A Chinese gamer recently went viral after claiming that he has been paid by the parents of at least two kids to beat them at online video games and crush their confidence.
Video games are generally pretty harmless if played in moderation, but in many cases nowadays children become so obsessed with these made-up virtual worlds that they start to ignore their real lives, school, and even their families. Getting them back on track can be a real challenge, and many parents turn to desperate measures. In China, for example, some parents sign their kids up for military-style camps, while others use sneakier techniques like hiring skilled gamers to beat their kids at their favorite video games and convince them to quit.
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One such “video game master” recently revealed that he was paid by the parents of a young gamer to kick his butt at his favorite video game and make him question his actual skills. According to Star Video, the young boy’s parents said that he used to be a model student and an obedient child until the fourth grade, after which video games changed him completely.
The boy now dedicated most of his time to online video games and dreamed of becoming a professional gamer and supporting himself by doing what he loved most. His parents couldn’t accept that, but they couldn’t talk him out of it either, so they decided to have someone else do the convincing.
It’s unclear how the parents got in contact with the ‘pro gamer’, but he claims that they agreed to pay him his fee of 50 yuan ($7.2) per hour to challenge their son at his favorite video game and utterly crush his confidence in his skills. The anonymous gamer even posted screenshots of his conversation with the boy’s parents as evidence.
The skilled gamer said that he played the boy five games over five hours. He took his time in the first game, trying to tire out his opponent, and then crushed him in the next four games, as per his parents’ wishes. The games were apparently so one-sided that the boy didn’t want to play anymore, and the confidence in his skills as a gamer was shaken enough that his parents were able to convince him that he should focus more on his studies to build his future.
The video game master claimed that he had so far helped two families reclaim their gaming-addicted kids by beating them at their favorite games and crushing their confidence. He added that this gave him a feeling of accomplishment…