Chapter 1: Emotional Value Provider in the Virtual World

In the deep of night, the streetlights of the great city were still shining.
The entire city operated in an orderly fashion.
Within the cramped space of a cheap rental unit, an ordinary young man was sitting in front of his low-spec computer, surfing the web intensely.

Just then, after a few refreshes, a post suddenly jumped into his view.
Judging by the view count, it was an explosive, hot topic.

[To thank all the big brothers and sisters on this Tieba for their years of help and guidance, we are now launching a special cooperative service with an otherworldly goddess.]
[Travel to another world and defeat the Demon King.]
[You can customize your background, character, gender, and age.]
[One person will be randomly chosen to have their wish granted.]
[Note: Defeating the Demon King is a high-difficulty mission. You cannot return home until the mission is complete.]

Currently deep in his web-surfing, Tang Yunle—a master keyboard politician, a Tieba bigwig, and a gaming god—raised an eyebrow.

‘Interesting.’
‘Do the people on Tieba really love making up stories this much?’
‘Is it a Warhammer fan or a Fallout fan?’

He was just about to click on it to join in on the fun, see what kind of wild ideas the forum members had come up with, and maybe find some inspiration for himself.
But then, a QQ message from a specially marked contact suddenly popped up on his computer screen.

GentleAsAGem: –Kele, are you not ready yet?
GentleAsAGem: –expectantlittleeyes.jpg!!

The young man’s mouth twitched, and he cursed “old perv” in his heart.
But his hands moved with practiced ease, selecting a partially obscured photo of fair, delicate legs from his picture library and sending it to the other person.

It’s Kele, Not Leke: –Big brother, you’d better not use it for anything naughty~~
It’s Kele, Not Leke: –Or I’ll get angry, pouting.jpg.

GentleAsAGem: –I won’t, I won’t. I’ll just take a look, nothing else. I promise!

‘Ptooey!’
‘You old perv, I’d have to be a fool to believe you!’
Tang Yunle cursed inwardly, but on the surface, he maintained his gentle and obedient facade, his fingers tapping away at the keyboard with a da-da-da sound.

It’s Kele, Not Leke: –Um… Big brother, could you lend me some more money? My dad took my living expenses for the week to gamble again. shy.jpg

“Ding! Five hundred yuan has been deposited into your bank account!”

The message had only been sent for a few minutes when his phone chimed.
Although the man on the other end was a lecher, a chatterbox, and occasionally emo, he was first-rate in his decisiveness and speed when it came to sending money.
This was also the reason Tang Yunle was so fond of him.
Looking at the number, the young man’s eyes immediately crinkled into a smile.
‘Five hundred yuan, oh, five hundred yuan!’
‘As expected, this is the fastest way to make money!!’
‘Getting a real job is impossible!’
‘Milking these rich whales is the true path!’
Though he was laughing heartily inside, he had to maintain a demure image on the outside. After all, sustainable development was far better than draining the pond to catch the fish.

It’s Kele, Not Leke: –Big brother, I actually only needed fifty. I’m not a materialistic girl, let me send the rest back to you.
GentleAsAGem: –Keep it. Use the money to treat yourself to a good meal. Eat less takeout, it’s bad for your health.
It’s Kele, Not Leke: –Okay, then… thank you, big brother. I’ll definitely pay you back once I get a part-time job in college.
GentleAsAGem: –Take your time, there’s no rush. By the way, didn’t you say you liked cheongsams last time? I picked one out and sent it to you. Remember to pick it up.

‘What do you mean, I like them?’
‘Isn’t it you, you old perv, who likes to see them?!’
He grumbled inwardly, but adhering to the principle that the customer is god, Tang Yunle’s fingertips tapped on the keyboard.

It’s Kele, Not Leke: –You’ve spent so much on me again, big brother. Once I start earning money from my part-time job in college, I’ll definitely pay you back for everything.

Only when the chat ended did his hands leave the keyboard. Tang Yunle leaned back, his whole body sinking into the soft, worn-out chair as he let out a long sigh.
‘Chatting with this kind of old perv is really exhausting, but what can I do? He’s my sugar daddy.’
‘The amount of cash I can milk from him alone is equal to three or four of my colleagues’ clients combined.’

“Ding! WeChat payment received: twenty-three thousand in wages. Please check your account!”

Hearing the sound of money, Tang Yunle immediately bolted upright and grabbed his phone.
He scrolled through his messages and tapped on the group chat labeled “Legit Work Group.”

Meng-jie: [@All Members, this month’s salaries have been sent. Please check your accounts. By the way, the best performance this month goes to @It’s Kele, Not Leke, with a bonus of one thousand. The worst performance goes to @GottaSeduceMyBro-YoungMasterChen, with a deduction of three hundred from his salary. Let this be a lesson to everyone. Please take your work seriously. The platform only takes a ten percent cut. The more you earn, the more you get. Keep up the good work!]
BeautifulAsJasmine: [Keep up the good work!]
SoCuteNoBrain: [Keep up the good work!]
I’llSeduceTen: [Keep up the good work!]

In an instant, a flood of identical messages spammed the group chat. Tang Yunle, being a team player, added one of his own.
That’s right.
He, Tang Yunle, was an online scammer!
Of course, Tang Yunle himself didn’t agree with a term as socially discriminatory as ‘online scammer.’
In Meng-jie’s words, they were “providers of emotional value to men in the virtual world.”
They used all sorts of sweet words, cuteness, and coquetry to provide emotional value to their clients, and the clients only needed to provide money in return.
There was no fraudulent element to it at all; both parties acted on the principles of free will and equality.
Meng-jie ran the intermediary company, responsible for providing clients, account details, bank cards, lewd pictures, videos, and so on.
A ten percent cut would be taken from the money received from the clients.
After taxes, the rest would be deposited into their accounts each month as a salary.
Whether on a personal or official level, their jobs, company, and source of income were all compliant and legal.
As for the lewd pictures, don’t ask. If you had to ask, it was just part of the job.

GottaSeduceMyBro-YoungMasterChen: [Sorry, Meng-jie. I was too busy eating, drinking, and having fun with my best bro this month, I forgot to flirt with him and make him shell out cash. I’ll make him pay me back double next month.]
GottaSeduceMyBro-YoungMasterChen: [Hehehe, evilsmile.jpg.]
Meng-jie: [You can do it, Young Master Chen!!]

Reading this, the corner of Tang Yunle’s mouth twitched. This Young Master Chen was different from the others in the group.
The others were in this group to make money.
But Young Master Chen…
According to Meng-jie, he was a second-generation rich kid from a wealthy family.
He had pulled some strings to find Meng-jie and join the group for the simple reason of wanting to use a female account to tease his best friend.
Ideally, after successfully seducing his best friend, he would tell him the truth, relentlessly mock him, and laugh at him.
It was just that his progress was currently exceptionally slow.
Tang Yunle himself was amazed at how bizarre the thought processes of the rich were.

“School starts in a few more days.”
Putting down his phone, Tang Yunle leaned back in his chair and looked at the paper calendar in his rental unit, the start date of school marked in red pen.
His eyelashes curved, and his eyes filled with a smile.
“University life… I’m really looking forward to it.”