The internet cafe was dimly lit, suffused with the smell of air freshener and instant noodles. Clicking mouses and madly clacking keyboards echoed throughout the room. Middle school boys shrieked and whooped as they played their FPS; the old pensioner cursed at his game of online Mahjong; the girl on the corner computer sobbed quietly as her Korean drama reached its tearjerking climax.
Someone like Xiaohan didn't really belong in a place like this, but he made it a point to drop by when he could anyways. Though no one spoke to him except for the occasional classmate, he liked being surrounded by so many people who enjoyed the same things he did.
"And that's a wrap! The quarterfinals of this year's Shanghai Invitationals kick off with a bang, as newcomers Shangri-La defeat Vae Victus in a 3-0 sweep!"
The video stream switched to the players of Shangri-La, who were calmly getting out of their seats to shake each other's hands. As he watched, Xiaohan leaned back, letting out a sigh of vindication. He had money riding on Shangri-La winning this game, even though the odds had not favored them. This was Shangri-La's very first tournament, and Vae Victus was a seed.
But Xiaohan knew their potential. His trained eyes had spotted the raw talent in one of Shangri-La's battleship players, a sixteen-year-old who went by the handle "Avelle." Avelle wasn't the most mechanically skilled player. His reactions were slower than average and his movements were often clunky. But his strategic ability and situational awareness, as far as Xiaohan could tell, were virtually unmatched within the ranks of the current professional league. With a player like him at the core of the team, Shangri-La actually had a decent chance of taking home the entire championship.
Unlike most esports, Black Sun was mainly a thinking man's game. Xiaohan hated calling it that since it always sounded so pretentious, but there was no better way to put it. While other games could be won with quick reflexes or high APMs, winning in Black Sun's competitive scene relied on planning ahead and sometimes sage-like premonition.
Xiaohan removed his headphones, standing up to get a drink from the vending machine. As he did so, a sad little wail reached his ears. Many people in the room were turning towards the source, and he was soon doing the same.
"Please! Please give me back my stuff!"
The desperate cries were coming from a little girl in the far back of the room. Her navy blue uniform indicated that she was a middle schooler.
Forgetting the reason he had gotten up in the first place, Xiaohan began to make his way over to the girl. As he approached, he saw that the girl's arms were folded fearfully over her waist, and she was standing next to a group of four high school boys, pleading with them as they stared at their screens, pretending to ignore her.
They were all playing Black Sun. More likely than not, the boys had scammed the little girl in-game.
"Please! I worked hard for all those things!
"And we worked hard to take them from you! Quit bothering us!"
Xiaohan stopped when he reached the girl's computer, and his eyes darted over her screen until he found her username. Lovesky. It was a name that he actually recognized. If he remembered correctly, Lovesky was a well-known trader who ran a small ship painting operation. Her designs were all original, and they were notorious for being obnoxiously cute. If you wanted to plaster a giant, customized teddy bear on the side of your space battleship, Lovesky was the player to ask.
"Why would you guys do this? I thought you were helping me..."
"Look, kid. Life isn't fair. Now if you would please just fu–"
He stopped mid-sentence as he saw Xiaohan staring at him.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Just a concerned bystander. It sounds like you guys are picking on her."
The boy hesitated. He must have realized that Xiaohan, though only two or three years older than him, was much taller than he was and could likely beat him in a fight. He turned to look at his three friends as if making sure they would back him up.
After they nodded in unison, he returned his attention to Xiaohan.
"Mind your own business, dude."
His eyes fell on Xiaohan's hands.
"And are those bandages around your knuckles? You a fucking poser or something?"
Xiaohan smirked, immediately sensing a good opportunity.
"Funny you should ask. Why don't you mind your own business?"
"I–"
The boy was visibly annoyed, miffed that his own words had been used against him.
"Fuck you, man."
He wrinkled his nose.
"But since you really want to know – Yeah, we tricked her. Happy? We gained her trust, told her we would help her with her exploration milestones. Got her to fly out into Elo space without banking anything, blew up her ship, took all her shit. And so what? Pandas like her aren't even playing the game right. They should just quit."
