Chapter 130: Weight Loss Live Streaming (Part 2)

Chapter 130: Weight Loss Live Streaming (Part 2)

If any other player had said such a thing, Li Shu would have thought they had lost their mind.

But coming from Jie Fangcheng, it seemed entirely logical to her. It was very much in line with Jie Fangcheng's modus operandi.

After pondering for a moment, Li Shu was the first to raise a rather pragmatic concern: "But how do we find the head of this company and expose the 'weight loss scam'? It seems quite difficult, doesn't it?"

Indeed, it is quite difficult.

The interstellar era has witnessed advancements not only in the medical field but also in various technologies.

Spaceships, laser cannons, mechs... things that were once confined to the pages of science fiction novels have now become a reality in the interstellar era.

Although the excessive pursuit of "thinness" has left the people of this interstellar age struggling with physical labor, the advent of technology has allowed various types of mechs and firearms to be operated by mental power, making interstellar warfare a feasible proposition.

This isn't the "Fulai Inn" scenario where battles are fought with cold weapons. Charging out to assassinate the head of the Meilei Corporation could lead to their spaceship being blown up before they even get out.

It has been nearly ten days since Li Shu and her team entered this scenario, and they have yet to fully grasp the backdrop of the interstellar era. Their knowledge is limited to weight loss and live streaming, offering no other substantial information for their endeavor.

Can they really pull it off with just the two of them?

As Li Shu voiced her concerns, Zhang Dao'an realized what was troubling her and decided to pose another question.

"Considering the interstellar era promotes thinness as beauty, and your physique isn't favored by the audience, it took you three days of streaming to accumulate enough money for the surgery, correct?"

"Yes!" Li Shu nodded, then suddenly hesitated.

Zhang Dao'an had already pinpointed the inconsistency in this situation: "If no one appreciated your 'normal physiques,' you wouldn't have been able to raise the necessary funds for the surgery."

As he spoke, Professor Zhang, who had been navigating the star network, had swiftly mastered the operations of the live streaming platform. He quickly identified the viewers who had rewarded Li Shu with "beauty slim points."

"On the first day, when you still had a healthy physique, a total of 175 viewers rewarded you with 'beauty slim points'. Although they didn't interact much, mostly sending inconsequential encouragements like 'keep it up' in the comments, they visited daily, rewarding 'beauty slim points' each day. But after your surgery on the fourth day, these individuals vanished."

Li Shu realized what was happening and quickly connected other dots: "It was on the fourth day! The donations for all of us who had undergone the surgery plummeted. At that time my son... someone mentioned it was normal, stating that the interstellar audience was initially intrigued by our uncommon physiques, but the novelty wore off after three days, naturally leading to a decline in visitors..."

Zhang Dao'an let out a chuckle.

He rarely displayed expressions of ridicule or mockery. Even though he occasionally emanated an inexplicable irritation, he maintained a genteel demeanor, never losing his composure. Even Nie Shuangshuang, who had been targeted several times, struggled to pinpoint any specific instance of offensive remarks or expressions from him.

At this moment, his laughter, gentle and seemingly casual, somehow conveyed to Li Shu that Zhang Dao'an held deep contempt for that explanation.

He continued, "If it was merely about novelty, a glance would suffice. Ordinary people wouldn't willingly spend money just for a 'novelty'. Moreover, the amount donated by these viewers each day was modest, not reflecting individuals with abundant resources who would splurge on a novel live stream. A closer look at their profiles reveals that these viewers rarely donated before, clearly demonstrating a profound interest in your stream... or perhaps you represented a form of spiritual sustenance for them. This might also explain why these viewers only sent messages of encouragement like 'keep it up', possibly indicating their discontent with the current thin-centric societal standards. Yet, being engulfed by the prevailing societal norms and lacking the strength to resist, they could only pin their hopes on others to voice their dissent — representing their 'heretical' stance. This, in fact, presents an optimal strategy for the average player to clear this level."

"A strategy to clear the level?"

