After finishing dinner and paying the bill at Ensue, Lin Chu made a call to arrange the evening’s plans. Then he headed to the underground garage and got in his car.

Gao Haitao was already in driver mode, dressed in a white shirt and suit pants, wearing white gloves—the very picture of professionalism.

The car’s air conditioning was set to the perfect temperature, making it feel pleasant.

Very thoughtful.

"President Lin, where to now?"

he asked politely.

Lin Chu leaned back in the rear seat, rolled down the window, and greeted Zhang Peng and Li Haohong. "It’s too early to go to Sky City. You guys think of a place to kill some time."

A truly carefree man of leisure.

In the past, after getting off work, he’d have to ride the subway for nearly an hour back to his rental apartment. He’d buy groceries on the way, then go home to chop vegetables, cook dinner, and wait for his girlfriend to return. After they ate, he’d be the one to clean up, wash the dishes, mop the floor, and even do the laundry if there were dirty clothes.

He’d been in a few relationships, and Lin Chu had always held himself to the standard of a "good man." He even kind of enjoyed it, feeling that was just how life was supposed to be.

Now, of course, he was on a completely different path.

"Wanna play some games?"

"Internet cafe, five-stack?"

"There are exactly five of us right now!"

Zhang Peng’s gaming addiction was kicking in. ’Damn it, ever since I became "President Zhang," I’ve been so busy I don’t even have time to play games. I’m as tired as a dog, mentally and physically drained.’ Of course, he enjoyed that too.

But today, having hired two new people, he could afford to reward himself with a game.

Lin Chu: "Huh? A man of my stature, going to an internet cafe to play games with you? ...Let’s go!"

Then he couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

’I had forced myself to quit gaming before.’

To stop himself from playing, he had even sold his computer on a second-hand app for about a thousand yuan. Money was tight back then, and that cash covered his food expenses for the better part of a month.

Zhang Peng: "Let’s roll! There’s a gaming lounge near Sky City with a pretty nice setup. I’ll send the location."

He excitedly hopped in his car.

Li Haohong: ...

He stood there, slightly stunned. First, he was surprised, then shocked, but a moment later, he felt a faint twinge of envy.

’What a life.’

"Ah Xiong, you coming or not? Let’s go!"

Lin Chu shouted with a smile.

He nodded, a hint of wistfulness in his voice. "Sure, let’s go. But I haven’t played in years."

—In his first year as a legal intern, he had sold his Fantasy Westward Journey account on the official trading platform. Because, damn it, his monthly "salary" during the internship was only 2,200 yuan. You couldn’t even call it a salary; it was a stipend, and whether he got it depended on his mentor’s mood.

Lin Chu: "Me too. Let’s go, let’s go. Time to relive our glory days."

So they each got in their cars and headed straight for the internet cafe.

On the way.

Lin Chu also messaged Wang Zhefei and Lu Ming about the staff party that evening. He hadn’t brought them to the cafe; he figured they were at the hotel right now.

"Internet cafe? You in?"

Wang Zhefei: "I’m so fucking sick of staring at a computer I could puke. Playing games would feel like overtime. At the spa. Do not disturb."

Lu Ming: [Sent a picture.]

The two of them were in the hotel’s spa room, enjoying massages from pretty young ladies. They looked very content, and the massage therapists were attractive too.

This suddenly reminded Lin Chu of the girl in the white bikini he had caught a stunning glimpse of at the hotel pool. Even now, the thought made his heart flutter.

Wang Zhefei: "Who even goes to an internet cafe to play games anymore? An old pervert like you should be playing something like *Egg Party*, right?"

Huh?

Lin Chu froze. "Tell me more."

This had touched upon a blind spot in his knowledge.

Wang Zhefei: "Just spend a little money, flex your wealth, and you’ll have a whole line of teenage girls going, ’Big brother, big brother, can you carry me?’ Actually, I don’t really know for sure, that’s just what I’ve seen people say online."

Lin Chu: "You’re a fucking animal! Get lost and enjoy your massage!"

After ending the chat, Lin Chu scorned him again in his heart.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he opened the app store.

’Why am I suddenly feeling this inexplicable sense of shame?’

’Am I really... gonna play this?’

...

The joy of a five-stack at an internet cafe lies in flaming your teammates—calling them trash who only know how to feed, have zero map awareness, and are as clumsy as pigs. It’s all about the constant trash talk, right up until you hard carry the other four and start slaughtering everyone.

However, that was a joy he wouldn’t get to experience.

Instead, he experienced a different kind of joy.

His teammates tried a "four-protect-one" strategy, which resulted in a team wipe. GG.

Lin Chu: "Are you kidding me?! I’m the fucking support! And you do a four-protect-one on me? Are your brains full of water?!"

The guys all laughed.

Although Lin Chu was laughing and cursing, he inwardly admitted that this kind of treatment was pretty awesome. In the next game, he immediately picked a marksman.

They played to their hearts’ content for over two hours. When it was about time, they left and headed straight for Sky City.

Just as they arrived at the parking garage, before they could even get out, Gao Haitao suddenly hit the brakes, stopping several dozen meters away. "President Lin, it looks like there’s a situation up ahead by the parking spaces. We should wait a moment."

Hm?

Lin Chu was studying the newbie quests for *Egg Party*. He looked up and saw what looked like a fight up ahead. A few security guards had surrounded a man who was viciously beating a woman, grabbing her hair and slamming her head against the ground. Blood was gushing from her nose.

The scene was exceedingly violent.

The security guards were trying to intervene, but the man had brought his friends along, and it had turned into a huge brawl.

Lin Chu didn’t get out of the car. He casually sent a message to Fan Wanjun: "What’s going on? There’s a fight in the parking garage."

Her: "Brother Chu, security is handling it. Please wait just a moment, it will be resolved soon. Where are you? I can come find you now."

Lin Chu: "I asked you what’s going on! Just spit it out!"

She hesitated for more than ten seconds. "A client... uh, caught something from one of the part-time girls. But this is an extremely rare incident, it’s never happened before. We require regular medical check-ups every half-month."

Lin Chu: "What the fuck! We’re leaving."

It was the first time he’d encountered a situation like this, and Lin Chu was genuinely dumbfounded. ’This is fucking terrifying. A goddamn bio-weapon.’

Fan Wanjun: "Brother Chu, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry."

Lin Chu thought for a moment, then directly blocked her.

’No way. I have to come to places like this less often in the future, or maybe not at all.’

’Even if it’s a one-in-ten-thousand chance, if it happens to you, it’s a fucking one hundred percent chance.’

’If I want to find girls, I can go anywhere, right?’

’Even *Egg Party* would work.’

Lin Chu posted in their small group chat: "Bio-weapon spotted at Sky City. Retreat, boys. Tonight’s party is canceled."

Liu Junfeng: "Fuck!" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Li Kai: "Holy shit! I ought to go smash up their place! How can this happen at a supposedly legit establishment?"

Liu Junfeng: "If you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned."

Lu Ming: "For real? I’m scared. Should we go to the hospital for a check-up right now?"

Wang Zhefei: "...You big shots go ahead. I’ve never even partaken."

Zhang Peng: "Yeah, go get a check-up. Go now, everyone should go."

Lin Chu: "Let’s go, let’s go. We’ll go as a group, keep each other company."

Liu Junfeng: "The doctor is gonna be so fucking shocked..."

As they were chatting, they suddenly noticed that Liu Junfeng had changed the group chat name: "Abstinence Club, Brothers."

Lin Chu: ...

He thought for a moment, then changed it again: "No Public Transit, No Used Cars."

...

...