"I need your help fixing a VR rig," Mahn Li said as they left the repair shop.

"What?" Xiaogang froze: "You don't mean… that VR rig? For EoL?"

"I do mean that. C'mon, let's go!"

"Shit! That's insane, bro! How did you get your hands on it?"

"I've got connections," Mahn Li said with a grin which faded when he remembered it cost him more than just money.

"What happened to it? Shouldn't it be under warranty?"

"Yeah, well… It's complicated."

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, it wasn't bought under the official channel. And the sales guy offered a bunch of upgrades and mods…"

After he finished outlining what was wrong with the machine, they had entered the apartment building's elevator. Mahn Li pressed 15 and closed the door.

"Oh? You've moved to the 15th floor now? Wait, isn't that…?"

"Yeah, there's another thing. The rig isn't mine."

"Whose is it?" Zhang Li asked, his eyes were glued at the increasing number. He had a bad feeling about this.

*Ding!*

The elevator door opened, revealing an anxious landlady pacing around like a caged tiger.

"It's just you two?" She asked Mahn Li.

"Yes. Xiaogang here is pretty green, but he's good at his job."

"What's his job? Pretending to be a statue?"

"What do you mean?" He turned around and saw Xiaogang standing motionlessly in a corner of the elevator, petrified with fear.

"Oh for crying out loud!"

As Mahn Li tried to drag him out of the elevator, Xiaogang whimpered.

"Brother Li, I never mistreated you. Why did you do this to me?"

"Do what? It's a paid job! Come on!"

"Fixing a VR rig I've never even touched! And it belongs to boss Yuan no less! Are you trying to get me killed?"

"Ugh! Relax, will you? If we mess up, I'll be dead too. You're not alone!"

"That's hardly relaxing, bro!"

"Right, right. I'm just kidding! She's not as murderous as the rumors say," Mahn Li said, casting a glance at Yuan Qiu, who snorted impatiently, "And I already know what's wrong with her rig. I just told you everything, didn't I? The fix is easy, just tedious as shit! We'll get it done today!"

"Are you sure, bro?"

"I'm sure, I'm sure. Relax!"

Turning to Yuan Qiu, Mahn Li said.

"Uh… sis Yuan? Could you pay him some money after we're done?"

"What? You've already mooched 3.5 months of rent off of me, now you want me to pay for your buddy too? Forget it! Pay him yourself!"

"Uh, how about this: I'll take 3 months worth of rents, and you pay the rest to him in cash. Is that okay?"

"Fine! If you could fix it!"

They entered her gaming room, where it was Xiaogang's turn to gawk at the impressive rig, while Yuan Qiu scowled at Mahn Li.

"You two better do it carefully," she warned, "If you mess up my rig, I'll..." She stopped talking, her eyes glaring at something behind him.

"Goddamn it!" She shouted and whipped her hand. Mahn Li heard a thud and then shrill, agonized cry behind him. Turning around, he saw a rat being pinned to the wall by a throwing knife. It twitched for a few seconds then expired.

"Ming'er brought snacks in here again!" She grunted: "I'm gonna clean that up, you kids can begin when you're ready!"

"Okay, message received, boss!" Mahn Li replied, glancing at Xiaogang, who was thankfully still absorbed by the VR rig, unaware of the unintentional threat.

Several minutes later, Xiaogang unpacked his toolkit and Mahn Li did the same.

They worked slowly at first for Xiaogang to calm down and get used to the machine. After a while, he began working by himself while Mahn Li handled a different component.

The overheating did not cause any significant damage, only a few cheap parts like micro capacitors had to be replaced. Fortunately, off-the-shelf parts could be used, so Xiaogang could easily run back to the store to retrieve them. Rewiring, on the other hand, was a lot of work.

"Whoever did the customizing made a mess out of this!" Mahn Li grumbled as he removed a messy bundle of tiny cables. Turning to Yuan Qiu, he asked: "How does this thing run, sis Yuan?"

"A little smoother than the previous FIVR games I played," she looked up from the mobile game she was playing to kill time.

"I see. It should have been a LOT smoother," Manco nodded: "And it will be after we're done!"

"Hmm. We'll see," she shrugged.

"What kind of character do you play?" He curiously asked.

"None of your business!" she dismissed the question.

'I bet it's a berserker or something similarly bloodthirsty,' he thought to himself.

"The movement's a little weird though," Yuan Qiu suddenly spoke up: "It's like, I feel like I should be able to perfectly control my body, but somehow it just felt... off. Somehow. Does it make sense?"

Mahn Li thought about it for a moment.

"Does your character have the same body size as you?" he asked. Yuan Qiu was about 165 cm tall. Slim and broad-shouldered, she was athletic and fit. Not the kind of physique one gained just by dieting and going to the gym, but the kind that was tempered by actual physical work. Mahn Li knew for a fact that she habitually renovated many apartments in the building all by herself, including carrying the heavy construction materials. He also saw her at a dojo in the neighborhood a couple times.

"Hmm... No, not really," she replied but did not elaborate. 'Most likely an orc, or half-orc,' Mahn Li continued letting his conjecture run wild.