Depending on the context, "Panda" could be either derogatory or endearing, and it referred to someone who played Black Sun in a nonviolent way. Such players generally avoided combat like the plague, and they spent their time on peaceful activities like mining, trading, or decorating their in-game property.
Though such a way of doing things was usually very inefficient, it could still be reasonably profitable if a player stuck at it for long enough. From what Xiaohan knew of the character Lovesky, the little girl had been playing for quite some time. He wouldn't be surprised if she had amassed a small fortune from selling her cutesy paint jobs.
"Don't you feel any guilt at all?"
The boy clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Hey man, if someone's stupid enough to follow a bunch of dudes out into a PvP area like that, they deserve to lose their shit. You shouldn't trust people so easily. Little bitch should be thankful she's learning that lesson in a game, instead of out on the streets."
Xiaohan narrowed his eyes. Fighting the urge to punch the boy in the jaw, he stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"This girl spent countless hours working hard to get where she did. And you just stole all of that from her."
"Dude! So. Fucking. What? It's not like we've broken any rules, people lure naive idiots like her all the time. So if you could please do me a favor, just piss off, alright?"
Fuming, Xiaohan lowered his gaze towards the little girl's pitiful form. Her cheeks were covered in tears. Her eyes were red and puffy, and a small trail of snot ran from her delicate nose.
His expression softened as he squatted down to face her.
"Here."
He handed her his handkerchief, a square of pure silk.
"What's your name?"
The little girl answered with a trembling voice.
"Mei. My name is Mei."
"That's a pretty name."
He smiled, resisting the urge to pat the girl's head.
"But hey. Don't cry, okay? I'll help you."
She seemed to size him up with her adorable doe eyes before giving him a weak nod. He stood back up and addressed the group of boys once more.
"How about this? You've got four guys here, right? How about we fight a little skirmish, me and this girl against all of you? Standard ships. If we win, you give her back everything you took from her."
The leader of the boys snorted.
"Yeah, no thanks. We're not wasting any more time on you two. Get lost."
"I'll stake ten billion credits."
It was an offer they couldn't refuse.
"Ten bil? You serious?
Xiaohan nodded.
The leader was dumbfounded for a moment. When he recovered, he turned to his friends, and they huddled together as they discussed the merits of the bet.
"Holy shit. Ten bil? We made like three bil from that girl, tops."
"This is an amazing deal."
"Yeah, but wait a sec. If he has that many credits to lose, he's probably been playing the game for a really long time. I sense a trap of some kind. You guys sure about this?"
"It's four against one, bro. The girl might as well not be playing, best she can do is tank damage. That dude could be on team Cloud Light for all I care. There's no way we can lose a 4v1 if it's a standard ships match, even if he were somehow a pro."
As the boys continued to whisper amongst themselves, Xiaohan's mind drifted off. He thought of his little sister and how much he wished someone had been able to protect her back then. At the time, he had been far too weak to do so. Or perhaps that was just an excuse?
"Hey! Ten billion isn't enough. If you can afford to offer that much, you can definitely afford to offer more."
They were greedy little bastards.
"Fine. Make it fifty, I can't go any higher. But in exchange, you're going to wager everything you have. Ships, credits, everything."
He could almost hear them salivating at the thought of fifty billion credits. That much money was enough to buy an entire fleet of battleships.
"Deal! My username's 'admiral_cheng.' With an underscore in the middle. Add me when you get back to your seat."
Xiaohan gave him a mock salute.
"Will do."
"I hope you know what you're getting into, dude. You're about to lose a whole lot of dough."
Choosing not to respond, Xiaohan turned his back on the boys and asked the girl to sign out of her computer. After leading her back to his table, he motioned for her to sit down in the empty seat next to his. With a renewed sense of purpose, he placed his hand on his mouse and double-clicked the icon for Black Sun. As he did so, he silently cursed himself. He'd forgotten to buy a drink.
"Thank you for helping me, mister. I hope we can do this."
Xiaohan chuckled. He was suddenly very much aware of how parched his throat was feeling, but he decided it could wait.
"Don't worry, little miss."
He licked his lips.
"We're about to teach them a lesson they'll never forget."