"Yes. Stick to your current body shape. If there aren't strict rules in this weight loss competition, you could even start a mukbang stream. You won't have many viewers at first, but aesthetic preferences among humans have never been uniform. Despite the media constantly pushing the 'thin is the standard' narrative, there's a sizable group of people, just like those who tipped you, who don't appreciate the skeletal thinness. If executed properly, attaining the goal of ten thousand beauty slim points to clear the level should be quite achievable."

Aunt Li pondered, finding more and more sense in Zhang Dao'an's words the more she thought about it.

The day they received the most tips was on the third day.

On the first day, the livestream of the weight loss competition had just begun. The viewer count wasn't very high for anyone, as the public had grown somewhat tired of the plethora of weight loss streams available nowadays.

It wasn't until the third day that the competition slowly began to gain traction. Although they didn't have as many viewers as other streams, their viewership started to grow.

However, when they opened the livestream at that time, the barrage of comments was filled with insults calling them lazy fat pigs, the faint cheers of encouragement drowned amidst a torrent of derogatory remarks.

Everyone was eager to undergo surgery then. The “commander” amongst the intelligent players advised them to retain the audience and earn beauty slim points, they needed to slim down as quickly as possible to please the old viewers and attract new ones.

But to everyone's surprise, when they enthusiastically started the stream on the fourth day, the amount in tips they received was actually less than before.

While there were fewer insults in the comments, and several viewers even encouragingly remarked "at least you guys are obedient", the tipping value had decreased.

It hadn't decreased by a lot, as the majority of the audience cheering for them were in normal weight ranges. The tips on the fourth day mostly came from viewers who felt they were "teachable".

However, the amount of tips kept dwindling. While other streams saw an increase in tips as their viewership grew, their stream went from having around a hundred tippers to seventy, and finally dwindled to just a handful of individuals.

This seemingly became proof for the "commander" that his way of thinking was correct – see, these viewers only came for the novelty, and once that wore off, they left. Relying solely on this novelty wasn't sufficient to secure ten thousand beauty slim points; they had to depend on their own weight loss efforts to clear the level.

This was the "commander's" strategy to clear the level.

Aunt Li's expression was constantly changing. Zhang Dao'an observed this, and suddenly asked, "This is just a regular first-level mission, not a public dungeon. Aunt Li, you're not someone who likes to undertake missions, why would you suddenly undertake a first-level mission before a public dungeon? Is it because... you know someone in this mission?"

Although he phrased it as a question, it seemed he already had an answer in mind.

Aunt Li was startled at first, but then let out a bitter smile, saying, "Yes, I know someone."

But after saying this, she didn't speak anymore, clearly not wanting to continue discussing this topic.

Zhang Dao'an didn't press her further, simply continuing, "Therefore, the strategy and conditions for clearing this mission align, offering two paths. One is more convenient, straightforward, has a higher survival rate, and aligns with the difficulty level of a first-level mission, which is 'to earn ten thousand beauty slim points from audience tips'. The other is what we discussed first."

A weight lower than the average.

"If you choose this path to clear the level, your current approach will inevitably lead to a significant reduction in participants. Players who are taller or have larger bone structures would need to be eliminated. Not to mention the likely resistance and possible casualties during the 'elimination' of these players, but considering the later stages, even after players have done their utmost to lose weight... what about the NPCs in your group?"

He said calmly, "Being in the same group, I don't know what rewards might be given for winning the inter-group competition, but since groups have been formed, there should be rewards for group victories, right? Would they feel that you're dragging them down? Would they band together to eliminate you? Normally, with your robust bodies, sufficient muscle mass to wield skills and items, you might have a chance against these NPCs, but in the later stages, your physical conditions won't match up to the NPCs."

Zhang Dao'an concluded, "In essence, reducing your own weight inappropriately, weakening your own capabilities to adhere to rules, is the most foolish way to clear a level. It's akin to placing all hopes of clearing the level on the NPCs, which at any point in this game, is the wrong choice. I don't know why you chose this method, but in the end, no more than two players can survive, and only the two lightest players will have a chance to survive."

One from each group, considering that there might be some players who are naturally thin and would not have a significant difference in weight with ordinary NPCs after losing weight.

