blogombal Chapter 6: A bankrupt internet cafe investment leads to a down-on-her-luck e-sports girl clinging to
Chapter 6: A bankrupt internet cafe investment leads to a down-on-her-luck e-sports girl clinging to
The hovering pickup truck drew a sharp silver arc in mid-air.
The blast of air whipped up fallen leaves from both sides of the street, and the massive vehicle came to a steady stop at the dilapidated entrance of the Star Internet Cafe.
The eerie blue light generated by the anti-gravity engine illuminated the surrounding mottled walls as bright as day.
Xia Anran was still gripping the seatbelt tightly with both hands, her face flushed, and her chest heaving rhythmically.
She had never been on an airplane in her life, but today she experienced the hovering flight that she had seen in science fiction movies.
The internet cafe owner was squatting on the steps, smoking in silence, with crushed cigarette butts littering the ground.
He was so worried that clumps of hair were falling out, and he was thinking about how to avoid debt collectors' calls tomorrow.
Several young men passing by were completely dumbfounded.
A fat man didn't even notice that the piping hot soy milk he had just bought had fallen onto his shoe; he was too busy staring at the car with his mouth agape.
"Holy crap, what brand is this car? It can fly even without wheels?"
"Are you blind? That's an anti-gravity engine! I've seen it in games, how could it possibly exist in real life!"
Lin Xian pushed open the car door and strolled out slowly in his 9.9 yuan flip-flops (shipping included).
He walked to the steps and kicked at the cigarette butts scattered on the ground.
"Boss, how much would it cost to take over this internet cafe?"
The Mediterranean-looking boss looked up, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the cyberpunk-style futuristic vehicle.
He glanced at Lin Xian, who was wearing bright red peony-patterned shorts, and his mind went completely blank.
Do big shots who fly alien spaceships these days like to dress this casually when they go out?
"Including the building and equipment, plus the land... two million."
The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together, his heart pounding as he quoted the price, fearing that he had asked for too much and angered this powerful figure.
This internet cafe has been struggling to make ends meet for a long time. The equipment is severely outdated, and no one would be willing to take it over, let alone two million.
Lin Xian took out his phone without even lifting his eyelids.
"Give me your account number."
Spending a little pocket money to buy a private gaming base where he could comfortably play games was a sure-fire way to make money in his eyes.
"Two million yuan has been received via Alipay."
A mechanical female voice rang out crisply from the boss's pocket, echoing through the quiet street.
The boss's legs buckled, the half-smoked cigarette in his hand fell to the ground, and his knees buckled, almost causing him to kneel down before Lin Xian.
"Master, this internet cafe is yours now. I'm packing my things and getting out of here!"
Fearing that Lin Xian might change his mind and take the money back, the boss scrambled to the back office to find the transfer contract.
Lin Xian, with his hands in his pockets, led the dizzy Xia Anran into the dimly lit internet cafe lobby.
The air was filled with a strange smell, a mixture of instant noodle soup and stinky socks that hadn't been washed for years, so pungent it made one want to vomit.
Dozens of old computer screens were covered with thick dust, and some of the chassis were rusted and crumbling.
Xia Anran pinched her nose and followed behind, muttering softly that even breathing was difficult in this place.
Lin Xian glanced around disdainfully and then summoned the system panel in his mind.
"Host has been detected to have acquired private territory. Would you like to use points for comfort level improvements?"
"A complete overhaul, with no blind spots. Give me all the best equipment. I can't stand this awful environment for even a second longer."
A pale blue light wave, invisible to the naked eye, rippled rapidly in a ring from beneath Lin Xian's feet.
The pungent odor was instantly replaced by a high concentration of negative oxygen ions, making the air even fresher than a primeval forest after the rain.
The walls, which were originally peeling and moldy, have shed their paint and turned into a futuristic, luminous display panel.
With a series of clicks as metal reassembled, those dilapidated computer mainframes transformed directly into holographic quantum peripherals.
The ergonomic gaming chair automatically adjusts to the angle that best fits the human spine, and a soft blue breathing light illuminates the backrest.
Even the broken beverage machine in the corner has been transformed into a smart bar that can supply an unlimited amount of all kinds of amazing special drinks.
Xia Anran covered her mouth in surprise, unable to believe that the place that was a garbage dump a moment ago had become a future base.
Just then, in the deepest corner of the internet cafe, a pile of discarded cardboard boxes suddenly moved.
A girl with messy hair and wearing a baggy black T-shirt emerged from the pile of cardboard boxes.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes, a glistening trace of drool still clinging to the corner of her mouth.
The girl's name is Mu Xiaotian. She used to be a top-tier prodigy in the domestic professional e-sports scene.
