Only Top Players Make It Into a Top Player's Esports Harem

After the game Nine Heavens, published by Shiguang Games, launched, it quickly became a sensation. Xia Luo, a laid-back streamer who was top of the game rankings on a certain platform, took a job completing daily quests for someone. Once he logged in, he discovered that the account owner was already on his friends list. Then he came face to face with the contact name “Gao Ming’s Fish Pond Owner.” “What does that mean, is he saying I’m fishing for people?” Before Xia Luo could react, a message popped up in the chat channel. Fish Pond Creature Observation Log “I got matched with him three times. The first two times, he nearly knocked my head off. It took until the third round for us to get on the same team. Anyway, I got onto his friends list. Hehe...” “It starts like this: he accepts your friend request, and you think that means you know each other. Then you find out it doesn’t. Eventually you manage to get him to team up with you once, and you spend a few hours playing duos. You figure that ought to count for something, right? But the next time you run into him, he ignores you and goes solo again.”, Victimized top player A “Our guild has an unofficial evaluation criterion. If you get matched with Luo, add him as a friend, and he’s willing to keep playing duos with you, that’s one indication of ability and earns you bonus points.”, Guild manager B “I’ve always suspected he was raising fish, but I had no proof. Then I played duos with him and realized that in my previous life, I must have been a fish. I was born to live in a pond.”, Victimized top player C Xia Luo: “...” “Other people who fish for partners try to keep it secret, but your fish made their own chat group. They’re so self-aware, I’m crying.” “I checked the names mentioned in the log. Is this a chat group that only the top 1,000 overall can join?” “Stop fishing, already. This group has 213 people. I’m dying. Is this a mixer for the three big guilds or what?” Right after that, the livestream chat filled with rows of question marks. The streamer quickly switched to a little-used account in the corner and sent a request to join the group. “Holy crap.” “The pond owner’s personally come down to inspect this month’s performance review for his fish-raising operation.” The streamer explained, “I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. If I see anyone badmouthing me, I’ll block them on my main account.” Theme: The more friends you have, the more options you have.