Little Chi cupped her hands beside her face, forming a makeshift megaphone.
Straining her voice, she shouted into the apartment:
"Everyone, make sure you hide well! Don't let yourselves be found too easily!"
"Little Lin is back! Make sure you give him a run for his money trying to find you!!"
Originally, these words should have been sent out before the car even entered the residential complex.
However.
At that time, Little Chi was still under the control of the "Bone-Melting Soft Fist" technique, leaving her completely unable to send any messages.
She had only managed to hastily fire off a single message right before getting out of the car.
Worried that some people might not have seen it or wouldn't have had enough time to find a suitable hiding spot, Little Chi rushed in first.
She shouted her warning again, determined to ensure everyone was well-hidden.
"Hide-and-seek, huh?"
"Is this the surprise everyone prepared for me?"
"If you wanted to play, you could have just said so. It's not like I wouldn't cooperate."
"There must be some other information you haven't told me, right?"
Chi Qingchi hugged the nearly empty bag of snacks with both arms, looking aggrieved as she said:
"I'm not telling you anything else, you world's cutest Little Lin!"
"For things like the rules, shouldn't you be asking the host?"
Lin Yu looked at the empty living room and spread his hands helplessly:
"Ask the host? I'd have to actually see the host first!"
"Isn't the host hiding with everyone else..."
Before Lin Yu could finish his sentence.
Maomao's voice drifted out from the speakers in the living room:
"Birthday boy, welcome back. Please join everyone in the entertainment segment now."
Lin Yu: "..."
Right.
The transmission range of the wireless microphone was more than enough to cover the apartment.
There was no need for Maomao to be physically present; as long as the speakers were there, they could communicate.
Lin Yu listened intently, wanting to see what kind of tricks everyone was up to.
Although he hadn't fully immersed himself in it yet, on the surface, this seemed like it would be quite fun!
"The friends within the apartment have prepared different gifts for the birthday boy."
"Some friends may have already given theirs in advance, but they are still participating in this activity."
"Please find the friends hidden within the apartment one by one. Upon finding them, you will receive the gift they are holding."
"Please pay attention to the greeting cards on the table. When accepting a gift, the birthday boy is required to write a short blessing or message of thanks for the gift."
"All hiding spots are located within the common activity areas. The time limit is thirty minutes."
"If completed within the specified time limit, you will obtain a special prop for today's gathering. Its function is currently a secret."
"These are all the rules of the game. Good luck, birthday boy!"
After hearing the rules, Lin Yu rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
Good, good, good.
This really was interesting!
It seemed everyone had discussed this quite a bit in the group chat.
The common area of the apartment wasn't exactly small.
But to hide over a dozen people without reusing spots...
That certainly required some advance planning; acting on the fly would easily lead to major loopholes.
Yet, preparing too far in advance would waste a lot of time.
No wonder they had Little Chi take Lin Yu out, keeping constant tabs on his movements.
Xiang Tiange and Xia Xiashan had also listened to the rules along with him.
Xiang Tiange clapped her hands gently in surprise and said:
"Wow!"
"That sounds like such a fun setup. Everyone is so nice."
"This shared living atmosphere is even better than our school dorms!"
How could such an atmosphere not be enviable?
A group of friends willing to play along with Lin Yu, spending so much time just to add a sense of surprise to the gift-giving process.
It was proof enough.
Proof of just how strong Lin Yu's personal charisma really was!
"I accept everyone's challenge! You all better hide well, don't let me find you too quickly!"
Lin Yu shouted his response to the group.
Subsequently.
He turned his gaze to Chi Qingchi and asked:
"Everyone else is hiding. Little Chi, are you going to hide in a bit?"
Chi Qingchi hugged the bag in her arms even tighter and said:
"I'm not telling the cutest person in the world. Hmph!"
Lin Yu nodded sheepishly.
Food really was Little Chi's bottom line.
It looked like she was going to sulk for at least a little while longer.
Regarding this.
Lin Yu wasn't worried at all.
There was nothing to fear about Little Chi getting angry.
At worst, he'd just go buy two ice cream cones later, and that was guaranteed to coax her back to happiness.
Lin Yu notified the other two girls, then immediately picked up the greeting cards and pen from the table, throwing himself into the game.
Time was limited.
He couldn't waste a second; he had to find everyone as quickly as possible.
On average, he had to find one person every two minutes or so!
Finding people wasn't the troublesome part; all in all, it shouldn't take too much time.
The real time-sink was writing the cards and accepting the gifts!
He had to leave different blessings for different girls.
Otherwise, it would be too insincere!
First of all.
The easiest person to find was undoubtedly Maomao, who had just spoken.
Even though she hadn't appeared in person.
From the moment she spoke, Lin Yu had pinpointed the direction of the sound source.
The dining room!
It seemed that to ensure the audio was flawless and the microphone wouldn't be affected by distance...
Maomao had sacrificed the element of hiding herself.
She prioritized keeping her voice low but clear enough for Lin Yu to hear without static.
Since Maomao had chosen to sacrifice herself, how could Lin Yu not help her fulfill that role?
"Clack-clack... Clack-clack..."
The sliding door to the dining room opened, and Lin Yu slowly paced inside.
At the same time.
He didn't forget to glance back at the three girls in the living room.
The three of them ran off almost simultaneously, vanishing from where they stood.
It seemed that under Little Chi's instructions, they had joined the game as well.
Xiang Tiange hadn't given her gift yet, so her choice to join the game was completely within Lin Yu's expectations.
That Sister Shanshan would cooperate so well, however, truly exceeded his imagination.
This was actually good.
At least there was no one behind Lin Yu watching the show.
He could relax and...
"Clack-clack..."
Lin Yu reached back and slid the dining room door shut again.
Very good.
No strange sounds came from the speakers.
This was proof enough that the microphone in Maomao's hand was definitely turned off right now.
Otherwise.
The sound of the sliding door would have certainly been transmitted through the open mic and into the speakers.
Lin Yu slowly walked toward the small square dining table.
This table was rarely used and generally sat idle.
Because the table's surface area was small, it could barely fit two people eating together, with hardly enough room for a few plates and bowls.
That was why it had been set aside and unused for a long time.
For a normal adult, trying to squeeze underneath it would be a struggle.
But given Maomao's physique...
It would be quite effortless!
"Wah-lah!"
Upon reaching the table, Lin Yu let out a weird shout and abruptly squatted down, looking under the dining table.
"Thud!"
"Oww..."
Startled, Maomao flinched instinctively.
Her small head slammed fiercely against the underside of the table.
...

orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"

y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”

nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.

s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!