"I know it's you, what's up? It's so late—weren’t you supposed to be livestreaming? Done already?" the voice on the other end asked.
The livestream chat was relatively quiet at the moment, except for the occasional flood of comments like "Captain Lan! Captain Lan! We love you, Captain Lan!"
Even though Ye Lan couldn’t see them, that didn’t stop her fans from spamming the chat.
Yang Laoliu shook her head. "Not done yet. But a package just arrived, and I haven’t opened it yet. Judging by the packaging, it looks like a gaming helmet. The fans thought I was lying—"
Before Yang Laoliu could finish explaining, Ye Lan cut in, "Your helmet arrived?"
"No, I don’t have a helmet," Yang Laoliu said, exasperated.
Ye Lan chuckled. "You don’t, but the company does. Fourth Sister applied for them—all nine of us got one. Mine’s probably still on the way; it should arrive tomorrow."
"..."
Yang Laoliu was stunned. "How come I never heard about this?"
Ye Lan laughed. "I only found out recently and wanted to surprise you guys. You’ve been complaining nonstop about how you couldn’t buy one or win one in the lottery, right? So I brought it up with Boss Cao and Fourth Sister. Fourth Sister approved it—she’s giving each of you one as a little farewell gift."
"..."
"..."
The livestream chat froze for a second.
Then, it exploded.
"Fourth Sister is seriously the best. How can a boss be this amazing?"
"I love Fourth Sister."
"Fourth Sister is unbeatable."
"Fourth Sister is so generous—giving away nine just like that. At the current market price..."
"Generous? It’s just their own company’s product. They’re probably giving them away at cost."
"Hey, naysayer, why don’t you go play somewhere else? Stop whining. ‘At cost’? Would your boss just hand out company products for free? And with how scarce these are right now, wouldn’t selling them make more sense?"
"Exactly. The fact that Fourth Sister even remembered the girls is already amazing. She manages the whole company—she’s got so many artists under her..."
"Besides thanking Fourth Sister, don’t you think Captain Lan is awesome too?"
"Right, right! Captain Lan is the best—she actually went and asked Boss Cao and Fourth Sister directly."
"Class President for a reason."
"Class President for a reason."
"Class President for a..."
The chat started spamming.
"Heh heh heh..."
Yang Laoliu suddenly grinned mischievously. "Alright, I won’t say anything else. Let’s keep it a surprise for the others. Thanks, Captain."
"Go back to your livestream. I just finished my training—gonna go shower."
"Got it, Captain. Bye!"
After hanging up, Yang Laoliu smirked at the camera. "See, fam? I wasn’t lying. Fourth Sister gave these away for free— Wait, what do you mean ‘lazy’?"
She rolled her eyes.
These fans changed their tune every second.
Now the chat was flooded with comments about how Ye Lan, as both captain and class president, was so diligent—she’d just finished her training.
Meanwhile, Yang Laoliu was just sitting there giggling...
A wave of fans started teasing her for slacking off.
She was already the weakest in the group, and here she was, not even trying.
Of course, it was all in good fun.
Yang Laoliu had high EQ and knew that, but she still feigned annoyance. "Whose fans are you guys, anyway? So what if I slack off a little? I’ve been grinding nonstop on shows—can’t I have some fun? I don’t care... You all owe me an apology."
"What?"
"An apology? Dream on, Yang Laoliu."
"You’re the poster child for slacking."
"Yup. If you weren’t the Lucky Fish, what else would you even be?"
"..."
The two sides went back and forth, bickering for a while until someone in the chat shouted about unboxing the package.
Yang Laoliu knew how to play along.
She kept teasing the fans, refusing to open it just to mess with them.
But eventually, she gave in and started the unboxing live.
The process went smoothly.
After all, Yang Laoliu had watched plenty of unboxing videos herself.
As she carefully peeled back the packaging, she muttered, "You have no idea how many unboxing videos I’ve watched online. I was so jealous."
"I kept thinking, if I ever won one or got picked in a lottery, I’d definitely film my own unboxing."
"And now, fam, my dream’s come true."
"Honestly, I’m super excited right now, but I’m trying not to show it. I’m scared—"
Here, she suddenly glared at the camera.
"—scared that antis will clip this. You haters, hmph!"
"..."
"..."
The chat was speechless.
One fan typed, "That face is way more clip-worthy, though."
"I give up. She’s lost it."
"HAHAHAHA—her gums are showing from grinning so hard! HAHAHA!"
...
The unboxing continued.
"Whoa~~"
The moment she saw the helmet, Yang Laoliu gasped.
She lifted it out gently.
It was the same helmet as everyone else’s...
But this one had her name on it.
Laser-engraved, sleek and shiny.
A custom helmet!
The fans instantly erupted in envy.
"What kind of legendary boss is this?!"
"Personalized helmet!"
"Damn... If Yang Laoliu signs this too, it’d sell for a fortune to fans."
"Seriously. Even though it’s customized, it’s still meaningful."
"I’ve never heard of anyone getting a personalized helmet before."
"Boss Cao and Fourth Sister treat their artists so well."
"Hey, check Little Zifeng’s post—she got one too, with her name on it..."
"No way. Are they giving one to every artist?"
"That’s just unfair. We can’t even buy or win one, and they’re handing them out internally?"
"Stop complaining. How many can they even give away? There are only so many artists. The real highlight is the name—it’s exclusive."
"I wanna work at Miracle so bad. Sigh. I’m not even asking for much—just let me be an artist."
"Yeah, keep dreaming."
...
...
The news spread like wildfire.
Most reactions were pure envy.
There wasn’t much backlash, since it was just internal gifting to their own artists. What could anyone even say?
Miracle Group soon issued an official statement, and major platforms followed suit with announcements.
Ten days later.
The second batch of 500,000 helmets opened for pre-order.
Still lottery-based.
But this time, the number of participants was bound to skyrocket. The resale value had hit insane levels, attracting not just fans and buyers but also waves of scalpers from other circles.
Meanwhile, fans were busy recruiting every family member and friend with a phone.
Everyone was joining the lottery.
They could play together—or if someone wasn’t interested, they could at least make some cash reselling.
After all, the lottery was free. One entry per ID.
No one would pass up the chance.
This thing was only going to get more valuable. Breaking 500,000 per unit? Not even a stretch.
Oh, and one more thing.
There was another announcement: the first batch of gaming pods was coming.
One thousand units up for pre-order.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
nto another world, I bought a slave for the first time, never expecting the silver wolf girl to be so cute... Lin Feng: I know it's cold, but you don't have to sneak into my bed! Yuna: Just sharing body warmth, if you dare do anything naughty, I'll definitely...
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
