Thank you @Renea for the Kofi.
Anchor Hall
Chapter 528: Confiscated!!!
Three minutes. Not long, but not short either.
Usually, it was just the blink of an eye, but right now, it felt as long as a century.
In the dark cabin where only the sound of waves could be heard, Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth, his head bowed. His dizzying field of vision was filled with the snow-white blanket firmly covering his body. Hot sweat dripped from his forehead onto the fabric, quickly blurring into a damp patch.
The watery rings reflected in his eyes accelerated his dizziness.
The young man’s hands gripped the corner of the blanket tightly, as if terrified it would fall, his fingertips white from the force.
The last… minute.
It’s almost over; it’s almost over.
In a corner the camera couldn’t capture, Wen Jianyan’s waist arched back, tense and trembling like a drawn bowstring. He tried desperately to retreat, but a pair of large, well-defined hands reached out from the darkness in front, seizing him. The back of those pale hands was particularly stark in the darkness, the marble-cold fingertips pressing deep into the youth’s red-hot, sweat-soaked skin, leaving several vibrant finger marks.
The last ten seconds.
Only ten seconds left.
Time crawled forward like a snail…
Three, two, one.
The countdown ended.
The moment the time was up, the system’s voice sounded in the cabin once again:
“Congratulations to the anchor for completing the public task: A self-introduction to the live camera for no less than three minutes.”
【Reward Points: 2000】
Before the announcement was even finished, Wen Jianyan interrupted with the fastest possible speed: “…Turn off the live stream.”
His voice was hoarse and suppressed, with a deliberately forced calmness. The end of his sentence had just begun to tremble uncontrollably before it was bitten back between his teeth.
“You have only just started the live stream for three minutes. Are you sure you want to turn it off?”
The system confirmed again.
“…Yes.” Wen Jianyan kept his head down, his shoulders heaving with deep breaths. The emotionless voice sounded as if it were squeezed from between his teeth. “Turn it off.”
“Understood, the live stream has been turned off.”
As Nightmare had initially promised, this reality show could indeed be turned on and off by the anchor at any time. Upon receiving the anchor’s command, the live stream was quickly disconnected.
In fact, it wasn’t just the ‘Integrity First’ live room.
The vast majority of high-level anchors, and all of Nightmare’s top ten, turned off their live streams after finishing their self-introductions. After all, it was past midnight. Since the public task given by Nightmare was complete, and they weren’t in urgent need of earning points, there was naturally no need to continue streaming through the night.
However, it was a different story for the low- and mid-tier anchors.
Their required broadcast time was longer, and their need for points was higher. They would naturally seize the time when the major anchors were offline to work hard to attract viewers, hoping to receive more private bounties.
After the major anchors’ live rooms closed, the audience was still left wanting more.
“Ahhh, I haven’t had enough; why did it end?!”
“Wuwuwu, my wife, Dan Zhu is as beautiful as ever… I wish I could see her every day!”
“Three minutes is really too short, too short. It was over before it even began. I’m so unwilling!”
“Me too… damn, Nightmare is so cunning! They know exactly how to whet our appetites. Which membership level has notifications for when an anchor starts streaming?”
“It’s a pity number one didn’t stream today… By the way, when was number one’s last stream?”
“I don’t know; I don’t remember.”
Besides the discussion about Nightmare’s top three, Bai Xue’s mention of Wen Jianyan also caused a huge uproar among his many loyal viewers.
“This is the first time Bai Xue has voluntarily mentioned another anchor in his own live room, right?”
“It should be. I’m an old viewer of his, and I certainly don’t remember him ever doing something like this before!”
“Hahaha, this feels a little interesting… I’ll post a bounty tomorrow for fun!”
Naturally, Wen Jianyan’s abnormal state during his broadcast was also brought up with great confusion by the viewers in his live room.
“Speaking of which, what was really going on with Pinocchio just now?”
“Was he that unwell? If he was really unwell, why didn’t he get Nightmare to heal him?”
“But I have to say, when this anchor is hurt and uncomfortable, it’s really exciting. I wonder when he’ll stream again, I’m going to post a self-harm bounty… hehehe.”
“Uh, pervert in front, wake up. Don’t you think about what kind of anchor he is and how many donations he gets in a day? Can you even afford a private task that he would accept?”
Although the three-minute reality show was short, it had piqued the audience’s interest in continuing to watch.
