New Century Internet Cafe.

"Quick, go in, go in! I knocked him up!" Qiu Mengze shouted, slapping his keyboard.

On the screen, a "happy wind man" with a high ponytail was shouting his classic lines as he effortlessly scored a pentakill.

Almost at the same time, the internet cafe’s speakers began to announce the pentakill: [Congratulations to the player at computer #68 for getting a pentakill in League of Legends. Your reward is...]

"Holy shit, Xue Rui, your Yasuo is insane!" Qiu Mengze said, his face a mask of shock. The Unforgiven was a champion with an incredibly high skill ceiling, and he hadn’t been out for that long. It was rare to see someone play him so fluidly.

This was when League of Legends was at its peak. In an internet cafe with hundreds of computers, more than half were running LoL.

Hearing the people around him yelling "Awesome!" Xue Rui felt a small sense of vanity, which was somehow more satisfying than earning a hundred million.

In college, he used to play games with his roommates every day. After graduation, his skills plummeted. Whenever he logged on, he would either play ARAM or TFT. At most, he’d play a few rounds of Malphite, simply because the rock man didn’t require any brainpower...

But now... this young body’s reflexes were clearly much faster. He had played a round of the "happy wind man," and even a simple EQ Flash was enough to stun the crowd.

’I can’t believe the average LoL player’s skill level is this low back then. So low that even a Bronze player from ten years in the future like me can dominate a Gold-ranked game.’

In truth, this was a case of his game sense from the future completely crushing the competition. It was a very simple move, but going from zero to one was a groundbreaking leap that amazed everyone...

Thinking about it now, it wasn’t that the game had become less fun, but that he had no one to play with...

After starting work, he didn’t have the energy to keep up with patch notes. He slowly fell behind the meta and got thrashed online by younger players every day. Of course, the gaming experience was nonexistent...

He suddenly remembered how, even in 2024, there were bosses still playing *Legend* and dropping hundreds of thousands, or even millions, on small web games.

Just like the 2014 version of LoL he was playing now, it was a "nostalgia server" for them.

There was no learning curve. You could pick it up and play instantly, and it brought back many youthful memories...

"Master! Take me as your disciple! Teach me!" a young gaming addict said, grabbing Xue Rui’s arm, his eyes filled with adoration.

He thought that if he could learn Xue Rui’s moves, he could carry his friends and help them rank up. Just imagining their shocked and worshipful gazes gave him goosebumps.

"Bro, carry me so I can rank up. Your internet cafe fees are on me today," a young man next to them said with a smile. He was clearly several years older than Xue Rui.

"No thanks. I only play a couple of games occasionally. I don’t really touch games otherwise," Xue Rui said, holding back a laugh. ’Gamers are so pure,’ he thought.

"Bro, are you coming tomorrow?"

"Nope."

"You can’t do that. You have to come and carry me."

"Why?"

"Because I just put a hundred yuan on your membership account," the young man said, handing him a can of Red Bull.

"..."

"I’ll definitely come when I have time," Xue Rui said earnestly.

Of course, he was just being perfunctory. Although the game was quite addictive, he didn’t have that much free time to sink into gaming.

Qiu Mengze’s eye twitched uncontrollably. ’Doesn’t really touch games?’

’Only plays a couple of games occasionally?’

’What a load of bullshit. And someone even paid Xue Rui’s internet fees for him...’

LoL has a very high barrier to entry. To get from a newcomer to someone as skilled as Xue Rui absolutely required a huge amount of effort!

He had switched from CF to LoL and, despite playing hard during the holidays, he didn’t have much time as a high school senior. Now, he was just a gatekeeper at Bronze 1.

And Xue Rui? He had never seen him play games before, but now he could pick any champion and play with terrifying proficiency.

He guessed that Xue Rui must have been practicing hard in secret, all to stun everyone with a single display.

Still, Xue Rui was really showing off today!

He carried him all the way from Silver to Gold. His match history was ridiculous every game. On LoL Box, his entire match history page was green.

Looking at it now, he felt a bit dazed. ’Is this really my account?’

’It’s usually a mix of red and green!’

"Xue Rui, stop playing dumb with me. Tell me, have you been secretly playing games behind my back?" Qiu Mengze demanded.

Xue Rui raised an eyebrow. ’What does he mean, secretly playing behind his back?’

’It’s just playing a game. He’s making it sound like I cheated on him.’

"Alright, I admit it. I’ve played before," Xue Rui said with a nod.

In any case, he had indeed played a lot of LoL in his past life—probably tens of thousands of games.

’But I don’t think I played with Qiu Mengze much, did I?’

Racking his brain, he remembered that in his past life, Qiu Mengze went to college in the northwest where the game latency was in the triple digits. He hadn’t wanted to duo queue with a high-ping warrior...

"Alright, alright, I’ll play with you in the future," Xue Rui said with a laugh. They would be attending college in the same city anyway, so there would be plenty of opportunities.

"No way, let’s play a few more rounds. Let’s see if we can hit Platinum today," Qiu Mengze said excitedly, pulling Xue Rui back into his seat.

Xue Rui pinched the bridge of his nose. They had been playing from ten in the morning to three in the afternoon, and they had even ordered takeout to eat at the internet cafe for lunch. If this kept up, he was going to marinate in the cafe’s smell.

He took out his phone, thinking he should ask Lin Ruoxi if her paperwork was done and if she wanted to go to the driving school to practice for the Subject Two test.

After all, time was tight. It wouldn’t be long before the Gaokao scores were released. With the little lady’s grades, admissions officers would definitely come knocking.

He had heard that Qingbei’s recruitment tactics could be quite aggressive. It would be best to take the little lady somewhere to hide out before the scores were released. He had already made arrangements.

