Chapter 141: Live Video Streaming

Chapter 141: Live Video Streaming

Xing Yuan glanced indifferently at his phone screen. To be honest, this was the first time a stranger had added him, which inevitably stirred some subtle emotions within him. However, he wasn't interested in those humans in Devil City who could be crushed by a single finger. In the end, he chose to ignore it, tossing his phone aside and closing his eyes to continue sleeping.

Meanwhile, Lu Yan was still casting a wide net in the "Widespread Drifting" group. He hadn't decided on his target yet. The next moment, three or four friend requests suddenly appeared in his inbox, with messages that were all similar:

"Brother, wanna hook up? Ten time points for an all-nighter, local area only."

"Wanna do video?"

Lu Yan, upon seeing these friend request messages, once doubted if he had stumbled into a hookup group. By accident, he swiped right on one of the requests, and immediately, the other party sent a private photo, nearly blinding him.

This person's username was "Lonely and Bitter 1." After sending the photo, they asked: [Brother, wanna hook up? Can you handle multiple people?]

Lu Yan: "Brother, want a watch? I'll give you a twenty percent discount."

Lonely and Bitter 1: "Are you an idiot?"

Lu Yan: "Authentic gold watches, you can choose your model via video."

Lonely and Bitter 1: "Get lost!"

Lu Yan, having failed before even starting, couldn't help but feel somewhat defeated. He was about to leave the group and shut down his computer when, unexpectedly, the system suddenly popped out a side mission:

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for triggering a side mission. Please sell at least ten watches through a live streaming platform within 24 hours. Success will reward you with five hundred points, failure will deduct five hundred time points!"

Deduct five hundred time points?!

Veins bulged on Lu Yan's forehead. "I barely accumulated seven hundred and twenty time points from fighting monsters yesterday, and now you want to deduct five hundred time points just like that?"

The system had no choice; this was a mandatory mission set by the interface. It consoled him half-heartedly, "Think positively, if you succeed, you'll get five hundred points as a reward."

Feeling the need to smoke to calm down, Lu Yan realized he didn't have any cigarettes at home. He could only put on his clothes, go downstairs, and buy a pack at the convenience store across the street. He also bought breakfast from the steamed bun vendor.

"Six buns, six time points, scan the code."

The elderly man selling breakfast was already hunched over, but he had become wealthy from selling buns. Judging by the remaining life value on his wrist, he had at least another thirty years to live. He took out a small machine and scanned Lu Yan's wrist, automatically deducting six time points. This represented that Lu Yan's remaining life was reduced by six hours.

On the surface, the white-haired old man seemed to be on the brink of death, but in terms of life value, Lu Yan was the one nearing the coffin.

Looking up, Lu Yan could see the utopia floating in the clouds, deeply feeling the absurdity of this world. He took the buns from the old man and said, "Thank you."

The old man grunted, his eyelids drooping as he used a bamboo stick to shoo away nearby flies. "When you go upstairs, knock on the door next door. My legs aren't good, so I'm lazy to climb the stairs. Remind them to pay the rent for me. That couple hasn't paid for three months."

The old man was a low-key tycoon, not only owning a steamed bun shop, but even the unfinished building where Lu Yan lived was his. When Lu Yan and his brother occasionally couldn't afford the rent due to tight finances, he would give them a few days' grace. Lu Yan casually agreed and went straight upstairs with the buns.

The environment on this street was terrible. It was scorching hot when sunny, damp and leaky when raining, and the air was always filled with the sour smell of garbage. But perhaps it was Lu Yan's imagination, the stench on their floor seemed particularly heavy.

Lu Yan walked to his neighbor's door and knocked. "Is anyone there?"

No response. The empty corridor was swallowed by darkness, and faint cries of a baby could be heard from the crack under the door, sending chills down his spine.

Lu Yan raised his eyebrows, thinking that this family might be dead. It wasn't a curse, but rather, such situations were far too common in the slums. People walking on the street could collapse suddenly because their life value had run out, let alone a poor couple.