While waiting for the streams to start again, some viewers were diverted to the ongoing Top Ten competition—the competition had now reached its first critical point, and the death toll had begun to rise sharply.
Another portion of viewers, still wanting more, clicked into the live rooms of the low- and mid-tier anchors that hadn’t closed, and began to exercise their god-like power, using points to send bounty tasks to satisfy their own peculiar, or bloody and cruel, fetishes.
On the screen, the huge banner for the reality show still floated.
Below it was a sign:
【Public Task One has been issued】
【Completion Rate: 99.99%】
【Public Task Two is being prepared…】
【Release Countdown: 12:00:00】
Inside the cabin of the Fortune cruise ship.
Outside the balcony, the dark ocean looked calm, but under the surface, fierce currents were hidden. The sound of the waves came in bursts, the surging roar echoing in the room, drowning out all other sounds.
The damp sea vapor was compressed into the small room, the air’s density extremely high, like a water-saturated sponge that would seep and drip water with the slightest squeeze.
Wen Jianyan pressed the back of his head hard into the pillow. There wasn’t a sliver of light on the sea’s surface; the endless darkness enveloped him like thick water. He couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything.
The fabric on his body was so heavy, rubbing against his skin and creating intense sparks, evoking a sensation more terrifying than sharp pain.
No…
About… to—
…!
Sparks flashed behind his eyelids.
At the last moment, Wen Jianyan could only use all his strength to turn his head and bite down hard on the edge of the pillow, forcing back the muffled groan in his throat.
Outside the cabin, the roaring waves gradually subsided, seeming to grow calm.
Wen Jianyan’s fingers spasmed, his breathing chaotic. Half of his face was still buried deep in the pillow, the ringing in his ears not yet faded, his mind still a blank slate.
All sounds seemed to come from a great distance, including the rustling of fabric.
Wu Zhu had emerged at some point.
He was lying on his side, propping his head up with his hand, and licked his lips:
“Very tasty.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
Wu Zhu leaned closer, his river of long black hair spilling down onto the pillow.
“How was it? I learned it from that magazine you left.”
He reached out, his cold fingertips landing on Wen Jianyan’s scorching cheek, pushing aside the sweat-soaked black hair. His voice was cheerful:
“Did you like it?”
Wen Jianyan: “…………”
His fingertips twitched, his jaw tightening abruptly.
“You probably liked it.”
The shameless god answered his own question. He spoke in a very ordinary tone, as if saying “the weather is nice today,” and thoughtfully concluded, “You were faster than last time.”
“………………….Shut up.”
Wen Jianyan’s voice sounded like it was squeezed from between his teeth.
Wu Zhu frowned.
The other’s reaction didn’t seem to match what the magazine said.
“So…”
“I said shut up!!” Wen Jianyan abruptly lifted his head, his light-colored eyes moist, eyelashes dark and long. Anger had caused his face and neck to flush red. “Don’t you understand?!”
This time, it was Wu Zhu’s turn to be silent.
“…”
He narrowed his eyes, silently watching the human before him, a subtle wavering in his eyes that he himself might not have noticed.
That wavering, perhaps, could be called… fascination.
This was it.
So beautiful.
That vibrant, flourishing life force. Whether laughing, struggling, or angry, all emotions were extremely vivid, as if they were about to burst out from every inch of his skin. That intense presence was as aggressive as the blade of a knife, giving him the momentary illusion of pain.
No, not entirely an illusion.
The place in his chest that had been cut by the blade was faintly throbbing.
That was the first time Wu Zhu had clearly felt “pain.”
The feeling was very strange.
The moment the brass knife plunged into his body, he was ruthlessly betrayed by the possession he thought was already in his grasp. His once-dominant position was instantly overturned. In the blink of an eye, he went from a high-and-mighty controller to a shackled prisoner.
Clearly a human, yet he had usurped and stolen the authority of a god.
But beyond the anger, there was an unprecedented excitement and thrill.
The excitement of novelty from encountering something unfamiliar, the shiver of being challenged and threatened by an equal…
These emotions that shouldn’t exist ignited silently like a tiny flame in the depths of his cold, dead chest—
For the first time, he truly saw Wen Jianyan.
As time passed, soul fragments returned to his body one by one. The memories of each fragment flowed into Wu Zhu’s body, gradually making his soul whole and strong.
