Chapter 47: A New Start

Ji Xiao privately messaged two people: one was the elder brother of the little boyfriend who was as white as snow, and the other was an admirer of that same little boyfriend.

The white-clad one had even bragged to the original Xiao Yang, oblivious that the brother and admirer knew nothing of the intimate details between him and his little boyfriend.

They all believed the white-clad one treated the little boyfriend exceptionally well.

Of course, the white-clad one was skilled at maintaining appearances.

But privately, he had been suppressing the little boyfriend, using every means to ensure he couldn’t leave.

Trouble soon brewed. Ji Xiao didn’t want to get involved, so he simply deleted his communication accounts and game accounts.

Still, he needed to play games.

He lit a cigarette, opened a website, browsed through game accounts for sale, skipped the flashy, cash-grab mounts and outfits, and chose the cheapest equipment account.

Pure equipment, no cosmetics.

But.

Ji Xiao took a deep, irritated drag of his cigarette.

Damn it. Xiao Yang was such a fool—he didn’t have a cent to his name!

Because of his “idleness,” his parents wanted him to stand on his own and refused to give him money unless he took the job they arranged.

Xiao Yang was utterly carefree. He never went home, not even a phone call during holidays.

The computer was bought by his parents before the fallout.

After leaving home, whenever he ran out of money, he would take cheap boosting jobs—leveling, ranked matches—scraping together just enough to get by, repeating the cycle.

Until he met the white-clad one.

Until he latched onto Song Chu, a novice player dreaming of romance.

Song Chu believed he was broke only because he had just lost his job. He had no idea Xiao Yang had never worked a day since graduation.

The Black Cat saw Ji Xiao light another cigarette and cautiously said, “Why not go find Song Chu first? Then pay him back later?”

Who told the host to act so quickly and delete the account outright?

Didn’t he know he had no money?

Even if he had the skill to make money, he needed capital.

Ji Xiao: “Didn’t you say points can buy anything? Buy me an account.”

Black Cat: “…Points can be exchanged for this world’s currency.”

“Exchange.”

“How much?”

“Rate?”

“100:1.”

“Then exchange a thousand.”

Black Cat coughed lightly: “It’s 100 points for 1 yuan. You currently have 180 points, which is 1.8 yuan. Want to exchange?”

Ji Xiao: “…”

“Don’t talk.”

“Oh.”

Ji Xiao leaned back in his chair, squinting.

He put out his cigarette, opened a forum, and quickly typed a post.

#Boosting for ranked, win rate guaranteed above 90%, play first, pay later#

Not many people were idly browsing the forum.

His post soon got replies.

[Is this for real? Not a scam to steal accounts and gear?]

[Are you going to unlock the account so you can easily steal cosmetics and equipment?]

[Really? Really? Really? Pay after boosting? How do I contact you?]

[A new account posting this—obviously a scammer.]

[Scammers don’t use new accounts. OP, I DM’d you, please check.]

…

Ji Xiao glanced at the post, then opened his DMs.

He randomly picked one and sent his communication ID.

Soon, someone named “Sword Frost” added him.

Sword Frost: [Huh, this is a new account too?]

X: [Are you boosting or not?]

Sword Frost: [Boosting! Boosting! How do you charge, bro?]

X: [What rank are you?]

Sword Frost: [Cough, rank 5. It’s too hard, seriously too hard. I can’t climb any higher.]

X: [I’ll boost you to the highest rank. One thousand. Deal?]

Sword Frost: [Deal! Deal! Is the win rate really 90%?]

X: [For the matches I play, the win rate is 90%. Yours don’t count.]

Sword Frost: [No problem!]

The other party quickly sent Ji Xiao the account and password, adding: [Are you going to unlock it?]

X: [Of course I need to unlock it, unless you already have endgame gear and no need to swap equipment later.]

The other party silently sent the security lock password.

Ji Xiao logged in. Ignoring the flashy appearance of the character, he familiarized himself with each skill, read the descriptions and cooldowns, then steered the character toward the arena.

The Black Cat worried: “Do you need my help?”

Ji Xiao: “No.”

Black Cat: “I’ve never seen you play games before… Are you starting now?”

“In a bit.”

Ji Xiao opened a browser, researched skills and cooldowns of other classes, cracked his fingers, and officially began.

The Black Cat watched his hands fly across the keyboard, then looked at the battle on screen, swallowing hard.

This… it’s just…

No, he’s just fast.

He kept track of his own cooldowns, timed them perfectly, dodged skills with mastery, and without any teacher, learned to bait his opponents into using their big moves. Every move was exquisitely timed.

Teammate coordination?

But he always found the perfect moment to enter the fray, focus fire, and secure the kill.

There were even matches where his teammates dropped immediately, and he turned the 1v2 into a legend!

That day, Ji Xiao did nothing but play games, except for a quick trip to the kitchen at noon to make a simple meal.

In the same city, a young man sitting in an office received a phone call.

“Hello?”

“What?!”

“When did you sneak off to train without telling your bros? That 1v2 was absolutely insane!”

“?”

“How did you manage to kill two and survive with a sliver of health? You weren’t using cheats, were you?”

Remembering he had given his account to a booster, the young man—Sword Frost—had a hunch.

“Hey? Bro? You still there, bro?”

“Don’t waste time. Send me the video link and tell me what happened.”

“Oh? You don’t know yet? Let me tell you, a streamer was duo-queueing and ran into you…”

Sword Frost also saw the video.