"Bang bang bang!"

Lu Yan knocked harder. "If you don't open the door, I'm kicking it down."

As soon as he said this, the tightly closed door suddenly creaked open. A disheveled man stood behind it. His hair was greasy, seemingly unwashed for ages, and dark circles under his eyes. His cheeks were sunken, leaving only bones visible.

The moment the door opened, a pungent stench of neglect hit Lu Yan's face, almost making him stagger back. He unconsciously took a few steps back, holding his breath. "Uncle Qian said you haven't paid the rent for three months. He wants you to pay him as soon as possible."

As he spoke, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of inside the man's house, but without any lights on, nothing could be seen clearly. Only vaguely could he make out a pile of food waste bags on the ground, with flies buzzing around everywhere.

The man's bloodshot eyes turned, seemingly trying to recall who Lu Yan was. Finally, he remembered that this person was his neighbor living opposite him. With a hoarse voice, he uttered, "Understood, I'll pay him tomorrow."

Lu Yan asked seemingly nonchalantly, "Why haven't I seen your wife?"

Upon hearing this, the man slowly pulled out a smile. His face, pale from lack of sunlight, looked somewhat terrifying, like a corpse. "She's giving birth."

"After she gives birth to this child, we're going to move to Sky City to live..."

As he spoke, he lifted his skinny wrist, showing off in front of Lu Yan. It displayed that his life value was actually more than a hundred years!!

Lu Yan was stunned for a moment. Damn, what kind of world was this? How come even a random person on the street lived longer than him?!

"Well, congratulations then."

Lu Yan forced a laugh, unwilling to admit that he was envious. He returned home with the six buns. He ate three, and Xiao Zhao ate three. That was their daily ration.

After eating the buns, Lu Yan carefully studied how to sell watches using online platforms. He found that many people were doing live streaming sales. The more people in the live stream, the higher the popularity. There was a fellow fake watch seller who had already amassed a million followers. If lucky, encountering a wealthy person from Sky City gifting during a live stream could lead to huge profits.

Lu Yan tidied up his cluttered desk, clearing a space to display the gold watches. Then he applied to start a live streaming room. However, perhaps due to his low account level, he sat in front of the camera for two hours, but not a single viewer came in.

Even the system couldn't resist commenting, "Your live stream doesn't have a single viewer. Who are you selling to, ghosts?"

Lu Yan lifted his eyelids and casually picked up a gold watch, handing it to the system. "How about you buy one, consider it helping me kickstart my business?"

The system: "..."

The system: "Do you see if I have hands?"

Who would wear a big gold watch around their neck?

Lu Yan sneered and threw the watch onto the table. "There you go. You won't buy, why would a ghost foolishly come to buy?"

The system was so angry that its body, originally black-red, became brighter. It secretly cursed Lu Yan, hoping he wouldn't complete the mission, and disappeared into thin air.

Lu Yan ignored it and continued researching the live stream rankings. Eventually, he discovered that the more people there were, the higher the popularity, and the higher the popularity, the easier it was to be pushed to the homepage. Currently, Lu Yan was at the bottom of the list. The second-to-last was someone selling men's underwear, with roughly five people in their live stream.

In other words, if Lu Yan wanted to climb the rankings, he had to rope in at least six people. But where was he going to find six people?

Lost in thought, Lu Yan finally set his sights on the group chat he joined today. He found "Lonely and Alone1" and privately messaged them: [Are you there?]

It just so happened that Lonely and Alone1 was online: "What's up, bro? Feeling frisky?"

Lu Yan tapped lightly on his keyboard: "Live video?"

Lonely and Alone1: "Oh ho, bro, you're quite the player. Sure, I wouldn't mind checking out your abs."

Lu Yan: "Can you gather eight people?"