"If your character has a different proportion, it always feels weird," he explained: "You've been living with this body for... a long time." he said, carefully avoiding mentioning her age "So there are lots of things you take for granted, like how long your limbs are. Say, if someone throws a ball at you, you can catch or dodge it easily, right? You don't have to calculate anything, your body can move just the right amount to get the job done."

"Hmm... I see what you mean," she caught on: "Because my virtual body had a different size, the movements I habitually make with my real body don't always work. Sometimes it's too little, other times it's too much."

"That's correct."

Leaving her pondering, Mahn Li turned back to his work. Hooking his old computer monitor to each of the faulty units, he used it as a makeshift troubleshooting screen. Slowly, Xiaogang and he cleared up one problem after another.

After a while, they lost track of time as they worked. Yuan Qiu had long grown bored and left the room, but neither of them noticed.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Finally!" As the last wire was soldered in place, Mahn Li said. He sprawled on the floor and let out an exhausted groan, feeling his neck and back aching.

Zhang Xiaogang was still energetic. The kid was furiously taking pictures of the disassembled units and taking notes. 'This kid's going places,' Mahn Li thought with a smile.

"I'm done!" Zhang Xiaogang told him: "Let's reassemble it!"

With a tired nod, he sat up. The two spend another half hour carefully reassembling the rig.

"It's done, sis Yuan!" Mahn Li said. Turning around, he saw the landlady startle awake.

"Huh, what? Oh, you're done?"

"Yes. You can give it a try now. Uh, you might wanna turn on the router first."

"As if I need you to tell me that!"

Mahn Li and Xiaogang left the room to let Yuan Qiu test the rig.

"What do you think?" Mahn Li asked.

"It's awesome !" Xiaogang replied, still bubbling with excitement, "it was a lot easier than I thought…"

"Yup. When I first fixed it, I felt the same way..."

For several minutes, the two chatted about the rig's design and operation. The conversation was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.

Yuan Qiu emerged from her gaming room and gave them a thumbs-up, grinning.

"Good job, kiddos. Now for the payment..." She fished out her wallet, took out some bills and handed to Zhang Xiaogang.

"Here you go, Xiaogang, 2000 RMB as agreed."

"Thank you, Ms. Yuan!" The kid said, a little surprised. That much was half of what he made each month.

"Whazzat?" She loomed over him, "What did you just call me?"

"I… I mean, big sis Yuan!" The poor kid stammered.

"That's better. As for you…" she turned and looked at Mahn Li: "Your next month of rent's on me! But make sure to pay after that or I'll kick you out!"

"What? We agreed…"

"… on three months," she interrupted him: "You're two months behind, aren't you? Now can you do the math, college boy?"

"Uhh…" He forgot about that bit. "Fine. One month it is," he sighed.

"Hey, are you sure you didn't leave anything unfixed? It won't break down tomorrow, right?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"Of course I did! What kind of person do you take me for?" he said indignantly, "I'm not that suicidal!"

"Hmm... Okay, I trust you."

"If it makes you feel better, I can offer you a lifetime warranty, as long as you let me live here..." he said with a grin "...for free."

"You better offer me a lifetime warranty as long as I let you LIVE." She growled and cracked her knuckles menacingly.

"Haha. Sis Yuan is merciful! We'll take our leave now!"

At that moment, his stomach growled. They had been working for... he didn't even notice how long. Now he was starving.

"Sis Yuan, you got any food?" he jokingly asked.

"Here. I bought them for you two, but you didn't stop working. They're cold now, though." She said, handing them four boxes of takeout. Two lunches and two dinners.

"Wow! Thanks, sis! You're the best!"

"Hmph! As if I need you to say that!"

"We'll take our leave now!"

As they left her apartment, Yuan Qiu called out: "Wait, little Li!"

"Yes?"

"Where did you learn to fix this rig? It's only been around for half a week."

"Uhh..." his tired mind began working to come up with an excuse.

"I have... a friend..." he said ", who's... a beta tester! Yes! And I hung around with him a lot! He's got a rig like this. That's how I learned about it!"

"Really?" She narrowed her eyes but did not find faults with his answer, "Alright. Good night!"

Leaving the landlady's apartment, the two of them went to Mahn Li's room and ate. The food was cold, but the starving duo inhaled them in minutes. With a satisfied burp, Mahn Li stretched.

"Not bad for a day's work, huh?" Grinning, he asked Zhang Xiaogang.

"Yes, big bro. It was pretty cool!" the kid grinned back: "I learned a lot. And Sis Yuan was a lot less scary than I thought."

"I told you so, didn't I? Still, don't get on her bad side!"

"I know, I know!" he nodded.

Mahn Li checked the clock, surprised to find that it was past 11 p.m. "Crap! It's this late?"

"Uncle's probably still out drinking right now. I should head back before he goes home. And…" Reaching into his pocket, Zhang Xiaogang took out the money Yuan Qiu gave him "I learned a lot today. You really don't have to pay me!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Without your help, I'll get kicked out of here, and that's if she doesn't strangle me to death first. Keep it, kid. You really earned it!"

Eventually, Zhang Xiaogang agreed to keep his share and left.

He could barely keep his eyes opened. However, he forced himself to stay up and check up on his character. He logged onto the game and to his relief, found Manco alive and in one piece.

Logging out, he took a quick shower then quickly fell asleep. He just spent an entire day without playing, but the matter of rent was resolved.

At least until next month.

.