Chapter 24: An Ordinary Player
[That's a bit much, boss.]
[Could this guy be a Way of Heaven spy?]
[The biggest guild on the server, and this is how they behave?]
[Ugh.]
Whoosh—
Another Fruit Transport Plane flew across the screen.
[What's wrong? Not getting up? If you don't get up, I'm not sending any more gifts. #smile]
Chi Zhen let go of the mouse and gave a fake smile. “Boss, how about you send ten Fruit Transport Planes first? I guarantee I'll die ten times for your entertainment. Of course, if you want to send a hundred at once, that's fine too. I guarantee I'll die a hundred times for you.”
The viewers quickly caught on to what he meant and started egging the donor on.
[Boss, ten minimum. Send them!]
[Let's congratulate Boss on ascending to the number one spot on Xiao Chi's gift leaderboard~]
[Send them! Send them! Send them!]
[Heh. I've already sent you four, and you've only died once. What do you have to say about that?]
Chi Zhen opened the donor's profile. The ID was a string of gibberish characters. Following: 1 streamer—Chi Zhen. Nothing else.
Even the profile picture was blank.
Yeah. Definitely suspicious.
“Boss, don't tell me you've run out of money?” Chi Zhen sneered. “Do you need to take out a payday loan just to afford ten Fruit Transport Planes?”
Thinking about everything that had happened recently, he felt that if there was ever a time for sarcasm, it was now.
“Or maybe you should ask your guild leader for reimbursement. Shouldn't this count as a business expense?” He simply gave up respawning and lay on the ground while continuing his taunt. “A guild with over a thousand members can't kill a tiny streamer like me, and now you have to spend gift money just to touch the corner of my clothes. So tell me—is it because I'm too strong, or because your guild is too weak?”
The donor was obviously provoked. Several messages appeared in rapid succession.
[What guild? What does any of this have to do with guilds? Stop changing the subject!]
[Not getting up? Then give me my gift money back!]
[Trash streamer. You think you're something special? You're just an online beggar.]
[The loose change from my monthly allowance is more than five thousand yuan. I just don't feel like giving it to you. If I threw it at a dog, at least it'd bark a couple times. Throwing it at an internet beggar like you doesn't even make a splash~]
“Oh?” Chi Zhen's voice dripped with disdain. “So you're still living off an allowance from your parents? In that case, I really should refund you. What if your parents complain to the platform and demand their underage child's money back? Let's get your account information registered in the backend, boss. I'll make sure your gift money gets refunded.”
The stream erupted in laughter.
The donor completely lost it and sent six more Fruit Transport Planes.
He immediately shot to the top of the leaderboard. Behind his ID gleamed 5,000 Fruit Power Points, representing five thousand yuan in gifts.
[That's ten now. Come on. Die ten times for my entertainment. #smile]
Chi Zhen was speechless.
There were simply some people in this world whose thought processes were impossible to understand.
Like Misty Autumn Rain, who refused to listen to his explanation. Like the two guilds who had put him on their kill lists because of a single forum post. And like this idiot in his chat whose logic amounted to: "I only lost five thousand yuan, but your game character died ten times."
Chi Zhen said, “Alright, boss. I'll go die nine more times.”
He immediately hit Respawn. Three seconds later, the Way of Heaven players camping him cut him down again.
Respawn. Die. Respawn. Die.
By the fifth time, even the surrounding Way of Heaven players seemed confused and hesitated for a few seconds before attacking.
[Nearby] Frost Purple Jade: Are you trying to die a few more times to apologize?
[Nearby] Bone Kissing: What the hell is this guy doing? It's kind of creeping me out. Does he enjoy being abused?
[Nearby] The Light Boat Has Passed: Isn't someone from your guild throwing gifts in my stream because they want to watch me die?
[Nearby] Frost Purple Jade: ???
Soon enough, all ten deaths were finished.
Chi Zhen asked: “Boss, another ten planes?”
[Stop asking. He left a while ago.]
[Probably afraid you'd trick him into sending another ten. #smirk]
[I'm honestly not sure anymore whether he was a real whale or a fake one.]
[Definitely fake. He wanted to spend a little money to annoy Xiao Chi and ended up getting baited into spending five thousand yuan instead. He's probably crying somewhere right now.]
