Chapter 18
Because of the large number of viewers, the live broadcast hall has always used a zoned approach to disperse the flow of people and avoid crowding. Viewed from above, it resembles a series of distinct islands at sea.
As fans in the live stream cheered for Yan Yue and his team to clear the dungeon, shouts came from more than a dozen "islands" at the same time, and the sound was unusually loud.
Some people heard the commotion outside and looked around in confusion.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"I don't know, why are they all suddenly acting crazy?"
The fans in the adjacent live stream were still screaming excitedly. I didn't have time to explain much to them. I excitedly and mysteriously dropped a sentence: "I advise you to hurry up and watch Chairman Yan's live stream. If you don't watch it now, it will be too late!"
There are many presidents with the surname Yan in Infinite Games, but only one is truly famous.
Others who were unaware of the situation muttered to themselves, "What do you mean 'it'll be too late if we don't watch now'? It's like we're about to beat a game. Is it really that serious?"
Although they verbally dismissed it, their actions betrayed them. They readily opened the live stream popularity rankings and took a look.
"Damn—" He was dumbfounded on the spot.
Staring at the ridiculously high popularity ratings, everyone gaped in disbelief.
"Yan Yue's live stream was only barely making it onto the homepage before, but in less than two days, he actually climbed to number one. Are you kidding me?"
"I watched his live stream before. He was afraid to kill this and couldn't touch that. It was so boring to watch. I really can't understand how he managed to get to the top. Did he flirt with someone along the way?"
"And what kind of monster is this newcomer named Xu Qingran? How can he make it to the homepage with only 0 first-time completions?"
Before the words were finished, a cold, impersonal system notification sounded.
[Ding! Congratulations to Yan Yue, Cheng Chen, Li Mingyu, Xu Qingran, and other players for clearing the A-level Ghost King Trial "Dog Harm," becoming the first players to clear this dungeon! Dungeon rewards will be calculated later.]
"...!!"
This is truly a thunderclap out of nowhere!
No one doubted the authenticity of this broadcast, because a server-wide announcement only plays when the first person clears the trial.
In an instant, countless viewers who heard the broadcast flocked to the live streams of Yan Yue and other players, and their live streams reached an unprecedented level of popularity.
People cheered, questioned, worshipped, and were puzzled. Countless opinions were expressed.
The entire hall seemed to tremble amidst the roaring sound of the waves; the scene was more than just shocking!
Many players seeking strategies immediately approached viewers who had watched the entire live stream, asking Yan Yue and the others for their walkthrough strategies and showering them with compliments.
The audience members suppressed their excitement and carefully considered how to answer, but as they thought about it, their expressions gradually became indescribable.
"To be honest, President Yan's performance in this instance was... so-so, I guess? He was timid and hesitant the whole time, and even a bit boring..."
As they said, viewers who initially watched Yan Yue's live stream weren't very interested.
Unlike other top streamers who try thrilling and exciting stunts to grab attention, Yan Yue only aims for a neutral performance. However, in this A-level Ghost King dungeon, perhaps due to the heavy burden on his shoulders, he seemed even more hesitant to perform freely.
While the other big shots have already found slaughterhouses in the suburbs, they're still wandering around in the lower city, which is incredibly inefficient.
Fortunately, at this exact time, the Ghost King inexplicably released the captured team members, while other streamers didn't encounter this situation, which is why the audience was interested in staying to watch.
During the live stream, based on details provided by his teammates, Yan Yue asked everyone to form groups to investigate pet supply stores and pet hospitals.
There's nothing wrong with that, since the instance is mainly about stray dogs, there will usually be characters who feed stray animals.
I had guessed that such a person existed, but I never imagined that this person could be so good-looking.
When Xie Xubai's handsome and gentle face entered the frame, the comments section exploded instantly.
Just based on his face, this guy is definitely a key NPC!
I'm despairing of this appearance-obsessed world, and what's even more despairing is that I think you're right.
