Chapter 92 – You Guys Actually Play This Trash Game?

Duan Mingyuan looked at the game interface his roommate was playing and let out a surprised exclamation.

He had played Tianlong three years ago when it was still quite popular. He had even spent nearly ten thousand yuan on it back then.

But after a few major updates, the game gradually became a pay-to-win setup—if you wanted to be strong, you had to spend money.

And even if you did spend money, it only made you powerful for a short while. The equipment would keep getting updated, and if you wanted to maintain your dominance, you’d have to keep spending money to buy the new gear.

He wasn’t some rich second-generation kid. There was no way he could afford to buy new gear every time it got updated.

Eventually, he just stopped playing.

What he didn’t expect was that his roommates were actually playing this game.

“Yuanzi, you played this game before?”

Duan Mingyuan’s surprised outburst finally caught the attention of his three roommates, who all turned to look at him.

“Of course I played it. Back in the day, I was even a squad leader in a guild.”

“Do you still have your account?”

“I just quit the game back then; I never deleted the account. It should still be there.”

Duan Mingyuan spoke somewhat uncertainly. It had been three years, and he wasn’t sure whether the game company had deleted his account.

“Then log in quick—I wanna see!”

One of the roommates urged him excitedly.

“This game’s a cash grab. You can’t really play without spending money. Why are you guys even bothering with it?”

Duan Mingyuan looked at his three roommates and gave a reminder.

He’d been scammed out of ten thousand yuan by this game, and looking back now, he felt that money could’ve been spent on way better things.

“Just log in first!”

The roommate got up and practically shoved Duan Mingyuan into his own chair, logging out of his own account.

The other two roommates also came over, hovering around.

Duan Mingyuan was confused—he had no idea why these guys were so obsessed with his account.

Still, seeing their eager expressions, he logged into his account at the login screen.

The game successfully logged in pretty quickly. Apparently, the company hadn’t reclaimed his account.

Once it entered the character selection screen—

Before he could even get a good look, all three roommates shoved their heads right in front of the screen, completely blocking his view.

“Damn, level 100!”

“The gear’s solid too—definitely good enough for farming.”

“VIP level 7? Yuanzi, your account is awesome.”

All three of them let out impressed exclamations, then turned to him in unison.

“Brother Yuan, help us level up!”

They even started calling him “Brother.”

“This game really sucks. Let’s just play something else.”

Duan Mingyuan was helpless. He still didn’t get what was going on with his roommates.

“Brother Yuan, we’re not just here to play—we’re here to make money!”

“You don’t know this, but some guy next door just got a rare drop from this game. Someone bought it off him for fifteen grand on the spot. Now that guy’s strutting around all smug, eating double-drumstick meals and even bought a new phone.”

One of the roommates described the story vividly, with a hint of envy in his eyes.

“Seriously?”

Duan Mingyuan looked at the three roommates suspiciously. Since when did Tianlong gear go for that much?

From what he remembered, back when he played, the gear that could be traded was all low-tier stuff—nowhere near the value of the paywalled gear.

“Why would we lie? Go check the forums.”

One of the roommates opened a game forum as he spoke.

Duan Mingyuan looked over curiously, and saw that the hottest threads were:

[Buying Dragon-Slayer Set at Premium Prices — 15k per Piece, No Tricks]

[Level Boosting Services — 50 Yuan per Day, Reach Level 80 in Three Days]

[High-Price Rentals for Level 80+ Tianlong Accounts — Daily & Weekly Payouts]

And more…

He casually clicked on a few threads, read through them, and finally understood what was going on.

Apparently, Tianlong had added some new equipment in a recent update, and for some reason, people were paying a premium for it.

To farm this gear, your character had to be at least level 80.

Understanding the situation now, Duan Mingyuan looked up at his three roommates.

“So you want me to help you guys level up.”

“Exactly.”

All three nodded. They had grinded all morning and only reached level 30. The higher you go, the slower the leveling. Without a high-level account to carry them, who knew how long it would take to reach level 80?

And Duan Mingyuan just happened to have a high-level account. Even if it wasn’t maxed at 140, it was more than enough to power-level them.

“I see…”

Duan Mingyuan looked at them and smiled.

“I could help you guys level up. But it’ll cost you—a meal from each of you, or you can just call me Daddy.”

“Daddy.”

Duan Mingyuan: “?????”

———

The Next Morning

Early morning.

“Come on, let’s go walk around the city today—buy a couple of new clothes.”

“Let’s not… I heard clothes in the city are expensive.”

“So what if they are? We don’t shop often anyway. Gotta have something nice to wear when we go out, right?”

At the gate of a clothing factory,

A middle-aged couple was speaking quietly to each other.

“Come on, the car’s almost here.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t give his wife a chance to decline—he just led her out of the industrial park.

Today, he had originally planned to go check out some machinery at the equipment market. Then he thought, he hadn’t taken his wife out in a long time. In the past, they didn’t have much income, so outings weren’t even on the table.

But now that their income had improved, of course he wanted to take her out and enjoy some life.

So he’d gotten up early—hoping to browse the machines and still have time to walk around afterwards.

“Old Jiang!”

Just as they were nearing the industrial park gate, someone called out to him.

Jiang Cheng turned to look.

“Old Lu? That you?”

“What a coincidence! And this is…?”

Lu Zhenguo walked over and glanced at Jiang Cheng’s wife. Since he hadn’t met her before, he didn’t want to assume anything.

“Oh, let me introduce you. This is my wife. She just started working at the company too—she’s doing cleaning in the cafeteria.”

Jiang Cheng introduced her with a broad smile.

Back then, he couldn’t even make it home a few times a year—he’d be lucky just to video call her on his phone. But now, they worked in the same place, and the employee dorms were nearly done.

He and his wife could even have their own room as a couple. Compared to their old life, it was a dream come true.

Lu Zhenguo looked at the smile on Jiang Cheng’s face, and couldn’t help but feel a little envious.

He had done his homework. All those perks Jiang Cheng talked about—two days off a week, employee cafeteria—they were all real. And that cafeteria? No other factory could even compete.

He even heard there was an employee sports event yesterday, and the prizes were fantastic.

Supposedly, even the person who came in dead last got two household appliances.

Something like that? He wouldn’t have believed it in the past.

But now, it was all happening right in front of him.

Thinking about that, Lu Zhenguo looked at Jiang Cheng with a flattering smile.

“Old Jiang, I heard you’re a workshop supervisor now. Think you could help me land a position?”