As the game neared its end, Xiao Xun still had one teammate alive, with over a dozen players remaining on the field.
Full squads were driving around, searching for remaining forces, while those alone or with incomplete teams chose to hide in spots less prone to the poison zone, waiting for the final showdown.
Xiao Xun lay prone on the ground when suddenly, a frying pan flew from the sky, hitting him and leaving him severely injured.
Startled, Xiao Xun jumped up, exclaiming, "What kind of move was that?"
Suddenly, he received the elimination notification. It turned out his teammate had also 'perished.'
He watched the death replay. The person who threw the frying pan was in the air… this was hard to comprehend.
Xiao Xun continued to observe the game interface. The remaining players were all performing ‘immortal-level’ maneuvers.
The final circle could truly be called 'The Twilight of the Gods.' Players sped through the poison zone without taking damage, threw countless grenades from the sky, and wielded frying pans larger than houses.
Xiao Xun was dumbfounded. What kind of divine game was this? Mortals like them were not fit to play.
These 'immortals' were all on smurf accounts, so reporting them wouldn't have much of an impact.
Xiao Xun was furious. He closed the game, declaring, "If this mobile game is ever completed, I'll crack down on cheating first."
He checked the time. It was a bit early for dinner.
There were no restaurants in the villa area, so meals had to be either cooked by himself or the housekeeper.
Just then, the person responsible for restocking the refrigerator entered through a back door. It was the first time he had seen anyone living there.
He quickly pulled out a pack of cigarettes in a plastic box and offered it to Xiao Xun, saying with a smile, "Boss, hello."
Xiao Xun waved his hand, "Thanks, but no."
"You're the owner, right!?"
Xiao Xun turned and pointed towards the room opposite the kitchen, "See that room? I live there. The owner of this place lives upstairs."
The supermarket delivery boy asked curiously, "Then who are you?"
Xiao Xun thought for a moment, "I guess you could call me the male housekeeper!"
The boy immediately straightened his back. "So you're all working for someone! I've been to so many places, and you're the only male housekeeper I've ever seen. Other wealthy people all use female housekeepers."
After speaking, he lowered his voice, glanced around, and said to Xiao Xun, "The owner of this villa is a woman, and she's single, right?"
Xiao Xun eyed the boy warily, "That's right. What about it?"
The boy took out his phone, looking as if he understood everything. "Master, I get it. It's not easy being a male housekeeper. How about this: you overreport the refrigerator's usage every day, and I'll give you a hundred yuan kickback daily. What do you say?"
Xiao Xun was about to refuse but decided to teach him a lesson. "Okay! How much is the daily usage?"
The boy smirked carelessly, "Ah! The stuff in the fridge basically doesn't move. Other than fruits and vegetables that need replacing, the standard items just don't sell. If you want to make extra money, just report these infrequently used items. Anyway, these people have money; they won't care if it's a little more or less."
Xiao Xun nodded, "No problem. Are you taking the items with you, or leaving them?"
"Of course, I'm taking them. Otherwise, if you report it here, how will the replenished stock be handled?"
Xiao Xun looked at him curiously, "Then how do you make money?"
He glanced around suspiciously, confirming only Xiao Xun was present, and whispered, "I opened a small supermarket in the city. All the goods from here go there to be sold. Of course, the selling price is lower than the market price, so business is pretty good."
He then laughed proudly. It was a genuine, unconcealable laugh, indicating he had made quite a bit of money from this.
The cigarettes he offered Xiao Xun were the kind that people buy but don't smoke, and those who smoke don't buy.
In fact, the guy had three packs of cigarettes in his pocket. The ones for the villa owner were the most expensive he could buy. For regular household staff like Xiao Xun, who could help him make money, he’d offer cigarettes worth forty to fifty yuan a pack. For the security guards at the entrance, it was only ten-plus yuan per pack.
Since he hadn't met the owner of the house, he mistook Xiao Xun and offered the most expensive pack.
Fortunately, the guy didn't smoke. These cigarettes were especially hard to get, and every one smoked meant one less. Giving away a whole pack right from the start was quite something.
After seeing off the delivery boy, Xiao Xun looked up the brand of cigarettes. It was the same kind Cui Zhihao smoked. However, Cui Zhihao kept his cigarettes in his own pack, so Xiao Xun hadn't noticed how incredibly expensive they were.
Too lazy to cook for himself, he saw curry fish balls that had just been delivered in the refrigerator. He boiled a pack of Che Zai noodles, added some sausage, and after eating, took a nap.
He woke up in the afternoon. A profound sense of loneliness enveloped Xiao Xun, especially with the fading sunlight casting a desolate glow.
Xiao Xun even missed the days he lived with his cousin. Although the living space wasn't spacious, the food wasn't great, and he was often teased by his cousin, it was filled with the warmth of human connection.
Early in the morning, elderly people would work out downstairs. Due to poor soundproofing in the old neighborhood, they had received complaints.
Later, the working people next door would busily prepare for their day, showering and applying makeup.
Before leaving for work, they would nag Xiao Xun.
And after his cousin left, it was Xiao Xun’s time to sleep.
He'd sleep until almost afternoon, wake up to eat, and then sit at his computer to 'work.'
Occasionally, when he went out, it was just for small talk with the elderly neighbors or haggling with vendors.
After a moment of reflection, Xiao Xun drove to the company to pick up Mu Jiahe from work. He planned to discuss the mobile game with her, as he always thought it was a cool thing to replicate PC games onto mobile phones, especially with a one-to-one replication.
It was not only convenient but also comfortable to play, and the future online gaming market would undoubtedly shift from PC to mobile.
Knowing the YunTu system well, he had successfully replicated a classic 3D PC game onto mobile when the YunTu system was still immature, achieving over a hundred million downloads in a short period.
However, the YunTu system didn't have a paid download option. But he successfully used this mobile game to transmit a Trojan horse virus, charging major manufacturers for advertising fees, and pushing unclosable advertisements to the then-unstable YunTu system phones, earning a sum that he converted entirely into Detroit coins. Detroit coins were very cheap when they first came out.
This virus still existed today, but these were now self-initiated by the major software companies, so it was no longer called a virus.
Upon arriving at the company building, department heads were exiting the elevator and driving away.
Mu Jiahe hadn't come down for a long time. Xiao Xun took out his phone and called her. The call connected, but no one answered.
He thought to himself: she's probably coming down soon, so she's not answering.
But after waiting for ten minutes and still seeing no sign of her, he called again. The call still connected, but no one answered.
Now Xiao Xun was anxious, so he quickly got out of the car and rushed towards the elevator.
However, as soon as he entered the elevator, he regretted it. This was the company building, filled with surveillance cameras everywhere. Entering the company directly with his current identity was indeed somewhat inappropriate.