Back Home.
Lin Mo enjoyed a relaxing hot shower.
Even though, after cultivating his Qi, he could use spiritual power to cleanse the dirt off his body and remain untouched by dust.
But taking a hot shower is a way to relax both body and mind.
After the shower, he changed into some comfortable clothes and sat in front of his computer to study the cryptocurrency he had bought earlier.
It had already risen to sixty yuan per coin.
However, Lin Mo paid it no mind, stretching lazily and opening the long-forgotten League of Heroes.
The game hadn't yet reached the global prominence it would in later years.
But it was already taking shape.
Although the graphics were a bit crude, Lin Mo couldn't help but reminisce about the hundreds or thousands of hours he had spent immersed in it.
He hadn't planned to do much, just play a couple of rounds to relive the past.
In the S2 season of League of Heroes, there were no ranks, and Lin Mo picked the Blind Monk.
At that time, the concept of jungling was just emerging, but there was no concrete system or route yet.
So, as soon as Lin Mo entered the game, he took Smite and typed to the bush-dwelling Garen on the top lane, asking him to hold the line as he was going to jungle and would come to gank soon.
Bush Garen: "Jungle? What's this new playstyle?! Don't, I can't hold it."
Good, no immediate flaming.
The community atmosphere in League at this time wasn't too bad.
Toxic players weren't everywhere yet.
Luckily, this version of Garen was known for his endurance.
With his passive and W stacking armor and magic resist, Garen managed to hold the line.
However, Garen didn't get the promised gank.
Because after Lin Mo's Blind Monk finished clearing the jungle and upgrading his gear, he headed straight for the mid lane.
At this time, the mid lane was occupied by an ADC.
In the early days, ranged champions were stationed in the mid lane.
Fortunately, the opponent was merely an Ashe without any mobility.
Blind Monk dashed out of the bush, landing a Sonic Wave, and during this process, he placed a ward using the lantern from his inventory, then dashed to the ward to close in on Ashe, executing a perfect R Flash to reposition her to the end of the Sonic Wave.
Thus forming a triangular kill!
Gotcha!
Ashe's screen turned black and white in an instant.
If there were an emoji system in place now, Lin Mo would definitely taunt with a Sylas weakling emote.
After the kick.
His own mid laner hadn't reacted in time.
Once they did, they typed: "What was that move?!"
"The Ma's Triangle Kill!"
Lin Mo casually replied.
Then he headed towards the bottom lane, signaling his approach.
In a three-versus-two situation.
The bot lane duo engaged proactively.
And soon, Lin Mo secured two more kills.
The bottom lane consisted of a pre-level-six Tryndamere and a Master Yi, both utterly ineffective.
Even when seeing someone approaching, they wouldn't retreat, opting to fight to the death.
Which was simply gifting kills.
Afterward, Lin Mo upgraded his gear and headed to the top lane.
A dozen minutes later, Lin Mo was already pushing onto the enemy's base.
Bush Garen: "This is amazing, I didn't know jungling was a thing, I want to try jungling too."
Lin Mo: "Don't blame me if you get flamed, there aren't many champions suited for jungling."
Victory~
On the end screen, Lin Mo saw a friend request from Bush Garen.
Indeed, experts are always attractive.
But Lin Mo still accepted the request.
"Bro, can you teach me?"
"Sure, if I keep jungling, you can pick Cho'Gath or Garen in the bush to hold the lane."
"Hehe, no problem, I've mastered the art of holding the lane."
Lin Mo thought for a moment and then started another game.
The opponent chose Garen again, as it was easier to hold the lane.
Cho'Gath could also regain health and mana, but only if he managed to last-hit minions.
However, this Garen didn't seem very skilled at last-hitting.
The course of this game was almost the same, thanks mainly to Lin Mo's awareness and extreme reaction speed.
Lin Mo's reaction speed was probably even better than Feike at his peak.
But he played games just for fun, to reminisce about the past.
If CSGO were available now, he would definitely teach the GO seniors a lesson.
After finishing the game, Lin Mo logged off.
Garen could only bid farewell with regret.
Lin Mo turned off the computer; it was time to cultivate.
......
On Sunday morning, Lin Mo returned to his rented apartment with some luggage.
Mainly his computer and related stuff.
Although he remembered a lot of things, he also overlooked a lot of information at this time, so he felt it was necessary to check online for the latest news every day.
While Lin Mo was tidying up, there was a sudden knock on the door.
"Who is it?!"
"Oh, you're back. I heard some noise, so I came down to check."
Xie Yuling's voice came from outside the door.
Lin Mo opened the door.
"I brought some stuff back from home, so it might have been a bit noisy. Sorry about that."
Lin Mo set up his computer and attempted to boot it up.
The girl curiously watched Lin Mo fiddling with the computer.
"You brought your computer from home just to set it up here?"
"Yes, I still need to go to the telecom office to get an internet connection. Otherwise, going online would be very inconvenient."
Once Lin Mo confirmed the computer booted up, he immediately shut it down.
"Can I borrow your computer to play games?" Xie Yuling looked at Lin Mo's computer.
Lin Mo felt a bit embarrassed; his computer not only had games but also had some other software.
If he were to let her use it, wouldn't he need to clean it up first?
"It's not usable now, there's no internet. My computer is pretty much useless without it, and I still need to buy some accessories. Once everything's set up, I'll let you play."
Lin Mo closed the case.
"Come on, accompany me to the service center to apply for internet."
Xie Yuling didn't expect Lin Mo to take her along so directly.
But she still followed him to the service center.
At the service center, Lin Mo applied for a 12M broadband connection.
At this time, fiber optic connections weren't yet widely available, especially in urban villages. They could only apply for regular broadband.
It would take a few more years for the lines to be upgraded and for fiber optics to become standard, allowing for speeds of 100M or 300M to be easily accessible.
However, at this time, 12M was already considered a fast internet speed.
Lin Mo handed the broadband contract and an Android phone directly to Xie Yuling.
"Here, this is for you, as a reward for accompanying me to get the internet set up."
"Huh?"
Looking at the phone in her hand, Xie Yuling was a bit stunned.
She did have a phone, but it was an old sliding phone.
She wanted to replace it, but Auntie Zheng wouldn't allow it.
After all, she had just started high school, and Auntie Zheng didn't want Xie Yuling spending too much time on her phone.
Xie Yuling’s family didn’t even have an internet connection or a computer at home.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked to borrow Lin Mo’s computer.
“This is too valuable, and I remember you’re still using a flip phone. You should keep this phone for yourself,” Xie Yuling declined politely.
But Lin Mo shook his head.
“I don’t need it. I’m planning to buy the iPhone 5 when it comes out, so I thought I’d let you use this phone in the meantime.”
The iPhone 5?
Someone in Xie Yuling’s class was already using the iPhone 4, which was far better than the current Android phones, but it was also very expensive.
Still, she wasn’t too keen on accepting it.
Lin Mo understood her hesitation. He didn’t insist, though. Instead, he picked up the phone again and turned to Xie Yuling.
“Alright, let’s go buy groceries first.”