Applying for an Account

At 6 a.m. on May 18th, a certain apartment in Los Angeles, California was brightly lit. Inside the apartment, first came the rapid sounds of running, along with the noises of washing faces and brushing teeth. Then, after another bout of running footsteps, an anxious shout from a young male echoed through the house, trying to wake someone else up.

"Tom, get up! Hurry, we're running out of time! If you don't wake up, I'll pour water on you." Seeing that his sleeping buddy wouldn't rouse, the young man dashed to the bathroom to get water.

The guy lying on the bed in a spread - eagle position was Tom Anderson. His friends all called him Tom. Tom was 25 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall, and quite good - looking. He worked in the logistics department of a hospital. He was a bit laid - back and not very thorough in his work. Since his job was relatively easy and his father was the hospital director, he had no real interest in work. Every day, he only knew to play games with his in - game pals, seeking his own enjoyment in the virtual world. As a result, at 25, no girl had shown any interest in him. This worried his parents, but they couldn't do much to change him. Tom himself, though, wasn't concerned at all and carried on as usual.

The young bespectacled man who had just woken Tom up was Mike Johnson. He was 24 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, slender, and had an okay appearance. Wearing a pair of glasses, his nickname was "Specky Mike". Back when playing games, he loved to pose as a female character. He managed to deceive those smitten male players, who all "swore earnestly" that they were willing to go to great lengths for him at any time. Some even offered to "commit themselves to him" in the game. He often felt proud of such antics, calling it "the art of being a cross - player". However, unlike some who pretended to be female characters in the game to beg for and cheat others' equipment, Mike never asked others for gear. All his equipment was either painstakingly acquired by himself or given to him by some of his friends. Mike was a bit careless and loved to crack jokes. He claimed to be a comedic prodigy but was often criticized by Tom as completely useless. He was from San Francisco, California. After graduating from college, he stayed in Los Angeles to work. Recently, he made a joke that went too far with his boss and got fired. Now, he was too lazy to look for another job. Relying on the rent from several storefronts left to him by his father, he spent his days playing games with Tom.

In his dream, Tom was in a game, holding the game's top - tier staff - the "Dragon's Scepter", standing on a mountaintop, enjoying the sunrise in the east and gazing out at the surrounding mountains. Beside him was an incredibly beautiful Asian - looking woman, gently holding his arm and leaning on his shoulder.

That woman was so beautiful that she seemed almost otherworldly. Describing her as just a "beauty" seemed an understatement. All the adjectives for beauty in the world seemed insufficient to capture her allure. She had the purity of a goddess, the playfulness of a sprite, the vitality of grass, the splendor of a flower, and the clarity of the snow - melt water on the peak of Mount Everest...

The whole scene seemed to freeze at that moment, and no one would have the heart to disrupt this beautiful instant.

Suddenly, this wonderful scene was shattered by a sudden downpour. The beautiful woman beside Tom slipped down the mountain and fell into the sea of clouds at the foot of the mountain. A heart - wrenching cry for help came from the foot of the mountain where the beauty had fallen.

Tom was jolted awake by the scene. He clung tightly to Mike and wouldn't let go, shouting repeatedly, "Luna! Luna! Don't die, don't leave me, don't leave me."

"Let go, you crazy guy! You punched my nose and made it bleed, and you broke my glasses," Mike said, covering his nose and struggling to push Tom away. After pouring the water, he was about to watch the show, but the person he'd targeted suddenly started flailing around like a madman. A punch landed on his nose, knocking his glasses to the ground. Just as he was about to bend down to pick them up, a hard kick landed on a certain sensitive part of his lower body, and then his body was grabbed in a tight embrace. This series of blows left him looking like a different person. His nose was bleeding non - stop, his facial muscles were contorted in intense pain, and with his squinting eyes due to the missing glasses, Mike now resembled a ghost from a TV drama.

In a daze, Tom became a bit more lucid upon hearing Mike's shouts. He unconsciously gave a hard bite to the person he was holding onto, which was Mike. After hearing a scream, he realized he had been dreaming. So he released his hands, wiped the water off his face, and leaned weakly against the headboard, slowly recollecting the scene in the dream.

He had been having this dream for quite a while. From the moment he first saw the beauty and was struck by her celestial appearance, to the sweet moment of watching the sunrise on the mountaintop just now. Before, the beauty had always refused to tell him her name. Later, as they got to know each other better, he learned that her name was Luna. Today, after his persistent pestering, Luna agreed to accompany him to watch the sunrise on the mountaintop. But just as he was about to confess his feelings to Luna, this idiot Mike woke him up by pouring water on him.

