Dad Hires In-Game Killers to Stop Jobless Son From Online Gaming

Impact

What do you do when your grown son is playing video games instead of looking for a job? Evidently, the answer is virtual assassination.

According to a recent report, 23-year old Xiao Feng’s life came crashing around him when his father hired in-game assassins, or just terribly powerful players, to repeatedly hunt and kill his son’s characters across various Chinese role-playing games. Mr. Feng, who revealed that his son had also previously struggled in school due to his excessive gaming, was worried that his son was not looking for work because of his addiction and felt that getting him repeatedly killed in video games was the only solution.

The son, for his part, put up with the frustration and told his dad, “I can play or I can not play, it doesn't bother me. I'm not looking for any job — I want to take some time to find one that suits me." Hearing this, Mr. Feng was reportedly “relieved,” although it’s not quite clear if the son stopped playing and actually found work.

Now, as a gamer, it’s somewhat easy to have this sort of reaction:

 

However, just as it is unfair to vilify any parent for expressing genuine interest in their child’s future, it would also be unfair to criticize Mr. Feng for his actions.

Firstly, Mr. Feng already seems to have taken quite a patient approach with his son, seeing as how Xiao is not 13 or 16 or even 19. At 23, it seems rather strange that someone wants to “take some time” instead of going to graduate school or finding a job. Besides, even if he isn’t interested in being employed, Xiao Feng could at least pretend to be interested in his future and supplement his entertainment activities with something even remotely productive.

Also, Mr. Feng actually seems to care for his son, as shown by his playful and potentially expensive approach (some dads would have just locked up the computer). Also, even if he wasn’t concerned with Xiao finding work, being worried about your son constantly playing video games is a legitimate concern because the list of online-gaming related deaths is somewhat terrifying. When gamers are dying due to exhaustion caused by video game addiction and leaving suicide notes in the voices of their online characters, it’s natural that parents would be worried.

Plus, if nothing else, this experience at least taught his son that, no matter how long he played those video games, he would never be the strongest player in any of them. So, if Xiao Feng had plans to become a professional gamer that earns upwards of $100,000 annually, this probably reminded him that there are many people waiting in line for that kind of position. Now, if only wannabe singers could learn that, maybe American Idol and The Voice would no longer pollute our airwaves.

Ultimately, this just goes to show that there are several hilarious solutions to some less-than-funny problems. If someone is putting off being an adult, then it is commendable for anyone to show him or her the right way; Mr. Feng’s method is just the coolest any parent has used.