Both sides had no healers.

Sword Frost actually had a healer, but at the start, the two enemy DPS charged straight in and killed the healer instantly.

Since the healer was down, the enemy had used most of their skills on the healer.

Normally, they would have won the 2v1 easily.

But they were up against Ji Xiao.

Ji Xiao, controlling Sword Frost’s account, didn’t hesitate after the healer died. He charged straight at the enemy assassin and, before they could recover, took them down with a combo.

By then, Ji Xiao’s skills were almost all on cooldown, and the enemy melee’s skills were nearly ready too.

Instead of retreating, Ji Xiao advanced straight at the enemy melee.

The melee, knowing Ji Xiao had used his big moves, wasn’t afraid and engaged head-on.

But Ji Xiao used the character’s light agility skill to pass through, followed by the class’s mobility skill, creating distance while moving toward a pillar on the map.

The melee chased without hesitation.

Ji Xiao turned around and used a control skill, baiting out the melee’s only purify.

Sword Frost watched in the video as his character, as if toying with the enemy, dodged every melee skill, activating damage reduction a split second before each big attack, tanking the hit while dishing out damage.

Finally, he barely won against the warrior with a sliver of health.

When the defeat screen popped up for the melee, Sword Frost’s character died from the bleeding debuff.

But Ji Xiao had won.

Because the streamer had background music, the clip also had the music and the streamer’s shouts and battle sounds, making it incredibly hype.

The streamer was fairly popular, and the clip gained a small buzz in the community.

After that phone call, many people who knew Sword Frost contacted him to ask about it.

At 5:40 PM.

Song Chu came home. The living room was empty. As he reached the bedroom door, he heard the clatter of keyboard keys. The smile on his face vanished instantly.

He had been gaming all day at home?

A whole month, and he wasn’t looking for a job?

Just gaming every day?

His hand rested on the doorknob. A flash of anger passed through his eyes before he gradually calmed down.

Song Chu, stay calm.

They had just made up last night. No need to rush. No need to panic.

Bullshit!

Song Chu pushed the door open: “Xiao Yang!”

Ji Xiao’s fingers flew, killing the last enemy. He took off his headphones and smiled at Song Chu: “You’re back.”

Song Chu: “…”

Since starting work, this was the first time he had heard that when he came home.

Song Chu, don’t get mad. Talk to him properly.

Properly.

Song Chu walked slowly up to him, forcing a smile: “Been gaming all day? Tired?”

“A little.”

“…” Damn it!

Ji Xiao pulled him into his arms, burying his face in his neck, inhaling deeply:

“But it’s definitely not as tiring as your work.”

Song Chu: “…”

See, he’s soothing you.

They had just fought yesterday evening. Now he was being nice. No fighting.

Song Chu reminded himself silently.

Ji Xiao kissed his cheek, sat up properly, and held him in his arms. In front of him, he messaged Sword Frost:

[I’m done. Log in and check. If it’s good, pay up.]

Sword Frost didn’t even log in to verify. He immediately transferred 1,000 yuan.

Song Chu was a bit surprised: “You… you’re boosting?”

“Mm,” Ji Xiao moved his hand from the keyboard to Song Chu’s waist. “I don’t have a job. I need to make some extra cash.”

Song Chu’s heart softened: “It’s okay. Take your time finding a job.”

Ji Xiao patted his head and said gently, “You just got off work. Rest a bit. I’ll cook.”

“I’ll do it…”

“Let me cook for you for a change.”

Song Chu grabbed his hand: “No, I have to stream…”

He worked during the day.

It was best to eat less late at night.

So his plan was to stream during dinner.

Ji Xiao smiled: “Stream then. I’ll cook, and you eat.”

“But then you’d be on camera…”

Ji Xiao stood up, still holding him, and looked into his eyes: “Do you think I’d embarrass you?”

All the anger in Song Chu’s heart melted away. He laughed happily: “Then wait. I’ll go wash my face and change.”

Ji Xiao gently kissed his lips: “Go ahead.”

Song Chu went into the bathroom, overjoyed.

Ah! Brother Xiao agreed to be on camera! He wanted to go public, to show off their love!

Heaven knew, the love he dreamed of always included a moment where his partner appeared on his stream to show affection!

His dream had come true.

After a day of gaming, Ji Xiao felt a bit dizzy.

He glanced at the closed bathroom door, went to the kitchen, washed his hands, then splashed his face with water before opening the fridge to check the ingredients, thinking about tonight’s menu.

Suddenly, his pants pocket felt heavier.

Black Cat: “I exchanged an energy drink for you. Drink it.”

Ji Xiao pulled out a small bottle and downed it in one gulp.

The fatigue and discomfort vanished instantly.

Ji Xiao tossed the empty bottle into the trash: [Thanks.]

Black Cat: “You’re welcome. Cost you ten points.”

…

Song Chu didn’t just wash his face and change clothes. He also filled in his eyebrows and applied clear lip balm so he would look better on camera.

When he arrived at the kitchen, Ji Xiao had already washed and cut the vegetables, leaning against the counter waiting for him.

“Brother Xiao, did you wait long?”

“Not long. Start streaming.”

The bangs on his forehead were still wet, clearly he had also washed his face.

After a day of gaming, he might be dizzy. Song Chu asked with concern, “Why don’t I still…”

“Be good. Start streaming. Let your fans see my skills too.”

“Alright.”

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Feelings of love

darkHealinglove

Read Now →
Not interested