WTNL Chapter 20

Streamer Hall
Chapter 20: Integrity First

— “Wait.”

The two words rang out abruptly in the empty space, lazy and carrying a hint of carelessness, but they were resounding, possessing a strange magic that made them impossible to ignore.

The few people in front couldn’t help but quiet down, subconsciously looking in the direction of the speaker.

Wen Jianyan had a smile on his lips.

As a scammer, he clearly knew how to utilize his current physical advantages.

A pair of bewitching fox eyes narrowed lazily, and a head of red hair as passionate as fire made his skin look even whiter and his features sharper, endowing him with a dazzling beauty that showed off his edge.

He slowly repeated Kong Shixing’s demand:

“…Open the live broadcast interface for you to see?”

Wen Jianyan revealed a half-smile and asked slowly:

“Why?”

Under the other party’s overwhelming, aggressive aura, Kong Shixing’s originally irritable mood was subconsciously reined in. However, he still kept a cold face and said in an unreasonably stiff tone:

“A vicious, treacherous villain scammed us in the instance and is now hiding in the crowd. He must pay the price for his actions!”

“Is that so? Then that is indeed understandable.”

The woman stroked her thick, cloud-like red hair with fair, soft fingertips, nodding lightly with a smiling tone: “After all, who hasn’t encountered a few villains in an instance?”

However, before Kong Shixing and the others could relax, the other party suddenly changed the subject, asking in an abruptly icy, arrogant tone:

“But, in what capacity are you giving orders?”

“…”

Kong Shixing choked on the other party’s words, suddenly unable to speak for a moment.

The other party’s sentence precisely poked at the core issue. He indeed didn’t have the status or capital to give orders. He was just relying on his guild’s resounding reputation. After leaving the instance, he successfully regrouped with other members of his guild, and now they had strength in numbers. Plus, most of the people in the square were low-level streamers, which was why they were able to conduct their inspections unimpeded up until now.

Who could have thought they would directly bump into a tough nail this time?

Kong Shixing’s gaze swept over the middle-aged man protected behind the beauty. The man remained silent, his gaze dodging slightly, making him even more suspicious.

He argued irrationally:

“Since it’s not you, then wouldn’t it be fine to prove it with your live broadcast interface? Or are you feeling guilty?”

“If I understand correctly…”

Wen Jianyan’s face visibly darkened, and this time, the last trace of a smile in his eyes also disappeared:

“You are suspecting my friend now?”

When this face smiled, it was radiantly beautiful, but when it didn’t smile, it appeared exceptionally icy, like an unsheathed blade, silently and accurately kissing someone’s neck, capable of drawing blood and sealing the throat in an instant.

At this, Kong Shixing couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Although there were many low-level streamers today, it wasn’t as if there were no B-rank or A-rank streamers.

Could it be… the other party is some famous streamer, or is connected to some big shot?

“Which guild are you from?”

The other party took a step closer and laughed again, but this smile didn’t reach her eyes, instead carrying a bit of a murderous aura.

Kong Shixing’s momentum had already weakened by a few fractions compared to before, but he was still very confident when announcing his guild:

“Dark Fire Guild.”

“Pfft.” The woman curved her foxy eyes, letting out a contemptuous scoff: “So President Zhao’s guild actually has someone like you… very good, I’ll remember this.”

Kong Shixing’s expression wasn’t looking good. As time passed, he had already developed the intention to retreat in his heart.

He stared at the beautiful, almost venomous features of the woman in front of him, and his previous guess gained a few more points of credibility—in the Nightmare, a woman with nothing but beauty couldn’t survive. Veteran streamers were harder to mess with than the last; either their methods were ruthless, or their connections were vast. Regardless of which one it was, he couldn’t afford to provoke them.

If he continued to persist, he might really anger a strong enemy, perhaps even someone familiar with his own president… This possibility was truly too terrifying; Kong Shixing couldn’t bear this risk.

Just as he was about to yield and give up on this tough bone, the other party spoke breezily:

“However, it’s fine to show you.”

What?

Kong Shixing froze, looking at the other party in astonishment, somewhat unable to believe she would yield so easily.

“Our Oracle Guild also has some personal ties with your president; doing you a favor isn’t out of the question.”

Kong Shixing’s pupils shrank.

It’s actually Oracle?

The number one guild in the Nightmare, an existence that even the high-level streamers in their guild would keep at a respectful distance from… If the other party was some heavyweight figure in Oracle, he would truly be in massive trouble this time!

“I’ve been scammed before too, so I understand your desire to quickly find the person. Therefore, I am willing to make an exception for you.”