Upon hearing this, Lonely and Alone1 was so shocked they stuttered on the other end. After a long pause, they managed to type out a message: "N-not really, bro. You're playing big. The most I've ever done is with four people."

Lu Yan: "Eight people. Are you in or out?"

Lonely and Alone1 swallowed hard, both scared and intrigued. After a moment of hesitation, they agreed: "F-fine... I'll call some people."

Lu Yan: "I'll send you the video link. Just have them join directly later."

Lonely and Alone1 didn't think much of it and immediately rallied eight friends, assuring them it would be exciting. His legs were shaking from excitement; it had been years since he'd experienced something so thrilling. He wondered if the little bro really had an eight-pack. Anticipating, he rubbed his hands together and clicked on the live video link Lu Yan provided. However, instead of the expected sensual scene, he nearly got blinded by a screen full of golden watches.

In the video, only one of Lu Yan's arms was visible, adorned with eight gold watches: "Master-designed gold watches, made of pure gold, understated luxury, paired with zirconia cases, waterproof, oil-proof, fireproof. Now on special offer, 10% off everything!"

The live stream audience: "..."

Lonely and Alone1 was livid: "Sisters, this watch-selling jerk dared to deceive us. Let's tear him apart!!"

The zeros in the group were unusually united. Upon the call, they all rushed into Lu Yan's live stream, over fifty people taking turns to curse him out, spitting venom left and right. It was a bloodbath.

As the number of viewers increased along with the chat activity, Lu Yan's live stream ranking kept climbing. Many viewers casually clicked in just to take a quick look at the products but ended up being drawn in by the comment section's verbal warfare, asking around for the juicy details.

"You scumbag!! Scumbag!!"

"How could you deceive us like this! A person like you will never find a partner!"

"I'm going to paint your house tomorrow!!"

"I thought you were going to play with multiple people, but you made me come in to see you sell watches??!! Damn, you deserve no house!!"

The live stream was filled with resentment. To those unaware, Lu Yan seemed like the ultimate scoundrel. Just as the number of viewers reached three thousand, a passerby finally figured out what was happening and explained in the comment section: "Damn, I finally understand. This host is a major scumbag, deceiving over fifty people!!"

The sheer number was explosive, causing the live stream audience to explode: "Whoa!! Host, what kind of watches are you selling? Write a love manual instead!"

Xing Yuan had just woken up that evening. Lazily squinting, he habitually checked his phone for the time. However, his phone was still on the page where the new member requested to add him as a friend. By accident, his finger touched "accept," adding the friend without intending to.

"Ding! You are now friends with 187 Enthusiastic, Outgoing, Eight-Pack Hunk Xiao Lu. Come chat with him soon~"

"Ding! Your friend is currently live streaming. Go give him some heat~"

Xing Yuan hesitated for a moment. With a light movement of his fingers, he inadvertently clicked into the live stream.

The eight watches were somewhat heavy, and after supporting them for a while, Lu Yan felt burdened. He took them all off and held an antique watch to explain. In the not-too-big vertical screen, Lu Yan's hand occupied half the space.

His skin was pale, and due to the dim living room lighting, it created a sexy yet subtle atmosphere. His fingers were slender, the joints clear, and the light blue veins on the back of his hand extended to his forearm, looking strong and lean, hiding boundless power. Even the tacky gold watch looked sophisticated against his hand.

Xing Yuan glanced at the screen and knew that the newcomer who just joined the group definitely had a good figure, possibly even an eight-pack.

He was a hidden hand fetishist. Seeing this, his drowsiness dissipated somewhat, his eyes darkening as he watched Lu Yan's every move through the screen.

Lu Yan's voice was unique, lazy, with a deep, consumptive quality. This kind of voice would be disastrous on others, but his vocal conditions were excellent, like watching an old, decadent movie.

People continued to flood into the live stream, and the atmosphere in the comment section gradually shifted from cursing to curiosity:

"Damn, this host has such nice hands and a great voice. My dream guy!"