The moment he thought about his wonderful dream being ruined by that damned Mike, Tom flew into a rage. He grabbed the pillow on the bed and pounced on Mike, who was squatting on the ground, pounding him with it. While hitting, he mumbled, "You ruined my chance. The beauty I was about to get fell off the cliff, and so did my beloved staff."

Mike, squatting on the ground and taking the blows from the pillow, was in a helpless situation. Due to the injury in his vital area, he had no strength left in his body and couldn't fight back. Fortunately, Tom had just woken up and didn't have much strength in his hands for the moment. But letting Tom keep hitting him like this wasn't an option either, as they still had to go get their accounts later. Now, hearing Tom mention the staff, an idea suddenly struck him. He stood up and shouted, "Dragon's Scepter, Dragon's Scepter!"

Upon hearing Mike's shouts, Tom stopped his hands reflexively. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, muttering non - stop, "Where? Where is it? Where's Luna? Where's Luna?"

After searching for a while, Tom finally became fully awake. He grabbed Mike and cursed, "Damn it! You're playing tricks on me! Ah! A ghost!"

"Ouch!" A scream echoed from inside the apartment.

It turned out that Tom, having clearly seen what Mike looked like now, kicked him in the stomach. Mike, who had just stood up to catch his breath, was sent flying onto the sofa in the room.

Hearing the familiar groaning sound from the sofa, Tom was puzzled. "Could that really be Mike? But this guy was fine yesterday. Why does his face look so bloody and terrifying today? Ghosts don't have a physical body, right? Then what did I just kick? Oh no! That guy is really Mike."

Realizing his mistake, Tom immediately rushed to Mike's side. He casually picked up a sock that had been piled up on the sofa for months and started wiping the blood off Mike's face. While wiping, he kept saying, "Sorry, I was having a wonderful dream and you woke me up by pouring water. I didn't realize it was you. Are you okay? Don't be mad!"

"Get that stinky sock away from me. I'm already in a bad enough state, and I'm about to pass out from the stench," Mike shouted angrily at Tom, swatting away the sock that was smearing his face randomly.

"Hehe! Hehe! Sorry, I forgot," Tom retracted his hand, threw the sock onto the sofa, and laughed awkwardly.

Mike wiped the nosebleed off his face and asked Tom to hand him his glasses. After putting on his glasses, Mike went to the bathroom to wash his face. After more than 10 minutes of fussing, Mike finally returned to Tom's room. However, a wad of cotton wool was now stuffed in his red nose.

Tom almost burst out laughing when he saw Mike's comical appearance. But after Mike gave him a glare, he quickly changed the subject and said to Mike, "Why wake me up so early? You usually get up even later than me. Are you going on a blind date today?"

Mike spat at Tom and said to him, "Bah! What blind date? If I went out looking like this for a blind date, no girl would ever fancy me. Today is the day when the first - batch of accounts for the new game 'Dream's Beginning' are being distributed. It starts at 8 a.m. The local branch of the game company will begin giving out accounts. There are only 50,000 accounts available in our city. If we're late, we'll have to wait for the next batch. We need to hurry. If we can't get into the game today, Boss Ray will kill us." (The first batch of 10 million accounts is to test the server's capacity. So, there is a one - week gap between the first batch and the second batch of 30 million accounts. The game company plans to release 100 million accounts in the first month of the three - month public beta. Then, for one month, no accounts will be released to check the server's capacity. In the last month, players can register at any local branch of the four major companies or at major banks that have signed agreements with the company.)

"Ah! Boss Ray. Then we should hurry," Tom shuddered at the thought of Boss Ray's terrifying anger. He immediately put on his pants, grabbed his clothes, and rushed out of the door. From behind came Mike's hoarse shout, "You haven't washed your face or brushed your teeth yet. Wait for me!"

The two of them huffed and puffed their way to the game company's distribution point. "Wow! It's like a big sale of pork. There are so many people," Mike said in surprise, adjusting his glasses as he looked at the scene in front of him. The entrance of the game company was crowded with people. There were onlookers, street vendors doing business, and a terrifyingly long queue.

"Can't be wrong, right? It's not even seven o'clock yet. Why are people so eager these days?" Tom said, panting as he put his hands on his hips, completely oblivious to the fact that he was just as eager as these people to get an account.

Mike and Tom looked at each other. Mike asked Tom, "What should we do? Cut in line?"

