Card Rules | Xie Mingzhe Watching the Excitement from Behind

The other party hesitated. "If you've never played Star Card Storm, it'll definitely affect our efficiency!"

Xie Mingzhe immediately took a step back. "Then I'll be an intern for the first month. You can pay me half the salary. Would that work?"

The other party was surprised. "You mean you'd accept a salary of 1,500?"

Xie Mingzhe answered without hesitation, "Yes!"

Even a mosquito was still meat. Crystal coins in this world had roughly the same purchasing power as the yuan back on Earth. A college student could get by on 1,500 a month, and if he scrimped and saved, he might even have some spending money left over. If he were officially hired later and earned 3,000 a month, wouldn't that be wonderful? More importantly, this studio was close to campus and provided food and lodging. If he arranged his time well, he could even consider working here part-time long-term.

Xie Mingzhe's mind raced as he made up his mind. "1,500 is fine. I'll start as an intern, and if I perform well, you can hire me officially."

The other party quickly sent a message. "Come give it a try. See you at two thirty this afternoon."

Xie Mingzhe's eyes lit up. "Thank you! I'll definitely be there on time!"

***

At two thirty that afternoon, Xie Mingzhe arrived at the interview location with his packed suitcase.

He had imagined a power-leveling studio as something like an illegal internet café: a row of computers in an enclosed room, several acne-faced shut-ins staring blankly at their screens and hammering away at their keyboards.

Yet when he arrived, he was startled—neatly arranged helmets stood side by side in the hall, along with a row of swivel chairs. In the center of the room was an enormous virtual LCD screen that continuously refreshed with data.

Looking at all that high-tech equipment, Xie Mingzhe thought he had stepped into a science-fiction movie's

space

station.

A young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight walked over with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. His hair was messy, and his wrinkled shirt looked as though he had picked it up from somewhere. The heavy dark circles beneath his eyes showed that he definitely had not slept well the night before. He looked at the curiously surveying teenager as if he were some kind of monster and asked, "Are you the kid who's applying to be a game power-leveler even though you've never played Star Card Storm?"

Xie Mingzhe nodded shamelessly. "I haven't played Star Card Storm, but I've power-leveled in other games before. I have a solid gaming foundation, so I'll learn quickly." He did his best to sell himself.

The man burst out laughing, as though he had heard an especially funny joke.

Xie Mingzhe was not embarrassed at all. He calmly met the man's gaze. "Let me try first. If I really can't do it, I'll leave. Could you give me a chance?"

The teenager's eyes were sincere, without the slightest hint of timidity. The man developed a bit of goodwill toward this "admirably brave" fellow. He beckoned him over and said, "Fine, come here. Farming materials isn't actually difficult. Follow along a few times and you'll get it."

As he spoke, the man led Xie Mingzhe into the room next door and handed him a brand-new helmet. "Since you've worked as a power-leveler before, you should know the rules of our trade. You just need to complete the client's requests as quickly as possible, so you have to become very familiar with the game."

Xie Mingzhe nodded seriously. "Mm-hm."

The helmet was quite exquisite. After studying it carefully for a moment, Xie Mingzhe figured out how to wear it and asked, "Brother, what should I call you?"

The man felt quite pleased that he had sensibly called him brother, and his attitude improved considerably. "My surname is Chen. Everyone calls me Chen, so you can call me that too. What about you? What's your name?"

"Xie Mingzhe. You can call me... Little Xie." Xie Mingzhe's nickname was actually A-Zhe, but that was what close friends from his previous life had called him. It would feel strange for someone he had just met to call him A-Zhe, so Little Xie would be better.

"Little Xie, create an account and enter the game to take a look first. This game isn't complicated. You'll get the hang of it after playing for a few hours." Chen reminded him, "Come find me after you've familiarized yourself with the rules, before nine tonight."

Xie Mingzhe gave an "oh" and carefully put on the helmet.

After he put on the helmet, the world before his eyes quickly changed. Several lines of text floated in the air, displaying different game login interfaces—it seemed this helmet could connect to most holographic games. Star Card Storm was listed first, which was enough to show its status and popularity in the gaming world.

Xie Mingzhe reached out and selected Star Card Storm.

A crisp

System

voice sounded by his ear. It sounded like a little boy of seven or eight. "Welcome to the magical Star Card World! The system has detected that this is your first time logging into the game. Please create your account and link your identification number."

Xie Mingzhe quickly followed the prompts and created his account.

The system voice said, "Please enter your character name and create your appearance in Star Card World."

The game quickly imported his own appearance, so realistic it was like looking into a mirror. As Xie Mingzhe looked at his "virtual" self standing right before him, he marveled at the advanced technology of this era.

He definitely would not use his real appearance in an online game. Wouldn't it be awkward if he ran into someone he knew later?

After thinking for a moment, Xie Mingzhe made some adjustments to his character's appearance—he reduced his height by ten centimeters, added thirty jin to his weight, enlarged his face by a full round, and added a few whiskers. Perfect. A plump uncle with a kindly smile looked positively approachable.

As for his game ID, Xie Mingzhe casually chose one so people would find him approachable—Fat Uncle.

At the time, he had never imagined what towering waves that name would stir up in Star Card World.

Later, when he was interviewed, Xie Mingzhe faced the camera with an innocent smile. "Fat Uncle was really just a name I picked at random. It didn't have any special meaning. If I'd known, I should have picked something better-sounding back then. At least people wouldn't have chased after me calling me 'Fat God,' 'Fat God.'"

The fans who saw that "Fat Uncle" was actually a sunny, handsome young man said, "You big liar! Give us back our cute, kindly Fat Uncle!"

His opponents merely chuckled, privately giving him a nickname: the very cheeky Xie Mingzhe.

For short: Pipi Zhe.

Card Rules | Xie Mingzhe Watching the Excitement from Behind

Xie Mingzhe, who had never played a holographic game before, was stunned by the sight before him as soon as he entered the game.