Chapter 356 - 258: The Beginning of Competitive Gaming (Part 2)

Chapter 356: Chapter 258: The Beginning of Competitive Gaming (Part 2)

His classmate barely got out the first syllable of "play" before he saw the look of panic in Leon’s eyes and remembered what they had agreed on yesterday.

"Study! Right, we’re in a hurry to go study. This assignment is a little difficult, so we planned to do it together. Hahaha..."

His mom’s face was etched with disbelief. "Really? Good children don’t lie."

"It’s not a lie, Mom," Leon said, scampering to the door in a couple of steps and opening his bag. "Look, all I have in here are my notebooks. See?"

"That’s right, that’s right! All we brought are our notebooks," one of his friends chimed in immediately.

"As long as you’re going to study, that’s fine. I was worried you were going to sneak off to the arcade."

Seeing his mom was still suspicious, Leon turned his pockets inside out. "Look, Mom, I don’t have any money on me. I can’t very well go to the arcade without any money, can I?"

"Alright, I’ll believe you for now. At least you’re finally learning to play fewer games. Even if you played all day, every day, could you really make a living off it in the future?"

Leon desperately wanted to argue that the Toto God was making a living off games right now—and a very good one at that.

But arguing with his mom right now would be unwise. He could already imagine her response.

’Are you the Toto God? Are you that skilled? Besides, of all the people who play games, she’s the only one making money from it. What makes you think you’d be next...’

Something like that, anyway.

"I know," Leon replied with a nod.

"Go on, then. Just don’t be back too late. If you get home after eight o’clock again, you’re grounded," his mom said as a final warning.

"Bye."

"Goodbye, ma’am."

Once the door closed, the group of friends scrambled a block away before finally letting out a collective sigh of relief.

"Jeez, Leon, your mom is terrifying."

"I know, right? She almost caught on."

"Why does she hate you playing games so much?"

The friends all started talking at once.

"What can I say? She’s a teacher," Leon shrugged. "She’s always wanted me to get into a good school."

"You must be under a lot of pressure at home."

The friend who had spoken thought for a moment. His own mom, on the other hand, seemed to have zero expectations for him. As long as he was alive, healthy, and happy, that was enough.

’It’s nice to be happy, sure, but it also feels a little... strange.’

Lately, his parents kept asking him how he’d feel about having a little brother or sister.

’They’d never brought it up before. His parents were in their forties—weren’t there risks to having kids at that age?’

’Could it be that they’ve realized I’m a lost cause and are desperate to raise another child with some potential?’

The realization that this was a very real possibility suddenly made him feel a lot less happy.

"Alright, enough of this depressing talk," Leon urged. "Come on, let’s hurry to the arcade and grab some machines."

Of course, they weren’t going to study.

A group of boys, not quite teenagers, hanging out together during the school holidays.

If they were actually meeting up to study, it would be an incredibly rare sight.

"But none of us brought money. How are we going to go to the arcade?"

To avoid arousing Leon’s mom’s suspicion, none of them had brought any money.

"Didn’t I say it was my treat?" Leon said, completely unconcerned. "Since when have I ever needed money to go to the arcade?"

"You’re not planning to sneak in, are you?"

"Hah, you’ll see when we get there."

As a precaution, the group didn’t go to the arcade closest to Leon’s house, just in case they were spotted.

They walked a full three kilometers before arriving at their destination.

White Bread and Wine Game City.

Judging by the name, this was no cheap, run-of-the-mill arcade.

"Are you sure this is the place?" one of his friends asked, gaping at the luxurious interior. It was a world away from the small, run-down place they usually frequented, which was freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer.

"Of course I’m sure. Come on, follow me."

Leon walked in confidently.

As soon as he entered, the guy at the front desk noticed him.

"Well now, if it isn’t little Leon. What’s this? Did your mom finally give you permission to come play games?"

The guy at the counter clearly knew Leon and was teasing him with a grin.

"Even if she doesn’t, you think that can stop me?" Leon’s tone was incredibly cocky. Anyone who didn’t know the situation might think he actually had the guts to say that to his mother.

