5 months of arduous lifestyle passed by.
“Miao Xiaomao!” The homeroom teacher called Xiaomao’s name.
Xiaomao stood up and walked toward the middle-aged Chinese in a formal white collar shirt, black pants, and leather shoes. He picked up a folded hard paper from the teacher and turned back to his desk.
“Dong Zhongying!” The teacher continued to pass the grade sheets to students from class E.
Xiaomao got back to his seat. He opened the grade sheet and read it.
‘Whew, I made it. I thought biology, math, and physics would end up with B or B+, but I got an A in everything. That early morning cramming technique really pays off.’
Xiaomao’s breathing got lighter as if he had lifted a mountain off his chest. Now, he had won the bet with his father.
‘With this, I can get my father to buy that game capsule.’
Xiaomao put the grade sheet in his backpack and brought out a bag of boiled peanuts to eat. He glanced at Guo Yanmei and her boyfriend, Dong Zhongying.
Dong Zhongying and Guo Yanmei grimaced when they saw their grades. Seeing his ex-girlfriend making an ugly expression, the corners of Xiaomao’s mouth curved up into a grin.
‘Pfft. That’s right. You horn dogs fooled around whenever you had a chance. What did you expect, a miracle? There’s still SAT mock test next week. Good luck with that!’
.
Hours later
DING-DONG
The afternoon class was over. It was time to go home.
Xiaomao packed his belongings as usual. He put the backpack on his shoulders and stood up.
GROWL
Because of the boiled peanuts, Xiaomao’s stomach roared and bloated.
Like a shameless old man, before Xiaomao walked out of the classroom, he released some silent gas. The old once said – Loud fart doesn’t smell, but the quiet one is devastatingly disgusting.
After dropping the chemical weapon, Xiaomao strode out of the classroom.
Five seconds after Xiaomao had left, complaints and curses were audible.
“Who the hell shit their pants here?!”
“UEH!”
.
A hundred meters from the Buddhist temple near Xiaomao’s house was a convenience store. Xiaomao rushed in and glanced at the clock.
5.30 PM.
He was early.
Xiaomao turned to the counter and nodded at a light-skinned 7-feet tall European elder. His bald head, bald eyebrows, scar on his left cheek, full white beard, and sunken eyes made the worst combination for a humble store owner. His appearance always terrified local customers, but Xiaomao liked him.
"Sup, boss Paw!"
The elder, Paul, was the owner of this building. He had been running a convenience store business for decades after he had migrated here 30 years ago. In addition, he had a part-time job as an undertaker for the Buddhist temple nearby.
Xiaomao had been working here for 5 months. Although the pay was minimal, it was better than nothing.
"Early as usual. Has the school holidays started yet?" Paul doesn’t care if Xiaomao mispronounced his name.
“No. There are still prep classes and a mock exam. There’s still a week before the holidays.”
“You guys are crazy. How are you keeping up with that brutal schedule and the part-time job?”
"Hehe. I have cats to feed. I need to work hard."
"I wish my kids could be half as hardworking as you. Oh, right. Isn't this the payday as well? I know that cat food doesn't cost much. What have you been doing with your salary? Woman?"
"Nah, I'm saving money for that."
Xiaomao pointed at the game poster in the store - Pangu Online 2
"VRMMO game? Isn't that the game in the news? Will you invest your money in a Ponzi scheme? Don’t do it. You’ll lose all your money!"
Paul knew about the game as it was in the news. The cryptocurrency of this GameFi had plummeted by 99%. The initial price was 2 USD per token two months ago, but it was now less than six cents per token.
No matter how Paul looked at it, the game was a failure.
"I know the inside news. It will moon after a year,” Xiaomao puffed his chest and put his belongings in the locker room.
"Pfft. Every crypto freak said that. A week later, all their money was gone."
"I'm serious, though."
"Whatever. Go change your clothes. Get ready for your shift."
Xiaomao pouted as the boss didn't believe in him.
PUUU
"Ah."
Xiaomao accidentally farted because of stress.
"Do something with your farting habit! Why do you always fart whenever you start your shift?! For God’s sake, go see a doctor!" Paul covered his nose.
"I'm sorry!"
…
At midnight, Xiaomao headed home.
As soon as Xiaomao reached home, he found his parents in the living room. A pizza box was in the middle of the coffee table.
His parents grinned. They waved their hands at Xiaomao.
"Were you waiting for me?" Xiaomao felt bad for his parents.
"Obviously, it's your judgment day! Grades, now!" Miao Damao snorted and wiggled his hand.
‘Typical Asian parents.’
Xiaomao complained in his mind while he brought out the grade sheet from his backpack. He passed it to his father.
Miao Damao and Katerina opened the folded hard paper and read the grades. They paused, but their pupils moved left to right as if they were trying to find fault with Xiaomao.
Xiaomao opened the pizza box and grabbed a piece without waiting for a response. He leaned back on a couch and eat the midnight meal.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
‘Let’s see how you react after seeing a 4.0 GPA.’
Miao Damao looked up to glance at Xiaomao’s smug face. He passed the grade sheet to his wife and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and holding his hands in front of his mouth.
His solemn expression emitted a malicious aura. He stared into Xiaomao’s golden eyes.
"Why not S?"
"I beg your pardon?" Xiaomao's smiling face was frozen.
"Above the A grade should be the AA, AAA, or S grade, right? Why are you so full of yourself with only the basic “Average” grades? Why not Above Average, Above Adept Asian, or Superior grades?!”
Xiaomao facepalmed, "Dad. School grades ain't tiers on the internet. There ain’t such things as AA grade, AAA grade, or S grade whatsoever. Don't mix it up."
"Pfft! When I took the exam, I scored 100 points out of 10! The letters of my grades are painted in real gold to honor my achievements! Look at your sheet. The letter's color looks like shit. You're a failure!"
"Stop mimicking Stephen He’s accent, please. I’m suffering enough emotional damage."
After messing with his son enough, Miao Damao smirked and tossed an envelope toward Xiaomao.
Xiaomao opened the envelope. Indeed, a bundle of cash was in there. It was the reward cash that Xiaomao and his father had bet.
"Jokes aside, good job. Maintain this enthusiasm, and you won't end up homeless. As for the game capsule that you asked for, I'll order it online."
"Alright!"
PUUUUU
Again, because of the excitement, Xiaomao unleashed his chemical weapon.
"GET YOUR ASS OUTTA HERE! YOU SKUNK!" His parents screamed and covered their noses.
Xiaomao took the pizza box and sprinted to his room. But his father's voice came after him.
"Be sure to take a shit quietly! We’re going to sleep!”
"…"
.
In his room, Xiaomao opened the envelope to count the cash, and his expression turned into a meme.
‘It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.’
100 bills of 100 Yuan notes translated into 10,000 RMB or 1,500 USD.
Xiaomao opened his bankbook to check his total saving.
After working part-time for four months, Xiaomao gained a humble amount of saving money.
Xiaomao had 4,500 USD in his account. This amount came from his part-time job and daily allowance from his parents. With the additional 1,500, Xiaomao had 6,000 USD to spend.
It was enough to start investing in the game cryptocurrency and THAT game.
Pangu Online 2
It was a mystery why the game company named it a second franchise when the first one had never come out. Xiaomao guessed that it might have something to do with licensing and copyrights, but he didn’t care. He had something else that he was interested in.
Xiaomao opened his laptop, which he had bought with his own money, and checked the crypto exchange site. He searched for several keywords.
“As expected. It’s crashed.”
Xiaomao glanced at the token pairs. The number was red as usual.
PACT (Pangu Contribution Token) / USDT (Tether USD) 0.049547 (-5.5%)
The number told Miaomiao that one PACT could be exchanged for less than five cents. From a glance, it looked as worthless as other shit coins in the crypto market.
Xiaomao remembered this token well. The price would continue to plummet, but it would stay at 0.04 for about 10 months. The insiders of Pangu Universe Incorporation would secretly buy and horde the coins while players continued to make profits from selling the tokens they had earned from the game.
At one point, the game company would update the game, and gamers around the world, including crypto-investors, would jump on this ship. Then, the price would climb from 0.04 USD per token to 2 USD per token within two months!
That was a huge opportunity! Even a kid could tell that any investor could earn a lot of money if they could buy it now. Furthermore, the price spike wouldn’t stop at 2 USD per token!
Looking at the screen, Xiaomao grew impatient. He couldn’t wait for the price to get to the lowest point anymore. He purchased 4,000 USD worth of PACT coins right away!
Amitabha All In!
Xiaomao prayed and pressed the market purchase button.
CHA-CHING
Though, from a calculator, Xiaomao should have gotten 80,000 tokens.
However, because of the exchange site’s algorithm, Xiaomao managed to purchase 79,500 tokens after the gas fee and the slippage charge.
After getting the tokens, Xiaomao leaned back and rested his arms on top of his head. He pursed his lips and fantasized about his future.
‘Should I do nothing and grab the easy cash next year? If I wait, these digital tokens will be transformed into 159,000 USD. After that, it will gradually increase in value. Two years later, the price will become 20 USD per token, and I will have…’
Xiaomao could simply do nothing and wait a year. Then, he would have 159,000 dollars! Then, two years later, it would become 1.59 million! However, a million dollars would be meaningless if ones couldn’t obtain the priceless superpower, which could only be acquired in-game.
‘No, I need a superpower! Once I have it, money will flow in! I can also invest half of my tokens and keep half. Then, I can keep working part-time to invest more. That should be the smartest choice, but I won’t have enough tokens for the UR NFT. What to do?’
