Great O City.
This is the most unique place in all of Dragon Country—the only place where gambling is legally permitted. A paradise for countless people, yet also a hell for just as many.
Right in the center of the casino stands a golden tree, crafted entirely of pure gold, rumored to be a wealth-attracting talisman.
It seems to align with some feng shui arrangement.
The richer people are, the more they believe in such things.
The casino spans a vast area, equipped with all kinds of facilities, nearly everything one could find in the market available here. As long as you have money, anything you desire can be yours.
The Gambling King has many heirs, and his youngest daughter has just turned twenty.
As the youngest child, the family's doting and favoritism go without saying—even plucking a star from the sky wouldn’t be a problem.
And now, this beloved youngest daughter of the family lay sprawled on a large bed, her cheeks flushed red, looking utterly defeated.
A petite figure, pink hair, an unremarkable childlike frame…
Her large eyes were already misted over, a tiny trail of snot dripping down.
With a pitiful expression, she stared at the phone in front of her.
Black screen again. A full minute of respawn time—this was her 23rd death in this single match.
And the game had only been going for less than twenty minutes. In other words, she was either dying or on her way to dying.
Sniffling, she resumed controlling the little "braised egg" character that had just respawned at the fountain.
This time, she sold all her equipment to buy a revival armor and a life-saving dagger, all for the sake of surviving. Her tiny finger trembled as it hovered over the Flash skill, shaking from sheer tension.
The pink-haired girl’s gaze was locked onto the screen, not daring to slack for even a second.
Suddenly, as she approached a nearby bush, a warning indicator appeared above her head!
Her pupils shrank. Her thumb, poised over Flash, jerked away—
Flash!
But in her panic, instead of flashing into the safety of the tower, she dashed straight into the enemy bush.
The warning signal, which had been fading, instantly maxed out.
Ambush!
A familiar figure appeared before her. Before she could even react, a smooth combo sent her straight back to the grave. The revival armor and dagger only delayed the inevitable—her corpse simply relocated before the screen darkened again.
This death was the final straw.
With a loud wail, the girl burst into tears.
The dangling snot at the tip of her nose finally dropped.
"Waaah! Why?! Why are you doing this to me?!"
"I-I was trying so hard… Waaah—!!"
She cried so hard she could barely breathe. Outside, a maid, startled by the commotion, hurriedly knocked on the door.
"Young Mistress, are you alright?"
"Waaah—!! I-I’m fine… Waaah—!!"
The maid: "…"
The girl’s heartrending sobs echoed from inside. The maid didn’t dare barge in, but leaving her mistress alone wasn’t an option either. Gritting her teeth, she ran off to fetch help.
After crying for a while, the pink-haired girl seemed to calm down slightly. She picked up her phone, ready to fight again.
She hadn’t lost yet. She could still turn this around. She would redeem herself!
Respawn timer—zero!
The screen lit up again, only for another massive warning signal to appear above her head.
She froze, then desperately tried to retreat into the fountain, wishing she could burrow into its depths. But no matter how pitifully she begged, the enemy showed no mercy.
Spawn-camping!
The moment the warning signal maxed out, the familiar sound effects played—mark, stab, another seamless combo. Her little "braised egg" was erased from existence.
Her screen had barely lit up for three seconds before going dark again.
Boom!
The moment her character died, her team’s Nexus exploded—along with her sanity.
Like a lifeless doll, she mechanically tapped through the defeat screen, entering the stats page.
[0-25-2]
That glaring scoreline stared back at her. The girl gaped at it, utterly dumbfounded.
Quietly, she curled into a ball on the bed, hugging her knees, as if her soul had left her body.
She had been beaten into a daze.
Ding.
A game notification chimed, snapping her back to attention.
[Player "No. 1 Raider Grandpa Bull from Flip-Flop Garden" wants to add you as a friend!]
Opening the friend request, she saw the attached message:
"No. 1 Raider Grandpa Bull from Flip-Flop Garden: If you suck, practice more. If you can’t handle losing, don’t play. The past is the past, crab pincers are crab pincers…"
A spark finally returned to her vacant eyes.
This sounded familiar… Wait, wasn’t this the support from the last match?!
She hurriedly checked the match history—sure enough, this guy, the one who had killed her thirty times, was the same jerk who had ruined her game!
"JERK!!"
"BIG JERK!!"
"SUPER MEGA JERK!!"
Her soft, squeaky voice screeched in fury, startling the woman who had just arrived outside the door.
"Tongtong, are you okay? Can Mom come in?"
"AAAHHH—!! JERK!!!"
The woman: "…"
Unable to bear the distressing noises any longer, the woman threw caution to the wind and forced the door open.
What she saw left her speechless.
There, the pink-haired, child-sized girl sat with disheveled hair, tear-streaked cheeks, snot dripping—and most shockingly, her phone clamped between her teeth.
Yes, in her rage, she had resorted to physical violence.
Or rather, she had redirected all her fury onto her phone, as if gnawing on it could somehow ease her hatred.
This undignified display was abruptly witnessed by her mother and the maids. The girl’s brain short-circuited, and the phone fell from her mouth with a clatter.
As it hit the floor, it accidentally played a voice message from Ye Cheng:
"If you suck, practice more. If you can’t handle losing, don’t play. The past is the past, crab pincers are crab pincers…"
The mocking tone was dripping with sarcasm, the verbal equivalent of a critical hit.
Overwhelmed by fury, the girl’s face turned beet red. Her legs stiffened, her eyes rolled back—and she fainted on the spot.
She had been angered into unconsciousness.
"Tongtong! Quick, someone help!!" The woman’s panicked screams echoed through the villa.
Meanwhile.
Great Sea City, Great Sea City Noble Academy, Boys’ Dormitory, Room 502.
It's worth noting that the numbers on the door had been altered, with clear signs of movement between the three digits.
The previous room number was 249, and the next one was 251.
"Whew, what an exhilarating match! That was satisfying—time to sleep!"
Ye Cheng turned off his phone, tossed it aside, and closed his eyes to drift off.
Late at night, faint murmurs of Ye Cheng's sleep-talking could be heard from the room...
"Trash talkers should practice more..."
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.”
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
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.
