That evening, James received a WhatsApp message from Avril, the celebrity who lived across the hall.
"Uncle, is that viral proposal video actually you?"
James replied, "Take a guess."
Avril responded, "It looks like you, sounds like you, and you're rich enough to pull something like that off. So I'm guessing it's definitely you."
"Correct, but no reward for guessing right."
"I never imagined you'd be that kind of uncle. At first, I thought you were just a boring straight guy."
"And now?"
"Now, you're more of a romantic straight guy."
James chuckled softly to himself.
He had assumed that now that he had a girlfriend, other women would stop initiating conversations with him.
To his surprise, not only was this girl reaching out, but she was also complimenting him.
So, it's trueâguys with girlfriends are more popular?
It reminded him of a college roommate who, after getting a girlfriend, suddenly became inexplicably popular with women. He even ended up close with several other girls.
Turns out, women like chatting with guys who are already taken.
Avril messaged again: "Uncle, you're such a pro! The lines you said in that video made me cry!"
James replied, "I don't believe you. Send me a video of yourself crying to prove it."
He was just joking, but to his surprise, Avril actually sent him a video.
When he opened it, the video began with Avril gazing deeply into the camera, her starry eyes sparkling. Her pure, delicate face drew all attention to her.
She held her expression for three or four seconds.
Then, her petite nose wrinkled slightly, and her eyes filled with tears, which glistened and clung to her long, dark lashes.
Two crystal-clear tears slid down her cheeks, pausing briefly on her pouty lips before falling onto the table below.
Her acting was so flawless that even James, the self-proclaimed straight man, felt a bit captivated.
For a moment, he had the sudden urge to bring this girl home and smother her in affection.
"Wow!" James messaged back.
"Hehe, impressive, right? I can do even better. Do you want to see?" Avril teased.
"Not if it costs money," James replied.
"..."
Avril couldn't believe it.
A man who lived in a million-dollar apartment and casually gifted villas was stingy about something like this?
She didn't understand.
Was he one of those super faithful guys who didn't like looking at other women?
That was the only explanation she could think of.
If that were the case, then this uncle seemed like a decent man.
[System Notification: Avril's favorability +5.]
James hadn't expected his rejection to actually increase her favorability.
Realizing she probably thought he was some kind of gentleman, he quickly deleted the response he had typed out:
"What's the point of just watching..."
Instead, he sent, "You don't need to do those kinds of things. If you're short on money, I can lend you some."
Avril stared at his message, her heart softening.
This uncle she had only met once was already willing to lend her money.
"I don't like owing people money. How about you buy something instead?"
"What do you have to sell?"
"I can be your online game companion, take cosplay photos, or even endorse your company. A washed-up celebrity is still a celebrity!"
"What's your rank in 101?"
"Top 100,000 on the server."
"Oh, a Golden Warrior. I'm impressed."
Avril blushed slightly at his teasing and typed back,
"Wow, you're such a straight guy. I'm a celebrity game companion, and you still care about ranks?"
James, who had never even reached Gold, felt wronged.
His comment had been heartfelt praise!
"How much for a game companion session?"
"Emm... hold on, let me check the market rates."
Avril had never done companion gaming before. After looking online, she found that the rates were surprisingly low.
Some people were willing to play for just $10 an hour, with the highest rates barely hitting $100.
Only in-person companion gaming sessions were profitableâsome reportedly went for $2,000 per session.
She hesitated. Should she just go to James's place to play?
After all, he lived nearby, and he didn't seem like a bad person.
Avril messaged, "Friendship price: $500 per hour for online sessions. In-person sessions can be discussed separately."
James was intrigued. He hadn't expected in-person companion gaming to be an option.
However, since he was staying at Tailsa's place, he couldn't arrange for anything in-person at the moment. He decided to start with an online session.
"Deal! Let's play. Send me your ID."
He sent her his game ID, and soon after, a player named "Fading Radiance" added him.
Once they teamed up, Avril turned on her microphone.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" she chirped.
Her voice was sweet and clear, like birdsong.
James, not wanting to be overheard by Tailsa, who was doing her workout routine in the living room, put on his headphones and typed, claiming his mic was broken and the replacement hadn't arrived yet.
Avril believed him and started chattering about which mode they should play.
The idea of earning money while playing games excited her.
James usually played as an ADC (attack damage carry), but after checking Avril's stats with his game assistant tool, he saw that she also played ADC. So, he decided to pick support instead.
Avril was pleased that he didn't fight for her position and picked her signature champion: Caitlyn.
James chose Thresh, a shadowy support champion.
With his five-times-normal reaction speed and lightning-fast reflexes, his gameplay was terrifyingly good.
In clutch moments, he could focus so intensely that the game seemed to slow down, giving him extra time to react.
What took others a second felt like a full minute to him.
He could calculate the trajectory of minion attacks and predict every move.
With his current physical abilities, he could easily go proâit was almost unfair.
During the laning phase, he helped Avril last-hit all the minions she missed.
Whenever an enemy champion got too close, he'd whip them with Thresh's chain.
Once he calculated the enemy's health was low enough, he'd ignite them, throw his lantern to Avril, and set her up to claim the kill.
It was like spoon-feeding her. He raised her Caitlyn into a fully-fed monster.
By the 20-minute mark, she had four core items and could 1v3 opponents with ease.
It was the ultimate carry experience.
"Wow! I didn't know I was this good!" Avril exclaimed over voice chat.
"Let's go! If you hook them, I can kill them!"
"Playing against Silver players is so much fun. They're terrible!"
"I'm in such good form today. I'll carry you to Gold and prove this money was well-spent!"
Avril, a Gold-tier player, didn't realize it was her support carrying the game.
She genuinely believed her high kill count made her the MVP.
James, with his humble 1-3-21 score, stayed quiet.
True skill would reveal itself over time.
For now, he let her enjoy the thrill of dominating.
Once she realized she couldn't replicate the experience without him, she'd naturally think of him.
James wasn't in a rush.
They played until 11 PM, at which point Tailsa, now sleepy, came into the study where James was playing.
She had spent the evening watching movies with him in the same room.
Leaning close, she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered,
"Brother, when are you coming to bed?"
"Right after this match," James replied.
The house was quiet, and James had already muted Avril's voice chat to avoid being overheard by Tailsa.
"Who's this 'Fading Radiance'?" Tailsa asked curiously.
She wasn't into gaming and knew nothing about 101, but her instincts told her the ID that kept appearing on James's screen was suspicious.
"A game companion. She's helping me rank up," James said casually.
"Is it a guy or a girl?" Tailsa asked softly, her tone laced with subtle curiosity.
"Why are you investigating me, babe?" James turned to kiss her on the cheek and laughed.
"She's just a game companion. A tool to help me climb ranks."
Hearing this, Tailsa's doubts vanished.
"A game companion? Oh, I was just asking."
She leaned her soft body against James's shoulder, whispering seductively in his ear,
"Finish quickly, okay? I bought a super sexy lace nightgown... it's pink..."