Ethan Carter watched as Alice Green busied herself at his coffee table, arranging the lavish dinner she’d bought from outside, feeling a surge of emotions. The girl in front of him wore a fitted white tracksuit, her ponytail neat and tidy, her waist slim, her legs long, her chest... well, she was a bona fide goddess... Damn, he’d really hit the jackpot—what a New Year’s gift. Looking around at his tiny two-bedroom apartment, the most valuable thing was a high-end computer, which he’d bought after scraping together every last cent. He only had 50 Alliance coins left in his pocket and had no idea where his next meal would come from. Even his mouse was a freebie that came with the computer...

“Hey, Alice Green.” Ethan Carter propped his chin on his hand and asked lazily, “What was your grandpa thinking?”

“Mm, Grandpa said you’re definitely not worse than anyone else, so marrying you is as good as marrying anyone.” Alice Green replied without even looking up.

“You’re only 16... Is it really appropriate to be talking about marriage now...” Ethan Carter was stunned by Alice Green’s matter-of-fact expression. “Then why did you agree? Are you attracted to my good looks?”

“Um...” Alice Green’s face instantly turned red, and she nodded slowly.

“...”

...

“Ethan Carter, did you log onto the League of Legends platform today?” Alice Green suddenly looked up, her mouth full of food, her words a bit muffled.

Ethan Carter’s face turned green. Girl, you’re like a different person when you eat—maybe your grandpa kicked you out because of your eating habits. “Yeah, I did. Played a placement match. Hey, can you eat a little slower?”

The girl’s face flushed red in an instant, and she lowered her head shyly. “I’ve been like this since I was little. Grandpa says it’s no use no matter what...”

She probably really was kicked out...

“Ahem, it’s fine, it’s fine, eat up. I actually like straightforward girls like you.” Ethan Carter smacked his lips, saying what he didn’t mean.

“Today, a god-tier player suddenly appeared on the platform, only played one placement match, and used Lee Sin to absolute perfection. He pulled off three skill moves in a single game—one was warding right in the center of Thresh’s lantern to stop him from saving the ADC, another was a ward-hop kick, and the last one... I still haven’t fully figured out how it works. The system named it ‘R-Flash.’ That Lee Sin got a fake pentakill with it! His game rating must be way higher than mine! Maybe he can really break the placement match ceiling of Bronze 1.” As she spoke, the girl looked heartbroken: “I got so excited watching the stream that I spent my entire monthly allowance of 50,000 Alliance coins on flowers for him. I can’t be this impulsive next time. If Grandpa finds out, he’ll definitely complain about me again...”

Pfft!

Ethan Carter spat out his food right onto Alice Green’s face. “Sorry, sorry, I just couldn’t help it...” He quickly grabbed a towel to wipe her face clean, and while doing so, asked tentatively, “What’s his ID?”

“What are you looking at.”

“Looking at you, so what! Ahem, sorry, reflex. Oh, so his ID is ‘What are you looking at,’ right? You just said you sent him flowers?”

“Yeah, I sent 50,000 Alliance coins’ worth.” Alice Green was still full of regret.

“How much does he get from that?”

“40,000.”

“That’s... kind of embarrassing... Ahem, never mind, never mind. So, I heard you guys formed a little team recently?” Ethan Carter almost let something slip.

“Yeah, the school teacher told us to form a team. They said if the team is strong, we’ll get extra points for the War Academy entrance exam next year. Everyone on the team is pretty good—after placements, they all hit Bronze 1. I heard next year we’ll be competing with teams from other schools for a chance to represent Magic City in the world tour exchange. The whole thing will be covered by the news, and if we perform well, all the War Academies will be fighting to recruit us.”

“What a world...” Ethan Carter smacked his lips and reminisced about the hard old days. If he’d had these opportunities back then, he wouldn’t have needed to boost accounts. The path of righteousness is never easy!

“I’ve already followed him. I’m going to watch all his future matches. It’s been ages since anyone invented a new champion technique in League of Legends.”

“Yeah, gotta watch, definitely!”

...

Late at night, when everything was quiet, Alice Green was already fast asleep in the next room. Ethan Carter turned his computer back on and logged into the League of Legends platform. 999 friend requests—already at the limit.

“God, let me warm your bed!” Ethan Carter clicked on this one, grinning from ear to ear. This one’s a keeper. He’d turned down female fans before, but that was only because the fan was just too ugly! He’d rather get banned than give in!

Ethan Carter eagerly opened this player’s profile...

Damn! You’re a burly dude with leg hair thick enough to be natural wool pants! Disgusted, Ethan Carter deleted all the friend requests in one go.

He opened his personal account. Total assets: 1,317,943! Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands... He was rich! 1.31 million!

This world couldn’t be more wonderful. No need to take off clothes, act cute, show cleavage, or tell dirty jokes—just streaming could make you millions in minutes. Because of its unique nature, the League of Legends platform had integrated all online projects. Ethan Carter browsed the platform’s features, searching to see if there were any adult movies or the like. Whoa, there really were, but they were all pay-per-view!

Money’s no object! Buy! He bought 10 in one go!

Then, he was suddenly stunned by a breaking news alert: