Pei Ran had never hired a game companion, but his roommate had.

His roommate had hired a female game companion at the time. Her voice was sweet, calling him "brother" over and over, and Pei Ran could hear it all clearly through the independent speakers.

That female game companion seemed to only play the support role. Throughout the entire game, she followed behind his roommate, constantly saying "Brother, save me," "Brother, don't die," and "Brother, you're amazing." Pei Ran had the word "brother" swirling in his head all night.

Just as he was thinking this, Yan Zhun happened to vault in through the window next to him, followed by a 'thud' as a gun and two First-Aid Kits appeared on the ground.

"Pick it up."

Pei Ran asked, "Then what will you use?"

"Yours. Just give me any of them."

Then Yan Zhun, carrying the Vector submachine gun that Pei Ran had just dropped, vaulted out the window again.

Yan Zhun had taken Pei Ran to drop in a remote area. Yan Zhun was using his main account, which had a high rank, so the teammates they were matched with in this round were all very skilled. In the waiting lobby, they were already clamoring to jump at the containers and fight.

Yan Zhun remained unmoved. Only when the plane was about to reach the end of its path did he slowly mark a spot on the map and say, "Jump."

Since they didn't stick together, their teammates died just a few minutes after landing. People's attitudes are generally not great at night, so even after these two died, they didn't quit the game and just kept making sarcastic remarks on the team voice chat.

"I'm on my main account, right? Why are there still people who don't even jump with their teammates?"

"The king of the remote areas, I guess. Just camping until the end to steal a kill and get a chicken dinner."

"So annoying. Bro, wanna play together next round?"

"Sure. I'll watch these two get boxed first before I leave."

The script played out pretty much as they had imagined. Their teammate was indeed a king of the remote areas, and he had indeed camped his way to the semi-final circle with 0 kills.

But it wasn't exactly the same.

Because they had a teammate with the ID "111GOD," who was like a god of war in the semi-final circle, mowing everyone down with a Vector. First, he flanked and cleanly wiped out a full squad, and then he finished off a lone wolf next door with a precise grenade.

After the grenade kill popped up, their random teammates, the uncultured philistines, could only say the word "holy shit".

"Bro, bro, there's an M416 in this guy's crate. You should swap out the Vector." The teammate's tone had become much friendlier.

Pei Ran cautiously crawled forward and opened the enemy's crate. There was indeed an M4 inside, and it was fully kitted. "Do you want to switch guns?"

"No," Yan Zhun said. "I'll stick with the Vector."

Teammate number one said, "Okay, that's how the experts play."

Teammate number two said, "You're right. Go for it, bro."

This round was a blessed circle; getting the chicken dinner wasn't too difficult. When only the last enemy remained, the two teammates asked Yan Zhun if he wanted to play with them.

Yan Zhun said, "You should ask number three."

Pei Ran glanced at the bottom left corner... he was indeed number three.

"Are you two a duo?" the teammate said. "Number three, wanna join?"

Pei Ran said, "No, thanks."

After killing the last player in the match, Yan Zhun paused on the chicken dinner screen, lowered his eyes, and picked up the pack of cigarettes next to his keyboard.

"Number four is a game companion," Pei Ran continued. "If you want him to play with you, you have to pay."

Yan Zhun, holding the cigarette pack, couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.

Pei Ran's tone didn't change, he was dead serious about drumming up business for him: "On the XX App. It's not expensive, there's a grand opening sale. The price will go up later. The name is..."

The teammates listened, stunned, and replied with a few "okays".

Just as Yan Zhun returned to the game lobby, his phone screen lit up. He unlocked it and took a look. Someone had placed an order; it was probably the teammates from just now.

He put the cigarettes back and rejected the order.

Pei Ran came back after making a cup of coffee. He had added milk to it, and the color gradually lightened as he stirred.

"Did they place an order?"

Yan Zhun said regretfully, "No."

They entered another game. Before Pei Ran could even successfully load into the map, he heard an unfamiliar male voice in his headset—

"111, what a coincidence."

"You guys don't know 111? He's a bro who shot up the Asian Server rankings like crazy a while back."

"111, you there? Remember me? We're friends on here."

Yan Zhun glanced at his ID, xktv197. Judging by the name, he was probably a streamer.

It's just that he had added too many streamers, so he couldn't remember who this one was specifically.

Yan Zhun grunted in acknowledgment, as a response.

This 197 was clearly still live streaming, constantly interacting with his viewers. Once on the plane, 197 asked, "111, where are we dropping? I'll follow you."

The words had barely left his mouth when a bright yellow marker appeared in a small remote area on the far right of the map.

197: "?"

197: "Did your hand slip?"

Yan Zhun said, "I'm in a duo queue."

197 glanced at the teammate's ID and understood: "This number three? BabyRan? Oh... playing with your girlfriend?"

Pei Ran's account had been created for him by Luo Qingshan, and the ID was also chosen by Luo Qingshan. It was a matching couple's ID with Luo Qingshan's.

At first, Pei Ran also thought the ID was too feminine, but changing accounts was a huge hassle, so he never bothered with it. It wasn't until someone said it out loud just now that he felt a little bit ashamed.

"It's fine, don't worry about me." Pei Ran turned on his mic. "You can just play your own game."

Hearing a male voice, that 197 was stunned for a moment, then said, "A newbie? Alright, let's drop in a remote area then. This map is tiny anyway, we'll run into people soon enough."

Yan Zhun had chosen a random mode; this round they were playing the Rainforest Map.

Before long, Yan Zhun came looking for him again, carrying a fully kitted M4.

Pei Ran glanced at the gun on the ground and said, "No need, there are plenty of guns on this map. I have an M4 too."

Yan Zhun didn't say anything. He stood there for a long time without leaving, the gun still on the ground.

In the end, Pei Ran squatted down and dropped his own M4, which had no attachments, onto the ground. Yan Zhun quickly picked it up, opened the door, and left.

Pei Ran: "..."

197 witnessed the whole scene. He joked, "111, what are you doing? Does Baby Ran's gun have a buff?"

Yan Zhun grunted in acknowledgment. "Carrying my boss's gun doubles my combat power."

197 had a sudden realization. "You've also waded into the game companion business?"

Yan Zhun said, "You could say that."

197 was right. This small map was crawling with people. They had just finished looting two small remote areas when gunfire erupted nearby.

"E direction," 197 glanced at the map. "Holy crap, 111, where are you going?"

Pei Ran glanced at the person following closely behind him. "...We're heading over now."

By the time they arrived, their teammate was already fighting that group. It was four against two, and they were at a great disadvantage. Their other random teammate had already been boxed, and 197 was down to a sliver of health, frantically bobbing up and down behind a rock to use meds.

Pei Ran caught sight of an enemy out of the corner of his eye, who had his back to him and was aiming at someone else. He subconsciously opened fire. Luckily, his aim was steady, and he successfully knocked the enemy down.

Pei Ran rarely managed to kill anyone when playing this game; getting even one kill in a round was a lot. It wasn't until the opponent went down that he realized how fast his heart was beating.

"Amazing." Yan Zhun's voice was mixed in with the hail of bullets.

As if he were being praised by a teacher in elementary school, Pei Ran's cheeks inexplicably started to feel hot. He reloaded his gun behind a tree.