Bai Shinan turned on his computer and skillfully logged into a PC game called League of Legends. In 2012, a time when high-quality online games were scarce, League of Legends saw an exponential growth in its player base.
Thanks to the game’s popularity, he was able to make money through boosting services to buy gifts for Mu Yuwei. After all, his parents never gave him a dating allowance, so he had to find his own way.
His gaming talent was decent, and with some casual effort, he reached the rank of Challenger in the top server of the national region. That rank alone brought in a steady stream of orders. However, since he could only play on weekends, he couldn’t accept them consistently.
The moment he logged in, a message popped up.
Only Want One Heart was Bai Shinan’s in-game ID, and [Loli Voice] was a gaming buddy of his—a burly man who liked to use a voice changer.
The two had met during a random match. Bai Shinan had filled in as the bottom-lane marksman, while Loli Voice had taken the support role. They played the bottom lane together.
During the match, Bai Shinan quickly noticed that Loli Voice’s mechanics and game sense weren’t quite up to par for someone in the Challenger tier—at best, he was diamond gatekeeping level.
As someone who did boosting professionally, Bai Shinan instantly understood what was going on. Normally, when a marksman encounters a weak support being carried by boosters, they’d be spouting all kinds of curses because it feels like a 1v3 game.
But Bai Shinan remained calm the whole time, patiently guiding him where to place vision wards, which targets to save skills for during team fights, even using Flash to block fatal skills for him. In the end, he clutched the game with a flashy 1v5 team wipe.
It wasn’t out of some saintly kindness—he recognized a potential client. Making money wasn’t shameful, and this was a lead he found himself, so he didn’t have to pay any cut to a middleman.
Sure enough, the moment the game ended, Loli Voice added him as a friend. Unfortunately, the guy had no intention of hiring a booster. Before meeting Bai Shinan, he’d either been insulted or on the verge of being flamed in every match. He was ready to go back to just playing casually.
Still, Bai Shinan got something out of it—Loli Voice would duo queue with him while he played on low-rank accounts for clients. Loli Voice got to enjoy the game, and Bai Shinan earned double pay. A mutually beneficial setup.
As the voice chat connected, a sweet and girly loli voice rang through his headset.
“Big Brother Bai~ I’ve been waiting so long for you~ If you didn’t come online soon, I was going to die of loneliness~” came a saccharine, sarcastic voice.
“I told you, this is my real voice! Why won’t you believe me, Big Brother Bai~ Boohoohoo,” the fake crying continued in exaggerated sobs.
“Heh, why don’t you claim you really have 36D and long legs too?” Bai Shinan scoffed, referring to Loli Voice’s in-game name, 36d Long-Legged Loli Voice.
“Aiya~ I hid it so well, yet Big Brother Bai still found out~ I’m so embarrassed~” The silly act continued over the mic.
“Enough already. You might fool some innocent boys, but trying that with me? Do you even know who I am?” Bai Shinan, being a semi-pro booster and game companion himself, had seen through every trick in the book.
In most games, male players outnumbered females, and League of Legends was no exception. In that kind of environment, female companions were far more popular than male ones. Bai Shinan had even considered buying a voice changer once, but in the end, his pride stopped him.
So he understood all too well the charm of a voice changer—whether it was a cutesy voice or a mature one, it only took a click. That’s why he never fell for these things. Anyone without a face was automatically a burly man to him.
“Good big brother~ What will it take for you to believe me~? Should I send you a photo?” Even just from the tone, Bai Shinan could imagine the other side posing shyly.
“A photo? More like a photoshopped one, right? Anyway, enough nonsense, Lao Luo—I have a real question for you,” Bai Shinan decided to move past the small talk. There was something more important on his mind.
“Of course, Big Brother Bai~ What do you want to ask? My measurements? Or what color underwear I’m wearing today?” The voice paused before turning lewd again.
Bai Shinan ignored the nonsense as usual. His expression turned serious. In the quiet room, he spoke as if to himself, “Lao Luo, under what circumstances would you buy all the skins in League of Legends for my account?”
In his previous life, his contact with Loli Voice ended shortly after he entered university. Partly because Mu Yuwei didn’t like him ‘wasting time on games,’ and partly because he started earning enough from tutoring to no longer rely on boosting. Gradually, he logged in less and less, until eventually, he uninstalled the game.
Then in his junior year, League of Legends hit a peak in popularity. On a whim, he reinstalled it. But this time, no one messaged him right away.
For the first time ever, Loli Voice’s account showed as offline. Until then, every time Bai Shinan logged in, that guy had always been online.
He assumed Lao Luo was just busy with something. But what followed caught him off guard.
36d Long-Legged Loli Voice: Been busy lately? You haven’t logged in for a while.
36d Long-Legged Loli Voice: It’s been six months. I’m ranked higher than you now~
36d Long-Legged Loli Voice: Almost a year since your last login. Will you ever come back?
36d Long-Legged Loli Voice: Looks like I won’t be able to wait for you. I’m heading somewhere very far away. Might not have time for games anymore.
36d Long-Legged Loli Voice: Goodbye, my dear friend. Oh, and I left you a small gift. In case you ever do return someday.
The last message had been sent two years ago. The loneliness between the lines was almost tangible, making Bai Shinan feel deeply unsettled.
As for the ‘small gift’ Loli Voice mentioned—it was a full collection of game skins, sent from a friend account. All together, there were hundreds. In real money, they were worth tens of thousands of yuan.
Loli Voice was never someone who spent lavishly. He only bought skins for his main champions. This completely uncharacteristic gesture filled Bai Shinan with dread.
Especially that one line—I’m heading somewhere very far away. It had an ominous undertone.
He could only hope he was overthinking it. At the same time, he spammed messages back to Lao Luo, but every one of them vanished without a reply.
Every night after that, he would log in out of habit, hoping Loli Voice might suddenly respond.
But even up to the moment of his death, Loli Voice never returned to his world.
Just like he had once disappeared from Lao Luo’s world, Lao Luo had vanished forever from his.