In the days following, Marinez continued to hunt herbiboars, putting in RuneScape gold more than 36 hours on the task. "There are times that I cannot bear the sight of being a part of the hunt ... but If it's to earn money, I'll accept it for a while," he messaged me in Spanish after which he added "It's simply my job. And from it, I'm capable of living."

Marinez Aged 20 aged "does services" for other players playing Old School RuneScape, a massively multiplayer online role playing game. The players around the world pay him--usually through Bitcoin, to go on quests and enhance the abilities of their characters , whether they are miners, fighters, or hunters.

In Venezuela the country where, in 2019, 96 percent of the population made less than the poverty threshold that is $1.90 daily, according to a survey conducted by an Venezuelan university, Marinez is doing better than many.

Alongside the pocket change he earns while working in a local pizzeria. He also earns 60 dollars a month playing RuneScape which is enough to buy OSRS GP purchase cornmeal to make arepas and rice for his son and sister. However, for Marinez working online isn't just about the arepas. It's about escaping, even if he thinks the medieval fantasy game is boring.