The phrase my dad often repeats is: "Games are people's second lives."

And my mom added a footnote to this: "You haven't even weaned yet. Your dad goes to the arcade after work, carrying you on his back. Others carry backpacks, your dad carries you."
So my earliest auditory memory wasn't a gentle lullaby, but the clacking of arcade joysticks and the faint electric hum of electronic music. This early education directly caused a genetic mutation in me: while other kids were still playing with mud, I was already proficiently sitting in front of a Xiaobawang console, strategizing with my dad in Tank Battle.
Back then, the tactics were very clear: I guarded the left side, the rest was his.
On a hot afternoon filled with cicada chirping, my mom went on night shift, and my dad solemnly held my shoulder: "Girl, today we must beat Tank Battle and clear the level!"
That day, we played from sunset to starry night.
At 10 p.m., I asked, "Dad, why haven't we cleared it yet?"
At midnight, my eyelids fluttered: "Dad, I'm so sleepy..."
My dad didn't turn around, staring at the screen: "No, you're not sleepy! Guard your left side well!"
At 3 a.m., I was completely exhausted, and he still said: "Hold on a little longer! The level is right in front of us!"
Until 8 a.m., my mom came home from her shift and pulled us both back into bed.
Later, I realized that was my first life scam—Tank Battle had no end; it was an endless level.
Two years later, our family got our first computer, during the height of World of Warcraft. I sat on a small stool next to my dad, looking up, and that was my first glimpse of the world: the majestic Stormwind, the steaming Ironforge, the endless Black Coast, and the picturesque Stranglethorn Vale.
Back then, the mechanics of WoW were too complex for me. My only job was to run maps for my dad: from Stormwind to the Scarlet Monastery. On a PvP server, a ten-something girl operated her character to dodge Horde attacks, ran wildly into dungeons, then shouted: "Dad! We made it! Let's start!"
"Resurrect, my warrior!" "Fight for you, my lady!"
That classic line—ugh, you two lovebirds!
This sense of thrill was inherited along my spine, and I started my own journey in the martial world.
In that era when computers still had hefty backsides, I roamed 5173, trying out all the top-ranked games, finally settling in Dream of the Westward Journey. There, I first experienced master-apprentice relationships, guilds, and merchant runs, and also the treacherous side of society.
Because I was lured by the private message temptation of "claim bubbles and celestial formations," I handed over my account and password myself. Ten minutes later, my account was looted.
Do you know how cruel that is to a 10-year-old girl? But years later, when I entered the crypto world, I suddenly appreciated that damn hacker. It was precisely because I suffered enough losses back then that my defenses against malicious links and unknown private messages were ingrained in my bones. The best anti-fraud education was the tears on my screen at age ten.
The later stories are a collective memory of many veteran players:
Understanding what "being bad is original sin" in Bubble Bobble, wasting youth in Dance Dance Revolution and racing games, secretly saving money under high school desks to buy a PSP, and immersing in Monster Hunter and Disgaea, clueless about the world.
Then I rode into Sword Net 3, experiencing what "swordsmen, romance, three, none can be missing." Joyful revenge, chasing enemies from dawn till dusk.
Later, in Final Fantasy 14, I cried like a dog on screen for the first time during the 3.0 Millennium Dragon Song storyline. That was when I realized that games are not just time killers—they are art, storytelling, and soul resonance.
I was late to this realization; actually, WoW's story is also excellent, but I never experienced it from the beginning. Later, I read some WoW novels, and I have to say, they are awesome, but the plot is too complex; by the end, I didn't even know what the author was trying to say.
Then, a game that keeps making its predecessors younger—PUBG—came along. That was also my first time downloading Steam. When friends were online, we played PUBG together; when offline, I downloaded masterpieces like The Witcher 3, Resident Evil series, Assassin's Creed series, The Sims, Red Dead Redemption, Cyberpunk 2077, and more.
My favorite is Cyberpunk 2077. I truly hope that neon-lit era arrives sooner.
Later, I bought a Switch. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild lived up to its name, and Splatoon is also my favorite, but poor internet connection caused disconnections during three matches, and I couldn't find a solution, so I gave up. There are so many fun games!
I play mobile games less, but Honkai Gakuen, Onmyoji, and Genshin Impact are quite good. I played Honor of Kings for half a year but couldn't stand the flashy effects anymore.
Now, I still indulge in Delta, still fight in LOL chaos mode, and enthusiastically recommend girls to try indie