Chapter 26

After finishing their meal, the two sat on the sofa without moving. The doorbell rang, and Chen Yuchuan's assistant brought in two other people.

"I've never done a live stream from home before, so I need to set up the equipment," Chen Yuchuan explained.

Shen He, who was originally quiet and idle, felt dizzy upon seeing people: "You wait here by yourself, call me when you're done."

"Okay." Chen Yuchuan agreed lazily, but his eyes followed him as he walked away. Only after he closed the door did Chen Yuchuan pick up his phone and send a live broadcast notification.

After his assistant left, Chen Yuchuan was alone in the room. He adjusted the lights, turned on his live stream, and leaned back in his chair, casually adjusting the cuffs of his pajamas. A black and gold snake-shaped bracelet wrapped around his wrist gleamed coldly under the light, its lines sharp and exquisite.

[Seriously, I'm fed up. He's showing off this lousy bracelet again.]

You thought he genuinely wanted to start a live stream, but he just couldn't resist showing off the gifts his sister-in-law gave him.

This person is really a dog.

[They denied it last time, but now they don't even bother pretending anymore, haha.]

This makes me sick (vomit)

Chen Yuchuan stared at the screen, a slight smile playing on his lips. He coughed, pretending nothing had happened, his tone impatient:

"What are you yelling about? Shut your mouths."

He sent another message to Shenhe: "Ready? Come on up."

A few minutes later, the door was pushed open.

Shen He walked in, also wearing dark pajamas, with the neckline loose and open.

Unaware that Chen Yuchuan had turned on his camera, he walked straight past the lamp stand and table, the camera panning just to his jawline and waist. His movements were casual, exuding a nonchalant ease.

Shen He glanced at Chen Yuchuan's screen, which was filled with comments again. He wondered what these people were yelling about this time.

Chen Yuchuan spoke casually and lazily, "This is my brother. You guys should watch your words, understand?"

[Aaaaaaah, who was that just now?!?]

Is this guy the male sister-in-law?

[The overall atmosphere is wonderful; even without seeing her full face, she looks amazing.]

[Is he my sister-in-law? Oh my god, he's a really handsome guy.]

[You Sichuan dogs can get lost, can I please see what my male sister-in-law looks like?]

It looks a bit like Styx...

Please stop using Styx, okay? This hype just won't stop.

[Pajamas, hehe, collarbone, hehe.]

The pajamas are a bit too conservative.

Chen Yuchuan glanced at the comments, a hint of smugness flashing in his eyes, but the next second, as if realizing something, that smugness instantly turned into annoyance:

"Can you shut up? The moderators kicked out all those who were spamming the chat."

What's he in such a hurry for? Is he crazy?

What's wrong with him? Who upset him this time?

[If you don't want to broadcast, then get out. Let your male sister-in-law do it, okay?]

[Who cares about your deadpan face? But my sister-in-law has a really nice figure, hehe, you know what I mean.]

[Chao Xiong's condition has flared up again.]

Chen Yuchuan's expression darkened further, and he immediately turned off the camera.

Shen He was speechless at his brother's eccentric and strange appearance, feeling that his brother's mental state was becoming more and more abnormal every day.

Without much thought, he turned his gaze back to the screen. There were hundreds of games in the library. He glanced at a few casually and asked Chen Yuchuan, "What do you want to play?"

Chen Yuchuan turned to the side, randomly clicked on a link in the list, and the game opened, displaying the last closed beta test.

Shenhe subconsciously leaned closer, but froze the moment he saw the title.

The black text was shrouded in mist, from which red liquid gradually seeped out, bit by bit, until it completely obscured the title.

Wander in the Fog.

That was his favorite indie game.

The graphics are rough, the combat mechanics are simple, the character models are rudimentary, and the plot relies entirely on character dialogue, but the atmosphere is exceptionally well done.

For a while, he was addicted to the game. Every time Chen Yuchuan contacted him, he would ignore him. Chen Yuchuan was a little annoyed and complained that the game was poorly made and he didn't know what was so fun about it.

The remastered logo slowly lights up in the center of the screen, the familiar background music plays, and the modeling and animation have been completely redone.

He recognized the weathered forest at a glance. The protagonist walked along a path made of limbs, passing through gardens, ruins, and cities. Mist swirled around his feet, revealing black and white memories, only to be swallowed up again by the next gust of mist.

This is the opening animation from before. But this time it doesn't end.

The protagonist looks up, and light pierces through the thick fog—it's the long-awaited sunlight. He doesn't turn around, but dark energy is rising from the light. The scene gradually freezes amidst the alternation of light and shadow, then the subtitles appear:

"As the old path fades into the fog, a new dawn awaits."