His voice is so nice, and his eyes are so gentle when he talks to girls. It made me so excited!
:? That was outrageous.
Up to this point, the flow of the comments has been relatively normal.
When Yan Yue and the others finally arrived at the slaughterhouse, Xie Xubai, who had been secretly following behind, suddenly rushed out and pushed Xu Qingran away, saving her life.
Ahhhhh, how can he be so kind? He's just an ordinary person with no ability to protect himself, yet he still rushes out to save people.
Listen to what he said, "Thank goodness you're alright," oh my god! I wish I could be that female player. I hereby officially declare that this NPC is my new husband from today onwards!
He's injured, it looks so painful, it breaks my heart.
: ? ? ? Did I come to the wrong place? Is this the first trial or a fan meeting? How can you guys be so lewd towards an NPC whose background you don't even know?
That's how beasts that go into heat regardless of location are; they'll be the first to die in a dungeon.
No? What you said earlier was a bit too much. I can like whoever I want, why do you have to bark like a dog? Oh, sorry, calling you a dog is an insult to dogs, you're just a maggot spewing filth!
In an instant, the comments section erupted into a heated exchange of insults, quickly spiraling out of control.
The administrators rushed to the scene and blocked more than twenty accounts before things calmed down a bit.
But the war of words didn't end there; the remaining viewers, in order to avoid being banned, used more polite language to express their sarcastic remarks.
At first glance, this live stream seems very aggressive, but if you click on the more popular live stream of a top streamer, you'll find that this level of verbal abuse is nothing more than children spitting. The arguments there are much more intense, with hundreds of accounts being banned in bulk at once.
Ultimately, it stems from two irreconcilable ideas.
Some people believe that clearing the trial for the first time is very important. Every player who completes the trial is a brave and indomitable contributor and pioneer. Their battles should not be trivialized but should be taken seriously by everyone.
Others, however, feel that there's no need to take watching a live stream so seriously, since the comments won't affect the streamer who's currently completing the challenge. Life is already tough enough; why make us all more tense?
And they've given us plenty of points as rewards, haven't they? Didn't we earn those points ourselves? Why are they giving us points and showering us with attention? Is the streamer their son?
When players repeatedly get stuck at [6] or [7] and can't go any further, more and more players become disheartened about redeeming Earth.
Even the players who successfully completed the trial for the first time gradually changed their mindset after experiencing countless near-death experiences. They cared more about the huge rewards and fame that came with successfully completing the trial than about saving the world.
Some even feel that they can no longer return to their original lives, and who knows if they can really save those 7.7 billion people after [10] times.
Living in an infinite game like this, with abundant resources and an infinite lifespan, isn't it much more comfortable and interesting than the 996 and 007 work schedules of the past?
Therefore, while in the past there were more players who were courageous and serious, now the "take it or leave it" mentality has become the mainstream, and the entire live streaming hall is filled with an atmosphere of entertainment first.
But I digress. Let's get back to the live stream.
The two groups of viewers couldn't stand each other, and Xie Xubai became the focus of their argument, with the discussion even overshadowing that of Yan Yue, the host of the live stream.
There's also Xu Qingran, whose perspective allows for better monitoring/admiration of Yan Xiexubai, which is why many viewers are willing to spend a lot of points to open another split screen and watch both live streams at the same time.
As a result, Xu Qingran's live stream popularity soared, making her a promising new streamer in the newcomer section, topping the popularity charts, and attracting a large number of viewers who were unfamiliar with her but felt impressed.
The verbal battle escalated further.
Seeing Xie Xubai being helped along by Xu Qingran due to his serious injuries and weakness, the serious party members cursed: What a waste, what a weakling, what a fragile glass vase.
When Xie Xubai helped Xu Qingran resolve her frustration at being ostracized and ignored, entertainment fans screamed: "What a considerate, thoughtful, and wonderful husband/wife! He's so warm, kind, gentle, and beautiful!"