"Not very old, but you’ve got a big attitude. So, what are you playing today? The Zog Group just released a new game called *Red Alert*. It requires a special cabinet, and it’s so popular you have to get in line for it now."

"Is that right? Well, put us down for a few spots in line. In the meantime, I’ll earn us some game money," Leon replied.

"No money again?" the guy at the counter asked. He pulled a small whiteboard from under a pile of stuff and handed it to Leon. "Go ahead, write it yourself."

Leon took the whiteboard and, with practiced ease, wrote: "Accepting challenges in any fighting game, Five Copper Coins a match. One-on-one coaching for any character, Ten Copper Coins a session."

Leon’s friends stared at each other in bewilderment when they saw what he wrote.

"Is anyone really going to ask you..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, an older man walked up to them.

"I’d like some coaching. For the Frost Witch’s techniques," the man said, pulling out Ten Copper Coins.

Leon’s friends were stunned.

"Wait, what? Why?"

Leon flashed a wicked grin. "I always wanted to hang out with you guys as just an Ordinary person, but it seems I have no choice but to reveal my true identity. For I, Leon, am a master gamer who can make money just by playing."

After he said this, the older man activated a machine and invited Leon over. The moment Leon sat down, a crowd of other players gathered to watch. Someone even came up and fawningly offered him a drink.

"Hey, little Leon, coach me next!"

"Hey, you can’t just bribe your way to the front of the line!"

"How is this a bribe? I’m just worried little Leon will get thirsty from playing so much. I’m just showing a little concern..."

The friends watched wide-eyed, unable to believe what they had just seen.

"You guys haven’t known him for very long, have you?" the guy at the counter asked, noticing their expressions.

"Yeah, we just met this semester. We’re classmates at the new school we just started," one of them replied.

"That makes sense. Little Leon used to spend all his time here in our game city," the counter guy said in a conspiratorial tone. "Then one day, his dad came to get him, saying he was going to break his gaming addiction."

’So both of his parents are like that.’

In their hearts, the friends felt a brief second of sympathy for Leon.

"His dad said at the time, ’You want to play? Fine, I’ll let you play until you’re sick of it!’ Then he announced to the whole arcade that anyone who could beat his son would get Ten Copper Coins."

The friends understood immediately. Leon’s dad had wanted him to get thrashed repeatedly at the arcade, hoping he would lose interest.

"Our arcade, and I’m not exaggerating, has the highest concentration of skilled players in the district. Back then, everyone wanted those Ten Copper Coins. It was free money, so why not? How good could one kid possibly be? And then... guess what happened?"

"What happened?"

"Leon played seventy-six matches in a row that day, and he didn’t lose a single one. A few of the top players who weren’t here heard the news and rushed over, but they couldn’t beat him either. From that day on, little Leon became a Legendary Figure in our arcade."

After hearing the story, the friends glanced at each other, then said in unison, "That’s so awesome."

Meanwhile, in front of the now-legendary Leon, several stacks of Copper Coins were already piled up on the arcade cabinet—at least a few hundred of them.

In reality, earning money from challenges was much faster than coaching. He didn’t have to explain anything, and each match only took a few minutes.

Coaching, in contrast, took ten to fifteen minutes a session.

But he insisted on offering coaching. In his eyes, that was what a true master did.

There was another, unspoken reason: he genuinely wanted to make money from gaming, if only to prove to his parents that he could.

Leon knew perfectly well that gaming skills inevitably declined with age.

It was an observation he’d made from watching players in the arcade. Older players learned more slowly and were harder to teach.

Sometimes he could explain exactly how to perform a combo, but they just couldn’t execute it, no matter what.

Kids, on the other hand, learned much more quickly.

’So, when I get old, I’ll definitely get weaker, but I won’t lose my experience. Even if I can’t beat people anymore, I can still use that experience to coach. It’s a business I can do for the rest of my life.’

If anyone else knew what he was thinking, they would surely have pointed out the numerous flaws in his plan.

Leon probably understood this on some level, but his obsession with proving himself to his parents made him overlook them.

"Alright, we’ve got the money. Let’s go try that *Red Alert* game. My treat," Leon said to his classmates with a swagger.