Volume Two, Devil’s Game, Chapter Twenty-Six, An Agreement to Join Forces

As the stream chat rolled in, Lu Yi quickly pieced together the whole story. A trace of embarrassment crept across his face; it turned out the boss he had thanked earlier had wished nothing more than for him to die.

"Lu Yi, what are you muttering to yourself about?" Shen Yixue asked with clear concern, looking at him as though she suspected the previous attack had left him addled.

"I'm talking with the viewers in the live room," Lu Yi said directly. Then he slapped his forehead. "Right, you probably don't know yet, but we're actually inside a livestream."

"A livestream?" Shen Yixue's eyes lit up at once, excitement flooding her face. She coughed lightly, composed herself, and glanced around. "Are a lot of people watching?"

Lu Yi looked at her strangely, completely unable to make sense of her reaction, but still replied, "Naturally. And you're currently in the most popular live room in this entire game." As he spoke, he pointed to himself.

"No wonder," Shen Yixue cried out again.

Lu Yi stared at her in astonishment. What was with this girl, always startled by one thing after another?

"Oh, right, how did you figure it out? Can you prove it?" Shen Yixue grabbed Lu Yi's hand, looking extremely excited.

Lu Yi thought for a moment, then took off his earphones and placed them over Shen Yixue's ears.

"Black Phosphorus: Exactly. This is the hottest live room in the whole game. None of the rest of you are as popular as Lu Yi."

"Sweetheart Yiyi: That's right, Lu Yi is amazing. You should consider clinging to the streamer like a thigh."

"Sweetheart Yueyue: Just be the streamer's tagalong. He'll carry you to victory. Grin."

A few more chat messages came through the earphones. Shen Yixue's expression changed from delight to a blush, and she handed the earphones back to Lu Yi before turning away.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yi had no idea what had happened, but Shen Yixue was acting oddly. He put the earphones back on. "Viewers, what just happened?"

"Black Phosphorus: Nothing much. We were just setting up a good thing."

"Sweetheart Yiyi: We said the streamer has had a crush on you for ages and that you should hurry up and say yes."

Lu Yi's face darkened instantly. Just as he was about to explain, Shen Yixue suddenly turned back around. "Lu Yi, from now on, I'll be with you and help you."

"Yay, it worked."

"She actually agreed."

"I'm a Husky: Streamer, go for it already! A once-in-a-lifetime chance. Charge!"

Lu Yi's expression twitched. He decided that from then on he would never hand out the earphones again, lest this group of viewers spout even more bizarre nonsense.

Seeing Lu Yi's expression change over and over without saying anything, Shen Yixue asked, "What is it? You don't want that?"

"It's not that," Lu Yi said hurriedly. After a moment's thought, he went on, "You should have noticed that everything I do is a bit like walking a tightrope. One careless step, and I'll be shattered to pieces. Why would you want to do this?"

Shen Yixue thought about it, then leaned close to Lu Yi's ear and whispered a few words. Afterward, she said solemnly, "Keep it secret!"

Lu Yi gave her a peculiar look and nodded. When Shen Yixue introduced herself, she had said she could control starlight. That statement was not entirely false.

Only, the "star" she meant was a different sort from what most people would imagine. The star she spoke of was the star of fame, or rather, popularity.

Popularity could be converted into Shen Yixue's energy. With it, she could temporarily strengthen herself or produce other special effects.

For example, she could raise her charm to enchant others. Of course, Lu Yi did not know what had happened earlier. And the reason Shen Yixue believed him was that she had sensed her energy recovery speed increase when she was near him just now.

Lu Yi thought further. Shen Yixue was not a foolish person; she had probably already realized that the livestream might be tied to the rewards one ultimately received.

Yet even so, she still chose to follow beside me, without ever trying to stand against me. It can only mean she values the popularity of the two live rooms more highly. At the very least, popularity weighs more heavily in her eyes than the reward does.

In other words, this talent related to popularity is not that easy to improve. Then again, that makes sense. In a trial world, how many chances are there to shine before countless people and dazzle them all?

So the outcome both sides want is this: I want the live room to stay hot and earn more gifts, while Shen Yixue wants to help me keep the popularity up.

Once he understood the key point, Lu Yi smiled. "All right, then. Happy cooperation."

Shen Yixue was smiling too. "Happy cooperation."

The two of them then used their wrist devices to establish a free gentleman's agreement not to attack one another. It was called a gentleman's agreement because it could not completely prevent mutual attacks.

The City merely required that if one side wanted to attack the other, they had to give advance notice. Once the other side clearly understood, five minutes would pass and the agreement would be torn up. In the end, for a free agreement, that was already not bad.

"So what are your plans next?" Shen Yixue asked Lu Yi.

"I..." Lu Yi had just begun to speak when a voice suddenly entered his mind. Unlike the City's prompts, it was icy and eerie. "The Warden is reviving. Revival time remaining: four minutes and thirty seconds."

Lu Yi immediately turned to look. He saw that the Warden's split body was already covered by a shell of light. He casually kicked a stone toward it, only to have it bounced away by the barrier.

"During revival, it can no longer be attacked from outside," Lu Yi said with a frown.

"What is this?" Shen Yixue also saw the layer of light.

"Nothing much. Since the Warden can't be destroyed, it will inevitably revive." As Lu Yi spoke, a faint curve appeared at the corner of his mouth, because he saw that the countdown to the Warden's revival was not decreasing at all; instead, it was steadily increasing.

Before long, the time had climbed to nearly ten minutes.

"This is... this is..." Feng cried out. "The equivalent of a seal."

"The Warmhearted Man: A seal? How could that be? The Warden can't be sealed."

"Feng: It can't be sealed, yes. But what if the time needed for his revival is longer than the time he has left here?"

"The Warmhearted Man: So there is a move like that! If he can never revive, then it's effectively no different from being sealed."

"Sweetheart Yiyi: What are you all talking about? It feels like the streamer has done something incredible again."

"Black Phosphorus: Exactly. I don't really understand what it means, but it feels like the streamer is amazing."

"I'm a Husky: If the Warden can't revive, what happens to the remaining time? Does the streamer get to roam around freely?"

"The Warmhearted Man: I don't know. This situation has never happened before. We'll have to see how they handle it."

At the scene, the audience present there was also whispering among themselves. By then, the Warden's required revival time had already reached forty-five minutes, and it was still stubbornly increasing.

"Oh, ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, a new record has been born. Let us congratulate this brave and resourceful contestant," the host said excitedly as he leaped into the center.

A burst of applause immediately broke out in the venue.

"Heh heh. If the Warden keeps failing to revive, what do you plan to do?" a stunningly beautiful woman asked with a soft laugh through a transmitted voice.

"Honored Mistress Mengfu, and all you esteemed lords, we will certainly handle this matter properly," the host said, bowing slightly toward the woman and the others.

Another man with an odd, unsettling aura narrowed his eyes. "Is that so? I certainly hope you will."