Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Civilization Paradise
When Lu An Na took the report, she looked closely at the numbers. MCSS had dropped from 43 to 40, with the reference immune score at 100.
She turned to Physician Cheng and asked: “Mentor, didn’t Mr. Long Ming’s MCSS go down? That means his condition is getting worse. Why did you tell him he is doing well?”
Cheng Yue sighed, then said to Lu An Na: “Of course I know he is getting worse. Long Ming, his father, and his grandfather were all my patients. They passed right under my watch. I still haven’t found a good treatment for their family’s genetic illness. Long Ming has already spent a lot of money. He can’t pay more. We can only treat conservatively. I lied to him because I want him to keep a good mood and feel less stress. Maybe that way he can live a little longer.”
Lu An Na nodded and said: “I understand.”
That afternoon at the Lower District subway exit, Long Ming stepped out with the crowd. Seeing the familiar street, he relaxed.
His stomach growled. He had been busy since morning and hadn’t eaten a single bite, so he walked to a small shop by the road.
A big man with a cigarette in his mouth, the Boss, saw him coming and waved: “Isn’t this Long Ming? What do you want to eat?”
Long Ming ordered with a smile: “Boss, one bowl of clear soup noodles.”
After speaking to Boss Zhao Ku, he set a table outside and found a seat.
Zhao Ku laughed and walked back into the shop, then came out a few minutes later.
Long Ming glanced at the lively street in the distance and felt cheerful. He thought the test results were better than he had expected, and earlier he hadn’t dared hope for anything good.
Then he noticed a very long line far away and wondered what it was for.
Zhao Ku set a steaming bowl in front of him and said: “Your noodles are ready. I added some scallions. Eat while it’s hot!”
Long Ming thanked him, then asked with curiosity: “By the way, Boss, what is going on over there? Why is the line so long?”
Zhao Ku shrugged and said: “No idea. Probably another hype shop opening with a bunch of paid shills.”
Long Ming frowned and said: “Oh, so it’s a trick to fool people?”
Zhao Ku clicked his tongue and said: “Exactly. Shops like that and their shills should be taken away.”
Long Ming chuckled, then lowered his head and started eating.
More than an hour later, he opened his apartment door and walked in, coughing. He poured a glass of water, took his medicine, let out a long breath, and sat at his computer.
He opened the in-game auction house to list some gear and items. But when he saw other people’s prices, his eyes went wide in shock. In just one day, the prices of all gear and items in the game had crashed by half.
He rubbed his eyes and looked again, hoping he had seen it wrong. Reality was cruel. The virtual assets had truly collapsed.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself, then called his regular trading partner, Black Fatty, by video.
The call connected with a ding. A round-faced man with two small mustaches appeared on the screen and said: “Yo, isn’t that Brother Long? What’s up?”
Long Ming said: “Little Fatty, prices in Black Starfield just crashed.”
Little Fatty grinned and said: “I know!”
Long Ming frowned and said: “How? This morning it was fine.”
Little Fatty blinked and said: “You didn’t hear? You didn’t read the notice? At noon, the City Lord’s Manor in Mountain City officially announced a plan to fix the bad gaming scene. The government will open a game for everyone. Once people heard that, they dumped everything. That’s why Black Starfield crashed.”
Long Ming gave a bitter smile and thought: [I go to the hospital and the sky falls.]
Even though he had graduated from a top academy, his poor health kept him from normal jobs. Luckily, he learned fast and played games well, so he made money by tutoring and gaming. But lately his cough wouldn’t stop and even talking was hard, so he had to quit his well-paid tutoring gigs and rely only on gaming. Now even that had gone wrong.
Little Fatty asked with a chuckle: “Brother Long, how much stock do you still have?”
Long Ming said: “I’ll send you a screenshot.”
He sent a picture of his backpack and storage.
Little Fatty glanced at it and whistled, then said: “Wow, that’s a lot of gear, items, and coins. You really hoard!”
Long Ming said: “It’s not that much.”
Little Fatty clicked his tongue and said: “What a shame. If you had sold this morning, it would have been great. Now the market is wrecked.”
Long Ming said: “Too late to say that.”
Little Fatty leaned in and said: “How about this. If you want, I’ll buy it all at twenty percent.”
Long Ming’s mouth twitched as he looked at him and said: “Twenty percent?”
Little Fatty spread his hands and said: “Don’t say it’s too low. The auction house is already down to fifty percent and still dropping fast. With that much stock, it’ll be hard to cash out. Soon it might be worthless.”
Long Ming narrowed his eyes and said: “Then why are you buying at twenty percent?”
Little Fatty snorted and said: “Ever heard ‘fortune favors the bold’? Sure, Mountain City launched a new game, but who knows if it’ll be fun. Maybe it’ll just be another cash grab, and then players will come back. Anyway, forget the talk. Sell or not?”
Long Ming answered without hesitation: “Sell.”
He chose to cut his losses. What Little Fatty said might be true, but Long Ming couldn’t afford to gamble. If everyone was going to the official game, why cling to the old one? With his skills, he could still make a living in the new game.
Little Fatty tapped on a calculator and said: “Alright, that comes to 20,950. Let’s make it 21,000.”
Long Ming said: “Deal. Send the money to my card, and I’ll trade everything to you.”
Little Fatty grinned and said: “No problem. We’ve done this before.”
Long Ming hung up and finished the trades.
Moments later, his game account was empty. He stared at the blank screens, feeling a little dazed.
His phone buzzed. A text popped up: “Dear Mr. Long Ming, your bank card ending 421 received 21,000. Total balance is 32,150.”
He glanced at the balance, steadied himself, quit the game, and searched the new Mountain City title in his browser.
The official page read: Civilization Paradise, a cross-era masterpiece using the newest virtual reality tech to give you a truly immersive world.
He stared at the bold promises and thought: [Do they really have tech this advanced? Did I sell too soon?] He had no choice now but to believe.
He noticed the game required Mountain City’s official virtual helmet or a virtual game pod. The helmet cost 20,000 Mountain Coins. The game pod cost 2,000,000 Mountain Coins. Sales would start tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., offline only. The servers would open three days later.
He checked the sales points in the Lower District. There were only a few, but one was close to his home.
He shut down the computer, took a small folding stool from the corner, and headed out. He planned to line up overnight. Sales started tomorrow morning, and if he went then, he would almost surely miss out. He was good at this kind of scalping, so he was ready to camp in line.