Su Yao was in dire straits! She buried her head behind a large sign! It was too damn embarrassing! But forced by livelihood, she had no choice! The bank was hounding her for credit card payments like it was life or death! She wanted to list her account on a professional website for trading game accounts and equipment, but the value she set for her account far exceeded the personal transaction limit of that site. Great, even the account selling site couldn’t handle Red Medicine Hall’s account. Then she thought of Taobao, she listed it in her Taobao shop, only to be told it exceeded the transaction amount limit and needed real-name authentication with an ID scan… Su Yao checked, the review time was a week. That’s too slow! She was even less willing to sell it on the game forum; she looked so pitiful. She would definitely be laughed at to death by Ji Canghai, especially after she publicly threw coffee in his face. He must be holding a grudge. Su Yao no longer wanted to see anything related to him. All she wanted now was to find a place to sell her account at a bargain price, preferably to a novice player who wouldn’t recognize her.
That way, she could take the money and return to a normal life. Thus, our former WCG professional gamer, Su Yao, who hadn’t showered or eaten for three days and three nights, with her hair in a greasy mess, ended up squatting in a corner of the vegetable market with just a piece of cardboard. On the front of the cardboard, she had written in large letters: “Selling Account.” Su Yao bowed her head so low it almost touched the ground. But she didn’t want to go home at all; even in the vegetable market, surrounded by the bizarre mix of smells, she preferred not to return to her home with just a single computer. She once thought she was the happiest woman in the world, but the world next to Mary’s had coldly abandoned her. From then on, would the male and female leads live happily ever after? It’s all a lie! It’s all a bunch of crap! Su Yao had read so many romance novels, filled with many good men, many even called “great gods.” Great gods? Great gods, my ass!
But Ji Canghai enjoyed this feeling; he loved when young girls called him “great god.” Su Yao didn’t mind before, but now she realized she had been played. He was good to her, but he was good to everyone. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? A sweet “Great God Canghai” from a young girl would make him melt, and he would even sleep with her and get her pregnant.
Su Yao, clutching her head, laughed and cried, her disheveled hair hanging over her face. “You… selling an account?” Suddenly, a gentle, pleasant voice floated into her ears. Su Yao jolted; under the dim light of the market, a young man stood before her, his face obscured by backlighting, only his black-framed glasses visible, wearing just a shirt and an open overcoat in this chilly, rainy late autumn day.
“Yes, selling a game account!” Su Yao wiped away her snot and tears. “What class?” the man asked. “Rogue!” Su Yao said.
Su Yao flipped the cardboard over; the back was covered with dense writing:
- Account: suyao
- Nickname: Hong Yaotang
- Level: 200
- Gold: 65,312 pieces
- Silver: 9,740,947,131 taels
- Equipment List: …
- Skill List: …
- Honor List: …
- Medal List: …
- Achievement List: …
“Are you buying?” Su Yao asked.
Chapter 7: The Shut-In
“Hong Yaotang is indeed you.” From top to bottom, Qin Chuan carefully scanned the cardboard, finding it amusing. Su Yao was miserable! What does “Hong Yaotang is indeed you” mean? A normal reaction would be “You’re actually Hong Yaotang!” right? Does he know her? Su Yao had seen photos of many famous players on the forums, and this guy wasn’t among them. Could he be an enemy she had killed in-game? Oh, if he was, she was really down on her luck, selling her account only to meet an enemy who would mock her. He might even go home and post something like “The World’s First Rogue Hong Yaotang Sells Account in Despair, Becomes a Mad Beggar” to win the daily headline news reward of 100 gold on the official game forum. Su Yao was clenching her fists in despair… contemplating whether to rob him…
Su Yao looked up at the man leaning towards her. In the dim 40-watt yellow light, his out-of-season clothing clearly marked him as a socially detached shut-in—others might think he was crazy, but Su Yao was familiar with this type of shut-in. However, reality is harsh; the impressions of shut-in girls and shut-in guys are worlds apart. Shut-in girls are seen as cute and lovable, but mention shut-in guys, and people think of inappropriate associations. Su Yao felt uneasy at the thought of her Hong Yaotang being treated inappropriately.
“You… buying or not?”
Su Yao couldn’t help but ask again, ungracefully, “Who is next door to Mary? After all, the customer is god!”
Only to see a strand of hair fall over the forehead of this god, slightly obstructing his view but not the clarity and sharpness of his eyes. Those eyes, as they looked at Su Yao, made her feel extremely uneasy, as if all her secrets were being seen through. Why didn’t his eyes carry the usual murkiness and sleaziness of other shut-in gamers? Ah, looking closer, his face wasn’t bad at all, although his slightly curved lips suggested he was holding back laughter. “I’ve just been dumped, lost all dignity, and that’s why I’m selling my account. Even if you recognize me, you shouldn’t mock me to my face!” Su Yao really wanted to beat up this dead otaku. He then asked, “Why are you selling your account?” “I don’t want to play anymore!” Damn, was she supposed to admit she was heartbroken? “Why don’t you want to play?” A flash of surprise crossed Qin Chuan’s eyes. “You… Red Medicine Hall…” he hesitated, “aren’t you supposed to marry Cang Hai Yi Sheng Xiao next week?” Su Yao: “…” Damn, why bring up what shouldn’t be mentioned! She was so embarrassed… Su Yao felt utterly miserable now, everyone in the server knew that Red Medicine Hall and Cang Hai Yi Sheng Xiao were getting married next week, even winning the most touching confession award with a divine outfit set. Just the divine outfit in her account was priceless.
In the world next to Mary, she hadn’t even had the chance to wear it, and now she was selling her account. Seeing Su Yao didn’t respond, Qin Chuan didn’t press further. He looked at her disheveled hair again, “Are you okay?”—When he said this, it came out as “Have you eaten?” Indeed, he had been a shut-in for too long, even speaking seemed a bit awkward…
At a fast-food restaurant by the street. “Do you know me?” Su Yao, a former WCG player who hadn’t eaten for three days, asked while devouring her food, looking at the god who treated her to a meal. “I know you,” he said, pausing, “I’ve known you for a long time.” “Oh? Have I killed you before?” Su Yao asked casually, then realized it might sound wrong and quickly added, “Hehe, even if I did, that’s all in the past, haha, it just shows my account is awesome, where else would you find such a good account?” “I didn’t say I was buying an account.” “Pfft—” Su Yao spat out her food, not buying? Just treating her to a meal? Is he that nice? Could he be an admirer rather than an enemy? Oh, that makes sense, Su Yao now wanted to sell her account even more. “My account isn’t expensive, really, don’t look at the 100% PK win rate…” “You can’t beat me,” Qin Chuan interrupted her sales pitch with a smile. Su Yao looked up from her plate, glanced at him, then buried her face back into her food, eating, eating, eating.
She shouldn’t undermine the confidence of her god, she thought, when suddenly her phone rang with a series of beeps. She saw the otaku across from her pull out an old, monochrome screen phone from the ’90s.