiu was still leisurely picking through the shredded vegetables in his bowl, completely unmoved by the mood around him. He truly lacked any dignity as a pioneer.
"Hey, why are you still dawdling?" Chen Guo looked even more anxious than the person concerned.
"What's the hurry?" Ye Xiu was genuinely calm, not pretending. There was no denying that Glory's publicity and marketing operations had been a success—Glory players cared about the game's competitive rankings to an unprecedented degree. Those things relied on true skill; they couldn't simply be smashed into place with money or luck. But for a veteran pro who had already claimed every highest honor Glory had to offer, these things seemed rather unremarkable in Ye Xiu's eyes.
Still, seeing the murderous look on Chen Guo's face, Ye Xiu decided he ought to show his boss some face. He finally deigned to set down his bowl and, quite reluctantly, found a computer and sat down.
"Ugh, the way he acts, you'd think I was forcing him to play. What is wrong with this guy?" Chen Guo grumbled helplessly behind Ye Xiu. The other cafe staff were snickering off to the side. They'd noticed that this new network manager seemed a bit different—he could reduce their boss, the great Miss Chen, to helplessness at will. That wasn't something an ordinary person could manage.
Chen Guo sat down at the machine next to Ye Xiu and casually logged into her Chasing Haze. The popularity of the other nine servers hadn't dropped much with the opening of the Tenth Server—especially the older servers. It was simply because raising a Glory account wasn't easy. Chen Guo had spent five years making Chasing Haze stand out among ordinary players—how could she bear to abandon it? Besides, everyone would eventually head to the shared map of the ten major servers: the God's Domain.
The God's Domain was no mere map—it was practically another world. Its size equaled the combined ordinary worlds of five major servers. There were harder dungeons, more powerful equipment, rarer materials, and—a freer atmosphere. All the top players would eventually meet in the God's Domain. This was the final battleground where players strove for greatness.
The time was about to reach midnight. In the final ten seconds, someone in the cafe involuntarily began counting down, and more and more voices joined in, growing louder and louder. When the final "zero!" erupted, the Tenth Server in the login window flashed and shed its gray veil. The movements of everyone in the cafe were impressively synchronized: together they inserted their account cards into the card readers and clicked on the Tenth Server with their mice.
Chen Guo turned to look at Ye Xiu—and nearly sprayed out a mouthful of blood. While everyone else was rushing into the game, this guy had opened a webpage and was browsing it at his leisure. She glanced over—it was some kind of beginner quest walkthrough guide.
"Ugh, you don't even know this stuff? You have to read a guide?" If not for that genuine first-edition card, Chen Guo would never have believed this guy had ten years of gaming experience.
"I really haven't touched beginner content in many years. How would I remember it all!" Ye Xiu said unhurriedly.
"Haven't you ever brought a newbie along, given pointers to beginners?" Chen Guo said.
"On that front... truly no," Ye Xiu said.
"No sense of public decency," Chen Guo said with disdain.
"No time," Ye Xiu said.
"People with no time don't play games. People who play games are just killing their spare time," Chen Guo said.
"I'm busy playing games right now," Ye Xiu said seriously.
"Then what about your job?" Chen Guo said.
"Playing games!"
"Oh? So you're a professional player?" Chen Guo said.
Ye Xiu smiled. "One of the higher-end ones, even."
"Higher-end? A professional player?" Chen Guo was taken aback.
Ye Xiu nodded with pride.
"So you've retired," Chen Guo said.
"How did you know?"
"Please, at your age," Chen Guo said.
Ye Xiu smiled bitterly.
"No wonder you took down that guy in just over 40 seconds. Turns out you're a professional-level player—even if only a half-baked one," Chen Guo said.
"Half-baked?"
"I know all the famous professional players. Ye Xiu? I've never heard of you. If not half-baked, then what?" Chen Guo asked.
"Haha, so that's how it is," Ye Xiu laughed.
"Stop pretending. You're not actually retired, are you? You just failed to compete for a spot and got eliminated, right?" Chen Guo said.
Ye Xiu fell silent.
"Sorry..." Chen Guo realized she'd touched a sore spot.
"It's fine." Ye Xiu sighed.
"Don't lose heart. Twenty-five isn't too old. Train hard and fight your way back," Chen Guo said.
"That was the plan," Ye Xiu said with a smile.
"If that day really comes, I'll have a favor to ask of you," Chen Guo said.
"What is it?"
"An autograph," Chen Guo said.
"Why wait for that day? I can sign one for you right now!"
"Don't flatter yourself! Who wants your autograph? I want you to help me get my idol's autograph," Chen Guo said.
"Oh? Who?"
"Su Muqiu—wait, Su Muqiu? No—Su Muorange, and also Ye Qiu. Ye Qiu might be harder—that guy likes to play mysterious," Chen Guo said.
"Is that so?" Ye Xiu was moved to tears. Comrade Ye Qiu is chatting with you face to face, jiejie.
"Yes, he almost never shows his face. I say, even if you're only half-baked, you still ran in those circles—how do you not know this?" Chen Guo said.
"I know, of course I know. Let me tell you a secret—I actually am Ye Qiu," Ye Xiu said.
"Really? Well, let me tell you a secret too—I'm actually Su Muorange," Chen Guo said.
"I really am Ye Qiu," Ye Xiu wept.
"I really am Su Muorange," Chen Guo said.
"I..."
"Alright, enough joking around with you. Go read your guide!" Chen Guo waved her hand. She no longer fumed over Ye Xiu's leisurely pace—he was someone who'd been through the professional circuit. Even if he'd been eliminated, was that something she needed to worry about?
But after her gaze returned to her own screen, Chen Guo couldn't help adding, "Actually, if there's anything about the beginner quests you don't understand, just ask me."
"I want to look into it a bit. I'll only do the quests that reward attribute points and skill points. The rewards for other quests are just experience and equipment—it'd be faster to grind dungeons for those instead," Ye Xiu said.
"Exactly, that's the mindset of a true veteran. But no need to research it yourself—just flip to the last page of that guide you're reading!"
"Oh?" Ye Xiu did as she said and turned to the last page, instantly feeling a wave of shame. Thinking about it, the beginner quests hadn't changed much in ten years—they were something players had thoroughly picked apart. A strategy of only doing quests that had value was something any seasoned player would choose, so how could no one have compiled a guide for it? Right before his eyes was exactly the guide he needed. Ye Xiu immediately prepared to go claim the quests according to the guide—and then instantly burst into tears. He was hailed as Glory's textbook-level man! And now he was doing beginner quests while following a beginner's guide. How was anyone supposed to live this down? How was anyone supposed to live this down?
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Today I deleted "Online Game: Near" from my browser bookmarks and replaced it with "The King's Avatar." In that moment, I felt a deep wave of melancholy... Life! It's all about clicking favorites and recommendations.