WTNL Chapter 73

Streamer Hall
Chapter 73: Lingering

In the Streamer Hall, the system prohibited conflicts between players, so as long as they had not entered an instance, the personal safety of all streamers was guaranteed.

Over the next six hours, Wen Jianyan separately met with several guilds he had carefully hand-picked.

Based on their interactions over the past three days, Wen Jianyan had basically figured out the personalities of the representative streamers sent by these guilds.

Therefore, depending on the different streamers he was meeting with this time, he chose different appearances.

For a guild like Oracle, which was secretive and liked to monopolize the industry, Wen Jianyan appeared as a delicate, intellectual, middle-aged man—easy to control and completely lacking in offensive power.

For a guild like Dark Fire, which was highly aggressive and respected strength above all else internally, Wen Jianyan switched into his burly man shell, making himself impossible to ignore in both physique and imposing manner, fighting for his right to speak through his appearance.

If the person coming to meet him had slipped up during their communications over the previous few days, allowing Wen Jianyan to discover that they were easily swayed by beauty, this liar would switch into his red-haired beauty shell.

Even though everyone knew that the appearances streamers displayed in the system space were not necessarily real, all humans were visual creatures. Even if they rationally understood that the other party’s current looks were highly likely fake, they would still be charmed during the conversation, uncontrollably becoming captives to their vision.

To Wen Jianyan, this was a massive advantage.

He was already someone skilled at using his appearance; now, he was even more capable of maximizing the utility of every look. It was practically like a fish in water for him, effortlessly pulled off.

This function was simply fantastic!

While it wasn’t impossible to use appearances inside an instance, the price was simply too high.

After all, if a streamer suddenly changed their appearance, it would be extremely hard to accept for viewers who were already familiar with their image.

Although Wen Jianyan was already considered wealthy among novice streamers, faced with such a high point expenditure, he still couldn’t bear to part with the money.

He admired his appearance interface and let out a regretful sigh.

Sooner or later, he was going to wear a purchased appearance through an instance!

Was this the joy of paying to win and buying skins in games? He loved it.

During these six hours, Wen Jianyan reaped a rich harvest.

He discovered that the amount of information obtained by streamers in high-level guilds was completely incomparable to that of ordinary streamers. Especially for many veteran guilds, they had thoroughly figured out many of Nightmare’s internal rules, knowing exactly how to get what they wanted within the permitted scope.

For example, although a streamer couldn’t choose the next instance they were going to enter, they could control the level of the streamers in their team to keep the difficulty of the next instance within an acceptable range. Not only could this lower the streamer mortality rate, but it could also be used to carry the guild’s newcomers.

Besides that, they could also use streamer talents to predict the next instance for the streamers in the guild. If there were required item types within it, they would use this information to build a targeted team to explore that instance.

Even for hidden items of the same level, there would be tier distinctions once they became functional items.

The higher the tier, the longer the duration and the stronger the functionality.

Items capable of destroying ghosts actually weren’t rare on the market, much like the toy gun item Ji Guan had given him in the Fukang Private Comprehensive Hospital. However, these items usually only worked against ordinary ghosts. If used against a powerful instance BOSS, not only might it be completely useless, but it would also enrage the other party, causing you to die even faster.

What Wen Jianyan needed was an item that could directly target an instance BOSS.

“Of course we have that kind of item!”

The representative of one of the guilds patted his chest and said, “We happen to have a C-rank streamer who will start broadcasting in about ten days. The instance he enters will have a similar item capable of harming a boss. If you’re willing to join our guild, once the transfer procedures are done, you can be assigned to his team!”

He coughed lightly. “I’ll also be entering that team when the time comes, so we can look out for each other.”

A smile graced the lips of the beautiful red-haired woman, her amber, fox-like eyes turning up slightly at the corners, carrying a terrifyingly soul-stealing charm. “Is that so? Thank you so much, truly.”

She leaned forward slightly, her snow-white neck bending in a slender, graceful arc. “I’ll consider it.”

Six hours later.

Wen Jianyan finally ended his social butterfly journey.

Clang.

The room door shut behind him.

The moment he entered the room, the appearance on Wen Jianyan automatically deactivated, reverting from a two-meter-tall burly man back to a slender young man.

He looked dispirited. After taking two wobbly steps, he fell face-first onto the soft sofa with a poof, giving Su Cheng and Ji Guan a huge fright.