"Holy crap, how does he manage to fool over fifty people? What does he look like!"

"Show your face! Show your face! Show your face!"

Xing Yuan's gaze swept over the comment section, keenly catching the comment about "fooling over fifty people." He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. When chatting with Luoyang in the group, this person seemed to uphold male morals, but it turned out he played so wildly behind closed doors.

However, Xing Yuan didn't react much. After all, he and Lu Yan weren't even acquaintances. At best, he found this host's hands attractive. But deep down, he lost a bit of interest and directly exited the live stream.

At this point, those who started the cursing war in the comment section were tired, except for Lonely and Alone1, who was still jumping around. He felt he had suffered the greatest humiliation in hookup history and was so angry he almost smashed his keyboard:

"Scumbag! Bastard! How dare you use 'multiple people' to trick me!"

Damn, he had such nice hands and such a great voice. Not hooking up with him was a billion-dollar mistake!

Lu Yan took a break mid-stream, left the screen to drink some water. He calmly screwed the bottle cap back on, making sure not to reveal his appearance to avoid getting paint thrown at him on the street. He put on a mask before responding: "How did I deceive you? There are now thirty thousand viewers watching. Isn't that called 'multiple people?'"

This kind of "multiple people"?

Upon hearing this, Lonely and Alone1 nearly died of anger on the spot. His friends didn't even mention it. They had never seen someone as shameless as Lu Yan, quickly kicking him out of the group chat.

Lu Yan sold goods for a few hours, and quite a few people were swayed by his sales pitch, buying a total of sixty watches, far exceeding the system's task goal.

Seeing the task completed, Lu Yan greeted the audience and was about to go offline. Unexpectedly, at that moment, a comment suddenly caught his eye. The person even sent a rocket, making it particularly noticeable.

"Host, why is there a woman sitting behind your sofa?!"

Lu Yan: "???"

With this comment, the other viewers also seemed to notice something, flooding the screen with comments following suit:

"Is that the host's wife?"

"Holy shit!! Can't see her face with her hair covering it, looks like a ghost, scared me to death!!"

"Is the anchor doing something new? Can you ask her to stop staring at the live camera? I came here to shop, not to watch a horror movie. I'm so scared!"

Lu Yan did not turn back; instead, he slowly picked up the cigarette case from the table, took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips, then lit it with a lighter, his hand trembling slightly upon closer inspection. He took a few deep drags of the cigarette to calm his nerves, and only then did he muster the courage to look at the screen—

Lu Yan filled most of the screen, yet inadvertently revealed a sliver of the background between his shoulders and head, exposing the sofa behind him. Originally draped with a coat, the sofa now had an eerie woman seated on it.

Her hair was incredibly long, cascading nearly to the floor, appearing neglected for a long time, thick and disheveled. The pitch-black strands contrasted sharply against her skin, which was so pale it seemed to take on a bluish hue, partially concealing her features and revealing only a pair of eyes, bloodshot and devoid of pupils. Over her shoulders draped an old, strapless dress, the style of which was indistinct, enveloping her entire figure like a bedsheet, with the hem stained a brownish hue reminiscent of oxidized blood.

The air was thick with a familiar stench, and the incessant wailing of a baby from the neighboring room added an eerie touch to the surroundings.

It seemed as if the woman had sensed that Lu Yan had discovered her presence from the computer, for she gradually unveiled a smile towards him. Her face, pale like the plaster of a wall, began to show several black cracks. Her eyes transformed into two dark, hollow pits, and her mouth stretched wider and wider, tearing at the edges, revealing a glimpse of a crimson tongue moving within.

Lu Yan's breath caught in his throat; why did this thing look so familiar?!!

Some viewers spotted something, typing so fast they nearly set the keyboard on fire: "Oh my god, it's the Wanderer!!!!! Streamer, you've got to run right now!!!!! Hurry up and run!!!!"