One only needs to look at Aunt Li to know, even after losing so much weight, she was still considered overweight in the eyes of the NPCs. Meeting this criterion would indeed be very difficult.

Before hearing Zong Daoan's conversation, Aunt Li didn't feel much about their situation. Everyone believed that their only option was to obediently lose weight, given that this was the interstellar era and they were aboard a spaceship. Although the NPCs had moderate power, the firearms they could control were lethally powerful. Given these circumstances, they had no choice but to obey the NPCs.

But after Zong Daoan finished speaking, Aunt Li realized that they had many paths to choose from.

Zong Daoan simply explained a bit, but Aunt Li already understood.

For regular players without combat strength, sticking to a healthy route could attract viewers who also disagree with mindless dieting - moreover, the clues to this route to victory were revealed in the first three days, and their rewards were increasing daily during that period.

In the later stages, if their livestream gained popularity, other competitors would surely mimic them, and it's possible that in the end, they could achieve both a weight lower than the average and accumulate ten thousand "Beauty Slim Points".

This is the optimal solution.

It would be great if they could see through this point after entering the instance.

Of course, the path that Zong Daoan intends to take is not this optimal one.

Jie Fangcheng had understood what he intended to do even before he explained it to Aunt Li.

It was the usual strategy of exposing the secrets of Meilei Corporation, mobilizing the masses, and submerging the unscrupulous capitalists in a sea of public outrage.

Truly worthy of being a professor of Marxist philosophy, never forgetting that "the power of the masses is great" at any time.

With a single glance exchanged, Zong Daoan knew that Jie Fangcheng had grasped what he intended to do, and he couldn't help but smile again.

"Manager Jie..."

Before he could finish his sentence, an alarm suddenly sounded.

"Alert! Alert! Intruders detected!"

Along with the alarm, the sound of the door being kicked open resonated.

Two NPCs dressed in uniforms rushed in. Seeing Jie Fangcheng and another person, they hesitated for a moment, and one of them disdainfully curled his lip, thinking: More fat pigs.

Meanwhile, Jie Fangcheng was thinking: More skeletons.

The capitalists were more terrifying than they had imagined. The two NPCs who barged in seemed to be interstellar era space police based on their uniforms, but such professions should require strong physique and muscles.

However, these two NPCs were even thinner than Aunt Li, and their fitting uniforms revealed the clear outlines of their bones.

Despite their thinness, they appeared spirited, probably having used products from the rumored Meilei Corporation.

At this moment, one of the NPCs pointed a gun at Jie Fangcheng: "Show your ID cards!"

Without saying another word, Jie Fangcheng rushed forward and knocked him away with a sword strike.

The NPC crashed to the ground with a thud, tumbling a few meters away before losing consciousness.

The other one didn't react in time, seeing the individual who knocked down his companion rushing at him, he hurriedly fired two shots.

The gun fired two beams of light that sped towards Jie Fangcheng.

This was something Jie Fangcheng had never seen before. He dodged one of the beams with a touch of curiosity and extended his hand to meet the other.

The beam passed through his palm like a scanning light, without Jie Fangcheng feeling any form of impact, just a slight warmth in the center of his hand.

However, immediately after, the beam struck the wall, boring a coin-sized deep hole into it.

"How is this possible???" The NPC exclaimed, his face filled with shock.

Before the NPC could finish speaking, the sword that had struck him earlier was already slamming onto him, knocking him unconscious.

"Why wouldn't it be possible?" Jie Fangcheng said, slinging the sword over his shoulder, "Never seen clipping before?"

Technically speaking, Jie Fangcheng doesn't exist in the same dimension as the players, making it very difficult for low-dimensional weapons and items to harm him.

Moreover, even within the same dimension, there are few things capable of injuring Jie Fangcheng due to various reasons.

At this moment, the two NPCs were lying on the ground in a blink of an eye, leaving Aunt Li agape, despite being mentally prepared for Jie Fangcheng's audacious actions.

Zhou Daoan, on the other hand, had anticipated this, quickly rummaging through the pockets of the two NPCs, and soon finding some loot.

