"We won!" Shi Geng had not felt as excited for a long time. Now that they had witnessed the strength of the Chuzhou University students, every other team they came face to face with was basically destroyed in all three lanes. The mid laner of Shi Geng's squad was especially strong that there was a chance he had more ELO points than Shi Geng himself.
This carry that Shi Geng had invited over deserved all kudos for them winning the tournament so easily. If this mid laner was invited to become a booster, they might be able to accomplish the task of playing matches in the two thousand ELO points tier—something that Shi Geng did not dare to accept.
The owner of the cybercafe appeared. He was an artsy old man that wore a pair of glasses. After showering Shi Geng's squad with a round of congratulatory wishes, he passed a stack of red bills to the squad leader, Shi Geng's hands. Then, the owner got Shi Geng to put down his signature. Therefore, the tournament ended on a perfect note. The squad name, Petrification, skyrocketed in terms of popularity in Sky Galaxy Cybercafe overnight.
After the tournament, their team divided their spoils. Although Chen Mu kept a straight face, the corner of his eyes was fixated on Shi Geng's hands. It was his first time earning cash from playing games. It felt like a breakthrough from ground zero to Chen Mu. He felt as if his entire belief system had been upturned. In the past, he was adamant that games ruined people's lives and weer a waste of energy. Never had he expected games to bring him real money.
People's values had always been formed based on the benefits they received as the first criterion. Since studying and furthering one's studies in university provided great benefits, nearly all parents praised and approved of their kids whenever they saw them study. On the other hand, playing games was viewed as something that required input but gave nothing in return.
People usually only saw kids spending money to go online. How many among them provided financial support to help their families by surfing the internet? That was why parents regarded the internet as a monster. If kids that surfed the internet grew up to become the next Mr. Ma, then those who played games eighteen hours a day would be thought of as diligent elites.
Shi Geng was elated. Now that he made a name for himself, he could increase his prices for boosting. Shi Geng was an ambitious man. Once his booster business took off, he planned to start an online shop as a platform to receive boosting requests. Considering how popular League of Legends was, there was a chance he might be able to rake in nearly tens of thousands per month.
"Here, this is your share, Chen Mu," Shi Geng placed a stack of cash in Chen Mu's hand and patted Chen Mu on the shoulder for his extraordinary performance.
"Eh, why is there five hundred here?" asked Chen Mu.
"You deserve it. You performed really well. The reason we won this time is probably because you carried us," explained Shi Geng. In truth, Shi Geng did not think too much of the money from the tournament. After all, boosting paid rather well.
"Nah, that's not good…" said Chen Mu as he stuffed the money into the deepest pocket of his shirt. He even patted the pocket to reaffirm himself.
'Hypocritical fella,' Shi Geng insulted Chen Mu internally. Nevertheless, he continued to ask, "Brother, are you interested in earning more money?"
"How?" Chen Mu was in a good mood because he had received the money.
"Become a booster. I'm currently working on a boosting workshop. However, we can only play matches that are below a thousand and eight hundred ELO points. With you in the fray, we could probably play in higher tiers," said Shi Geng.
Chen Mu remembered the System's explanation and guessed that turning down the offer was very likely the only thing he could do. Chen Mu shook his head without saying anything. Shi Geng interrupted him, "Why don't you listen to the price first?"
Chen Mu thought about it and agreed since there was no harm finding out. Chen Mu nodded.
"This is our current pricing. For matches below a thousand ELO points, they pay five bucks for twenty points. For matches between one thousand and one thousand five hundred ELO points, every ten points cost five bucks. For matches between one thousand five hundred and one thousand eight hundred ELO points, five bucks for every five points. For those above a thousand and eight hundred ELO points, the rates haven't been set yet. Based on a rough calculation, it should be two bucks per point. What do you think about the pricing?" Chen Mu was almost drooling upon listening to Shi Geng. Chen Mu already knew how much they would profit with his godlike arithmetic abilities.
Using Zhuo Xiaobai's six hundred ELO points as an example, if Chen Mu helped him get to a thousand five hundred ELO points, Chen Mu would earn three hundred and fifty bucks. The profit was insanely high, was it not?