Because of his straightforward personality, he refused to cooperate with the capital to fix matches and was sued by the unscrupulous club for an exorbitant breach of contract fee and banned from the entire internet.
Penniless, she was forced to live on the streets, making a living by cleaning for free for a former internet cafe owner and changing the cardboard boxes he slept in.
Mu Xiaotian yawned, rubbing her rumbling stomach, and was just about to go to the bar to get a glass of tap water to tide her over.
Her gaze swept casually across the room, then became fixed on the quantum computer that was shimmering with light.
The muscle memory of a top professional athlete made her pounce like a hungry wolf.
She plopped down in the ergonomic chair, her hands trembling as she touched the virtual keyboard.
"This feel... there's not even a millisecond of physical latency?"
Mu Xiaotian's eyes lit up, and she skillfully opened the survival shooting game she used to be best at, directly entering the high-level ranked match.
The images on the virtual screen were so clear that even the texture of the grass blades swaying in the wind was perfectly clear.
The mouse and keyboard became indistinct afterimages in her hands.
The headshot kill notifications on the screen scrolled like a barrage, and the number of survivors in the upper right corner decreased rapidly.
There was no lag, no dropped frames, and the network latency figure was an incredible zero.
She single-handedly cornered and killed five max-level, high-spending players at the respawn point, without even giving them a chance to fire a shot.
The public chat was filled with the opposing players' despairing chatter, all questioning whether they had used a lock-on cheat.
"Awesome, this is the kind of computer a human should have!"
Mu Xiaotian took off her quantum earphones, and tears mixed with eye boogers smeared all over her little face with excitement.
She turned her head and saw Lin Xian with his arms crossed and a look of amusement on his face.
Her professional intuition told her that the man in the floral shorts was definitely the owner of this god-like device.
Mu Xiaotian didn't even bother to put on her shoes, rushed over barefoot, and knelt down at Lin Xian's feet with a thud.
She grabbed Lin Xian's leg and wiped her tears all over Lin Xian's newly changed beach shorts.
"Boss, do you need a leg accessory?"
"I can play video games, fix internet, and even guard the front door!"
"I'd even pay you to clean my room every day if you just let me stay here and play on the computer!"
Lin Xian took a half step back in disgust. This girl looked thin and weak, but her strength in hugging people was frightening.
"I'd rather not pay you out of your own pocket than you can come up with more than a few cents."
"I'm just missing a personal internet cafe manager to play ranked games with."
"Free meals and accommodation, and I can pay whatever salary you want, on the condition that I can win at least ten games a day while lying down."
After hearing this, Mu Xiaotian's eyes lit up like two large incandescent light bulbs.
She nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice, afraid that Lin Xian would change his mind and kick her out at any moment.
She would never trade this dream job, which includes room and board and lets her play with amazing equipment every day, for it.
Xia Anran, watching the strangely behaving girl from the side, couldn't help but burst out laughing.
She walked to the smart bar, got a glass of warm juice, and handed it to Mu Xiaotian, who was kneeling on the ground.
He casually pulled out a tissue and gently wiped the dirt off her face.
The former owner of the internet cafe jogged over with a freshly printed transfer contract that still smelled of pungent ink.
Lin Xian took the pen and signed his name at the end of the contract in a flamboyant manner.
With this high-end e-sports arena, the days of lying around in the village won't be so boring anymore.
The contract had just been signed when the former boss, clutching the transfer record of two million, ran off as if he'd won the lottery.
Just as Lin Xian closed the pen cap, preparing to have Mu Xiaotian play a ranked match with him...
A loud bang shattered the tranquility of the room.
The newly installed automatic glass sensor door in the internet cafe was violently kicked open from the outside.
The glass door creaked under the strain, and the red burglar alarm beeped urgently.
Uncle Lin walked in with his hands behind his back, swaggering across the threshold.
Following behind him was his cousin Lin Hai, who was wearing a cheap designer suit and had his hair slicked back.
Lin Hai was deliberately twirling a BMW car key in his hand, his face full of superiority and arrogance.
Several neighbors followed behind them, peering inside curiously.
Uncle Lin looked around and his gaze fell on Mu Xiaotian, who hadn't had time to get used to her new environment.
He started laughing loudly and in a sarcastic tone, using his lisping voice.
"Lin Xian, you quit your job at a big factory in the city just to come back to this poor, remote place and open a run-down internet cafe?"
"Even dogs wouldn't want to come to this lousy place. Your severance pay is probably all going down the drain!"
Lin Hai stopped turning the car keys in his hand and looked Lin Xian up and down with a disdainful gaze.
"Hey cousin, if you're really starving, it's not too late to beg your older brother for help."
"My car dealership happens to be short of a car wash worker. Since we're relatives, I'll pay you 1,500 a month."