You're Still Quite Handsome

Fang Yue's heart skipped a beat as he finished reading the post.

No way, my cash cow won't even last a month?

But after thinking it over, Fang Yue felt the post made a surprising amount of sense.

You had to understand, this forum was full of professional Players who made a living from the Game. Their understanding of it was vastly different from that of Normal Players.

For Normal Players, if they encountered problems or setbacks in the Game, five out of ten would give up.

Of the remaining five, if they still couldn't solve the issue, another four would quit.

The last one was either a veteran or a dedicated Game enthusiast. But even after half a month of deep research, they might still be unable to solve the problem due to their own limitations or issues with the Game itself, ultimately giving up completely.

But professional Players were different.

Professional Players were meant to solve Game problems.

By solving difficult problems, they gained the capital to charge Normal Players money to resolve those issues for them.

Therefore, when professional Players researched the Game, they did so with extreme depth and meticulousness, even pondering it day and night.

Normal Players, no matter how passionate, couldn't dedicate all their time to the Game to solve its problems.

But professional Players could spend all their time researching the Game.

This was the advantage of professional Players, and also how they made their living.

The most typical example was high-difficulty dungeon BOSSes.

Normal Players lacked the time and energy to fully grasp the mechanics of dungeon BOSSes, leading to their inability to clear the dungeons.

Professional Players, however, could help clear dungeons, even soloing them. As long as the client paid, no one would care if they just lay there dead.

This was just one superficial example. In the Game, there were also things like helping with hidden quests, solving high-difficulty puzzles, and more. Professional Players could thoroughly research these, and Normal Players could just buy the service.

Of course, there were skilled Players who researched things themselves and played even better than professional Players, but they were ultimately the minority.

As the saying goes, never pit your amateur hobby against someone else's livelihood.

However, no matter how deeply professional Players researched the Game, it was meaningless if Normal Players didn't pay for it. Otherwise, if they researched a Game but no one bought their services, how would they eat?

So, professional Players would choose to focus on the most popular Games.

Tengli Group's epoch-making masterpiece, Blue Sea, was clearly the hottest, most popular, and most talked-about Game recently. All professional Players were hoping to make a fortune in the Game, but Great God Liang Bai Kaishui's post was like a bucket of cold water, dousing most of their enthusiasm.

Most of the replies below the post were filled with doubt and unwillingness to accept. Some also decided to quit the Game, return to older Games to farm gold, or wait for the next hit title.

This reaction was something Fang Yue hadn't anticipated.

If this kind of quitting phenomenon was occurring in the professional Player forums, what about the Normal Player community?

Thinking of this, Fang Yue quickly exited the Dragon Play forum and opened the official forum.

Compared to the closed, small circle of the Dragon Play professional Player forum, the official Game forum was bustling.

Posts were flying by, covering all sorts of issues: finding a partner, being maliciously killed, being killed by NPCs, provoking Anomalies in the wild...

Some posts made Fang Yue admire their wild imagination. For instance, one Player tried to steal a widow's underwear, was discovered, cut in half, and their corpse was still being displayed at the village entrance to be sun-dried.

After a quick scan, Fang Yue realized he might have been overthinking things.

At this stage, Normal Players still had a great deal of enthusiasm for the Game, happily engaging in all sorts of self-destructive behavior.

Their only problem, much like the issue in the professional Player community, was how to deal with the Lifespan problem.

Some had even started protest threads, strongly demanding that the official channels open a Lifespan top-up option or send Lifespan welfare benefits to let them live a few more days.

This was practically throwing money at them, but unfortunately, the official channels had only opened the forum; no one was managing or maintaining it, let alone replying to posts.

The Lifespan issue was indeed something professional Players were researching, representing a huge business opportunity.

Normal Players were merely complaining about the Lifespan limiting their playtime, while professional Players were contemplating how to solve this problem.

It was foreseeable that whoever could stably solve the Lifespan issue would make a fortune.

Fang Yue felt his confidence returning.

As he browsed the forums, time flew by, and Fang Yue gained a deeper understanding of Normal Players' needs.

Don't underestimate this information. Fang Yue was counting on making money in the Game, and these people would be his future clients!

Glancing at the sky, which was already growing dim, Fang Yue felt it was about time.

Next, he just had to see if [Night's Breath] could save him.

He closed the forum, preparing to enter the Game...

Creak.

The sound of a door opening suddenly came from next door.

Sister Yuan is awake?

Hesitating for a moment, Fang Yue put on his game watch and lay down on his bed...

"A-Yue! A--Yue--"

Bang.

The door opened, and Sister Yuan poked her head in, her hair a mess.

Her cute, big eyes scanned the room, locking onto Fang Yue, who hadn't logged into the game yet.

"You just got off work? Great, I'll take a shower at your place, and you can make me a bowl of noodles."

Got off work...

Fang Yue felt embarrassed to admit that his game character had problems, and he hadn't actually "worked" all day.

"Okay, okay."

He put down his game watch and went to make noodles. Soon, the sound of rushing water came from his room.

With sausage and egg added, the noodles were ready. Sister Yuan came out with her wet hair.

"It smells so good! Your cooking has improved!"

Sister, this is just instant noodles, there's no such thing as cooking skill.

Fang Yue urged her to dry her hair first, but Sister Yuan ignored him, sitting down in the chair and slurping her noodles noisily.

"Delicious! Ayue, if you opened a convenience store, it would be a huge success!"

"This sausage is so springy! Delicious!"

After Sister Yuan finished the broth at the bottom of the bowl, she let out a long sigh.

Watching Fang Yue clean up the dishes, she propped her face on one hand and giggled.

"Ayue, now that I look closely, you're quite handsome."

"Not quite handsome, very handsome!"

"Hahaha! Shameless!" After a bit of playful banter, Sister Yuan's expression suddenly turned a little somber.

"Honestly, sometimes I really envy you professional players, making money just by playing games at home.

Unlike me, working at a bar, doing day and night shifts, and still having to deal with blind dates my family sets me up with.

The one I went on yesterday was so disgusting. If he was half as handsome as you, I wouldn't have run off to work without finishing my meal."

Sister Yuan's words jumped around, from talking about professional players to blind dates.

But she's a girl, he could understand.

Fang Yue didn't pick up on that, continuing to wash the dishes.

Being a professional player wasn't that easy; many people spent years in the industry and couldn't even afford to eat.

To make a living in this field, you needed some Talent.

Just as he was thinking, a cute face suddenly leaned in from the side.