Chapter 197 - Temporary Suspension Of Accounts

"That's alright, guys. Besides, Stephen had said earlier that it's our last game for today..." Clark reminded them too. But deep down he was starting to have cold sweat as the idea of meeting Claire's parents started to make him anxious.

"Last games are really bound to have another last game. Hehe, it will be a loop! But, I guess we will call it a day for now. Hehe, Clark is meeting his in-laws. Good luck bro," Joey grinned and raised his eyebrows knowingly. The air around them was very silvery. Stephen grinned and nodded his head.

"Well, if you are envious now, then, I can try to make arrangements and introduce you to my cousins," Clark rebutted as he curled his lips into a sly smile.. 

"Psh! I don't lack girls. You don't need to worry about my love life!" Joey pouted. Truth be told, the majority of his fans were obviously girls. And right now, he was the most famous player among all members of the Chronos squad. He even outshined Sofia and Claire in terms of the fan base.

"Hehe, you just missed a good opportunity. This offer will surely be available anytime, in case you change your mind," Clark continued to tease him.

"What opportunity? To be disturbed constantly by nagging rich kids? No, thanks! I can only appreciate the beauty but once they started to show their true color, it would be a major headache for me," Joey snorted and finally turned serious. After their unsatisfactory victory, they just set aside all their devices and quickly engage in conversation.

"Hehe, so, you two will hang out together. Don't make trouble for Sofia," Claire meaningfully said. Who knows where these two would go after. It was better for her to remind them that her friend was already handling a lot on her plate.

"Nah... well just probably play again in Stephen's place until we get tired," Joey brushed his hair and then took a deep breath. He started to gather his things in his bag for them to take a leave quickly.

They just started to volley some jokes when Jing Jing's expression suddenly looked sour. After winning, she did not join the conversation of these youths. Instead, she paid extra attention to her phone. But, out of a sudden, her screen turned gray and all the panels were unavailable to select.

"That's odd! It's not functioning..." Jing Jing mumbled to herself. She could not understand why her mobile phone screen turned gray.

"What's the matter, Ms. Jing Jing?" Claire thoughtfully asked when she noticed Jing Jing's expression.

"My game interface seems not functioning! Is it my cellphone? It's really odd," Jing Jing answered right away. There was no notification about the sudden oddness in her screen, so, she could only assume that something was wrong with her phone

Because the other members had let the screen of their phone be filled with a VICTORY window which appeared after their opponent withdraw from the game. Their screen was stuck like this. And only Jing Jing had really known about the lack of access to her account.

"I remember buying a phone with low storage. The game would crash every time I play on it," Joey stated.

A few seconds later, Jing Jing was quick to exit the existing window and her screen showed an odd notification. There was a square message board containing a temporary suspension of her account.

"My account is suspended temporarily? Huh? I don't understand this!" Jing Jing uttered in full disbelief. It was her first time to encounter a suspension of an account, so, she was completely at a loss of what just happened.

"Let me see, Ms. Jing Jing. I have never heard of temporary suspension," Claire shared. "I am curious how it looks," Claire mumbled and moved her head near Jing Jing to take a peek at her screen. Jing Jing leaned closer and then showed her the entire message.

The message was written in the tiniest possible font that was crammed in the square message board. Still, its content was actually long.

Claire stared at the intro of the message for a long time before she decided to speak it loudly,

"Notice of Suspension!

Your account is suspended for 23:56:04 seconds due to numerous reports of hacking activity. The game manager will evaluate your account and will send you an email with the evaluation result. We do not condone hacking and we promote fair play of the game environment."

Clark and Joey snapped their heads in Claire's direction right away. They were abruptly overwhelmed by the sudden feeling of anger and disappointment.

"I just never encountered getting this type of problem. What should I do?" Jing Jing admitted and asked them.

"Ms. Jing Jing, once this notification appears, it's really a problem! This means you can only play the game after the countdown is finished!" Stephen stated.

"Those chicken players must have reported our accounts using cheats! How dare they accuse us!" Joey clenched his palms in a fist.

"But why would the game give this 24hrs suspension if the account will be reported?" Joey wondered.

In the past, the game would usually give a 5 minutes delay for the account before it could enter to matching again. In his mind, this 24hrs suspension just for investigation was completely out of logic.

"Yeah, normally, it's just a few minutes to ban an account that was reported for cheating! Then, if the player is found guilty, he would be ban to play the game forever," Clark speculated.

"Hah! They take hacking seriously. But the 24 hrs is really unreasonable! What if some random players would just troll their opponent because of defeating them and began abusing the report feature, that would be ridiculous!" Stephen stated.

At this point, the group had not yet realized that it was not just Jing Jing who would have this notification. They were still too focused on the duration of the suspension.

After several minutes of speaking their opinions, Joey suddenly realized something. "Wait! This doesn't seem right! Ms. Jing Jing is only on the middle lane and did not even get a kill. How did those chicken players report Ms. Jing Jing?"

"Hmmn, there is indeed no reason for her account to be banned? The last time we play, Ms. Jing Jing is playing smoothly. How could those opponents got to do this to her!"

As he said this, he closed the VICTORY window and saw the same square notification board. "Ohhh... f*ck!!! They have reported all of us! Check your account!" he urged them.

"Yeah, I am suspended too. What a bad joke!" Stephen gritted his teeth.

Clark quickly pressed his fingers to the screen to see if his account was also suspended. His face instantly turned red in anger, "This is bulsh*t! Why is this game suspending us when we are not using a hack! It's really an abuse of report feature!"

"Let's try to call their gaming service number and explain to them," Claire suggested without glancing at them. His eyes were also fixated on the notification message on his phone.

"Even if we explain to them, they will probably just tell us to wait for the result. Never mind, it's just 24 hours," Jing Jing stated and put her phone in her bag.

"F*ck this! Argh! Imagine if this will happen during the tournament. What are those developers trying to think of implementing this 24hrs suspension! Are they so paranoid? Useless!!!" Joey vented his anger to the game developers and cursed the non-stop.

"Calm down. Let's tell Ms. Sofia about this first," Claire stated and started typing a chat message.

"Okay, I'm too disappointed with this long suspension. It's better if I go to my home," Joey stated. "See you around, pals! Stephen, let's go!" Joey muttered.

Stephen stood from his seat and place his phone in his pocket. "Enjoy, bro!" he tapped Clark's shoulder while giving a sincere smile to him. Then, the two left while Jing Jing was trailing behind them.

"Ms. Jing Jing, did Sofia mentioned to you the official date of our business operation?" Joey curiously asked without looking at her.

"Miss Sofia is just waiting for the proper documents to be compiled first before we operate the business. Once she got all the legal documents needed, then, she will surely start operating the business,"  Jing Jing proudly responded.

"Oh... Okay.  I am also excited to think of the operation of our business. And since our gaming accounts were temporarily suspended, it's good if we can enhance a real-life skill," Stephen expressed.

"Me too! I am excited for the first day of our business! I hope we will be lucky!" Joey chuckled as they reached outside the building.

"Are you sure you won't hang out with me in my place?" Stephen asked him.

"Positive. I'd better go check my family too and if I'm lucky my parents would probably cook for me too!" Joey stated.

"Take care, Ms. Jing Jing!" the two of them called Jing Jing. 

"Bye!" Jing Jing waved at them before getting inside her car. She then started the engine and left.