The woman seemed oblivious to the shrinking, retreating look in the other’s eyes, merely continuing lightly.

Her foxy eyes narrowed slightly, and her rosy, soft lips curled up:

“However, if it’s not him, you better mentally prepare yourself.”

She pressed her hand against her chest. The murderous intent in her smile completely dissipated, but she actually seemed even more dangerously bewitching because of it:

“My pride is very fragile.”

With that said, Wen Jianyan turned his head and lazily waved at Su Cheng: “Show him.”

Su Cheng cooperatively stepped forward a few paces and obediently opened his live broadcast interface.

Half uneasy and half hesitant, Kong Shixing stepped forward and looked at the other party’s live broadcast interface—although it was garbled, it was not the string of characters branded on the platinum trophy.

One must know that as long as one entered the interior of the system space, the shop couldn’t be opened, and streamers couldn’t purchase name change cards.

The reason Kong Shixing insisted on seizing this period of time to conduct his inspections was that the appearance and live broadcast room names of all streamers could be modified using points. If he missed the blank period right after the instance ended, finding the person again would be difficult. That was why he acted so recklessly and hurriedly.

Therefore, the plain and unremarkable middle-aged man in front of him was indeed not the scammer he was looking for.

Kong Shixing’s face turned pale.

Just then, a cool female voice came from the side:

“Done looking?”

Kong Shixing’s momentum had completely weakened by now: “Y-yes.”

Wen Jianyan looked at him with a half-smile: “Do you want to see mine too?”

“No, no, no, no need.”

Kong Shixing almost didn’t dare look directly at the other party’s bewitching and venomous face. He shook his head submissively, saying: “I’m very sorry; I made a mistake this time. I am extremely sorry for disturbing you, and I apologize for my attitude just now.”

Thinking of the other party’s mention of “fragile pride” just now, he hurriedly added:

“As compensation to you, your accommodation and expenses in the system space for the next three days will be paid by me, all at the highest tier.”

Life and accommodation in the system space all had to be paid for with points.

The more points one had, the more luxurious the lifestyle one could redeem. When points ran out, the streamer would automatically be judged as dead. However, as time passed, the daily cost of purchasing the same tier of lifestyle would double. Streamers had to continually enter instances for a new round of earning. Only boss-level players with an excessive abundance of points on hand dared to rest for a long time after an instance.

Although Kong Shixing also had a fair balance of points, he rarely bore to buy the highest tier of living expenses normally. But this time, he had to grit his teeth and bleed heavily, enduring the dull ache of losing points to make up for his previous disrespect.

Thinking of this, Kong Shixing’s expression couldn’t help but twist slightly.

It was all that damn dog scammer’s fault… If not for him, he wouldn’t have offended such a big shot and ended up spending such a huge sum of points!

He must personally settle this score with the other party!

As soon as they entered the room, the appearances on the two people automatically disappeared, reverting to their original looks.

Looking at the magnificent, massive room before him, Su Cheng stared blankly with wide eyes.

Wow…

Isn’t this way too luxurious?

Wen Jianyan on the side clearly didn’t have as many twists and turns in his heart as Su Cheng. He threw his whole body onto the comfortable, soft large bed, a sigh of comfort spilling from his throat.

Ah, so nice.

Su Cheng stared at Wen Jianyan’s content face, unable to recover his senses for a moment.

So you’re saying… this guy not only made that menacing group of veteran players apologize in fear and trepidation, but also managed to fleece them for a mental compensation fee?!

This is just too overpowered!

Wen Jianyan looked up at Su Cheng, who was standing dumbfounded at the door: “Come in.”

Su Cheng walked in somewhat dazedly and sat down on one of the sofas.

The texture beneath him felt like clouds; one touch and he knew it was incredibly expensive. That overly unfamiliar texture made him feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

Meanwhile, that dog scammer was already completely as comfortable as if he were in his own home.

Wen Jianyan reached over and grabbed the gold-plated drink menu beside him, flipping through it casually. He raised his eyebrows slightly, saying enthusiastically: “Ah, there are so many varieties, and they can be delivered directly to the door.”

The corners of Su Cheng’s eyes twitched slightly, and he finally asked the question he had been holding back the entire way:

“Just now… those guilds or whatever you talked about with those streamers, how did you know about them?”

Wen Jianyan was a novice streamer just like him. The previous Decai Middle School should have been his first instance too. Whether it was the guild name or the guild president’s surname, neither was something he would have had the chance to figure out. So where did he learn about them?

“I asked on the way here, of course.”

Wen Jianyan looked up. His amber eyes, bearing a smile, shone brightly under the light: “On the way, there were even streamers who took the initiative to invite me to join their guild.”