A identity card, which after fingerprint recognition, can be shown to others. Zhou Daoan used the NPC's finger to scan it, revealing detailed information including a photograph, name, home address, and a comprehensive history of their lives in the interstellar era.

Additionally, there were several advertisement flyers, likely handed out to them during their commute.

These high-tech flyers resembled web pages, featuring short videos promoting the upcoming "Most Beautiful Interstellar Human Contest", showcasing last year's beauty queen — utterly emaciated, with large eye sockets, prominent cheekbones, and skin stretched over bone. Below, bold red letters proclaimed: "Breaking the 20.87KG Barrier!"

The other flyers were promotional posters for various weight loss competitions and diet pill advertisements, each of which made Jie Fangcheng, a rational person, feel uneasy.

"'Do you really want to balloon into a pig in the prime of your life?' What kind of promotion is this? People actually buy into this?"

Not only were people buying, but both NPCs that Zhou Daoan searched had two or three diet pills in their pockets, indicating that these items had become necessities in this era.

"What do we do now?" Though Jie Fangcheng had mentioned storming into the Meirei Company's boss's office and slashing him without a second thought, he was brash, not foolish.

Currently in complete darkness aboard the spaceship, even finding someone would be difficult, let alone attacking them.

Zhou Daoan held the few bottles of pills and looked towards the corridor outside the door.

"Now... we're going to meet our 'teammates'."

.

Originally, there were sixteen people on the spaceship, but now only five players and two NPCs remained.

But that was still considered a lot.

Each group was on different spaceships, making communication between the two groups challenging, forcibly splitting the players into two separate teams.

The other team was down to just two players, though there were still quite a number of NPCs left, totaling four.

The reason this group has fewer players left all hinges on their commander.

"What do we do? That old woman... I mean, Auntie Li seems to have suddenly changed her mind! She has brought in two new players!"

The remaining five players gathered together, with Wang Dongsheng clutching his abdomen, feeling as if the virtually non-existent stomach and intestines inside were aching faintly.

In the past, he would have already exchanged for a system potion to drink.

But at this moment, all Wang Dongsheng could do was press on his stomach, his brow furrowed tightly, involuntarily letting out a couple of groans.

Sitting before him was an unremarkable-looking skeleton wearing glasses.

It was Yi Zenan.

Ever since completing the "Zombie Siege" instance, Yi Zenan was kicked out of the Cozy Cat Climbing Frame guild.

But whether he was kicked out or not didn't matter much to him; although Yi Zenan had constantly been overlooked and disparaged in the instance, once outside, he reverted back to his old self.

Because his luck was truly good, having obtained a rare skill.

With a rare skill in his possession, Yi Zenan looked down upon the trivial Cozy Cat Climbing Frame guild; even if he hadn't been kicked out, he planned to find an excuse to leave and then join a more powerful guild.

Thus, after leaving the guild, he carefully selected the eighth-ranked Goldfish Guild, not only entering successfully but also gaining recognition due to his intelligence and rare skill.

With a few days left before the public dungeon, he was thinking of clearing a level one dungeon with some managerial members to get the guild's attention.

A level one dungeon would typically be cleared within a week, but unexpectedly, this dungeon was so complex that only now did they begin to see a glimmer of hope of victory – only for it to be instantly destroyed!

Yi Zenan furrowed his brows, "How is that possible? She isn't that kind of person."

Wang Dongsheng harbored considerable contempt internally.

This guy truly had a despicable character, getting kicked out by the guild leader once out of the dungeon!

Damn... even willing to use his own mother as cannon fodder, one should steer clear of this ungrateful and treacherous person in the future.

The other two individuals had more or less the same thoughts, yet were reluctant to fall out with Yi Zenan at this point.

After all, the kid was indeed quite clever.

Even before undergoing the operation, Yi Zenan had foreseen that their physical conditions would progressively worsen after the surgery, weakening them, and making it difficult to ensure that the NPCs wouldn't turn on them.

So, before the surgery, Yi Zenan took the small manager from the Goldfish Guild, who was Wang Dongsheng, to first kill the bulkier, seemingly uncontrollable NPCs, then forced the unsuitable players out of the spaceship, letting them die in space.