Although Chen Mu was not sure how long it would take, Chen Mu felt like one week should be sufficient if Zhuo Xiaobai's ELO points increased by ten points every match. If he earned three hundred and fifty each week, he would be able to earn one thousand and four hundred bucks every month. It would pay him nearly as much as a summer gig.
Chen Mu really wanted to agree, so he asked the System, "Is there really no way to turn a blind eye?"
"Sir, please do not be blinded by the riches in front of your eyes. Huaxia had the same problem in the other dimension. Due to the existence of boosters, many talented players ended up being addicted to bullying noobies in lower level matches. Even streamers and professional players enjoyed the thrill of massacring their enemies using smurf accounts. However, that became the reason why many of them could not reach their maximum potential.
"Although earning money is very tempting, no booster has ever become the number one player in the world. This is because they lack the urge to push themselves to the point of desperation. Therefore, they are unable to become stronger." The System made a lot of sense. Chen Mu could not find anything to argue with it.
"What you're saying is, the reason Korea is this strong is because they don't allow boosters?" Chen Mu asked because Korea had been the champion of the World Championships for five consecutive years in the other dimension.
"That is only one of the reasons. However, their success is the result of countless details put together; much like how Merman lost his laning phase advantage because he chose to auto attack the minions. The host will also lose the chance to become the strongest player if he chooses to boost people.
"Korea placed a permanent ban on boosters to participate in tournaments. Once identified, they were not allowed to be professional players. Once upon a time, a professional player registered a smurf account under his mother's identity card. He was fined thirty thousand won in addition to being forced to give a formal apology," explained the System.
"Alright. Then, forget about it." Chen Mu's heart began to ache. Other than disallowed him to enjoy the happiness of having another half, the System would not allow Chen Mu to earn such easy money that was right before his eyes. It was insane but necessary. Chen Mu had to give it all up to become the best. Otherwise, everything would end up in vain. Compared to earning money, Chen Mu's father's illness was of much greater importance.
Chen Mu turned around, his back facing his squad members, and said, "I will never boost someone else, sorry."
"Why? The price is negotiable." Shi Geng knew something was up. Chen Mu loved money.
"I have other things to do. I'm sorry, I shall excuse myself first," Chen Mu said. The System was right, but Chen Mu was not free enough to stop other people from becoming boosters. Chen Mu had no moral high horse to ride on. As for something like gaming culture and etcetera… Were there people who truly cared about that?
Huaxia's society had a lot of problems in itself. Except for the National College Entrance Examination, there were hardly any other platforms that practiced fair competition. Companies, enterprises, and various opportunities were often occupied by connections and money. In fact, to even set up a stall on the streets, you had to have at least some connections with someone in charge of the city. The only thing Chen Mu could do was do his best to be himself.
The game's most famous tagline was that it had no cheats. Perhaps the true reason why the game managed to sweep across the entire world in popularity and rise to the top of countless online games was that the game provided fairness that did not exist in reality.
No matter the offspring of the richest family in the area or the head of the state, everyone began at the same starting point and had to use their own strength to become the king of each match. The sensation was something one could never compare to nor get from typical MMOs.
"How long was League of Legends popular for in the other dimension?" Chen Mu brought up a question that had just popped up in his head.
"It was the number one game with the most players in the world for six years. Before I left, a game called PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds started to rise in popularity. However, the number of players who used cheats in the game was higher than the number of people living in Chuzhou. It was due to this reason that countless streamers lost their audience," said the System.
"Oh, is that so? I've decided to never help boost anyone. The world is already an unfair place. I shouldn't become part of its injustice," Chen Mu said.
"Congratulations, sir. With that belief, you are now another step closer to becoming the Unkillable Demon King," praised the System.
"I'm not that noble. I just want to be an ordinary person and get a beautiful girlfriend," continued Chen Mu with a smile. His dreams were simple—he wanted to get into a good university, get a good girlfriend, and call it quits. Yet, it did not seem like things were going to be that easy for him.