Deep City.
In a conference room at the headquarters of a major tech giant, the general manager Wang Dong slammed his tablet hard onto the conference table. The screen showed the black feed from Chen Zhi’s livestream after it had been cut off, reflecting his grim, green-tinged face.
A dozen executives sat in the meeting room, barely daring to breathe.
“Has he lost his mind?!” Wang Dong pointed at the screen and roared. “Leaking trade secrets and exclusivity agreements directly online? Legal! File a lawsuit against him immediately!”
The legal director was sweating in the corner.
“Mr. Wang, he posted solid evidence. We can’t win a defamation suit. Besides, the entire internet is already accusing us of monopolizing the industry...”
The PR director chimed in with a mournful expression.
“All the top ten trending hashtags are about how several of us conspired to crush Deep Sky Tech. We can’t suppress it—no way. ByteDance refuses to pull the trending topics. Zhang Yiming is firmly backing Chen Zhi this time.”
Wang Dong was trembling with rage.
In over a decade in this industry, who had ever seen someone flip the table like this? Everyone usually stabbed each other in the back, fighting tooth and nail for market share while still keeping up a polite facade, calling each other industry peers. This kid didn’t even bother to pretend!
“Find someone,” Wang Dong gritted his teeth and slammed his hand on the table again. “Call the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology! This is destroying the market ecosystem—engaging in vicious competition! Let the top brass step in and rein in this lunatic!”
...
Beijing, 20th floor of the Huanmao Center.
CEO’s office of Deep Sky Tech.
Chen Zhi leaned back in his executive chair, his left leg in a cast propped up, a gaming console in his hands as he played with fervor.
Dai Damai pushed the door open and came in with a strange expression. Behind him were two middle-aged men in dark jackets—one look at their attire and demeanor made it clear they were from high up.
“Mr. Chen, Director Gao and Director Li from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are here.”
Chen Zhi put down the game console without standing up. Instead, he sank deeper into the chair, pointing at his leg.
“Leaders, I’ve got a work injury. I really can’t stand up, sorry for the rudeness.”
Director Gao sized up the young billionaire before him, pulling out a chair across from him and sitting down.
“Mr. Chen, you’ve achieved great success at a young age. Today’s livestream really turned the domestic tech industry upside down.”
Director Gao spoke in his usual bureaucratic tone—relatively mild, but with a hint of veiled pressure.
Chen Zhi sighed, his face full of grievance.
“Leaders, as you can see, my leg is broken, and I’m still being ganged up on. If I didn’t stand up for myself, Deep Sky Tech would be heading into bankruptcy liquidation tomorrow, and we’d all be selling screen protectors under a bridge.”
Director Li spoke up.
“Xiao Chen, if you’ve been wronged, you can report it to the authorities. Posting internal agreements online and sparking such a big public outcry damages the international image of the entire industry. The higher-ups hope you’ll prioritize the bigger picture, take down the posts, and sit down for negotiations.”
Chen Zhi got the hint.
Those big companies had pulled strings to get the officials to brok a settlement with him.
“Take them down?” Chen Zhi rubbed his chin, suddenly putting on an immensely somber expression. “Leaders, take a look at my leg.”
The two leaders were taken aback.
What did this have to do with his leg?
Pointing to his cast, Chen Zhi let out a long sigh.
“Actually, I’ve never disclosed this publicly. This leg isn’t just broken. I went to the hospital a couple of days ago for a checkup, and the doctor said there might be an extremely rare virus infecting the bone marrow.”
Standing nearby, Dai Damai could feel his eyelids twitching.
Chen Zhi continued his absurd fabrications, his tone growing more tragic.
“It can’t be treated in the country. I was planning to release a statement tomorrow announcing my resignation as CEO of Deep Sky Tech and go abroad for three to five years of treatment. As for the company—with our screens capped and all our cash tied up—I might as well just disband it. I plan to open-source the Moss source code and let everyone crash and burn together.”
Director Gao’s expression shifted.
Was he joking?
The higher-ups now regarded Deep Sky Tech as a domestic unicorn in AI, and Moss’s technical capabilities were the envy of even top foreign institutions. If he open-sourced it or the company collapsed, it would be a massive national loss!
They had only come today as a favor to someone, to go through the motions of applying pressure. They had no intention of driving this powerhouse away.
“Xiao Chen, don’t get worked up,” Director Gao’s tone immediately changed, carrying an urgent soothing quality. “Your health comes first, but the company can’t be neglected. Domestic medical conditions are now quite advanced. Should I help you get in touch with experts from Peking Union Medical College Hospital?”
“No good, no good. The root of the illness is in the heart, and only the mind can cure it.” Chen Zhi pointed at the computer screen. “Those big companies harass me with new tricks every day. My blood pressure spikes, and the virus spreads. How about you give them a call and ask them to issue an apology on their official websites tomorrow? Maybe my mood will improve, and my illness will just heal on its own.”
Director Li was both amused and exasperated, pointing at Chen Zhi with a wagging finger.
“You little rascal, you just seize every opportunity, don’t you? Apologies are out of the question, but I can coordinate on the scheduling issues from the top. That version you called Special Something—do a good job with it.”
The meaning was crystal clear.
The official side was backing off from this mess. You guys can fight it out however you want.
After seeing the two leaders out, Dai Damai closed the office door and gave Chen Zhi a thumbs-up.
“Mr. Chen, that illness of yours timed perfectly.”
Chen Zhi picked up his gaming console and kept playing through his game.
“Dealing with people who want to be peacemakers—you’ve got to be even more reckless. If they talk to me about the bigger picture, I’ll just drop dead right in front of them.”
“Those big companies must be fuming.”
“Fuming’s just the start. I’m going to flay them alive.”
Dai Damai pulled up a chair and sat down, sliding a freshly printed data report across to Chen Zhi.
“Let’s set domestic matters aside for now. Mr. Chen, take a look at this.”
The data curves on the report showed an outrageous, vertical spike.
“After the livestream was cut off today, besides domestic trends blowing up, foreign social media went viral too.” Dai Damai pointed at the screen. “Some YouTubers reposted clips of your livestream, especially the first half where you demonstrated the new Moss model.”
Chen Zhi glanced over it.
“How many views?”
“The single video hit 20 million in four hours. Right now, the number one trending hashtag on X is #MossPhone#.”
Dai Damai opened the comment interface on ByteDance’s backend and pulled up a page.
“Check out these comments. Our official website is getting bombarded by overseas IP visits every second. For a moment, I thought we were under DDoS attack.”
Chen Zhi leaned in to look.
A flood of users with default avatars was spamming the comments under Deep Sky Tech’s official account, typing in rigid, machine-translated Chinese.
“Hello, dear friend from China. May I ask how this magical machine that doesn’t require touch to operate can transfer my money over to you?”
“Protest! Why can only people from China enjoy this technology? This is technical discrimination! Release the overseas purchase link immediately!”
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
