"How could there be an internet cafe in Jianglin Fortress?"
Li Xi was utterly baffled. She'd lived in Jianglin Fortress for eighteen years and never once heard of an internet cafe here. Was this actually a legitimate one — the kind from the old legends?
Still doubtful, the girl knocked cautiously on the door.
***
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
A soft, sweet voice rang out from the doorway.
Liu Haoming's heart stirred, and excitement rose in him. Seven days — someone had finally come to use the machines!
"Yeah, come on in."
Given permission, Li Xi stepped obediently inside. The first thing that caught her eye was the back of a man seated before a computer, a faint glow across his shoulders.
"Hang on a sec, almost done," Liu Haoming told her. Then Master Yi popped his ult and went full backdoor mode, hacking through the enemy Nexus in a few clean strikes.
BOOM!
An explosion like a nuclear detonation thundered through the air. Li Xi nearly jumped out of her skin.
With the promo game clinched, Liu Haoming let out a long breath, then swiveled around to face his one and only customer in seven days.
Well, well. A looker, no less?
Elegant oval face, fair skin, bright eyes, perfect teeth — real influencer potential. Except... why was she looking at him with such fear?
***
The moment Liu Haoming turned around, Li Xi caught a glimpse of the computer screen.
Five monsters, each more massive than a mountain range, lay torn to pieces on the ground. Blood spattered across every inch of the screen and slowly seeped down onto the desk.
The man before her: chaos mist shrouded His features, and His pupils gave off blazing orbs of light like molten lava. They bored straight into her, as though they could pierce her very soul.
Li Xi's body trembled uncontrollably. She nearly screamed.
She was now one hundred percent certain: this man had guided her here through the white fog. She didn't know His purpose, but He was without question an existence far more terrifying than any monster!
***
Liu Haoming was baffled. Looks-wise he was a decent enough guy, a meter eighty-five, and sure, he'd been a shut-in gaming for over a year, but he gave off a pretty easygoing vibe. So why the extreme reaction?
He couldn't figure it out, so he just asked: "You here to get on a machine?"
Get on a machine!
Li Xi's heart lurched. Could this be why He had guided her here?
As a well-educated college student, Li Xi knew what "internet cafe" meant. "Getting on a machine," however, was a complete mystery. Not that it stopped her from giving a trembling answer:
"Y-yes... sure."
He'd gone to such lengths to guide her here. Defying His will would surely anger Him. Li Xi resolved to agree to all His demands — so long as her personal safety wasn't at stake.
Liu Haoming frowned. Why do I get the feeling she doesn't actually want to be here?
If my cafe isn't up to her standards, she's free to go somewhere else. Society runs on the rule of law and it's perfectly safe — it's not like I'm going to force her.
"So how many hours you want?" he asked.
Li Xi blinked. She had absolutely no idea how to answer that.
I don't know how many hours you want me here for either!
After a moment's hesitation, she carefully deflected the question back: "How many hours... would you permit, sir?"
Liu Haoming was floored.
Hold on — had he been cooped up so long he'd forgotten how normal conversation worked? Why was she even calling him "sir"?
This was Dragon City, not the capital. Surely there was no need to be this formal.
Something was definitely off. This girl was strange in every way — ever since she'd walked in, her body had been taut as a wire and her expression frozen stiff, like she was terrified of something.
Still, she was his first customer in seven days. Liu Haoming patiently walked her through the pricing: "I'd recommend the all-night pass. Twelve yuan gets you from now until six in the morning — best deal. Otherwise, it's five yuan per hour."
"Th-then... I'll take the all-night pass..."
Li Xi answered tentatively. He had "recommended" it, after all. She was in no position to refuse.
"Alright, hand me your ID."
With the Beast Tide hitting today, Li Xi had packed all her essentials. Her ID was among them. She obediently handed it over.
"This ID of yours is kind of weird." Liu Haoming eyed the card in his hand with growing suspicion.
The front had nothing but Li Xi's photo and her name. No national emblem, no insignia, no identifying marks of any kind. If the back hadn't had "IDENTITY CARD" stamped across it in big characters, Liu Haoming would've thought it was a photo booth sticker.
"Is it really that strange?"
Li Xi tensed up immediately. Her ID had always looked like this. She couldn't fathom what He found strange about it.
Liu Haoming suspected she was either a foreigner or had somehow customized her ID card. He scratched the back of his head. "Let me see if the reader can even scan this."
Beep.
At the crisp chirp of the card reader, Li Xi felt a brand sear itself into her very soul — one that not even death could erase.
"Huh, it actually scanned." Liu Haoming was surprised. She really had gone and customized her ID. It took all kinds, he supposed — wasn't she worried about the hassle that'd cause in everyday life?
"The all-night pass is twelve yuan." He handed the ID back and reminded her of the price.
Li Xi hurriedly fished a hundred-denomination banknote from her pocket.
A giant question mark materialized above Liu Haoming's head as he looked at the jet-black banknote in front of him.
?
I may be a shut-in, but I know what yuan looks like.
"This isn't yuan. I only accept yuan here." He slid the suspicious-looking bill back across the counter. "Or you can pay by QR code."
Her money rejected, Li Xi fidgeted helplessly. She'd had a sinking feeling this would happen.
A being this mysterious and terrifying — how could the payment He demanded possibly be ordinary currency?
Ever since the Age of Catastrophe, every nation on the planet used obsidian jade currency. "Yuan"—Li Xi genuinely had no idea what that was. "QR code payment"... that went even further over her head.
"I'm sorry, I don't have the yuan you require, sir..."
Li Xi twisted the hem of her shirt between her fingers as she answered, terrified of angering Him.
No yuan?
Liu Haoming blinked — and then it clicked. He finally understood why the girl had been a nervous wreck from the moment she walked in.
So she just couldn't afford to game!
This wasn't some back-alley operation, yet here she was trying to freeload! The nerve!
He was about to tell her to leave when he looked up and caught her expression — shrinking, terrified — as though something truly awful would happen if she couldn't stay.
A gaming-addicted girl just back from abroad who hasn't had time to exchange her money?
Liu Haoming's heart softened.