“See how useful a pretty face is.”

Saying that, he imitated his previous appearance and blinked at Su Cheng.

Although he had already changed out of his previous appearance, for some reason, that half-wicked, half-bewitching feminine aura still vividly leaped before his eyes, cleverly blending with his current handsome male face, adding even more of a bizarrely seductive feel:

“Don’t you think my face is very pretty?”

Su Cheng: “…”

He suddenly understood a bit why, despite knowing perfectly well that things like appearances were unreliable, those streamers who encountered Wen Jianyan would still involuntarily be coaxed into giving information by this scammer, and even uncontrollably want to invite him to join their guilds.

Changing appearance was easy, but relying on aura to bewitch people to this extent was truly difficult.

Su Cheng raised his hand to wipe his face, shifting his gaze to try and resist the indiscriminate charm radiating from the other, then changed the subject and continued asking: “Speaking of which, why do you always keep scamming these few people?”

Doing it twice wasn’t enough; you even did it a third time!

Even the fattest sheep is going to be sheared bald by you.

Although Su Cheng strongly despised their villainous behavior of coaxing people to their deaths and throwing them away after use, seeing those guys across from them being scammed until they didn’t even have their underwear left, he couldn’t help but feel a strange surge of sympathy.

Tragic, truly so tragic.

Hearing this, Wen Jianyan spread his hands innocently: “I didn’t do it on purpose either. He keeps offering himself up to be scammed; what can I do about it?”

Su Cheng: “.”

For a moment, he actually couldn’t refute it.

He sighed: “Aren’t you afraid those people will come take revenge on you once they figure it out?”

“If they want revenge, let them. It’s not like they haven’t tried before.”

Wen Jianyan had already ordered his drinks by now. He lay flat on the soft large bed, comfortably stretching his long arms and legs, and let out a lazy yawn:

“My life motto is: Get drunk today if there’s wine; worry about tomorrow’s sorrows tomorrow.”

He rolled over:

“Long live hedonism!”

“…”

As expected of you.

Su Cheng stared at the heartless dog scammer in front of him and suddenly felt extremely mentally exhausted, a completely different kind of exhaustion from being in an instance.

Just then, Wen Jianyan tossed something over: “Catch.”

Su Cheng caught it in a flurry, only to find that what the other party threw over was actually the drink menu.

“Order whatever.” Wen Jianyan raised his eyebrows at him and said with a smile, “Someone else paid for us anyway; it’d be a loss not to enjoy it.”

Su Cheng looked at the drink menu in his hand, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Honestly, growing skin this thick is also not an easy feat.

After sleeping round the clock in the room for two days, the exhaustion from the last instance was finally swept away.

Wen Jianyan bought another appearance—a tall, thin young man with a dispirited expression, as if he lacked sleep. Then, wearing this appearance once again, he came to the Streamer Hall.

Different from that snow-white space right after leaving the instance, the Streamer Hall was magnificent and bustling. The high dome and smooth lines looked exceptionally graceful and grand. All sorts of people shuttled back and forth, and there was a dazzling array of various areas and facilities.

On the left was the shopping area, where streamers could use points to buy any item they wanted.

Not only were there physical items, but one could even spend points to buy clearance hints for the next instance from the system. In addition, there was a free trade zone set up, allowing streamers to freely buy and sell various props obtained from instances.

On the right was the Guild Hall. On a massive screen, the major guilds were listed in order of points. Strikingly at the very top was the “Oracle” Guild that Wen Jianyan had mentioned last time, while Kong Shixing’s “Dark Fire” Guild ranked third.

Directly in front of the Streamer Hall, surrounded by dazzling radiance, was a high platform. Going further up and crossing a long staircase was the Hall of Fame. All streamers who achieved Platinum status would be enshrined there.

After taking a rough tour, Wen Jianyan formed a basic concept of the Streamer Hall’s layout.

He used points to buy an ice cream cone and sat on a seat in the Guild Hall, lost in thought.

After walking around like this, Wen Jianyan discovered that most of these places were related to point consumption, but nowhere was the concept of an “audience” mentioned, nor did streamers have any opportunity or venue to watch any live broadcasts.

The entity known as the “audience” seemed to be almost completely hidden away.

It was as if those “people” who gave tips to provide points and spoke enthusiastically in the barrage section didn’t exist at all.

The ice cream in his hand emitted a sweet, creamy aroma.

Wen Jianyan looked up towards the very top of the Streamer Hall. There, a light screen floated in the void, with several large blood-red characters written on it:

[Entertainment to Death.]

