Lin Jiaxin clenched her fist, feeling deeply conflicted.
Even though all of it was true…
But she felt that comparing these kinds of things with other women would be… weird?
No, she couldn’t keep thinking about these strange things!
Today, she was here to play games and scout out the competition!
With that thought, Lin Jiaxin took a deep breath.
She cast aside all those messy thoughts in her mind.
She walked straight past the hostess girls and handed her ID and internet fee discount card to the counter.
“New member registration. Do you still have any single rooms?”
Lin Jiaxin didn’t really want to sit with other people.
Not for any particular reason, she just wasn’t used to it.
“Sure, let me take a look…”
Behind the counter was a curly-haired girl in a white shirt and JK skirt.
Hearing this, she leaned close to the screen and looked, then shook her head:
“Sorry, miss, we don’t have any. We just opened recently, and the customer flow is too heavy.”
Lin Jiaxin frowned. “What about a double room?”
“That’s… also gone.”
“Wait… then what’s left? The main hall?”
“Sorry… miss, the main hall seems to be full too.”
“There’s only one spot left, but it’s in a five-person private room.”
The girl behind the counter looked apologetic and proactively offered Lin Jiaxin a small snack:
“Why don’t you have something to eat first, and wait a bit?”
“Forget it, no need.”
Lin Jiaxin sighed wearily. “I’ll take that spot.”
If she waited any longer, even that last spot would be gone.
“Okay! I’ll set that up for you right away!”
The counter girl smiled sweetly and spoke to another girl in matching attire beside her:
“Xiaoyu, power on a machine for this young lady.”
‘Wow, so cute!’
If it were the Lin Jiaxin from her previous life, she would have definitely thought that.
But now, Lin Jiaxin felt nothing at all.
She nodded expressionlessly at the other girl. “Get me a decent mousepad. Don’t let me see a single speck of ash on it.”
With strangers, Lin Jiaxin habitually showed her aloof side. Strangers keep out!
And the girl named Xiaoyu, upon hearing this, nodded with a formulaic smile and a cutesy voice:
“Okay, okay! Leave it all to me!”
Lin Jiaxin had brought her own keyboard, mouse, and headset.
She didn’t need to use the greasy peripherals at the internet cafe, so no one asked if she wanted to rent any.
She followed the attendant Xiaoyu through several rows of seats.
Along the way, she could hear the rising and falling clatter of keyboards and the occasional callout sounds.
League of Legends, Valorant, and a few playing CS:GO.
Mm! That familiar internet cafe vibe!
Even though she hadn’t been here in years, she still felt like she was home!
The five-person private room was at the very back of the cafe.
While Lin Jiaxin was still outside soaking in that familiar internet cafe vibe, the attendant Xiaoyu had already gone ahead into the room and powered on the machine for Lin Jiaxin.
Turning around to see Lin Jiaxin inexplicably standing still in the hallway with her eyes closed, she rolled her eyes in mild annoyance.
But when she pushed the door open, she still wore that sweet expression with her cutesy voice, warmly reminding:
“Miss, your machine is all set up. If you have any issues, just call us. I won’t disturb you.”
“Oh? …Okay.”
Lin Jiaxin snapped back to reality and nodded faintly.
Then, holding her keyboard, she pushed open the glass door of the five-person room.
Four people sat inside: two men and two women.
They were all playing the same game.
Lin Jiaxin sat down while instinctively scanning them from head to toe.
Especially their model quality.
Hey, they were all at the level of handsome men and beautiful women.
The men were fair-skinned and clean-cut, exuding an elegant scholarly air.
The women were all youthful, energetic beauties.
They were all quite young, well-dressed, and spoke in soft voices.
Basically, aside from callouts and the occasional bit of small talk, there wasn’t much conversation.
Lin Jiaxin curled her lips slightly and nodded with satisfaction.
Sitting with good-looking, quiet people was much better than squeezing in with a bunch of slobby guys and listening to them yell in her ears!
But this wasn’t a single room after all. There were outsiders present.
Therefore, Lin Jiaxin was very mindful of her image.
She squeezed out a smile that only she could see.
She gently placed her expensive one-of-a-kind custom keyboard and premium mouse on the desk.
After connecting them to the computer, she extended two slender, beautiful fingers.
tap tap… tap tap… tap tap tap…
Using the Two-Finger Zen technique, she gracefully typed out her ID number.
510114514…
But actually… Lin Jiaxin’s peripheral vision was constantly on those people beside her.
Checking whether they were looking at her.
They definitely looked.
After all, the four of them were a team in this room, and suddenly someone new had come in.
And a very pretty girl at that.
Of course they’d take a few extra glances.
But that was it…
They were in the middle of a game! How could they get distracted?
‘Tsk, they’re not even paying attention to me?’
Lin Jiaxin felt inexplicably annoyed. They just look at her twice and that’s it?
Couldn’t they at least look a few more times?
Look at her keyboard, mouse, headset.
And the clean new mousepad she got!
They should know this keyboard was custom-made for over a thousand yuan, and the mouse was also a Razer brand costing over a thousand!
Way better than you guys using these internet cafe, sweat-polished…
Well, the peripherals at this newly opened cafe hadn’t had time to get sweat-polished yet…
But they were still who knows how many times better than these 100-to-200-yuan wholesale goods!
“You really don’t know quality… no wonder the score is so tight.”
Lin Jiaxin glanced at the screen beside her and gave a light snort.
8:9. They couldn’t pull ahead at all.
See, this is what happens when you don’t care about peripherals!
If they used her setup, they’d absolutely dominate!
‘A bunch of noobs. It’s up to your Sister Xin! Watch Sister Xin work her magic!’
Lin Jiaxin’s lips curled up high.
She moved her mouse and clicked on that familiar red icon she hadn’t opened in years.
Valorant, launch!
Lin Jiaxin had rented a Diamond Rank account.
She wasn’t playing her own account.
Today’s goal wasn’t simply to play games.
It was to test the skill level of players in this world.
Her own account still had to go through the tutorial and unranked matches.
Such a hassle. She didn’t have that much time for that.
[Match found!]
A serious female voice announced through her headset.
Lin Jiaxin, after many years, finally stepped back onto this battlefield.
She first took a quick look at the agent abilities.
Finding they were mostly the same as in her previous life, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Time for her to start playing!
Lin Jiaxin tilted her head with extreme confidence.
Then she pulled the monitor to just one fist’s distance from her eyes.
She moved her mouse and quickly locked in Sage (the healer).
‘First match, I’ll play something low-key to find my rhythm and test the waters.’
Lin Jiaxin still had competitive ethics.
After all, she hadn’t played in many years.
She wouldn’t feel right taking agents that required mechanical skill and game sense.
Like Jett and Reyna, duelists that heavily relied on aim and reflexes…
So, all things considered, the healer role suited her best right now.
Toss a Slow Orb to slow enemies, put up an Ice Wall to block bullets, and if she had her ultimate, casually resurrect the carry on her team. Perfect!