Chapter 30

“Brother Biao, you came out pretty fast—did you win early? As expected of Brother Biao.”

“Congrats to Brother Biao for winning the beauty...”

“Shh, stop talking. Hurry up and pack things away. Don’t you know how to read the room?”

Wang Biao’s gang of idle friends, who were playing cards and slacking off in the hotel room, jumped up the moment they saw him appear. Someone offered flattery, and another one even pulled out a banner they had prepared in advance.

But noticing the foul look on Wang Biao’s face, the quicker ones kicked the flatterer and quickly rolled up the banner.

Wang Biao did not look like someone who had won.

He was already deeply frustrated, and the forced smiles and cautious behavior of his lackeys only made his nerves more raw. He jabbed a finger toward the door and shoved the nearest one on the back of the head, roaring, “Get the hell out!”

Though these friends relied on Wang Biao, they still showed a flicker of resentment at being chased out so violently.

But Wang Biao couldn’t care less what they thought right now. He hadn’t just lost—he’d lost 300,000 points!

Three hundred thousand points wasn’t a small number, even for Wang Biao. When he wagered that amount to issue the challenge, he never once thought he could lose.

...

The streamer who initiated the PK against Shi Jian was Wang Biao—he was the same thug who, when Shi Jian had just arrived at the transfer station after clearing her newbie instance, tried to impress her with promises of big gold chains.

From the moment he saw Shi Jian, Wang Biao found himself losing interest in other women. On top of that, Shi Jian had openly shown disdain for him and even mocked him, saying “Even someone like you dares to pursue me?”—which only made his desire to dominate her spike.

He didn’t just want to win Shi Jian; he wanted to humiliate her. Since she acted so high and mighty, he’d make her grovel.

The transfer station had its own rules, and Wang Biao didn’t dare act directly. Instances couldn’t be entered at will, either, so he came up with another idea: a streamer PK.

Wang Biao had worried that Shi Jian might not accept the challenge, but she agreed without hesitation—whether out of arrogance or ignorance, he didn’t know.

Wang Biao had been thrilled when she accepted and, before entering the instance, he’d already fantasized about how he’d make her suffer as his servant.

When streamers do PKs, they are placed into the same scenario—meaning both Wang Biao and Shi Jian entered the same theater instance, each playing the role of a low-tier assistant to a D-list actress.

They couldn’t see each other’s progress, but viewers in the live rooms could. To the audience, both scenes were synced in real time.

At first, things were going well for Wang Biao. His strategy was to flatter the actress, spend money on her, and then seduce her.

In Wang Biao’s eyes, nothing beat conquering and toying with a woman.

His vulgar style had always drawn a certain crowd, and with some risqué interactions with the actress early on, he managed to pull in some traffic.

But what he didn’t expect was this: the actress who claimed to have broken up with her boyfriend was actually stringing along two men. She was treating Wang Biao like a cash cow, using his money to spoil her boyfriend.

Wang Biao’s audience—who had projected themselves into his role—suddenly felt like they’d been played for fools.

Instant outrage flooded his live chat.

【Damn it, what is this nonsense?】

【Is this streamer brain-dead? Getting played like this by a woman, and you still want us to give you power-ups? GTFO.】

【That other stream is way more fun. Over there, the assistant made the manager take the blame for the costume, and pulled off a ton of slick moves.】

【I’m switching to support the other side. Watching this guy go from cocky to cuckolded—it’s like swallowing a fly. Incredible. So dumb it’s brilliant!】

Because the actress was two-timing and using Wang Biao’s money to support her boyfriend, a huge chunk of his audience abandoned him.Although Wang Biao quickly realized something was wrong and used a prop to kill the actress, it was ultimately useless.

Shi Jian had already captured a massive audience from the very start with her beauty, and then held onto them with one unexpected move after another.

From shifting blame to the manager, inciting a fight between him and the actress, to claiming to be part of the Actor Regulatory Bureau—every action hit the viewers' sweet spots. Her spectacular finger-blood-spray performance and promotion from assistant to headliner pushed the thrill to a whole new level.

Who to support? It couldn’t be more obvious.

According to the standard PK rules, Shi Jian and Wang Biao were supposed to stay in the instance for a full day. However, because Wang Biao’s stream had abysmal popularity while Shi Jian absolutely dominated, the support gap between them became so large that it met the early-termination threshold.

So the PK ended ahead of schedule.

...

While Wang Biao was raging and smashing things in frustration, Shi Jian was riding high!

