Chapter 22: What Is Wrong With This Person?

"If the player registered as a male... we use a beautiful woman as our profile picture!"

"If they are a girl, we use a handsome man's picture..."

"Opposites attract; it’s a simple truth. In fact, for homebodies, the lethality of a beautiful face is undeniable—it makes communication much easier."

"The internet is virtual, and we should leverage that virtuality to create convenience for ourselves..."

"Master Ge, are you alright?"

"..."

Zhang Yang sat in his chair, manipulating the chat interface while once again lecturing on his little nuggets of psychology. He noticed Ge Yumiao’s pale complexion and asked instinctively.

"I’m actually... doing okay..."

"..."

Ge Yumiao suddenly felt nauseous. His stomach churned involuntarily. He couldn't help but steal a glance at Wu Zhuang, the burly man from the Northeast. He recalled that unbearable memory once more!

"Hey there, handsome..."

"You're so amazing, handsome!"

"Hey there, handsome..."

He had once fantasized about who was behind that Q-Dog account... Was it a cute, petite girl? A bespectacled beauty with fair skin and long legs? Or perhaps... He had been immersed in it, imagining all sorts of unrealistic scenarios, even scenes from novels where beauties would be instantly captivated by him at first sight.

But!

He never could have imagined that behind that gorgeous profile picture was a burly man from the Northeast, picking his feet. At this moment... he got goosebumps all over again.

"Huh? Is this a newly registered Q-Dog account?"

"For a new account, Old Wu, listen: usually, people who register new accounts like this are trying to hide their identity, or they’re afraid we might infect them with a virus..."

"So, you must be cautious when chatting with someone like this..."

"Don't use 'handsome' or 'pretty lady.' Of course, people like Master Ge, who use ACG-style avatars, are usually immune to the whole 'handsome/pretty lady' routine..."

"But a bespectacled beauty, fair-skinned, pretty, and looking so pure—any man would find that hard to resist... unless he’s gay. And even if he is, it doesn't matter; the odds of that are so slim that if you hit it, you’d have to be lucky enough to have ancestral graves smoking with good fortune. So, we don't even consider it..."

Zhang Yang was lecturing. Wu Zhuang was learning, even taking notes in a notebook. And... Ge Yumiao was dying of social embarrassment. He felt like he wanted to find a hole to crawl into and never come out again. He finally couldn't take it anymore and walked outside to get some air.

He felt that life was just too long!

After watching Ge Yumiao leave, Zhang Yang didn't care; he continued to lecture Wu Zhuang.

"First, when dealing with a newly registered account, we must confirm one thing: this person has high awareness against scams! With such people, sending 'handsome' or 'pretty lady' messages can sometimes backfire. We need to be a bit more serious..."

"We should send: 'Congratulations! You are the first player to complete all the hidden tasks in the game. I am your customer service representative, Xiaowei...'"

"After sending it, confirm how they respond. From their tone, judge what kind of person they are... If they show strong interest in chatting, we can proceed to the next step, using our profile picture to get closer, giving them the illusion that they are impressive and admired..."

"If they just reply with something like 'Oh,' then it means this person is extremely vigilant. People like this are hard to lure out offline... And even if we do manage it, we must pick a public place where everyone can see us..."

"..."

Seeing the "Oh" on the screen, Zhang Yang frowned and turned to look at Wu Zhuang again.

***

"Respected sir, could we set a time to meet offline?"

"..."

"Are you free to accept a simple interview? We are very eager to meet a master player like you..."

"..."

"You are the first person to complete all the hidden tasks, and your score is even higher than Master Ge’s—you've broken our game's all-time record... I personally admire masters like you greatly. If I could get an autograph, that would be even better. I think it would be very meaningful..."

"..."

"Please rest assured, we are a very reliable group; there's no need to fear a setup..."

"..."

"The location is up to you: a cafe, an internet bar, a restaurant—any of those are fine..."

"..."

"Hey, handsome, why did you stop replying?"

What if... one day... you saw someone using your own profile picture, chatting with you, and seemingly hinting in every way that they wanted to meet you to celebrate and promote you in person?

How would that feel?

Liu Ruohan didn't think it felt very good. She sat on her bed, clutching a pillow and staring at her laptop screen, feeling goosebumps all over her body. When she finished reading the chat logs, her face turned red instantly. Especially after hearing that "handsome" line... she couldn't hold it anymore and buried her head in the pillow.

Somehow... she couldn't help but imagine herself gently calling a stranger "handsome"... and how those men would react.

In an instant... she couldn't help but shut down her computer.

This was simply too much to handle!

"How could this person be like this..."

"Ahhhhhhh."

"..."

***

On the other side, Zhang Yang had encountered his most difficult obstacle yet.

Convinced that he was a master of chat psychology, he was filled with embarrassment. The script didn't seem to be following his plan?

This person... why did they keep replying with "Oh" or "..."? Why did they seem so speechless? Did he do something wrong?

That’s not right! According to his analysis, there shouldn't be any problems!

And... why did they stop responding to him altogether? Even if they were gay, it shouldn't be like this, right?

Wu Zhuang watched from the side...

Zhang Yang stopped lecturing Wu Zhuang. His brain raced, countless identity choices flashing through his mind. He waited for a long time... finally... he saw the Q-Dog account reply.

"Aren't you afraid of copyright infringement for using someone else's photo?"

"..."

The other party suddenly asked this question. Zhang Yang was stunned. How could they ask that? Someone else's photo? This... why would they ask that? It made no sense!

Zhang Yang couldn't figure it out.

"Sorry about that. Who the photo belongs to isn't important. What's important is, sir, we hope to meet you and officially present you with your prize..."

"The prize is secondary, but I think it's very wrong of you to use someone else's photo to deceive people, don't you think?"

"Sir, we are not deceiving anyone..."

"Then why are you using someone else's photo? Don't you know this causes trouble for them?"

"Sir... we are not using someone else's photo..."

"Then is this you? Are you the person in the photo?"

"This..."

Zhang Yang froze for a long time. He wondered if he had run into a professional contrarian. If I’m not the person in the photo, are you?

Zhang Yang’s expression was blank... He took a deep breath and looked at the attentive Wu Zhuang. Zhang Yang knew he had likely crashed and burned. But he couldn't show it.

"Well, Old Wu, when you run into a contrarian like this, it's actually quite hard to deal with... How should we reply? First, we need to be a bit more sincere..."

"..."

Then, he typed:

"This is a photo of a former classmate of ours... It is indeed not a photo of me personally. If this has caused you any trouble, I would like to apologize on their behalf... Let’s talk about the prize..."

"..."

"..."

Unexpectedly...

"You're lying again! You don't have a classmate like that at all!"

"..."

Zhang Yang was stunned by this response. He was bewildered. What is wrong with this person?