The old road is hidden in the mist; dawn is waiting.

Shen He leaned back in his chair, staring at the images with a momentary daze. He couldn't even remember the last time he had looked at these things he used to love so much. He didn't even know that the game had been re-launched and remade.

After that small studio disbanded, he thought the game was dead, but he never expected that someone would take over and do it to this extent.

It took him a while to find his voice, and he spoke in a seemingly casual tone:

"Didn't you say it was an action-adventure multiplayer game?"

Chen Yuchuan glanced at him, concealing the emotions in his eyes, but his tone carried a hint of smugness:

"Didn't you see the trailer? It retains the original level design but adds a lot of two-player cooperative elements. If you're playing solo, don't worry, the AI ​​is much more reliable than your terrible teammates."

Shen He twitched the corner of his mouth and asked him, "Where did that movement come from?"

"I knew you hadn't watched it." Chen Yuchuan leaned back in his chair, tapping on the keyboard to skip the plot. "It's no longer the old setup where you just rely on an infinitely charged gun to fight from beginning to end. This time, the combat mechanics are much more complex. You'll see when you play it."

"What relatives of yours have such good taste?" Shen He looked at Chen Yuchuan with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop." Chen Yuchuan pretended to react strongly, put his arm around his neck, and whispered in his ear, "I'm still live streaming, don't let anything slip, don't ask, we're really not that close."

"Get out of my way," Shen He pushed him away, his tone casual, but something about it sounded off. "Stop pretending with me."

Chen Yuchuan clicked his tongue, "Who would dare to pretend with you?"

"Let's play!"

"Okay, okay, open it, open it, open it."

The comments section was filled with all sorts of random discussions, and Shenhe was speechless after glancing at it twice.

[My brother-in-law's voice is so soothing!]

[Is my sister-in-law catching a cold? Her voice is hoarse, it's... well...]

[What relatives? I didn't understand.]

Holy crap, I've played this game before! It's a masterpiece!

The remake looks amazing; the budget must have been huge!

So what exactly does "relatives" mean?

Doesn't anyone think that Trump is inferior to his wife? It's hilarious.

[I'm speechless. My male sister-in-law is truly amazing; her dog-training skills are superb.]

[Huh? When did we start assuming that the sister-in-law and the male sister-in-law are the same person? Isn't the male sister-in-law supposed to be Sichuanese's good buddy?]

As soon as they officially entered the level, Chen Yuchuan started acting out, wandering around and deliberately causing trouble. Shen He stared at the screen and endured it for a long time. Since they were still live streaming, he just warned him, "Can you please stop messing around?"

Chen Yuchuan didn't care at all: "Tsk tsk tsk, it's just playing a game with your brother, why are you so serious?"

Looking at the character he had killed because of Chen Yuchuan, Shen He really wanted to curse: "Can you even play? If you can't, then get out."

"Hey, why are you being so restrained today?" Chen Yuchuan was still laughing. "I thought you were going to just tell me to get lost."

Shen He really didn't know how he could be so shameless while live streaming. "Fine, then please get out, okay?"

The comments section was also quite speechless.

[My sister-in-law was probably building up her anger by not saying a word for over ten minutes.]

[Holy crap, my sister-in-law's tone is so sadistic.]

[Sister-in-law: Please teach me how to slap someone to death.]

[Who is this "male sister-in-law" that dares to insult Chen Yuchuan like that?]

[I already said she's my sister-in-law.]

My sister-in-law seems quite familiar with this game.

[My sister-in-law is indeed a master; Chen Yuchuan is now just a corpse.]

Chen Yuchuan continued to do as he pleased. Shen He smiled, and Chen Yuchuan pressed, "What are you laughing at?"

Shen He ignored him, but when they were facing the final boss, he took advantage of Chen Yuchuan's inattention to guide the boss to trap his character in a dead end. At the same time, the screens of the two of them displayed the message "YOU DIED". Shen He lazily said, "We don't have any chemistry. I'm going to play single-player mode."

Chen Yuchuan almost instantly slid to his knees: "Brother, I was wrong, I was really wrong."

[Uh, that's a fast change of expression, hard to judge.]

[I feel good. They usually criticize their fans all the time, but now they're behaving like this.]

As the saying goes, there's always someone who can subdue another.

[Could all my sister-in-laws appear on my live streams in the future? They're beautiful and I love watching them.]

Looking at his ridiculous appearance, Shenhe warned him, "Have fun."