Before he could message her, he saw a long string of message bombs from Gu Muxue.

His screen was full of [Bomb] and [Pig Head] emojis...

Xue Rui frowned. ’What’s going on?’

’The little lass isn’t usually like this.’

’Why does it feel like she’s really angry? Is it just because I didn’t pay attention to her while I was gaming?’

’No... the little lass is actually very magnanimous and not that clingy. There must be another reason.’

But he couldn’t figure out what it could be.

He scrolled through his phone and saw two calls from Gu Muxue. The call log showed a conversation of over six minutes.

’She must have chatted with Ren Qunfang this morning. Could she be mad over just these few minutes?’

’What did they talk about?’

’But if I ask her about it, I’ll sound guilty. It’s better to just reply based on the message she sent earlier.’

With one hand, Xue Rui quickly typed a line on his phone: "I didn’t open the jar, I swear. If you don’t believe me, you can call Yaoyao and ask. It’s sitting on the desk in my room."

Gu Muxue sent a video clip.

In the video, Gu Muxue was pinching an Akita’s snout, revealing its sharp fangs. The dog looked submissive, occasionally glancing upwards.

Gu Muxue replied, "Hmph! If you dare open it, I’ll have it bite you to death."

Xue Rui laughed. The little lass was usually afraid of dogs. Who would’ve thought she’d be pinching a dog’s face for a video today?

Dogs are classic opportunists; the more intimidating you are, the more they fear you.

It seemed the little lass’s anger earlier had intimidated the dog, and now it was letting her pet it obediently.

Xue Rui replied, "Baka dog."

On the other end of the screen.

"Pfft," Gu Muxue burst out laughing at Xue Rui’s joke.

The Akita is from Japan, and Xue Rui actually called it a "baka dog."

Her mood had improved significantly, and the little incident from the morning call with Xue Rui’s mother was largely forgotten.

But the moment she thought of Lin Ruoxi, she got a strange feeling, and her heart seemed to skip a beat in panic...

"Xue’er, I smell jealousy. They say girls from Jin Province get jealous easily. Who are you jealous of?" the old lady said, rocking back and forth in her recliner. She watched her granddaughter play with the dog in the yard, a sight she could never tire of.

Gu Muxue’s expression froze. ’Was she jealous?’

"I... I was not," Gu Muxue said with a pout.

After saying that, she led the dog out of the yard, afraid her grandmother would see through her.

She touched her slightly burning cheeks, her heart thumping.

’Was that feeling just now... jealousy?’

Gu Muxue quickly typed a word on the screen: Baka.

Seeing Xue Rui reply: "Time for the flower girl’s work~"

Gu Muxue was amused again.

Thankfully, Xue Rui didn’t understand Japanese. The word she had just sent meant "idiot"...

In fact, in a Japanese context, it carried a coquettish tone.

Even though the person on the other end wouldn’t understand, her cheeks still felt flushed.

She knew Xue Rui was waiting for her to confess.

But just by calling him an idiot like this, she had made herself blush furiously.

’A confession?’

’Could she even say the words?’

She sent Xue Rui a message: "What are you doing right now?"

’Is Xue Rui practicing driving with Lin Ruoxi? Getting his driver’s license?’

But even if that were true, so what? It was just practicing for the driving test with a classmate.

What made her angry was that Xue Rui hadn’t told her.

Why didn’t he tell her?

Was it because their relationship wasn’t close enough yet?

When she thought of this, she started to feel anxious again...

"Am I being too clingy..." Gu Muxue muttered to herself.

The corners of the little lass’s delicate mouth gradually turned down, betraying her current mood.

Ever since leaving Hedong, she desperately wanted to know everything that was happening in Xue Rui’s life.

She hadn’t asked, figuring Xue Rui would probably tell her when they chatted...

But just as her thoughts were running wild, a video call from Xue Rui came in.

Gu Muxue froze. ’A video call?’

’She was just wondering what Xue Rui was doing, and now he was video calling her?’

The corners of her eyes couldn’t help but lift into a smile, and she squeezed the dog’s face with a little more force.

"WHIMPER~" the Akita let out a faint whine.

Gu Muxue quickly composed herself and pressed the answer button.

"Muxue, what are you up to?" Xue Rui asked with a wide grin. He had decided to make a preemptive strike.

It was just like placating your girlfriend before starting a game to avoid any "force majeure" incidents that might interrupt the match in the next thirty minutes...

Mainly, Gu Muxue had just asked him what he was doing.

A video call was the best proof.

On the screen, Gu Muxue was as radiant and beautiful as ever, as if she were constantly surrounded by fill lights...

Gu Muxue stared at the screen for a moment. She could hear a chaotic mix of sounds from Xue Rui’s side—all sorts of clicks and clacks, along with the shouts of many boys.

She frowned. "Xiaorui, where are you?"

Xue Rui flipped the camera and showed Gu Muxue the internet cafe environment.

"Qiu Mengze?" Gu Muxue asked in surprise.

’So, Xue Rui was playing games at an internet cafe with his classmate?’

’No wonder he wasn’t replying to her messages...’

Now that Xue Rui had proactively started a video call with her, a sense of relief washed over her.

She had seen Xue Yao play games before. When she played, she became completely absorbed, her temper would get short, and she hated being interrupted.

Gu Muxue didn’t want to make Xue Rui unhappy. A boy his age was naturally playful.

She said with a smile, "Well, you go on and play. Just message me back when you have time."

"How could gaming be more important than talking to you?"

"Then why didn’t you reply to my messages earlier?"

"That was then, this is now. I’m replying now, aren’t I..."