The cup Xu Qingran used to drug the ghost had been tampered with. The serious party member slammed his fist on the table in anger: "It's confirmed! That pretty boy is an accomplice of the Ghost King! He definitely had ill intentions for infiltrating here!"
Xu Qingran opened her eyes and was shielded by Xie Xubai. The entertainment fans cried out in tears, "Even his teammates wouldn't do this much, so what bad intentions could he possibly have? He loves animals, pities the weak, and provides clues to Chairman Yan and the others. Waaaaah, he's so good!"
Serious Party: "You guys are completely insane! Whose side are you on, NPCs or humans?!"
Entertainment-oriented people: "Anyway, I won't support those cowards who are too afraid to even run dungeons but still chatter on about key NPCs in front of the screen!"
After Xie Xubai shook off the players monitoring him, the barrage of comments erupted into chaos, a veritable battle of gods.
Until the system warned that the Ghost King was about to enter a berserk state, Yan Yue and the others had to travel back and forth between various hospitals to collect enough blood.
The two groups of viewers with differing opinions fell silent simultaneously.
They suppressed their anger, held their breath, and stared intently at the players' figures disappearing into the alleyway through the camera lens.
Talk is talk, criticism is criticism... how could I not care?
Those struggling on the line between life and death were their fellow human beings. All their fates were intertwined, like grasshoppers tied to a single rope, inseparable.
As the third wave of vengeful spirits approached, the Ghost King was enraged and his stats soared to the legendary S-rank. The audience no longer cared about Xie Xubai; all that remained in their hearts was despair, resentment, and endless sorrow.
"As expected, it didn't work. It happened again! Every time we were about to win the game, this thing would pop up. The game organizers never intended for us to win! They decide the trial content anyway, and they can do whatever they want with us!"
Immediately afterwards, the NPC youth in the live stream stopped.
The vengeful spirits that attacked were slammed to the ground by the vengeful beasts, while the young man's eyelashes didn't even tremble.
He continued walking, treading over the ravaged land and passing by the disheveled crowd, like a gardener strolling leisurely in his own backyard.
The wind is gentle and the clouds are light; I am at ease and composed.
Faced with a BOSS that drove players to despair, he simply stretched out his hand, and the ferocious monster lowered its head and obediently nestled in his palm.
Finally, the secret is revealed in the dungeon's Easter egg: the dog attack was actually caused by a human. By eliminating the culprit Zhang Bin, the trial can be completed.
What surprised both new and old viewers was that Yan Yue and the others were not immediately ejected from the instance after clearing the level.
It was at this moment that the young man asked one of the players for a healing item, walked over to Xu Qingran who was leaning against the corner of the wall, and used the item to heal her.
Through Xu Qingran's first-person perspective, countless players saw the young man slowly walk towards them, squat down to eye level, and then reach out his hand.
The hands with distinct knuckles rested on their foreheads, one stroke after another, as if stroking their heads.
Facing the camera, the young man's calm eyes curved slightly, revealing a gentle smile. His intimidating aura remained, though it was no longer sharp.
"I'm sorry, I lied to you before."
"You are a brave girl, and you will definitely get what you want."
The young man stood up, just as the Demon King's Domain dissipated. The afterglow of the sun shone down, illuminating his slender figure and seemingly gilding it with a soft golden light.
At that moment, he was like a god in the clouds looking down on the world, casting a gentle glance at the people he loved.
"I hope you find your way home soon."
The final shot lingered on the moment the young man offered his blessings, marking the end of the trial for Yan Yue and his companions. After a brief silence, the comments section erupted once again!
For the first time in history, two groups of players with differing opinions reached a consensus, their cheeks flushed with excitement.
"After a player successfully clears the dungeon for the first time, they'll enter the Trial Pool, right? Can anyone tell me if there's any chance of meeting him/her? I want to fawn over my husband/wife so much!!!"
Author's Note:
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