They hurriedly jumped up and surrounded him. “What’s wrong, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Wen Jianyan shifted his head, revealing half of his side profile, and said weakly, “I’m exhausted to death…”

Even though he was exceptionally skilled at putting on disguises to deceive people, after six continuous hours of non-stop role-switching and mutual probing, even Wen Jianyan, who considered his stamina decent, couldn’t handle this high-intensity drain. It was almost too much for him.

This was practically a marathon.

Ji Guan leaned down, poked Wen Jianyan’s shoulder, and whispered, “I added even more chocolate this time. It’s in the kitchen; I saved it for you.”

Wen Jianyan sighed and shook his head listlessly. “No need; I don’t have the energy to eat right now.”

He was just sleepy.

He climbed up slowly and with great difficulty, his bones and muscles emitting an overwhelmed cracking sound. Wen Jianyan stretched his neck, then turned and swayed unsteadily toward his bedroom. As he walked, without even looking back, he waved a hand at the two people behind him and drawled lazily.

“I’m going to sleep first; don’t call for me.”

After returning to his room, Wen Jianyan used his very last ounce of strength to take a shower, then threw his entire body onto the soft, large bed, slowly rolling over.

His muscles ached and his mental energy declared bankruptcy; his whole person was groggy and heavy.

Wen Jianyan raised his hand and turned off the light with a click.

A sense of secure darkness enveloped him. In barely the span of a few breaths, Wen Jianyan dazedly fell into a deep sleep.

…

Wen Jianyan knew he was dreaming.

Ever since entering this Nightmare live broadcast room, he couldn’t avoid having nightmares every time he slept.

After all, although Wen Jianyan wouldn’t be broken by the things in the instances, he was still a normal human being in the end.

Sometimes, it was instances he had personally experienced, with fragmented, bloody scenes haphazardly pieced together. Familiar or unfamiliar faces overlapped and shifted before his eyes; some were streamers, some were NPCs, some were ghosts, and some were just simple outlines of facial features.

Vicious ghosts, fleeing for his life, screaming.

Sometimes he would dream of his own death—disemboweled, dying tragically with blood flowing everywhere.

However…

In the three days following the end of the last instance, despite experiencing so many terrifying things, his sleep quality had actually improved.

Wen Jianyan drifted in the crack between sleep and wakefulness, recalling groggily.

There were no longer all sorts of bizarre and terrifying images in his dreams. On the contrary, only an endless expanse of darkness remained in his mind, boundless, deathly still, and peaceful.

Perhaps his capacity for acceptance had grown stronger than before.

But today’s dream was a little different from usual.

For some unknown reason, the darkness that had been quiet for three days began to roil, gradually condensing into a familiar human figure.

The distance between them seemed extremely far, but for some reason, Wen Jianyan could clearly trace the other party’s facial features in his mind—

Rune-like tattoos, long pitch-black hair, cold golden eyes.

…

The sleeping young man appeared somewhat restless. His brows furrowed slightly, and a fine layer of sweat beaded on his pale forehead, causing his hair to stick to it. His breathing involuntarily grew a little hurried.

He unconsciously rolled over, the edge of his loose shirt riding up to reveal half of a beautifully lined, taut, narrow waist.

His hip bones were lean, and his fair lower abdomen dipped slightly. Upon that patch of soft, sweat-dampened skin, a complex, blood-red brand submerged into the shadows hidden by the fabric.

Along with the young man’s slightly unsteady breathing, that tattoo appeared exceptionally vivid and eerie, seemingly still flickering with a faint golden luster.

In the dream.

The scent of blood lingered at the tip of his nose. The darkness surrounding him was controlled by something, purposefully rolling and curling, winding over the instep of the young man’s foot.

Wen Jianyan frowned and took two steps back. The darkness wrapped around his ankle disappeared, dissipating like mist.

He raised his head, his pupils subconsciously shrinking slightly.

For some unknown reason, the figure of the man, who had just been so far away he was almost indistinguishable, had drastically shortened the distance between them. Although still separated by a heavy, thick darkness, Wen Jianyan could clearly see those golden, non-human eyes.

The darkness grew denser, churning around him.

The man walked toward this direction at an unhurried pace, his figure and face gradually becoming clear. Even in a dream, it made one feel that oppressive sensation originating from the depths of the soul without any hindrance.

“Damn it, I can’t even get peace in a dream.”

Wen Jianyan irritably raised a hand and rubbed his hair.

Could it be that the psychological trauma the other party gave him was too immense?

This was practically a lingering ghost that refused to disperse!

__

Author’s Note: 

Wu Zhu: Dreaming? Are you sure?