Chapter 6

Games are an indispensable part of the internet, especially online games, which began to emerge in China around the year 2000 and quickly gained popularity.

Currently, the hottest online game is probably "Stone Age." However, starting from the end of this year, Chen Tianqiao has created a peak in the domestic online game market with a third-rate Korean online game, and in just a few years, he has become the richest person in China.

Speaking of the online game "Legend" that made him a billionaire, it should be starting its pre-launch testing by now, right?

Li Mu was also a "Legend" enthusiast back in the day. Not long after starting university, he began playing "Legend" at the recommendation of a classmate and quickly became hooked. After starting university, his studies were not too demanding, so he often played with his roommates. He played a warrior character all the way until his graduation in 2005. Later, due to the rampant use of cheats, many old friends who played "Legend" gave up, and Li Mu stopped playing as well.

Now, thinking about it, a game like "Legend" with so many bugs, with his current abilities, finding bugs to farm money and items, or even writing cheats, would be incredibly easy. Moreover, this is a very profitable business.

However, at this moment, "Legend" has not yet launched. If I remember correctly, it will launch in September, go through a two-month free trial period, and then start charging, probably from November to December this year.

Li Mu carefully recalled that the real popularity of "Legend" would actually come at the end of this year. Also, the first cheat for "Legend" seemed to appear in November this year.

In his memory, that so-called first cheat only had one function: to automatically open the field of view, meaning players no longer needed to buy candles. Even with such a minor function, its adoption rate reached almost 90% in a short time, showing how strong the demand for cheats among "Legend" players was!

However, to make money from "Legend," he would have to wait a few more months. But the currently popular "Stone Age" presents an opportunity for Li Mu.

Like "Legend" and "MU Online," "Stone Age" is also a game where cheats are extremely widespread. Li Mu once read a news article about a cheat studio called "Abei Cheat" that, within one or two years, created a million-yuan industry by operating cheats for "Stone Age."

No matter how skilled the people at "Abei Cheat" were, they were only contemporary programmers. Li Mu, with his knowledge and technology from the future, just needed to identify the needs of gamers, and making money would be a breeze.

Thanks to Chen Wan's reminder, Li Mu instantly thought of a way to make quick money: creating cheats.

Moreover, this method was highly feasible. Out of excitement, he subconsciously held Chen Wan's hand.

At this moment, Chen Wan felt a bit flustered by Li Mu's grip. Although she was three years older than him, her experience with the opposite sex was almost zero, unlike Li Mu, who had dated a few girlfriends and had some experience.

But Li Mu was genuinely grateful for Chen Wan's reminder. The word "games" was like a wake-up call, instantly clearing his mind.

He had been an internet user for over a decade and always believed in one principle: the two things that most stimulate male internet users' virtual consumption are always sex and games, an eternal truth! This is completely different from the concept of e-commerce like Taobao, where money is exchanged for goods.

Creating cheats is definitely a quick way to make money!

Seeing Li Mu use such a clumsy method to take advantage of the girl, Li Dad coughed a couple of times, feeling embarrassed. His son still had a lot to learn!

Li Mu then let go of her hand. To cover his awkwardness, he pretended to type on the keyboard and said, "Computers can do a lot more than just go online and play games."

Chen Wan nodded. "Computers can indeed do many things. But we only learned basic computer usage. If you're interested in computers, you can consider majoring in a related field in university."

"Uh-huh." Li Mu responded absentmindedly, already thinking about the current game and cheat market.

"Stone Age" has been running for half a year, and commercial cheats have already appeared. However, Li Mu was confident that with his abilities, he could still make some money from "Stone Age" at this point.

First, he would use "Stone Age" to accumulate some capital. This way, by the end of September, he could be the first to develop a commercial cheat for "Legend" and seize the opportunity before "Legend" became a commercial success. This would be a great chance to make a lot of money this year.

With a clear direction in mind, Li Mu felt much more relaxed. He chatted with Chen Wan for a while, subtly inquiring about her situation.

Chen Wan is a third-year journalism major at Fudan University in Shanghai, about to start her fourth year. Her family runs a business in Haizhou, and she is an only child.

As for whether she was single, Li Mu only needed one sentence to find out: "Sister Wan is so beautiful, you must be the campus beauty at Fudan University, and your boyfriend must be a campus heartthrob, right?"

"I'm not a campus beauty, and I don't have a boyfriend."

Li Mu blinked and smiled, his expression a bit mischievous. Chen Wan realized he was trying to get information about her romantic life and thought, "This guy is really sly."

Li Mu's thoughts were racing. No wonder Chen Wan became a TV host in the future; she studied journalism.

As for her family, although she didn't provide many details, he estimated that their business was quite large. By 2015, when her father was sentenced for illegal fundraising, the amount involved was already in the billions of RMB.

Currently, Li Mu only had ten yuan in his pocket and lacked the real power to change Chen Wan's life trajectory, but he had enough time to plan ahead.

After the meal, Chen Wan insisted on taking a taxi to send Li Mu and his family home, but Li Mu refused. He didn't want to trouble her further, so he made an excuse that four people would be too crowded and insisted that Chen Wan get in the car first.

Chen Wan had no choice. Before parting, she specifically asked for Li Mu's home phone number, saying she would visit him when she had time. Li Mu readily gave it to her, as he had already planned to ask for her number to stay in touch.

After giving her the home phone number, Li Mu was about to ask for her number when Chen Wan took out a small notebook, pulled out a mini ballpoint pen, and wrote a series of numbers on a piece of paper.

"This is my mobile number. Give me a call if you have time. I'll be in Haizhou for the next few weeks."

"Okay." Li Mu took the number and carefully put it in his pocket.

After Chen Wan left, Li Dad hailed another taxi.

On the way home, Li Mu's mother and he sat in the back seat. She held his hand and said with a lingering fear, "When I got the call today, I almost had a heart attack. Thank goodness you're okay..."

"Yeah," Li Dad, sitting in the front passenger seat, turned his head and said, "This time, we were lucky. Be more careful in the future."

Li Mu nodded vigorously, feeling a warm sentiment in his heart.