The two remaining players were initially skinny and petite, appearing to be easy to manage.

As for Auntie Li... although Auntie Li was plump and appeared to be a kind and amiable middle-aged to elderly woman, she was his mother.

Ever since entering the game, Yi Zenan had been avoiding her; Auntie Li's pancake stall was situated near the player's lobby, and of course, Yi Zenan knew early on that she too had entered this game.

But professional players were the most lowly ants in this game; they didn't accumulate many points. Like Auntie Li, running a pancake stall for a day brought in a maximum of a thousand points in income, and a...

Younger man / man of a younger generation

Can't even afford a decent weapon.

Yi Ze Nan is determined to keep climbing up, aiming to reach the pinnacle and complete the "Reincarnation Trials" to return to the real world... He has a wife and children to take care of, and cannot afford to be weighed down by the dead, probably even incapable of completing this mass multiplayer dungeon, liabilities.

Yes, liabilities.

Although Auntie Li raised him single-handedly by selling pancakes, scrimping and saving her entire life to send him to school and even to get his Ph.D., and even managed to save up the down payment for his house, she is of no use now.

Yi Ze Nan believes that she would understand him... after all, his mother loves him dearly, always letting him have the best of everything since childhood, wearing gloves with holes without buying new ones for herself, but buying him brand-name sneakers, fearing he might lose face in front of his classmates.

She will definitely understand.

Hence, when they decided to experiment by sacrificing one player to see how much weight could be reduced by removing a kidney, a liver, and a lung, to possibly bring their average weight below the threshold, Yi Ze Nan turned to Auntie Li amidst the implicit suggestions and expectations of the other players around.

"Mom, you have lost the least weight, so... would you be willing to try?"

He saw that Auntie Li's expression froze in an instant.

A pang of guilt struck Yi Ze Nan, but he quickly consoled himself.

With Auntie Li’s lack of ability to clear the mass multiplayer dungeon, and now knowing that he is also in this game and doing quite well, what if she expects him to carry her through the dungeon? And expects the same for the future? Better to make a clean break now.

Yi Ze Nan was contemplating how to persuade her, but in the next moment, Auntie Li, who had been quiet since entering the dungeon, just nodded: "Okay."

At this moment, Yi Ze Nan was stunned.

He always considered himself the smartest, the most rational, the player most suited for this game, but after abandoning the “liability”, he felt an inexplicable emptiness in his heart.

But before he could ponder further, one of the remaining two NPCs, who knew how to perform surgery, had already pushed Auntie Li into the operating room.

The surgery was very successful, reducing Auntie Li's weight by a full four jin (approximately 2.2 kg).

But now, she couldn't stand up anymore, lacking even the strength to speak.

Four jin.

If every player reduces their weight by four jin, they would still be two jin above the average... what else could they possibly cut?

At this point, someone suggested, "Why don't we draw blood after removing the organs?"

That seems to be a solution.

"However... I'm not sure if we can survive losing so many organs and then having blood drawn..."

It would be great if someone could conduct an experiment first.

Just then, Yi Ze Nan, who had seemed quite calm throughout, suddenly punched the person who made the suggestion in the face.

He too was gaunt and hollowed out, and the punch only made the person stagger a bit, who then couldn't help but curse loudly.

"Damn it! Are you insane?!"

Yi Ze Nan merely looked at him, his face visibly distressed, remaining silent.

Meanwhile, astonishingly, Auntie Li had called upon two players... honestly, the reason Yi Ze Nan had voluntarily suggested Auntie Li try the experiment was because he believed she understood the current circumstances and would not do anything to harm him.

If it were someone else, if he was now chosen to be the guinea pig for this experiment, he would have taken the opportunity to consume a system potion and die with these players while they were not paying attention.

But his mother would never harm him.

Therefore, at the first instant of hearing this news, Yi Ze Nan found it unbelievable, followed by a deep furrow of his brow.

"Impossible," he uttered, leaning against the wall as he stood up first.

"Let's go! We need to find her."