Volume One, Chapter Two: Defeated in the Duel

In an instant, her face filled the livestream camera, her black pupils widening until they swallowed the entire screen. They looked like deep, endless pits, her lips blood-red, as if she'd just feasted on human flesh, like a ghostly woman from a nightmare.

Lin Hang yelped reflexively, "Damn! A ghost!" He toppled backward, his chair clattering to the ground as he landed on his backside, clearly scared out of his wits.

Grumbling, he scrambled to his feet, righted his chair, and sat back down.

The girl's eyes were nothing but sincere—no trace of sarcasm or any intention to frighten him.

At that moment, Lin Hang felt like some creepy guy luring an innocent girl with candy.

What a silly girl. But this was his style of streaming, and with the atmosphere already set, he couldn't just back down.

If he lost and had to turn off the beauty filter later, he’d pretend it was out of conscience and send her a thousand-yuan gift as compensation.

Lin Hang's livestream was in chaos.

["(Admin) To the Clouds: Looks like a dumb goose."]
["Hahahaha"]
["Brothers, time to share the girl."]
["I really want to see how ugly she is without the filter."]
["Black Cat Captain, are you trying to scare me on purpose?"]
["Damn, I nearly dropped my phone from fright."]
["Hit him, Lin Hang. Make her turn off the filter, I can't take it anymore."]
["I'm gonna be sick, 666"]

After he finished speaking, Lin Hang muted Yu Yansui's microphone. The five-minute PK bar lit up, the point gap was huge, and Yu Yansui’s health bar was already in the red.

—

"Hmm?"

["(Admin) Evening Breeze: The other side muted you, we can't hear you."]
["(Admin) Evening Breeze: Poor thing."]

"Ah? Is that so? Then I'll mute his microphone too!" the girl announced earnestly.

["(Admin) Evening Breeze: Good idea, click the horn icon in the top left corner of his avatar."]

"Okay!"

["Sang You: Seriously, this is too much! Lin Hang is out of line."]
["So Many Fish: Even if the streamer isn’t pretty, there’s no need to be so malicious to a girl."]
["Little Fairy breaking down?"]
["You fairies are the ones we’re targeting."]
["Why do you female streamers always twist your waists and call everyone 'brother' to make easy money?"]
["Sang You: Male streamers do the same thing. Why the discrimination?"]
["Yeah, we discriminate against you feminists! What else can women do besides giving birth?"]

The comment section grew increasingly toxic, suffocating with malice.

Evening Breeze, using his moderator powers, swiftly operated the controls and handed out expulsion packages.

["(Admin) Evening Breeze: Hilarious. Kicking the streamer is like punching cotton."]

"That’s not funny at all, Evening Breeze," Yu Yansui replied, crunching on a chip.

["(Admin) Evening Breeze: You’re just snacking away, not a care in the world. Are we the only ones worried? (smile)"]

"Crunch—crunch—he said he’d help me adjust the beauty filter. He’s a good person. I always accept kindness with open arms."

Yu Yansui had no idea of the malice directed at her; for eighteen years, she’d been well protected by Milos, surrounded only by good-hearted people.

She had no clue that Lin Hang wanted her to turn off the filter to embarrass her; she genuinely thought he wanted to help, feeling delighted.

["(Admin) Evening Breeze: Fool!"]

What was this little streamer playing at? No other beauty-section streamer acted this way.

They usually treated their beauty filters as if their lives depended on them. Why was she so calm?

Some streamers lost all their followers when their real faces were revealed, and many had to quit for good, ending their streaming careers.

So calm—was she truly confident in her looks, or was she just giving up because she knew she couldn’t win?

Evening Breeze couldn’t figure her out.

["(Admin) Evening Breeze: Do you want to win?"]

"Evening Breeze, do you want to help me win?"

["Evening Breeze gifted the streamer Pure-hearted Cat Ears*5"] (288 Cat Coins)

A pair of pink, lace-trimmed cat ears appeared on Yu Yansui's head. She cooperatively curled her hands, leaned in close to the mic, and acted cute.

"Meow~ Thank you, Little Wind, for the cat ears, I love them! By the way, can I call you Little Wind?"

Her voice was soft and sweet, as if she were whispering affectionately right into his ear—if only one ignored her twisted features.

["(Admin) Evening Breeze: Back up, you’re too close. I thought you were about to bite my head off."]
["(Admin) Evening Breeze: Sure."]