Keeping the part-time job and investing half of his tokens looked like a better choice from an investor’s perspective. Unfortunately, it was far from enough to get a superpower. Xiaomao needed every token right now!
Xiaomao sat there, contemplating the pros and cons. One hour later, he came to a conclusion.
‘What can money do if I’m still a commoner? If I get that sweet immortality and superpower, I can earn everything back later. Hell, I might have become a billionaire by then!’
Xiaomao was satisfied with his conclusion. He closed his computer and went to sleep.
.
The next morning, Xiaomao consulted his parents.
“I’m going to invest in crypto. Can I borrow some money?”
“No,” Miao Damao’s expression turned dark as if he wanted to disown his son.
Cryptocurrency trading was not suitable for beginners and amateur traders, especially emotion-driven teenagers. Every crypto investor always advised others to only use cold money, which they could afford to lose. They should never use borrowed cash or use the hot money to invest in cryptocurrency, EVER.
Miao Damao understood the principle. He never wanted his son to enter this circle.
“But I know the inside news.” Rebuked Xiaomao.
“If you want to play with fire, do it with your own money. And if you lose everything, it’s your fault. But if you succeed, then you owe me 50% of your profits.”
“Wut?”
BONK
Xiaomao’s mother hammer-fisted the dad’s head and smiled, “Which token are you investing in, honey?”
“PACT. You two are working at Pangu Universe Incorporate. You know how this token will fare in the future, right?”
Miao Damao’s expression changed. On the other hand, Katerina’s eyes brighten, and she grinned from ear to ear.
“Why PACT?” Miao Damao put down his phone and stared at Xiaomao’s face.
Seeing his father’s scary expression, Xiaomao had a change of heart.
“Never mind. I’m not going to trouble you. Forget it, dad.”
Katerina turned around. She opened a cabinet and pulled out an envelope. She pulled out ten stacks of RMB cash.
“Kat, that’s our family’s saving,” protested Miao Damao.
The wife smirked and winked at the husband. The latter pursed his lips and shrugged as if they understood their body language.
Katerina passed the money to Xiaomao. She sat next to him.
“We won’t give you for free. This will be an official loan.”
“A loan?” Xiaomao was surprised.
“I’ll loan you 100,000 RMB. The interest rate is 10% per month.”
“Are you a loan shark?!” Xiaomao was shocked. The interest rate was too high.
“Will you take it or not?!”
“Can I pay you everything next year?”
“Sure, but you’ll have to pay me 260,000 RMB in total. If you were to fail to return the amount, we’ll disown you and kick you out of the house. Is that alright?”
Xiaomao took a deep breath. He calculated the profits in-game and token price in his mind.
A minute later, Xiaomao faced his mother.
“I’ll take it!”
“Good call. Now, I’ll draft a contract.”
Katerina stood up and walked toward the living room’s cabinet and pulled out a paper. The family spent the early morning drafting a loan contract.
Xiaomao ended up signing the contract. That day, he got his parent’s permission to skip school.
.
The afternoon of the same day, Xiaomao walked out of a local bank. He swiped his phone and opened his bank app. 17,000 USD was the number shown on his screen.
Xiaomao checked the exchange site next. The PACT price dropped to 0.045 per USDT, which was cheaper than yesterday.
“Hehehehe! Keep dropping.”
Xiaomao switched pages. His eyes scanned through the detail of the coin and stopped at the token report, which revealed the number of tokens in circulation.
‘A trillion token? Nah, by now, there should be several billion coins more than the report. Otherwise, the price wouldn’t have dropped this fast. Averagely, a player mints about 10-20 tokens a day, but 10 million players are playing the game. That sums to 12 billion tokens for the last two months, but this report was from the IDO date. Hell, the insiders must have sold a billion tokens and made billion dollars already.’
No matter how hard Xiaomao thought about it, this game economic was doomed to fail. He thought of his parents and their reaction this morning.
‘They knew. I bet they knew about the future patches and the game’s side effects. I should ask them if they know about the company’s secrets. No, I should ask them how many PACTs they are holding right now.’
Xiaomao closed all apps and called his father.
BEEP
Miao Damao picked up his phone right away.
“What up?” His father sounds rough and confused.
“Dad. Let’s be honest. How many PACTs are you holding?”
“Why do you wanna know?”
“Just tell me. You guys must have known something, right? You are from the game company.”
“Don’t tell your mother, okay?”
“Sure.”
“A billion.”
“HOLY COW!”
“Your mother has about a million.”
“… Wow.”
“Satisfied?”
“Was that from your money?”
“No. Every employee got this for free. I’m one of the executives, so I got a lot.”
“You’re lucky, dad.”
“But I couldn’t sell it when it first came out. My wallet is locked for three years.”
“No, you’re lucky, really.”
“If you say so.”
Baiting the conversation enough, Xiaomao decided to get to the point.
“So, do you know about your company’s secret and how we can get a superpower by playing the game?”