Organizing all those complex memories was a massive undertaking, but…
Yes. Overall, Wu Zhu did “remember”.
Sometimes he peered out from the greedy eyes of a mental patient, other times he observed quietly from within his own confused, instinct-driven body—the memory of each fragment was his memory, the eyes of each fragment were his eyes.
He saw this human again and again.
He saw him feign compliance, saw him use clever words.
A mask on his face, poison on the tip of his tongue, easily manipulating others with his words and wiles.
Yes… he began to be drawn in.
He began to be curious, to investigate.
It was precisely because of this that Wu Zhu, after breaking free from the Ouroboros’s shackles, when the other’s life was hanging by a thread, chose to take a step back instead of taking advantage of his weakness to completely possess his body and soul… even when he clearly had the upper hand, he chose to agree to the other’s gamble, which was clearly of no benefit to himself.
Including the time before when he was invited by the other, he had actually given up on the readily available pleasure.
Thinking about it now, it was really quite inexplicable.
But what was even stranger was…
This feeling, it seemed, wasn’t too bad?
Wu Zhu propped his head on his hand, scrutinizing the other without blinking.
The flushed face, the eyes bright with unshed tears, and the anger dancing in their depths.
In the depths of his cold chest, the unfamiliar emotions stirred again—thump-thump, thump-thump—like something was breaking through the soil.
What other expressions would appear on this untamed face?
What other words would this deceitful tongue speak? …Invitation? Intimacy? Curses? Lies?
Wu Zhu leaned in.
As if wanting to see a little more clearly.
The human was still fuming:
“—My proposal last time was limited to last time? Understand?”
The other was breathing rapidly, gritting his teeth.
“Do you know where this is? …Damn it, don’t think I won’t dare to kill you a second time—I called you here this time to talk about serious business, not to do—do this kind of thing with you!”
“In short,”
Wen Jianyan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.
“I don’t plan on entering any instances recently. You’d better lie low too. I’m not sure who it’s targeting with these recent moves, but it definitely has bad intentions.”
“Also, how can you just blatantly appear in the anchor’s space? The live stream aside, but what exactly is Nightmare doing? Has it found you? What have you done?”
Wen Jianyan paused, lowering his gaze in thought.
“Wait, or is it… doing this on purpose?”
Wu Zhu’s gaze focused.
The attraction that had never disappeared was now stronger than ever, like a black hole pulling in a planet, mass attracting mass.
He continued to lean in.
Suddenly, Wen Jianyan realized the other was a little close… no, too close, practically right on top of him.
His heart trembled:
“Hey, what are you doing—urgh!”
Something cold and soft brushed against his lips, a light press, and then it was gone as quickly as it came.
“?!”
Upon realizing what the other was doing, Wen Jianyan’s pupils shrank abruptly.
But before he could react, Wu Zhu had already retreated.
“…”
Wen Jianyan leaned back in an awkward posture, motionless, staring at the other in astonishment—even though something far more outrageous had just been done to him, this seemed to be the thing that left him in disbelief.
The silence seemed to stretch on indefinitely. The entire cabin was shrouded in darkness, and in the quiet room, only the even sound of the waves could be heard.
It was Wu Zhu who broke the dead silence first. He put on a look of someone listening intently: “You were saying.”
The stalemate was broken.
Wen Jianyan seemed to finally snap out of it.
“You… you…”
The eloquent swindler’s face showed a puzzled expression, for the first time feeling lost and helpless at the uncontrollable turn of events, even finding himself uncharacteristically tongue-tied.
“How could you… why did you—”
“Hm?”
Wu Zhu propped his head up, his expression as nonchalant as when he had first hidden under the blanket.
“Oh, that,” understanding what Wen Jianyan was asking, the aberrant god, who had never deigned to hide his intentions, answered very directly, almost without thinking, “No reason. I wanted to, so I did.”
Wen Jianyan: “………………”
He lowered his eyes. After a long silence, he raised them again and asked, word by word:
“Where’s the magazine?”
Wu Zhu: “?”
“Don’t play dumb!” Seeing the other habitually put on that innocent look as if he knew nothing, Wen Jianyan’s face darkened, and he gritted his teeth. “Where is the magazine that taught you these things?”
He raised his hand and wiped his lips forcefully, saying viciously:
“Give it back!”
“I’ll confiscate it!!”
__
Author’s note:
This isn’t in your magazine.jpg