Tom looked at the players whose faces clearly showed signs of "lack of sleep", "excitement", and "frenzy", and said dejectedly, "What else can we do? Just queue up. I don't want to be reported on the news tonight as the player who got brutally beaten up by a crowd of 'enthusiastic' players for cutting in line at the entrance of a game company."

Sitting on a small plastic stool that cost him $5, Tom was eating breakfast bought from a street vendor who was shuttling back and forth in the queue. He asked Mike, "Did you tell Beard and his wife?"

"Ah, I really forgot about that. I only remembered to wake you up," Mike said, slapping his head as if suddenly realizing.

Hearing that Mike hadn't done what Beard had asked, I grinned at him and said, "Then you'd better call them quickly. Otherwise, be careful of getting pinched internally by Silver. Hehe!"

Twenty minutes after Mike made the call, a BMW car that had just pulled over on the roadside stopped. Two anxious - looking people, a man and a woman, got out. The man was around 25 or 26 years old, with a crew cut and a square face, sporting short sideburns. His name was Chris, 26 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall. He and his wife ran a computer company and a supermarket. They were both super - game fans, leaving the stores in the care of Chris's younger brother and acting as hands - off bosses, claiming it was to "exercise his ability". Fortunately, his younger brother was smart and capable, and had made both stores thrive. Recently, it seemed they were planning to open a new branch. Because of his sideburns, his friends called him "Beard".

The woman was his wife, named Tracy Tang. She was 24 years old and 5 feet 5 inches tall. She used to be the campus belle of X University in this city. Chris was a year ahead of her. No one knew what methods he used to win her heart. When we were all puzzled, Tracy herself revealed the secret, "I like his honesty and steadiness." So, the friends exclaimed that Chris was a lucky fool.

Tracy was lively, cheerful, and eloquent. She could often leave Tom and the others speechless. Moreover, since there was a character "Sui" in her name, which was homophonic with "Sui" (in X City, "Sui" means nagging), Tom gave her the nickname "Chattering Tracy". Later, it was simplified to just "Tracy". This might also be related to the fact that Tracy often paid the bill when they, a group of close friends, went out together. Hehe! Like Chris, Tracy was a typical game fan and had a high - level of gaming skills. So, she was an indispensable member of their gaming group.

When Mike saw them, he quickly waved them over. First, Tracy managed to smooth things over with the few "lovestruck guys" behind, and the two new - comers successfully cut in line. And the "lovestruck guys" behind were not only "restraining" the players further back but also chatting with Tracy in a flattering way, such as asking for her phone number, suggesting having tea some other day, or inviting her to dinner later... all sorts of boring nonsense.

Watching Tracy easily handle those big and burly "lovestruck guys", Tom thought, "Alas! A beauty is a beauty. It's different everywhere. If it were me just now..." Thinking of this, he casually glanced at the few tough - looking guys behind, couldn't help shivering, and quickly turned his head to start discussing with Chris and the others about their division of labor after entering the game.

The four of them waited until 12 noon. After each of them spent 1000 yuan on a special holographic helmet for the game, they finally received a sealed white envelope in front of the account - issuing counter. That was the game account they had waited so hard for half a day.

Since the game's servers would open globally at 18:00 Beijing time, the four of them first found a restaurant to fill their stomachs. Then they went to the bank and each got a bank card jointly issued by the bank and the game company. This card could be used on the holographic helmet to exchange currency at any time. Finally, they headed in a grand manner to the supermarket run by Chris to stock up on "food supplies" for the next three days.

Because all four of them were experienced players, they knew that in the first few days of the game, they couldn't expect to eat well or sleep well. If they wanted a better life in the game later, they had to go all out these days. After buying everything, the four of them went home in two groups to catch up on sleep. They still had to stay up all night.

Tom and Mike returned to their "pigsty" - that apartment. The house was bought by Tom's family for him to use when he got married in the future. Unfortunately, Tom didn't even have a girlfriend yet. Tom, not wanting his parents to nag him all the time, invited Mike to live with him.

After making phone calls to inform Boss Ray, who lived in another city, and three other close friends they met in previous games, and making an appointment on the meeting place, Tom and Mike went back to their rooms to sleep.

At 5 p.m., Tom was woken up precisely by the big alarm clock he had just bought. He quickly woke up Mike and then called Chris and Tracy to wake them up. After doing all this, the two of them went out to have a quick bite. They got home exactly five minutes to six. After tearing open the envelope and memorizing the account numbers, they each put on their helmets and entered the game.