The next morning, during the first period, a familiar figure appeared by the door.
Skinny Boy.
He gave me a lewd smile before waving me over.
I wondered if he was here to pay his debt.
As I walked over to him, I saw him fish a 100 RMB note out from his pocket. âThatâs all Iâve got. Iâll pay you back slowly. I hope you donât mind,â he said.
âNo problem,â I reassured him.
He peered into my room and said, âYour class looks boring. Iâll introduce you to a fun app!â
âWhat is it?â I asked suspiciously.
âFighting the Landlord! Youâre good at it, arenât you?â he asked.
âI already have an app for that, but thanks,â I replied politely.
âNo, no, Iâm talking about an app that allows you to play with real money.â
âGot it, but itâs fine. You may leave now,â I urged.
âItâs made by people from Macau. Itâs legitimate,â he said, raising his phone up to show me.
âAlright, I got it,â I said, shaking my head.
âRemember to download it!â Skinny Boy reminded.
I returned back to my seat, somewhat annoyed.
A week later.
I was dozing off in class as usual when I received a friend request on my phone.
Skinny Boy.
I was about to reject the request when I thought about the money he owed me.
Perhaps, he was planning to pay me now?
I accepted.
A message came in shortly after.
Skinny Boy: Played it yet?
Me: No.
Skinny Boy: Register now for a gift!
Me: Oh.
Skinny Boy: Theyâre giving out money!
Me: Oh.
I received a link to download the page.
Frustrated, I clicked on the link and downloaded the game.
50 diamonds would be sent to your account upon registration.
One diamond was equivalent to one RMB.
When users accumulate 100 diamonds, they could then convert them into cash.
There were three arenas with different betting costs.
1, 5, and 10 diamonds respectively.
A game in the high-level arena costs 10 RMB.
There were only a few hundred people in the low-level arena while the middle-level one was practically empty.
The high-level arena was unbelievably packed. There were at least a few thousand players in there.
There must be a reason for that.
After poking around the game some more, I realized that the arenas had no restrictions.
Anyone could go in as long as they had points.
What about the negative points?
I clicked on the appâs shop.
The first sentence that popped up stated that upon topping up, the score would reset to 0.
So, users with a negative score could continue playing after a top up?
I might as well just enter the high-level arena.
I was given 15 diamonds upon entering.
Thereâs no harm in playing, right?
The first round started and I was struck dumb by my luck.
Straights!
Without hesitation, I doubled the bet.
I became the landlord and cleared my cards smoothly, quickly gaining 40 diamonds.
55 diamonds in total. 55 RMB.
Easy money.
I started another round, confident in my luck.
Amazing cards once again.
Icalled for Landlord.
90 diamonds. I smiled foolishly at the screen.
How about another round?
I still got pretty decent cards, but the three cards given by the landlord were horrible.
The whole process felt vaguely familiar.
Toward the end, even with my utmost skills, I had 2 scattered cards left.
Over 70 diamonds.
After another seven rounds, I had nothing left.
The last seven games were as unpredictable as a rollercoaster.
Zero diamonds left.
I recharged my account, already forgetting my original intent.
By the time I realized what was going on, it was already too late.
My bank card was maxed out.
Broke already? Had I actually spent all 700 in my bank account?
I looked up and realized that I was all alone in the classroom. Everyone else had left long ago.
I did not realize how long Iâd been playing the game for.
A message popped up.
Skinny Boy.
âHow was it? Had a windfall?â
I did not respond.
He messaged again. âWhy? Did you lose some money?ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
He owed me money, I remembered.
âYou owe me 600, right? Iâm out of money. Can you pay me as soon as possible?â
âIâll definitely pay you back, Brother, but I have nothing now. Next month, alright?â
âAlright.â
...
Iâll just borrow some money since I would get it back from Skinny Boy, anyway.
I borrowed 600 from a friend.
âThanks, Iâll return it to you next month for sure.â
I was good with people so I got the money pretty easily.
I launched the app and recharged my account.
I lost everything half an hour later.
I just kept losing like there was no tomorrow.
It felt as though I was playing with Skinny Boy all over again.
I felt the emptiness in my pocket and shook my head.
Never again.
I was about to delete the app when I noticed a message, sent 10 minutes ago, informing me that I had an outstanding mobile plan fee to pay.
How was I able to play for the last ten minutes without Internet data, then?
Who was I playing with?
I took my laptop out and started extracting data from the app before using C# software to open it. I learned these before, fortunately.
After analyzing the codes, I was shocked to discover that it was a single player app.
The game was coded in a way that players would win, yes, but at the moment that they were about to exceed 100 diamonds, their success rate would fall to less than five percent.
Since the cards were already set beforehand, there was simply no way to beat the system.
If not for the fact that my Internet data was cut off, I never wouldâve known about this.
This app had a foreign IP address. Someone was clearly making money out of it.
I thought about it the whole night and made use of the same principles to create a similar app.
I tweaked some basic settings and also altered the success rate to 90%.
The next day, Skinny Boy sent me another message.
Skinny Boy: Still playing it?
Me: Of course! Look at how much Iâve won.
I sent an image over.
Skinny Boy: Aye? Is it a different interface? 1,500 diamonds? The F*ck?
Me: This is another app. Much better than the one you recommended. High chance of winning.
Skinny Boy: Really?
Me: Why would I lie to you?
Skinny Boy: Link, please.
Me: Sure, but this app doesnât give free diamonds. Your account starts with 0 diamonds so youâll have to charge it first. I donât remember the link so Iâll send you the file instead.
I sent the document over with a bitter smile on my face.
Itâs my app, why would there be a link?
...
Ten minutes later, my bank account received some money.
He had charged his account with 6 RMB.
I smiled.
Half an hour later, he sent me a message.
Skinny Boy: Wow, I really won!
Me: Good for you.
Skinny Boy: Can I borrow some money from you?
Me: Why?
Skinny Boy: Thereâs a VIP arena, open for those with at least 700 points. Have you tried it?
Me: Yes, of course. Iâve been playing in that arena.
Skinny Boy: Yeah, so Iâm thinking of borrowing some money to start winning bigger.
Me: I need it to earn, too. Find someone else, sorry.
Skinny Boy: Alright, have fun.
I wasnât able to keep track of Skinny Boyâs score, but over the course of half an hour, he had already recharged his account with a total of 600 RMB.
I opened my QQ account in preparation for his call.
Indeed, he called shortly after.
Using a voice-changing application, I turned myself into a woman.
âHi sir, how may I help you today?â
âHow do I withdraw my winnings? Why canât I find any information about it?â Skinny Boy questioned.
âYou canât claim the winnings, sir.â
âThe f*ck do you mean? I have over 8,000 diamonds inside!â
âIâm sorry, sir, but this is not a gambling app. Itâs just an ordinary game for entertainment purposes and the winning rate has been adjusted. How else could you have won each game so easily? Itâs all for fun,â I explained.
âIsnât this a scam?â Skinny Boy yelled over the phone.
âPlease, calm down, sir. When you play games by Tencent, are the beans you pay for redeemable? This app works the same way as Tencentâs Fight the Landlord. Itâs all just for fun and joy, do you get it?â I finished.
There was only silence so I hung up and deleted the customer service information before transferring the money out.
There wasnât a need to press Skinny Boy for payment any longer since he had already returned it all, both principal and interest.