What?! The Gamemaster And The Top Player Are Dating?!

The elevator ride was supposed to be silent since they didn't know each other or so Zhihao thought. 

"Are you Mr. Huang's son?" The man who was standing beside him asked and it made Zhihao frown a bit. 

The man's voice... It was too familiar. It was exactly like Li Ling's but a bit raspier. 

If Li Ling wanted to talk with more breath, Zhihao was sure that he would sound the same. 

"Ah! Yes. Do you know my father?" Zhihao asked back as he tried to push the thought away.. There was no way this man was Li Ling but Zhihao felt like the two suddenly looked alike. Their body proportions, their height, their voice, and even their small habits of being kind was similar. 

"I work together with him," The man answered and it made Zhihao curious. 

"Work together? But you're so young," Zhihao instantly regretted saying it out loud. It was something that was supposed to be only kept inside his mind, but he had somehow let his tongue slip. He had always thought that those who work together with his dad were always old and grumpy people who loved money. There was no way he could imagine such a young person to be working together with his father and if it was true, then this man was certainly impressive. 

Zhihao heard the man chuckle as he asked, "How do you know I'm young?" 

It was a valid question. Zhihao couldn't even see his face so how could he say that the man was young?

"You're young," Zhihao responded as he pointed at the man's wrist, "You are wearing a watch."

"What is that supposed to mean? If I'm old, can't I wear a watch?" 

Zhihao shook his head as he answered, "You can wear a watch, but not this one." 

"And why not?" 

"This watch is a one of a kind watch that may look common but it works on the latest digital technology available. A watch that lets you do a lot more than just look at the time. This is a watch that's far too complicated to use so no old man would want to have it." 

"But what if I'm old and I bought the watch because I liked how it looked."

"No way," Zhihao responded strongly. 

"Why?" 

"Because I was there when it was sold and I wanted to buy one, but the stocks were sold out within minutes so I was never able to get one. I wanted to buy it out of the hands of someone else who bought the product, but I got to know that all of them were young and none of them were looking to sell it again." 

"So you are interested in watches too?" 

Zhihao shook his head, "I'm not. Just this watch, in particular, has caught my eye." 

"What's so special about this one?"

"It... Nothing," Zhihao was about to tell him the reason, but in the end, he decided against it. The reason why he liked this watch, in particular, was because it was a transferable item in the game. It was launched in partnership with T.I.A.D. and if someone owned such a watch in real life, they would get a code along with its purchase and when you redeem the code, you'll get a one of a kind watch in your collection inside the game. 

Zhihao had tried a lot to get his hands on one, but how could he win against the campers who were waiting in line in front of the store for two days before its release? It was an impossible task. 

He was shocked to see this man owning such a thing, but when he looked the man up and down, he knew that this wasn't a person who would camp in front of a store, so the only way this man got to own such a thing was by money. Loads of money can get you one if you know where to go but sadly, even with loads of money, Zhihao still didn't know where to go so he couldn't get one. 

The man clapped three times as he spoke, "Well done. You guessed right. I'm young." 

"How young are you?" Zhihao was genuinely curious to know the answer. 

"How old are you?" 

"I'm 24." 

The man nodded as he answered, "We are around the same age. I'm 25."

"And you work together with my father at such a young age? How?" 

The man chuckled, "It isn't about the age." 

"Then what is it about?" 

"It is about intelligence." 

Zhihao pursed his lips as he looked at the man. He had originally started to like the man a bit as he saw how kind he was but when he heard this, he immediately felt like this man was one of those people who loved to boast about themselves and Zhihao didn't like such people. 

The man didn't let Zhihao speak and instead continued, "If you are intelligent enough to trick people, you can become successful." 

This was the first time Zhihao heard someone saying such a thing. Most of the time, people would boast about how they were better than others and how hard working they were, while the reality was far different. This man didn't even bother trying to make himself seem righteous and it somehow made Zhihao like this man more. He was honest. 

"If you can learn to predict what others are thinking, you can get them to do whatever you want." 

"What does that mean?"

The man turned to face Zhihao, "You want to know?" He looked into Zhihao's eyes and once again there was this feeling inside Zhihao. Even the man's eyes looked a lot like Li Ling's. "Want me to tell you what you are thinking?" 

Zhihao unconsciously took a step back as he met the eyes of the man. There was no way someone would be able to guess what he was thinking. He was thinking about Li Ling and as long as this person didn't know Li Ling, he would not be able to guess correctly, however when the man opened his mouth to answer, Zhihao was shocked to the core. 

"You are wondering how familiar I look." 

"How did you-"

The man cut Zhihao off as he continued, "A friend, no. You guys are closer," He leaned in to take a better look at Zhihao's eyes as he spoke, "A lover perhaps?" 

Zhihao felt the heat rising up his cheeks as he immediately answered, "He's not my lover." 

The man chuckled as he leaned into Zhihao's ears and whispered in his raspy voice, "Didn't I tell you?" 

"Huh?" 

"You can trick people by reading their minds." 

Zhihao was confused as he heard this, but when he followed the man's eye that trailed down to Zhihao's wrist, he was shocked and even more confused. 

The man held his own hand up and showed Zhihao the watch that was wrapped around his wrist. It was Zhihao's watch. The watch that was now wrapped around Zhihao's hand belonged to the man and the watch that was wrapped around the man's wrist belonged to Zhihao. Somehow, they had swapped watches and Zhihao wasn't even able to see it happening. 

He thought back to what just happened and he still could not figure it out. It was like magic. 

"Are you a wizard?" Zhihao asked in shock as he looked at the man with unwavering eyes. 

The man chuckled, but before he could answer, the elevator door opened and he stepped out as he said one last thing to Zhihao, "Let's exchange watches for the day." 

"Huh" 

The man looked back at Zhihao who was still standing inside the elevator and spoke, "I'll be at the party. I'm sure we'll meet again. Give it back to me some other time, okay? Don't run away with it." 

Zhihao had never been so trusted by a stranger before this and he didn't know what he was supposed to feel about this. On one hand, he felt like this man was very odd. He was certainly really stupid for giving away his watch in exchange for Zhihao's watch. One look and people would think that Zhihao's watch was more expensive but he knew better. His watch was certainly very expensive, but compared to this limited edition watch that was so hard to find, his watch couldn't even hold a candle. If Zhihao were to take this watch and run away today, he would only be gaining and not losing anything, but thankfully, his parents hadn't taught him to steal so he wasn't really going to do it. 

He wanted his own watch back so he wasn't too happy about this trade. He hardly even knew the guy so switching watches was a bit... Weird. 

The man didn't stay behind to hear Zhihao's response. He turned his back on Zhihao and walked away, getting lost in the crowd. By the time, Zhihao had gotten out of the elevator, the man was already nowhere in sight. 

He was simply gone like magic, just like how the watches had swapped out of nowhere.