[The audience is God; popularity is everything.]

Wen Jianyan silently narrowed his eyes.

Unknowingly, the ice cream in his hand had slowly melted. The sweet, snow-white cream slid down sluggishly, dripping onto his fingers, bringing a bizarre, sticky, and freezing sensation.

While deep in thought, he suddenly heard a conversation coming from nearby. Several familiar keywords caught Wen Jianyan’s attention.

“The Decai Middle School instance reached Platinum achievement; did you guys know?”

“I heard; it seems like it’s a rookie?”

“Not sure, but I feel like that’s unlikely. I heard someone was playing on a smurf account.”

“Using a smurf in an instance? The point cost for that isn’t small. After all, it’s not a problem that can be solved just by changing appearance. A streamer capable of doing that must be at least A-rank!”

“Who knows? Even if I had that many points, I wouldn’t do it. Throwing away all the fans accumulated in the live broadcast room to start over from scratch, the cost is just too high. If it really is a smurf, then that person definitely offended someone they couldn’t afford to provoke.”

The two talked as they walked.

“Speaking of which, did you hear? The Dark Fire Guild seems to be looking for that rookie. It appears one of their members was scammed pretty miserably in the Decai Middle School instance, and reportedly got scammed again after leaving the instance.”

“I have an impression of that. And didn’t that member recently contact Oracle through some connections?”

“Why contact Oracle?”

“Apparently, someone impersonated their member’s identity? I don’t know if Oracle will intervene…”

The two chatted as they walked out of the hall, their backs gradually disappearing from sight.

From behind a nearby vending machine, Wen Jianyan slowly walked out.

He watched the direction those people disappeared in, threw the melted ice cream into the trash can, pulled a tissue to wipe his fingers clean, and then slowly let out a long sigh.

Sigh, looks like I still need to go into an instance.

Without points on hand, it’ll be hard to run if I get targeted.

Su Cheng stared at the young man in front of him and fell into silence.

He should have known; as long as he moved with this guy, nothing good would ever come of it.

“So, I should quickly enter another instance next.”

Wen Jianyan sighed, looked at Su Cheng, and earnestly instructed: “After I leave, remember to order all kinds of room service for me. Eating it means earning it.”

Su Cheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

It’s already come to this, and you still have the leisure to talk about that!

Su Cheng pondered for two seconds, then stood up and said seriously: “Take me with you into the next instance.”

Wen Jianyan raised his eyebrows in surprise: “Hmm?”

Su Cheng: “After all, in a sense, I can be considered your accomplice. Enjoying the things you earned… no, scammed for free like this makes my conscience uneasy. Besides, I don’t have many points on hand either, and I have to go sooner or later. Whether I stretch my neck out or shrink it back, it’s a knife either way. I might as well go with you. The sooner I die, the sooner I reincarnate, and I’ll have a companion on the road to the underworld.”

He stiffened his neck, putting on a look of a dead pig unfazed by boiling water.

Wen Jianyan was deeply moved: “Good brother.”

He patted the other’s shoulder and said, “But let’s forget about being companions on the road to the underworld; it’s kinda gay. I’m afraid my future partner will misunderstand.”

Su Cheng: “…”

Fuck you, no ivory comes out of a dog’s mouth!

And I’d like to see what kind of ghost partner you can find in this wretched place!

In the Live Broadcast Square, a new round of live broadcasts was beginning.

Countless screens rotated, various channels lit up, and the rankings hung empty, awaiting the arrival of a new round of spectators.

[Fukang Private General Hospital] Hall is open.

Below, the blood-red logo flashed.

Hall Difficulty Rank: C
Highest Historical Unlocked Progress: 63%
Viewing Value: E

[Ding! The live broadcast room 789326qwk you follow has started broadcasting!]

After the familiar notification sound, all the viewers who had watched the last broadcast and coincidentally followed the streamer perked up.

[Oh oh oh! The streamer started broadcasting so quickly!]

[My happiness is back!]

[Two days without inhaling the dog scammer, I’m going to die! Ahhhhh rush in ahhhhh!]

The viewers scrambled over each other to pour into the live broadcast room they had been camping in for a long time. The screen was still black, and the streamer wasn’t online yet, but when they saw the name of the live broadcast room, they collectively fell into silence.

[Streamer Wen Jianyan has used a name change card. The name of the live broadcast room has been modified.]

[Welcome to the “Integrity First” live broadcast room.]

The viewers from the last instance: […………]

[I’m begging you.]

[Have some shame.]

__

Author’s Note:

Su Cheng aggressively jumps to the seer role again.

Didn’t expect it, huh? His future partner really is a ghost!

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