"I wasn't!"

—

Current votes: 35,869 (Lin Hang) to 1,440 (Yu Yansui).

For a newcomer, Yu Yansui’s tally was already impressive. The streaming world was fiercely competitive; many new streamers went days without earning a single vote.

Meanwhile, in Lin Hang’s stream:

["To the Clouds: I see Evening Breeze over there—why isn’t he sending the big gifts? Planning to snipe the tower?"]

"The other side is Evening Breeze?"

["Wo Ni Die gifted the streamer Rotten Eggs*100"] (50 Cat Coins)
["(Admin) Wo Ni Die: No need to be nervous. Even if Evening Breeze could, he wouldn't blindly throw gifts at a newcomer. He’s not stupid or wasteful."]

True enough. All four big spenders were present. Evening Breeze liked to make surprise donations, but only to interesting streamers.

What did the other side have? A ghastly girl with a child-eating mouth and bulging eyes. These big spenders weren’t into weird stuff like that.

Relieved, Lin Hang relaxed.

"Come on! Wo Ni Die, I don’t want rotten eggs! Take them back, that’s disgusting! The smell!"

["(Admin) Wo Ni Die: That’s all you deserve."]
["Exactly, everyone, more rotten eggs for Lin Dog!"]
["So smelly, I’ll throw one too."]
["Slurp slurp slurp"]

—

["Honestly, I think the other streamer’s figure looks okay, it’s just the face."]
["Bro, I agree. Cover the face and it’s not bad. (wry face)"]
["I get what you mean, tsk tsk."]
["Let’s go ask her how much to see her thunder thighs."]

Lin Hang’s male fans were now openly making crude jokes, and the screen was filled with rotten egg gifts, giving the stream a bizarre sort of drama.

—

The young girl seemed oblivious to the gravity of the situation. She munched on chips, her eyes crinkling in delight.

He’d only joined out of curiosity—he’d never seen a female streamer use such an ugly filter before and couldn’t resist making a few comments.

Besides, her performance of "Ambush from Ten Sides" had been impressive, so he’d decided to watch, never expecting things to turn out this way.

Never mind, he thought, let this be his good deed for the day. Money wasn’t an issue for him anyway.

["Evening Breeze gifted the streamer 'Moon Amongst the Stars'*1"] (58,888 Cat Coins)

The special effect took over the screen—a blue Milky Way, a bright full moon, a white boat carrying a man and a woman, bathed in starlight, sailing into the moon. At the end, a personalized message appeared.

Yu Yansui raised her hand to form a heart and thanked him sweetly, "Thank you, Little Wind, for the little boat! It’s so beautiful! I love it!"

"Little Wind, you didn’t have to spend so much. It’s alright if I lose. Just give what you can."

She’d seen videos of people ruining their lives borrowing money to shower gifts on streamers. Evening Breeze’s wealth rank was hidden, so she couldn’t tell much.

But by now he’d already gifted her over six thousand yuan—a considerable sum for most people.

["(Admin) Evening Breeze: What are you thinking? That’s nothing to me—barely a meal. Anyone who gifts on here isn’t short of money."]

Other streamers would do anything to squeeze more out of him, almost reaching into his wallet themselves.

But she was already grateful for six thousand yuan—so easy to please.

Yu Yansui lowered her head, bit her lip, and whispered, "Alright, Little Wind, don’t be mean to me!"

Tsk.

Behind the screen, Evening Breeze chuckled. What was this? He spends money on her and somehow he’s in the wrong? Why did she sound like a wronged little wife?

Evening Breeze’s gift tipped the PK bar in her favor.

49,568 (Lin Hang): 60,328 (Yan Suisui)

Lin Hang grew anxious, raising his voice, "Cloud Bro, Reverse Butterfly, Heng Dad, Boss, hurry up! Evening Breeze made his move!"

"Hurry, brothers, I can’t lose! Push it over, push it over!"

He played an energetic campaign song, stood up, adjusted his camera with the remote, and pulled the microphone off its stand.

"Brothers, help me out! How shameful would it be if I can’t even beat a newbie streamer? Please, just this once!"

Lin Hang called out with all his might, his voice reaching dolphin pitch.

["To the Clouds: Carnival snipe the tower!"]
["Wo Ni Die: 1"]
["Rampage: 1"]