"I thought it was something serious..." Chris Brooks let out a sigh of relief and started taking off his jacket. "Stop crying, Ethan, it's just a breakup. Real men don't shed tears easily."

"That's not the main issue." Brian Carter looked awkward. "You should know how much money Ethan spent on that online girlfriend in the game, right?"

The game Ethan Foster played was called "Nine Heroes," a legendary game that's been popular for ten years, notorious for being a time and money sink. Chris Brooks had played it a few years ago and knew that just one costume in that crappy game could cost over a thousand yuan.

He heard that girl always asking Ethan Foster for outfits during voice chats, and Ethan Foster was generous—she basically got what she wanted every time.

"It's just a costume, how much could it cost?" Trying to comfort his roommate, Chris Brooks downplayed the situation as much as possible.

Ethan Foster choked up, "All her cultivation points for the past six months were added by me."

Chris Brooks: "...That's still not too bad, just tens of thousands at most."

Ethan Foster's crying grew louder: "She has eight pieces of purple gear, I bought her six of them, and I even put level fifteen gems on one of them."

Chris Brooks: "..."

Chris Brooks went over and patted his shoulder. "Ethan, we have to be men. We absolutely can't do something as lame as going after your ex for payback after a breakup."

Ethan Foster had almost calmed down, but that brought the feelings back: "Of course I won't! Do you think I'm crying over the money?! I'm crying because I was deceived! I'm crying over the genuine feelings and effort I put in over the past six months!"

Chris Brooks asked, "What did she lie to you about?"

Brian Carter couldn't take it anymore: "That person is a guy."

"Sigh, that's not a big deal, just a guy..." Chris Brooks was halfway through comforting him when he froze.

Ethan Foster: "Awooooo—"

Chris Brooks was stunned: "A guy?!"

Brian Carter: "Don't repeat it, can't you see our whole dorm is about to be flooded with tears?"

"No way..." Chris Brooks was shocked. "That voice, how could it be a guy?!"

He'd heard Ethan Foster voice chatting with his online girlfriend before. The girl's voice was sweet and sticky, every sentence had a soft lilt, like it was coated in sugar. When she acted cute, it gave him goosebumps.

"It was a voice changer," Brian Carter said. "This morning, his girlfriend probably forgot to turn it on and used a male voice to ask him for a new costume. Listening to him act cute with that voice almost killed me on the spot... That voice was even rougher than Old Smith's, sounded like he was at least thirty."

Old Smith was their counselor.

Ethan Foster was crying so hard he could barely breathe.

Chris Brooks was at a loss for words: "You guys never video chatted?"

"No, just saw some photos," Ethan Foster said. "He admitted it, the photos were fake."

Chris Brooks: "..."

At this point, could the scammer even deny it?!

"You never even video chatted, and you still gave them so much money?"

"That's normal," Brian Carter said, opening a beer and handing it to Ethan Foster. "Isn't the whole point of online dating the anticipation and fantasy before meeting? It's just that Ethan was too unlucky and ran into such a ruthless one right away. I thought the worst would be a fake photo..."

Ethan Foster sniffled, "It's not even about the money, I just feel awful, and disgusted! I even deleted my account!"

Brian Carter was shocked: "Deleted it?! Are you crazy, Ethan?!"

"I just deleted the account, the gear and pets are still there," Ethan Foster wiped his tears. "You don't get it, my account and his had matching couple names, and we were even bound as Eternal Lovers."

Brian Carter: "..."

Eternal Lovers was a marriage system in "Nine Heroes." After getting married, both parties could go to the matchmaker to form a bond. Once bonded, the marriage status between the two accounts would remain permanent unless one was put up for sale or deleted.

Brian Carter said, "Forget it, Ethan, just take this as a lesson. We don't fall into the same pit twice. From now on, never do online dating again, and avoid getting scammed a second time!"

Ethan Foster looked at him with teary eyes, "If I don't do online dating, what's the point of playing games?"

"Why can't you play games without online dating?" Brian Carter retorted. "I've played 'Nine Heroes' for years and never got married once."

Ethan Foster: "That's because you have a childhood sweetheart girlfriend!"

Brian Carter was at a loss for words and turned to the person next to him: "Then look at Chris, he played 'Nine Heroes' for years too, and never did online dating, right?"

"If I were as handsome as Chris Brooks, with so many girls chasing after me, who would need online dating? Plus, he was still in high school when he played, busy with studies. Besides, what's wrong with online dating? Look at Chris Brooks's cousin, she's so pretty and has such good conditions, and she's still doing online dating..." Ethan Foster trailed off mid-sentence.

Brian Carter rubbed his forehead in frustration.

Crap, he hit a sore spot.

Chris Brooks listened in silence, not reacting or saying a word.