Chapter 3

translator: henyee translations editor: henyee translations

after the matter was settled, yang yongle and the girl named didi stayed behind to sign the contract with lao yao, while the other girls returned to their original residence to move their luggage.

lao yao sighed in his heart. “are girls nowadays so fierce in bargaining?” he placed the broken new contract in front of yang yongle and asked them to sign it.

after leaving her elegant handwriting on the contract, yang yongle extended his hand to lao yao and said, “alright, mr. landlord. i hope we can get along well from now on.”

lao yao shook her soft little hand with a bitter expression and said, “you guys are happy, but i’m worried. the monthly maintenance fee of this villa is not a small expense.”

facing this group of self-reliant girls, lao yao’s heart softened for a moment and he rented out the room at a low price. although he was also worried about the maintenance fee, he actually did not have any regrets in his heart. towards this group of girls who could make him admire them, lao yao felt that he was quite great to be able to help them a little.

“mr. landlord, forgive me for being curious, but i want to ask, did you buy this house?” yang yongle asked curiously. “a villa like this costs at least 30 million yuan in s city. i wonder what profession you’re in?”

“hehe, you might not believe it, but i’m currently an unemployed vagrant!” lao yao sat on the chair in a slightly lonely manner. he lit a cigarette, and his eyes were lost.

“this villa is actually not mine… it belongs to my comrades…” lao yao muttered to himself. “he only handed this house to me for safekeeping…”

“what about this comrade of yours? i didn’t expect you to be a soldier. no wonder you’re so burly…” didi asked softly with a red face.

“him? hehe, he… is already dead! he died on the battlefield…” lao yao laughed self-deprecatingly. “as for soldiers… we… are not considered soldiers. if you want to calculate, we can only be considered mercenaries…”

yang yongle and didi looked at each other. no matter how stupid they were, they knew the difference between a soldier and a mercenary. it was just that they didn’t expect to see a legendary figure here.

such a life of fire and blood was unimaginable in a metropolis in a peaceful era…

shaking his head, as if trying to shake off the memories in his mind, lao yao revealed a smile and said, “don’t worry about the property rights of this house. my comrade has already transferred this house to me as an inheritance. i’m definitely qualified to be your landlord.”

“hehe, that’s not what we meant.” yang yongle smiled and said, “i’ve never doubted this. from the beginning, i could tell from your eyes that you didn’t lie to us. you’re a good person.”

“haha, a good person?” lao yao laughed and said, “no wonder. i’ve been single for 27 years, but i haven’t been able to find a landlady. so it’s because of this good person card!”

“that… that’s not what i meant…” yang yongle blushed and hurriedly explained.

“alright, alright. you can stay here in peace!” lao yao smiled brightly and said, “it’s not easy for you girls. i can’t go against my conscience and do things. if there’s anything i can help you with, just look for me.”

“then… the maintenance cost of the villa…” yang yongle hesitated and didn’t know what to say.

“don’t worry. you don’t have to worry about this. i’ll think of a way.” lao yao waved his hand indifferently.

seeing that lao yao was about to turn around and leave, yang yongle suddenly blushed and shouted, “um… mr. landlord, why don’t you join our studio and play games together to earn money!”

“huh?” lao yao turned around in confusion. “what did you say?”

“it’s like this!” yang yongle bit his lips and pondered for a moment before saying, “you also know that our studio has just been established not long ago. moreover, we’re all girls, so we’re naturally at a disadvantage in some aspects. if you can join us and earn money, won’t you be able to make up for your reduced rent?”

“haha, is that really the case?” lao yao laughed and narrowed his eyes at yang yongle. “it’s a studio full of girls. i’m afraid it won’t be that easy to do things, right?”

yang yongle’s face darkened a little when lao yao hit the nail on the head. however, she still nodded bravely at lao yao.

in fact, when they first mentioned their profession, lao yao could already tell that the helplessness in yang yongle’s eyes at that time was not fake. the helplessness in life could still be reflected very well in the game world. every game had a similar situation. with the appearance of the guilds, individual players were being suppressed step by step. in other words, without the strength of a group, it was simply impossible to survive in the game. a studio formed by purely female players like yang yongle had so few people. moreover, looking at their gentle personalities, in many pk games, one could imagine their disadvantage. it was definitely extremely difficult to develop in the game.

without development, where would they get the funds for the various expenses they needed?

the helplessness was reflected in these bits and pieces.

thinking of this, lao yao shook his head and said, “forgive me for being blunt. although i haven’t played any games, i know that your numbers are too small. you don’t have much of a competitive advantage. even if you add me, it won’t change anything.”

“no! it’s different!” yang yongle suddenly retorted, “it’s different this time!”

“oh? what do you mean?” lao yao looked at yang yongle in confusion.

“it’s different this time!” yang yongle’s eyes revealed an unprecedented fanaticism. “you’ve heard of galaxy international, right?!”

“i’ve heard of it!” lao yao nodded and said, “isn’t it the company that released the news last year that they developed the most powerful smart chip in the world?”

“it’s them!” yang yongle nodded and said, “originally, the entire world thought that they would use this smart chip on the new generation of computers, but not long ago, there was news that they had built a powerful server with this smart chip and used it as a platform to create a large-scale game. i heard that they joined forces with the world government to take this opportunity to relieve population pressure. now that they have been allowed to build internet access in all countries in the world, it won’t be long before this game will be open to the world. our goal is to obtain a place in this game!”

“relieving the population pressure? that’s a lot of money!” lao yao nodded. he also knew that although earth had already ushered in the space age, due to the limitation of technology, it was still unable to go too far away. moreover, it was easier said than done to find a planet suitable for human habitation around the solar system. even if one modified a planet, one would not be able to see results without dozens or hundreds of years of effort. as the medical level gradually grew, the natural mortality rate of humans decreased year by year. the resulting population growth was inevitable. with more people, the pressure on employment would increase, and the social problems that followed would become complicated. it was enough to give every country a headache. no wonder the proposal of galaxy international was supported by the world government.

yang yongle continued, “this game will be connected to the server in virtual reality. it will no longer be like the 3d imaging and keyboard control in the past. our personal abilities will be displayed to the greatest extent. i think that our studio will definitely be able to develop better under such a model that subverts traditional games.”

“you haven’t even seen the game yet. are you really so sure?” lao yao smiled bitterly. this was the first time he had seen such a persistent girl.

“how would we know if we don’t try?” yang yongle asked. “we sisters have always liked games and that’s why we gathered together. we want to realize our dreams through our own efforts. how is that wrong? even if we prove ourselves wrong in the end, the process of proving is still worth remembering, right?”

“dreams?” when lao yao heard this word, his mind immediately flew away. after a long time, he came back to his senses. looking at yang yongle and didi’s expectant eyes, he smiled helplessly and asked, “alright, i want to ask, what’s the name of this game?”

yang yongle’s eyes lit up. “you agree?!”

it was no wonder that she was so excited. after knowing that lao yao was actually a retired mercenary, yang yongle had been calculating. if the game was really as advertised, a person like lao yao would definitely have a huge advantage in the game. at least in the early stages, when everyone’s equipment could not keep up, a person’s physical fitness could determine many things.

“yes! i agree!” lao yao smiled and said, “in any case, someone like me doesn’t have a diploma or anything. even if i look for a job, i’m afraid i won’t be able to find anything good. why don’t i try it with you guys when i’m free? if i can really earn money, everyone will feel less pressured.”

“that’s great!” yang yongle immediately clapped his hands happily with didi.

at this moment, perhaps they did not know what kind of person they had pulled in for their studio…