The Light Boat Has Passed lay flat on the road while dozens of players surrounded him.
[Nearby] Bone Kissing: Not getting up anymore?
Looking at the gift leaderboard, Chi Zhen found the number-one spot extremely unpleasant to look at. He said, “Boss can probably apply for a refund through the platform. I can return the 2,500 yuan that comes to me, but I don't know whether the platform will refund their half.”
[Don't! Why refund him? You literally got killed ten times! That's hard-earned money!]
[Exactly! Don't fight with money!]
[If you refund it, didn't you suffer all that frustration for nothing?]
Chi Zhen shook his head. “If it's money from his parents' allowance, I don't feel comfortable keeping it.”
He glanced at the sea of players surrounding him. It wasn't interesting anymore. “Guys, there's no way we're getting any gameplay tonight. How about I end stream and make up the hours another day? Sound good?”
[Noooo! It's not even nine o'clock yet! You're my electronic melatonin! You can't leave~~~ I'll send a Fruit Can!]
[I'll send one too~ Xiao Chi, don't go~ We haven't even waited for Endless Time to log in yet. (Not that that's the reason.)]
A wave of Fruit Can gifts flooded the stream. When he counted them, there were actually dozens.
Suddenly feeling too embarrassed to end early, Chi Zhen thought for a moment. “Then how about we stream some mini-games instead? What do you guys want to watch?”
He pulled out his tablet and aimed a camera at it.
The tablet was full of mini-games he'd previously played while gathering footage for video editing.
Scrolling through the screen, he asked, “Anything you want to see? Something mindless and relaxing? Then let's play High-Speed Rail Dining Cart Battle. This is what I play whenever I want to turn my brain off.”
He launched the game and began explaining.
“The gameplay is really simple. You mindlessly cook food in the dining car, passengers place orders, then you mindlessly deliver food and collect trays. That's basically it. I've already cleared every stage. Which one do you want to see? Alright, I'll just pick one in the middle.”
He selected a stage and started cooking.
The viewers were stunned.
The game required players to use microwaves, ovens, steamers, frying pans, rice cookers, and blenders to prepare rice, fried noodles, pancakes, pizza, fries, burgers, fried chicken, steamed dumplings, juice, and more. After cooking, the food had to be pushed into the train carriage, arranged correctly according to each passenger's order, and delivered. Every ingredient had to match perfectly. One wrong item and the order failed.
Passenger orders lit up one after another. If service was too slow, passengers would cancel.
The viewers watched as Chi Zhen's hands moved at incredible speed. He simultaneously cooked an entire cartload of food, assembled trays, delivered meals, rushed back to cook more when supplies ran low, collected finished trays, and repeated the process—
His fingers were practically leaving afterimages.
[Holy crap. Is this even the same game I'm playing?]
[I don't understand. Are those human hands?]
[I haven't even finished reading the order, and Xiao Chi has already delivered it!]
While reading chat on his computer, Chi Zhen continued tapping on the tablet without pause. “You just get used to it. When you're looking at one order, you can already glance ahead and see what the next passenger wants. That makes things much faster.”
[Thanks for teaching me, as if I could ever learn this. #smile]
Chi Zhen laughed. The mini-game really was relaxing, and his mood finally improved.
“Actually, there are some tricks to this game. Different regions have different preferences. Southern-region maps need more rice. Maps based on spicy-food regions have huge demand for chili sauce, so you should fill every chili sauce container right at the start. Also, you can observe passengers ahead of time. If there are lots of children, prepare extra fries and fried chicken...”
Growing more animated, he shared every tip he'd learned about High-Speed Rail Dining Cart Battle. He even dug up a video he'd edited several months earlier and played it for the viewers.
Since he wasn't streaming Quest for the Azure Heavens or any PvP content, the viewer count dropped by more than half. The people who stayed were the ones who genuinely enjoyed casual streams. As they watched him play, the chat happily rambled about random topics. Some praised his hand speed. Others recommended mini-games they'd recently enjoyed and encouraged him to try them.
For the first time in a long while, Chi Zhen felt genuinely relaxed. He chatted back and forth with the viewers for hours.
Like an ordinary player talking with other players. Playing and chatting together until eleven o'clock, when he finally ended the stream.
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