The instigator, Lin Xuan, was leisurely scrolling through posts about the game "King of Glory" on Weibo.
—Damn! What’s going on with Starlight Group? It’s been so long, and they still haven’t fixed the game. I’m waiting so long I might as well wither away.
—I just bought a new skin and wanted to test how it feels, but the game crashed. This game is such a tease.
—Yeah, me too. Gotta admit, that skin looks absolutely stunning.
Seeing these comments from players who had purchased the skins, Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes dangerously.
He had crashed the game just before 2:00 PM. They had announced the skin release for 2:00 PM, so theoretically, these players shouldn’t have been able to buy anything.
Unless they had started selling early.
Lin Xuan called Lei Hui.
Lei Hui was gleefully watching the players’ outcry over the game’s crash.
Right now, it was the players wailing. Soon, it would be Starlight Group’s turn.
Tsk, tsk.
What an entertaining show.
Working for the boss was truly satisfying.
When his phone rang and he saw it was Lin Xuan, Lei Hui immediately answered.
"Boss, what’s up?" Lei Hui asked respectfully, his eyes brimming with anticipation.
If the boss was calling him now, maybe he had another plan to mess with Starlight Group.
Lin Xuan asked, "Do you know the exact time Starlight Group actually released the skins? I need the precise timing."
Lei Hui glanced at his notebook and replied, "It was at 1:59:02 PM."
Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow.
Just as he had suspected—Starlight Group had released the skins slightly early.
Exactly one second before he crashed their game.
In that brief window, they must have sold hundreds, maybe thousands, or even tens of thousands of skins.
He had sworn that Starlight Group wouldn’t earn a single cent from this game.
A few hundred or thousand yuan was still too much.
Lei Hui couldn’t help but ask, "Boss, why do you ask? Do you have something planned?"
Lin Xuan smirked. "Nothing much. I just feel like paying Starlight Group’s backend another visit."
With that, he hung up.
Lei Hui: "..."
Damn it!
Boss, do you know how frustrating it is to leave someone hanging like that?!
Lei Hui wanted to press for details, but he had more urgent matters to attend to—arranging the launch of their own game, "Pesticide," across major app stores.
Night Garden
Lin Xuan returned from the living room to his study and booted up his computer.
His fingers flew across the keyboard in a rapid clatter.
After his last intrusion, Starlight Group had hired top-tier cybersecurity experts to rebuild their defense systems.
This time, their firewall was even more robust.
But to Lin Xuan, it made no difference. He breezed through their defenses effortlessly.
Deliberately, he triggered Starlight Group’s security alarm.
A sharp "beep-beep-beep" echoed through the tech department.
The staff, already scrambling to fix the game crash, nearly lost it.
At a time like this, someone had to hack their system?!
One technician tried to reassure them, "Don’t panic. We’ve upgraded our firewall—it’s solid now. There’s no way they’ll get through."
He sneered confidently. "Since they dared to attack, I’ll track their identity and location. They’ll be eating prison food soon."
Hearing this, the rest of the team relaxed and returned to fixing the game.
The technician took a leisurely sip of water before calmly opening his computer to deal with the intrusion.
Then his jaw dropped.
The hacker had already breached the fourth firewall.
From the moment the alarm sounded, only two minutes had passed. There were nine layers of defense in total.
Meaning, this person had shattered three firewalls in barely over a minute.
At this speed… could it be the same guy from last time?
The technician’s heart sank.
If it was really him, their department stood no chance.
But maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t.
Clutching at straws, the technician frantically tried to block Lin Xuan’s advance.
This time, Lin Xuan didn’t toy with them. He plowed through their defenses without pause.
Sixth firewall—gone.
Seventh—obliterated.
Eighth—shattered.
Sweat beaded on the technician’s forehead.
"Little Liu, why are you still messing with the hacker? Shouldn’t you be done by now? Come help us!" Little Cheng snapped impatiently.
As Lin Xuan reached the ninth firewall, Little Liu shouted, "Everyone, get over here and stop this guy! He’s too strong—I can’t hold him back!"
"It might be the same person who hacked us last time and wrecked our systems!"
Last time, Lin Xuan had waltzed into their system with impunity, leaving the entire department helpless as they watched his brazen maneuvers.
The memory was burned into their minds.
"What?! It’s him again?!" The entire tech department gaped in horror.
The manager barked, "Hurry! All hands on deck—stop him now!"
This was a critical moment for the game’s relaunch. They couldn’t afford another disaster.
The technicians scrambled to their keyboards, desperately trying to counter Lin Xuan.
But just like before, they were powerless against him.
All they could do was watch as Lin Xuan dismantled all ten of Starlight Group’s firewalls.
"We’re finished," the manager muttered, slumping into his chair, face pale.
His eyes remained glued to the screen, praying the hacker would just leave like last time—without doing any damage.
On their backend, the cursor moved.
Lin Xuan clicked into the game’s administrative panel and began working.
He raised an eyebrow. "These players move fast. In less than a second, they bought twenty thousand yuan worth of skins."
Far more than he’d expected.
With another flick of his mouse, Lin Xuan initiated a mass refund—for every single player.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
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.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