As soon as the PK instance ended and Shi Jian confirmed that the 300,000 points had been credited to her account, she sent a quick message to Tang Tian to say she was safe, then confidently marched straight to the store.

She’d been bummed earlier about not being able to buy that cute dress—but now, she was here to keep her promise and take it home.

Not only could Shi Jian now buy the dress at full price, and the shoes too—she even picked out a matching handbag.

It wasn’t a super expensive brand, but now her whole outfit looked cohesive and put together.

Since leaving the real world, aside from the mandatory school uniform at Qingshan No. 1 High, Shi Jian had either been in pajamas or sweats...

Sure, pretty people can look good in a sack—but who can resist beautiful clothes? Now that she had the means, she was going to look as stunning as she could.

While trying on clothes, the shop assistants couldn’t stop complimenting her—it was all sincere.

Shi Jian even unintentionally boosted sales.

Most streamers spend their points on practical items like props or potions. Clothes were just for covering up. High-end fashion boutiques rarely had streamers as customers unless they were sponsored canaries trying to please their sugar daddies.

But with Shi Jian standing there looking like a fashion ad, a few female streamers couldn’t resist and ended up making purchases too.

The sales staff were all smiles and gifted Shi Jian a hat and a scarf as a thank-you.

After her wild shopping spree, Shi Jian checked into a five-star hotel with arms full of bags. She felt completely refreshed—the only thing she regretted was not having enough points left to buy whitening pills. That would have to wait for next time.

Shi Jian: praying for more “wealth-scattering fools” like that one to challenge her to PKs.

That wealth-scattering fool—Wang Biao—showed up at the same five-star hotel at almost the exact same time as Shi Jian. Except, while one was checking in, the other was checking out.

After “gifting” Shi Jian 300,000 points, Wang Biao could no longer afford to stay in luxury. Meanwhile, Shi Jian was leveling up her lifestyle and enjoying the ride.

...

Shi Jian stayed at the luxury hotel for two days to rest and recharge. The environment was peaceful and the service was exceptional—so much so that for a moment, she almost forgot she had been through such an absurd experience.

But a trending celebrity like Shi Jian couldn’t possibly enjoy a full two-day vacation.

She was flooded with bookings—if she wasn’t rushing between gigs, she was on the job.

The theater performance had scratched a long-standing itch for Shi Jian, but the craving was coming back fast.

After checking herself in the mirror and making sure she was in peak condition, she decided to enter the next instance. After all, she still wanted those whitening pills and to climb to the top of the points leaderboard. Also—honestly—the points burned fast.

Zhang Dong still hadn’t returned from his instance, but Shi Jian had been meeting up regularly with Tang Tian these past two days.Tang Tian was also about to enter a new instance. “Hope we can stick together again this time.”

Shi Jian felt the same. She and Tang Tian had already developed a tacit understanding—relying on each other gave them a much better chance of survival than going it alone.

To increase their chances of entering the same instance, they even deliberately applied for the instance at the exact same time.

But randomness in instances wasn’t just for show. As soon as Shi Jian recovered from the dizziness, the first thing she did was pull out her phone.

If her contact was in the same instance, they’d be reachable.

She couldn’t reach Tang Tian.

So this time, she was destined to go it alone again.

To say she wasn’t disappointed would be a lie—but there was no helping it. Shi Jian began assessing her new instance.

Fishy. Salty. The unmistakable scent of the sea. Underfoot was a sizable cruise ship, which had just left port and was now gliding over the water under glaring sunlight.

Aside from her, there were ship staff and other men and women who looked like fellow streamers.

Before Shi Jian could even react, her phone flashed with a beam of light.

It wasn’t just hers—other streamers’ phones lit up too. Some looked at them openly, others snuck off to read them in private.

On Shi Jian’s screen appeared an intricately designed invitation card. The message read—

“Welcome aboard the cruise. This is a luxury vessel, and all passengers onboard are members of high society. A grand ball is about to begin. Cinderella is destined to meet her prince. She needs your help—please provide her with the most beautiful gown to leave a lasting impression at the ball.”

Shi Jian could already hear other streamers muttering.

“Cinderella and the prince? Are we doing fairy tales now?”

“Who’s Cinderella?”

Yeah—who was Cinderella?

Shi Jian also noticed the message didn’t explicitly say who Cinderella was.

In her palm, she was still holding a ticket—something she hadn’t had before entering the instance. Clearly, it had been assigned by the instance itself.

