Ten years ago, a 14-year old girl named Xiao Yun ran away from home after arguing with her parents. Over the last decade her parents searched for her endlessly, only to have her presumed dead. Well, Yun has been found alive and well "during a routine check on Internet cafes" by police.
After questioning, it was revealed that she had been living in Internet cafes since she's been missing.
What has she been doing for the last ten years? Playing a multiplayer first-person shooter named CrossFire. Yun survived off of the handouts from other Internet cafe visitors and occasionally worked as a cashier at some Internet cafes for some extra cash. Gaming binges are intense, but a ten year binge is a bit much.
In China it isn't odd for people to find themselves in Internet cafes for extended periods of time. Earlier this year, a man died after a 3 day gaming binge… only to go unnoticed by his gaming neighbors for several hours. Gaming is fun, but taking a break from time to time is probably a good idea. Especially if you haven't spoken to loved ones in a long time.
In the end, when police found her, they notified her parents and fined her for carrying a fake ID card.
[The Star]
