Chapter 0 (1/2): People who work hard to live!

People who strive to live!

[Brain Storage]

“Seriously, why do you have to yap so much just to play a game!”

In a brightly lit room, a slightly disheveled man lay on a chair with a brain-machine on his head.

In reality, his consciousness was passionately interacting with the audience in the Livestream Room.

[Dog streamer just looks down on the poor.]

[Can you even play this game without spending money?]

[Structuring.]

The barrage scrolled by in the Livestream Room.

The streaming man was already getting a bit hyped.

“Not a single cent spent. If you can enter the stage, you can clear it—as long as you know the mechanics!”

He quickly switched to another game account.

The account he now displayed was one he had never spent a penny on and had been using since the game started.

Player [Mel Carlo] logged in!

In this game called [Kandevin], players needed to choose various skills and classes, leveling up while crafting gear and slaying monsters on the continent of Kandevin.

Pay-to-win players enjoyed the game easily, while free-to-play players had to work hard to learn the game mechanics.

Clearing stages was definitely possible, but the time spent would be different.

Grind or pay.

[If you don’t pay, you can’t play at all. With your gear, you’ll just get kicked from new dungeon teams.]

“New dungeon, huh? As long as it’s not a mandatory group instance, I can solo it just fine.”

The man continued operating the menu unhurriedly.

Because he always played solo, he had pretty much studied the boss mechanics of the new maps—if he could enter, he could clear it.

He started another run, equipping mostly attack-boosting sets, confident he could dodge every mechanic.

If he got hit even once, he’d just restart.

Even though the Livestream Room didn’t have a huge audience, he still managed to solo-clear it while explaining the boss mechanics as he played.

“For this boss’s map-wide skill, there’s no way to dodge, so you have to keep a skill with invincibility frames or an untargetable status to avoid the mechanic.”

It took about ten minutes, but he managed to clear the new boss map without spending money.

After all, this was how he made a living—he had extreme confidence.

But the game’s difficulty really was high.

Even with a full attack build, it took so long, so it would probably take others even longer.

This game really wasn’t that friendly to zero-spend players.

In real life, he just lay on the chair.

It wasn’t exactly exhausting.

His livestream used a VTuber suit, and the brain-machine handled all streaming functions.

Aside from a bunch of drink cans, his room was fairly tidy, with only some books piled up on the desk.

[The streamer’s strong…]

[You actually cleared that? If the brain-machine could connect to external programs, I’d swear you were using a script.]

[Filial son streamer!]

Even when witnessing overwhelming skill, some still cursed in the chat.

“I make a living off this, bro. Can’t exactly break the bowl while eating, right?”

He smiled with pursed lips.

[Streamer, if you can clear it, then can you solo tonight’s Carnival Event too?]

Carnival Event?

The man fell into thought.

That event seemed to gather all bosses together, probably a group instance.

But since it’s an event map, it’s unclear if you can solo it.

Just thinking about all those bosses’ map-wide skills made it seem almost impossible to rely solely on invincibility frames.

Was this really an event for regular players?

[Streamer’s silent! Guess it can’t be done!]

[I bet the streamer’s just washing this crap game!]

The barrage grew noisy again, with trolls stirring up the mood, and soon most of the messages were insults.

After all, the internet had no barriers.

Real life was already suffocating enough—did people expect everyone online to be saints chanting sutras?

Impossible.

You’re online; what, you expect people to eat vegan and meditate?

“*Mother*!

What’s all the noise? The past is the past, now is now.

If your skills are bad, they’re bad.

Did you even learn the mechanics?

Did you build your gear?

“

[Streamer clearly never read a book!]

“I didn’t.

If I’d read more, would you even see me here streaming?”

He kept interacting with the audience, a sharper edge in his tone.

A dad in jail, a gambling mother, himself just entering high school, and a younger sister in middle school—back then, they didn’t even know where their next meal would come from.

Born in a tiny, backwater town, with little information and at the bottom of society, he had no idea what he could do to save himself.

He wasn’t lucky; no kind soul helped him.

