Gaming workshop
It all felt so familiar, incredibly so.
In his previous life, Chen Yu had been a legendary hardcore gamer.
Yet, on the very first day of his rebirth, he found himself faced with the public beta of the game "The Legend of Mir 2".
September 28, 2001.
That was indeed the first day of the The Legend of Mir 2 public beta.
Almost involuntarily, Chen Yu headed toward the Lenovo Internet cafe.
"Hey, Wang Pangzi, give me a computer."
"Huh?"
"What's with the 'huh'? Start up a computer for me."
"Oh, coming."
The owner of Lenovo Internet cafe was called Wang Dong, but due to his stout figure, everyone affectionately referred to him as "Wang Pangzi", which meant "Fatty Wang".
In his previous life, Chen Yu couldn't even count how many all-nighters he'd pulled at Wang Pangzi's Lenovo Internet cafe. They had both shared a deep passion for The Legend of Mir 2, which had made them quite familiar with each other.
However, it seemed that the present-day Wang Pangzi didn't recognize Chen Yu. Wang Pangzi was a bit taken aback by Chen Yu's casual use of his nickname, but business was business, so he had to set up a computer.
"Sure, there are no available computers at the back. You can sit here, at number 3. I'll set up a computer for you. By the way, how many hours are you planning to use?"
"Two hours."
"Alright, I'll make a note of that."
At this time, using the internet was different from the past. Without internet cafe management software, most internet cafes relied on manual registration using notebooks. As for time limits, they wouldn't disconnect the computers; the internet cafe owner would personally remind customers when their time was up.
"Wow, Chen Yu, what brings you here?"
Just as he sat down, a person emerged from the nearby seat, patted Chen Yu on the shoulder, and exclaimed in surprise.
"Hey, Zhang..."
"Zhang what? You've forgotten me since you got into high school?"
"How could that be, Jian Ge? You're here for the internet too?"
Upon closer inspection, Chen Yu recognized the person in front of him.
Zhang Jianming, a former middle school classmate of Chen Yu.
In his previous life, Chen Yu had done well academically, getting into high school, while Zhang Jianming had only attended a vocational school. Although they had met a few times after high school graduation, their contact had dwindled.
Unexpectedly, on the first day of his rebirth, he ran into Zhang Jianming at the Lenovo Internet cafe.
"You, the top student, are here, so why can't I, the class dragger, be here too? Are you here to play QQ?"
"Well, I don't have a QQ account yet."
"You don't even have QQ? I remember I helped you apply for one back in ninth grade."
"I never logged in, and I forgot the account."
"No worries, I'll help you apply for a new one."
Seeing an empty computer nearby, Zhang Jianming sat down and asked Wang Pangzi to set up a computer for Chen Yu.
"By the way, Jian Ge, why aren't you wearing glasses?"
"Glasses? When did I ever wear glasses?"
"You're not wearing them today?"
"Are you out of your mind today? I've never worn glasses in my life, from childhood to now."
"Oh... Well, you never know, you might wear them in the future."
In Chen Yu's memory, Zhang Jianming was someone who wore glasses.
He hadn't expected that Zhang Jianming hadn't worn them during his youth, and this was the reason Chen Yu hadn't initially recognized him.
"Hey, why hasn't The Legend of Mir 2 started yet?"
While talking, Chen Yu clicked on the The Legend of Mir 2 client.
On the first day of the server opening, he was eager to jump into the action.
However, after clicking, he found that besides being able to register an account, he couldn't actually enter the game.
"What's going on? The Legend of Mir 2 hasn't started yet."
"Didn't they say it starts today?"
"Yes, today, but not until 6 PM. It's only a little after 5 PM right now, so there's still half an hour."
"How do you know?"
"I'm a The Legend of Mir 2 closed beta player."
Zhang Jianming looked proud. "Let me tell you, this game is incredibly fun. I came here today specifically to play The Legend of Mir 2, and I didn't expect you to be here too."