Chen Yuchuan kept saying "okay, okay, okay," and for the next hour or so, he didn't cause any more trouble. The two worked together seamlessly, with almost no mistakes. Chen Yuchuan followed Shen He's instructions to lure monsters, set traps, and deal with mechanisms, and his methods actually seemed quite skillful.

[You were just deliberately asking for trouble, weren't you? I'm speechless.]

[This person clearly knows how to have fun, yet they're still acting crazy.]

Do you even know what a peacock spreading its tail feathers means?

[This tacit understanding? Did they sleep together?]

Before they knew it, it was past seven in the evening. They had finally finished the third chapter. Shen He leaned back in his chair, a rare look of satisfaction on his face.

The comments section was still buzzing with excitement.

This game looks so fun! When can I buy the full version?

[How did my sister-in-law manage to solve two puzzles at the same time? She's amazing! It's like she's using her brain in several pieces.]

The puzzles are completely different from the old ones! Where did this guy from Sichuan come from? He seems like a genius.

[Could my sister-in-law start her own live stream? She seems like a gaming pro.]

Chen Yuchuan glanced at the comments and said smugly, "Don't use the word 'expert' to humiliate him, okay?" Then he turned off the live stream.

Chen Yuchuan turned his head and saw Shen He lying in the chair with his eyes closed, completely relaxed. The little thing that was hanging in his heart also calmed down. The two of them lay there waiting for their meal.

"Just tell me, isn't the game your buddy recommended exactly what you wanted?"

"Not bad," Shen He said, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Chen Yuchuan didn't expose him.

Shen He added, "Please thank your relative for their investment."

"Okay, I'll tell him later." Chen Yuchuan was still pretending to be stupid.

After a few seconds of silence, Shen He spoke again: "Just say you want to play next time, don't use live streaming as an excuse."

Chen Yuchuan was taken aback for a moment: "You don't like it?"

"Hmm." Shen He leaned back in his chair, his tone indifferent. "Too many people, annoying."

He paused, as if organizing his thoughts, and finally said only, "It feels a bit noisy."

Chen Yuchuan seemed thoughtful, but still said, "Okay, next time let's just play quietly by ourselves and not do a live stream."

"Besides, it's really getting to me, a guy, being called 'sister-in-law' by your bunch of amazing fans every day." Shen He changed the subject.

Chen Yuchuan gave a sneer for no apparent reason.

Shen He glanced at him: "What do you mean?"

Chen Yuchuan waved his hand: "You're happy to be someone else's older brother, aren't you?"

These words sounded sarcastic. Shen He glanced at him sideways and saw that Chen Yuchuan had a deliberately teasing expression on his face. Shen He realized that he was overthinking things.

Thinking back to the comments on my previous post, I still can't help but laugh:

"It's like the sky has fallen when I woke up. I've inexplicably become a bronze-colored male."

"What's there to complain about?" Chen Yuchuan leaned back in his chair, sounding quite nonchalant. "Unless you're like me, teammates, opponents, even coaches and team leaders will become your partners. You'll get used to it."

"What about you?" Shen He really wanted to learn.

“I dislike everyone, so I just curse at everyone I see,” Chen Yuchuan said, adding, “except you.”

"..." No wonder those people were inexplicably obsessed with Styx and River before.

Chen Yuchuan seemed to remember something and suddenly turned to stare at him: "But seriously, how does it feel to be a gentle older brother to that kind of brainless brat?"

"...Have you taken the wrong medicine?" Shen He genuinely felt that he was acting strangely today: "Would you like this good fortune?"

"Then forget it." Chen Yuchuan looked away, his tone becoming teasing again.

"I can't handle one sister-in-law anymore."

"If you can't speak properly, then shut your mouth. I get a headache just hearing about my sister-in-law and brother."

"Okay, okay, I won't say anymore," Chen Yuchuan said dismissively.

He paused, then added, "Oh, right, there's one more thing you should pay attention to, based on my experience."

"Um?"

"Don't smile at others for no reason, don't get too close to your teammates in the rest room, and don't have too much contact with them in private. Otherwise, the management will hype it up and mislead fans into over-interpreting it."

These words actually make some sense. But upon closer inspection, those photos with such a strong sense of atmosphere are actually taken by the management team at deliberately chosen angles. Shen He felt helpless: "Even a slight pout can be interpreted by fans as a doting smile. There's really nothing I can do."

After listening, Chen Yuchuan laughed for no apparent reason: "Those people are just making a fuss. Just ignore them."

“That makes sense.” Shen He felt there was no point in dwelling on these things, so he simply lay back in the chair and closed his eyes to rest.