Staff members had begun escorting the other streamers to their rooms. One came over to Shi Jian as well.

“Hello, I’ll take you to your room to rest.”

Shi Jian didn’t detect any immediate danger. It was indeed very hot outside, and without hesitation she nodded, “Thank you.”

Not only that—seeing the staff member walking a bit slowly, Shi Jian discreetly sped up and entered the room ahead of them.

Some streamers were still hesitating, afraid there might be traps in the rooms. They watched silently: “……”

It was noticeably cooler once inside the hallway. The staff led Shi Jian to a suite.

The cruise ship definitely lived up to its “luxury” claim. Shi Jian felt it was no less elegant than the second floor of the Rose Castle. Aromatherapy filled the air, and there was an exquisite afternoon tea spread on the table.

“If you need anything, just call me.”

Shi Jian was very satisfied with the accommodations. She hadn’t forgotten the mission on her phone. “Do you know Cinderella?”

Then she added thoughtfully, “She might have two evil stepsisters?”The attendant looked confused. “Sorry, I’m not sure.”

Even the staff didn’t know who Cinderella was. Shi Jian realized this could be a key detail—if even the personnel didn’t know the target, how was anyone supposed to complete the mission?

Shi Jian: Here it comes, my highlight moment. Gotta strike first—if she could pinpoint the Cinderella clue now, she’d definitely take the lead among all the streamers on this cruise!

She understood all that in theory—but in reality, she had no idea what to do.

Shi Jian quickly gave her brain a break. Better to eat a pastry first and recharge a bit.

The sea, afternoon tea, a lazy beauty—what a perfect scene.

Shi Jian quietly settled into the role of a beauty enjoying her leisure. The room was calm and serene, the setting picturesque.

She’d dressed up carefully this time, wearing the beautiful dress she’d splurged on—a silver strapless gown, modest and elegant in the front, but hiding something special in the back.

A wide expanse of smooth, jade-like skin was exposed, her delicate shoulder blades like butterfly wings about to take flight. Just below them, the bow of the gown was tied neatly. Because of the fabric, the dress shimmered with iridescence, and her new heels sparkled as well.

——

【Wow, this instance feels like a vacation one.】

【It looks so relaxing—the sky’s so blue, the sea so clear. I want to join the streamer for tea.】

【You sure it’s the tea you want? Pretty sure it’s the streamer. I’m too embarrassed to call you out.】

【Baby, I’m here! Got the alert and came running. Baby was definitely holding back at Qingshan First High—this outfit is stunning!】

A vacation instance? As if.

Someone in chat yelled for the camera to move—they confessed outright: they just wanted to see her butterfly back. That gorgeous bare back!

But when the camera panned, everyone suddenly saw it—the back of the chair Shi Jian was sitting in had a massive open mouth. Its teeth were densely packed, sharp like saw blades.

The chair’s backrest had a mouth growing on it, waiting with jaws wide open. The moment the streamer leaned back, it would bite down without hesitation.

Click—click— the sound was faint.

Its jaws opened and closed, and even through the screen, viewers could feel how powerful the bite must be.

【!!!】

【I was just leaning on my chair! I jumped up the second I saw that. Damn, it’s all traps!】

【Ahhhhh, streamer, look behind you!】

But when Shi Jian turned around, the mouth on the chair vanished. Then, when she started sipping her tea again—it reappeared.

It could disguise itself!

The chat instantly tensed up, anxiously watching Shi Jian, terrified she’d get chomped.

The risk was huge—after all, chair backs were meant to be leaned on. And now, she was in a relaxing private space, likely to let her guard down.

The mouth on the chair back was like a patient hunter, waiting for that smooth, beautiful back to get close—so it could snap shut and tear into her.

Viewers were going crazy with worry, but couldn’t send her a warning.

But… Shi Jian’s back remained perfectly straight. She showed no sign of leaning back at all.One minute passed—still the same.

Five minutes passed—still no change.

Ten minutes...

Viewers: Huh?

Maybe there’s no need to be that anxious?

The mouth on the back of the chair was going numb from staying open, its jaw crooked, drool dried up—and still, it hadn’t so much as grazed a bit of fragrant, tender flesh.

The butterfly-shaped shoulder blades were right there—so close, yet so impossibly far.

As a top-tier actress, Shi Jian paid extra attention to her posture. A great beauty relied not just on looks but also on bearing.

Even in private, Shi Jian kept her back straight—just as she had for the past ten years.