"Well, I thought I'd give it a try too."
"Great, we can team up later."
"Sure, I'll choose the Wizard class."
"I'll choose the Taoist class. Actually, I wanted to pick the Warrior class, but..."
"Why did you want to pick the Warrior class?"
"Warriors are strong in PvP. But unfortunately, they're not good at leveling up, and their equipment is expensive. During the closed beta, a single Judgment Sword was sold for a sky-high price of 5,000 yuan."
"Selling for money?"
A spark lit up in Chen Yu's mind.
"Yes, didn't you know? Although the closed beta only lasted a few months, there were plenty of wealthy players. For a weapon or a ring, those big spenders would throw in thousands or even tens of thousands. Rumor has it that some people have already formed gaming workshops and are waiting for The Legend of Mir 2 to launch so they can farm equipment to sell for money inside the game."
"Professional gamers."
With this mention, Chen Yu seized upon that glimmer of an idea.
Yes, I can make money playing games.
While Zhang Jianming had confidence in The Legend of Mir 2, Chen Yu knew that when the game was released, it would shake up the entire Chinese internet.
He might not know how to do anything else, but he excelled at playing games.
Moreover, with the experience of decades in his previous life, his understanding of The Legend of Mir 2 was likely deeper than that of the developers themselves.
At least the developers didn't know how The Legend of Mir 2 would become popular in the future.
Not to mention, he had a treasure trove of classic The Legend of Mir 2 strategies in his head.
Strategies for leveling up in The Legend of Mir 2.
Treasure hunting strategies.
PvP strategies.
And, of course, strategies for running a gaming workshop to make money.
With this wealth of experience, even if other gold-farming teams entered the game on the opening day, Chen Yu believed he could definitely dig up his first pot of gold in The Legend of Mir 2.
However, at the moment, he was just one person, and it would be a bit challenging to earn his first pot of gold alone. But when he saw Zhang Jianming next to him, Chen Yu suddenly smacked his head. Why was he so slow? He had a seasoned player right next to him.
He remembered how back then he and Zhang Jianming had formed a Warrior and Wizard combination that had powered through to level 40 in the internet cafe.
You see, The Legend of Mir 2's leveling difficulty was quite high at the time. To reach level 40, it would take at least half a month, let alone 30 levels.
At the time, neither Chen Yu nor Zhang Jianming had personal computers, so they relied on all-nighters at the Internet cafe to achieve their progress.
"Bro, do you dare to go big?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what if we go into The Legend of Mir 2 to farm equipment and make money?"
"You mean the two of us?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"Bro, come on, we're not professional gamers."
"Who says you can't farm equipment for money if you're not a professional gamer?"
Chen Yu shook his head and said, "Look, today is September 28th, the first day of the public beta, and everyone is starting on the same line. Moreover, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are weekends, and the day after that is National Day, which means we have a 7-day holiday. In other words, we have a 10-day break. I've calculated it; during these 10 days, we won't go anywhere, just stay in the internet cafe 24/7. I'll play for 12 hours, and you'll play for 12 hours, taking turns. Whoever gets tired takes a break, and when you're not tired, you continue. I bet that with our gaming style, we can easily break into the top 100 in the entire region. As long as we can maintain our advantage during these 10 days, we can make a hefty profit."
"Wow, Chen Yu, you're serious about this?"
"Of course, I am."
After saying that, Chen Yu immediately stood up. "Wang Pangzi, I want an all-nighter."
"All-nighter... it's not yet time for all-nighters."
"I don't care, I'm starting my all-nighter now. No, not just an all-nighter, this computer needs to stay on for 24 hours."
"Well, that works. All-nighter costs 6 yuan for one night, and if you count the daytime hours, it's 20 yuan for a day."
"Okay, here's 200 yuan. I'm booking it for 10 days."
Pulling out 200 yuan from his pocket, Chen Yu said firmly.