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.
That’s all I’ve got. I’ll pay you back slowly. I hope you don’t mind,
he said.
No problem,
I reassured him.
He peered into my room and said,
Your class looks boring. I’ll introduce you to a fun app!
What is it?
I asked suspiciously.
Fighting the Landlord! You’re good at it, aren’t you?
he asked.
I already have an app for that, but thanks,
I replied politely.
No, no, I’m talking about an app that allows you to play with real money.
Got it, but it’s fine. You may leave now,
I urged.
It’s made by people from Macau. It’s legitimate,
he said, raising his phone up to show me.
Alright, I got it,
I said, shaking my head.
Remember to download it!
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: They’re 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 app’s 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.
There’s 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.
I
called 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 I’d been playing the game for.
A message popped up.
Skinny Boy.
How was it? Had a windfall?
I did not respond.
He messaged again.
Why? Did you lose some money?
He owed me money, I remembered.
You owe me 600, right? I’m out of money. Can you pay me as soon as possible?
I’ll definitely pay you back, Brother, but I have nothing now. Next month, alright?
Alright.
…
I’ll just borrow some money since I would get it back from Skinny Boy, anyway.
I borrowed 600 from a friend.
Thanks, I’ll return it to you next month for sure.
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 would’ve 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 I’ve won.
I sent an image over.
Skinny Boy: Aye? Is it a different interface? 1,500 diamonds? The Fck?
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 doesn’t give free diamonds. Your account starts with 0 diamonds so you’ll have to charge it first. I don’t remember the link so I’ll send you the file instead.
I sent the document over with a bitter smile on my face.
It’s 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: There’s a VIP arena, open for those with at least 700 points. Have you tried it?
Me: Yes, of course. I’ve been playing in that arena.
Skinny Boy: Yeah, so I’m 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 wasn’t able to keep track of Skinny Boy’s 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.
Hi sir, how may I help you today?
How do I withdraw my winnings? Why can’t I find any information about it?
Skinny Boy questioned.
You can’t claim the winnings, sir.
The fck do you mean? I have over 8,000 diamonds inside!
I’m sorry, sir, but this is not a gambling app. It’s just an ordinary game for entertainment purposes and the winning rate has been adjusted. How else could you have won each game so easily? It’s all for fun,
I explained.
Isn’t this a scam?
Skinny Boy yelled over the phone.
Please, calm down, sir. When you play games by Tencent, are the beans you pay for redeemable? This app works the same way as Tencent’s Fight the Landlord. It’s all just for fun and joy, do you get it?
I finished.
There was only silence so I hung up and deleted the customer service information before transferring the money out.
There wasn’t a need to press Skinny Boy for payment any longer since he had already returned it all, both principal and interest.