His grades weren’t great either—around 200th in the school, neither here nor there.

So he dropped out to work, letting his sister continue her studies.

But now that she was about to graduate, it didn’t matter anymore.

Thinking of this, he seemed to regain some confidence.

“I dropped out to support my sister’s education. I was only in high school then…

It’s not that I didn’t want to study, but that I couldn’t.

“

[Ha, streamer dropped out to send his grandma to school!]

[If things were really so tough, why not seek help from society? Even 9 years ago, the internet was widespread!]

He collected his words, deciding not to brag further about his past.

Why speak honestly with people online just looking for entertainment?

Switching tone, he said, “If you’re bad, you’re bad.

Don’t spend money and still want to clear stages instantly?

What the hell are you dreaming about!”

[Streamer looks down on the poor. Making money from streaming, huh?

If we don’t donate, you starve!]

“Oh! Watching a game stream and you’re getting triggered? How much richer am I than you?

So self-loathing, why not just restart!”

Black or red, it’s still red.

If you’re going to stream, you have to seize every wave of traffic.

During fiery interactions, you could always sense the surge.

Making a living off this means having a bottom line.

As long as you don’t cross the line or touch sensitive topics, the Livestream Room shouldn’t get banned easily.

So let it be black!

At the end of the day’s stream, his stomach was growling, but the number of passionate viewers only increased.

[Streamer, I’m so poor!]

[I really don’t want to go to work anymore. So tired!]

[I feel so worthless!]

All sorts of negative emotions filled the Livestream Room, as if the man was a trash bin for other people’s negativity.

“Great men said you’re like the morning sun at eight or nine o’clock, but you’re all gloomy like the dead.

How are you even young?

If you feel so inferior, just restart already!”

After saying that, he instantly ended the stream.

[Virtual Reality Mode] switched to [Augmented Reality Mode].

[Brain-Machine] shutting down.

He took off the brain-machine headset and returned from the game world to reality.

This console-integrated streaming function was convenient, but wearing it too long was still uncomfortable.

His gaze landed on the stack of books beside him.

He picked one up and murmured, “Ten thousand years is too long; seize the day and night.”

1

After a day of power-leveling for others, he was about to go eat when his phone rang.

He picked it up—it was his sister calling.

She was about to graduate and looking for work, probably out of money again.

“Hello, what is it? Did you find a job?”

He answered.

“We’re cutting ties.

From now on, you’re not my brother.”

A cold voice came through the phone.

The man froze, feeling a stab of pain, thinking he’d misheard.

“What did you say?”

“I’m sick of this rotten family.

I want to pursue my own life!”

She’d found a job and could finally escape the nightmare of her birth family.

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

He replied calmly.

Though he felt hurt, he’d been through worse.

He cared less now.

“I’m cutting ties with everyone in the family.

I want to live with more dignity!

Yeng Ziming, I have no dignity in front of you!”

At those words, the man finally roared:

“This rotten family—did you think I chose it?

Dignity.

I dropped out of high school, supported you for years—was that all an insult to your dignity?

If you’re so proud, why didn’t you just starve back then?

Why take my money!”

“How much older am I than you? When you were helpless, did I have any more choices?”

B…

The call ended.

No matter how angry he was, he couldn’t get through when he called back.

All other contacts had already been blacklisted.

Raised a thankless wolf, huh.

He slumped in his chair.

He was only three years older than his ungrateful sister.

After sitting in a daze, he picked up the phone and called someone else.

“Hello! Hao Ge, want to eat out? My treat!”

“Sure, I just finished my work.”

“

The man he contacted now, called Hao Ge, was like family, though not related by blood.

When he was desperate, this man gave him a job as a net cafe manager.

You know, hiring underage workers meant a hefty fine, especially at a net cafe.

This man fed him, saw his gaming talent, and made him a pro power-leveler, giving him a higher income.

Soon, the two met outside the apartment.

Hao Ge looked at Yeng Ziming.

“Xiao Ming, what’s wrong? You look down.

Is living alone too lonely?

Should I set you up with a girl?”

He joked.