Chapter 67: The Cross-Dressing Game Streamer is Actually… (End) part 1
Huo Xian’s university thesis defense was just like his major: perfunctory, yet very formal.
simply put, it was really just to let students get a diploma.
Zhao Xiyou’s mood upon seeing Huo Xian was incredibly complex. Following his miserable defeat on the opening day of the Wind and Cloud Conference, he had encountered Huo Xian once more a few days later. The result was the same as the first time: a miserable defeat.
This made him doubt his own skills while also suspecting if Huo Xian was using hacks. Huo Xian’s cooperation with the officials was already public knowledge; it wasn’t impossible for the officials to give him cheats.
Huo Xian’s cooperation with the officials wasn’t limited to plot videos. Huo Xian, as a designer, was an externally hired art designer for the game company, designing the sect outfits for the Wan Jian Sect. He used his identity as a designer to open a shop for game derivatives. Apart from earning revenue through in-game microtransactions, many games also produced merchandise, such as figurines.
Huo Xian was optimistic about Xianyu. As long as the officials didn’t screw up, Xianyu would definitely become even more popular in the next few years. Therefore, his shop currently dealt in Xianyu-themed derivative merchandise.
This was the suspense Huo Xian had kept from Huo Yuan earlier.
But I digress…
Zhao Xiyou suspected Huo Xian of hacking but had no evidence. However, since Huo Xian dared to livestream the Wind and Cloud Conference, he suspected the hack might be installed on the computer itself.
Rolling his eyes, he suggested to Huo Xian, “After we eat, shall we go to an internet cafe to spar a couple of rounds?”
Huo Yuan was puzzled: [Don’t we all have computers? Why go to an internet cafe?]
[He probably suspects I’m hacking since he lost to me twice,] Huo Xian answered him, then gestured to the cat bag, politely declining, “I have to take Yuan Yuan for a checkup this afternoon to see if he needs deworming.”
Huo Yuan muttered: [Huo Xian, you’re using me as an excuse again. You give me Spirit Spring water every day, surely there are no worms to deworm.]
Huo Xian said: [Yuan Yuan, you know it’s an excuse, so you don’t have to say it out loud. I have no obligation to spend twenty yuan to accompany him to verify his guess. If he wants to suspect, let him suspect. In the end, the only one getting slapped in the face will be him.]
[Then he’ll definitely be even more suspicious.]
Indeed, Huo Xian’s avoidance made Zhao Xiyou even more suspicious. After losing two matches, he had studied Huo Xian’s battle recordings extensively. Theoretically speaking, those operations were precise, but it was because they were too precise and the predictions were terrifyingly accurate that it seemed fishy. Anyway, as a professional esports player, he couldn’t achieve that kind of machine-like precision, and neither could any opponent he had ever met.
Zhao Xiyou wanted to probe further, but his attention was soon diverted. The reason was none other than Miao Junxi’s arrival.
Yin Pei had come to the school alone. Miao Junxi presumably had some business and only arrived after the defense ended. As soon as he arrived, he displayed his familiarity with Yin Pei, and the look in his eyes when watching Yin Pei was far from innocent. This immediately set off alarm bells in Zhao Xiyou’s heart.
Just like in the original host’s life, a slight nudge to certain events completely changed the direction of the plot. This was true for the original host, and it was true for Zhao Xiyou as well.
To give the simplest example: When Huo Xian and Zhao Xiyou ran a dungeon next time, Yin Pei would not only discover that [Qie Shi Tian Xia] wasn’t him, but also discover that the person really using his old computer was Zhao Xiyou. Leaving aside Yin Pei’s impression of Zhao Xiyou after that, at least in the game, they would have no further contact. Consequently, Zhao Xiyou wouldn’t be able to use his charm to seduce Yin Pei.
Was Huo Xian bad?
Bad. How could breaking up a potential marriage not be bad?
But he was happy to do it.
What’s more, Huo Xian had now discovered that Yin Pei had a childhood sweetheart who was interested in him, and Yin Pei wasn’t indifferent to him either. So, Zhao Xiyou was better off discarded.
The only thing was, Zhao Xiyou was a smooth talker with high EQ and good looks; he might still harm someone else in the future.
Perhaps Huo Xian could rejoice that although Zhao Xiyou had many schemes and was somewhat arrogant, he wasn’t inherently an evil person. Giving him a lesson, hopefully, would correct his bad habits in the future.
At the dinner table, knives seemed to fly. If eyes could turn into knives, all the plates would have been sliced to pieces long ago.
Yin Pei sat between Miao Junxi and Zhao Xiyou, completely unaware that he was in the center of the storm. He only felt that Miao Junxi was being a bit overly attentive today, picking up food and scooping soup for him. As for Zhao Xiyou’s attempts to serve him food and soup, he didn’t see them. Even if he noticed, he didn’t think it was for him, because although they had been dormmates for three years, he and his two roommates really couldn’t be called close. His good impression of the original host was due to a few contacts and the fact that the original host was good-looking.
Huo Xian held the cat, focused on eating while watching the drama, and unknowingly ate until he was stuffed.
Zhao Xiyou, however, found it hard to swallow. Especially at the final parting, Miao Junxi put his arm around Yin Pei’s shoulder with extreme possessiveness. He was pushed away in annoyance, only to put it back and be rejected again… After several times, Yin Pei helplessly gave up. This showed the intimacy of their relationship. Furthermore, as Miao Junxi led Yin Pei away, he gave Zhao Xiyou a provocative smile, nearly making him pass out from anger.
After watching the good show, Huo Xian casually stabbed him one last time: “Childhood sweethearts have such a good bond. Transitioning to lovers is stress-free.”
Zhao Xiyou’s heart throbbed with pain.
After delivering the final blow, Huo Xian didn’t linger. He carried the cat bag on his back and left leisurely.
=v=
Zhao Xiyou, suffering from a one-sided heartbreak, seemed to pour all his energy into the Wind and Cloud Conference. In the words of his fans, he went “on a killing spree.”
Although heartbreak was indeed sad, apologies, Huo Xian didn’t intend to let him off just yet.
Three months after the start of the Wind and Cloud Conference.
The promotion match for “Number One Immortal Lord.” Mo Zun VS Qie Jian Tian Xia.
Both the Green Fruit Platform and the Xianyu Platform pushed both their livestreams to the front page. Even the game officials got involved, securing the broadcasting rights for both rooms to stream into the game and setting up notifications so players inside the game could watch the broadcast online if interested.
People were even placing bets online on who the “Number One Immortal Lord” would be.
90% of people guessed it would be Huo Xian. The reason was simple: Huo Xian was the only player on the entire Wind and Cloud Conference leaderboard with a 100% win rate. Although Zhao Xiyou’s win rate was 93%, even if it were 99%, it was still a bit short of 100%.
In the past, there was no shortage of people questioning Huo Xian’s 100% win rate, seriously suspecting him of using advanced hacks. Some people even let their imaginations run wild, saying he was a high-level programmer who developed his own cheats. Not just the players, even the officials hadn’t expected the Wind and Cloud Conference to produce a human bug; a 100% win rate was truly terrifyingly high.
However, Xianyu‘s anti-cheat system was made by the world’s top team. Let alone hacks, even small plugin scripts couldn’t be used. Therefore, the game difficulty was still five stars.
So unless there was evidence proving Huo Xian possessed a god-tier hack, it only pointed to one fact—he was a true technical player.
Midway through, Huo Xian even cooperated with fans for verification. He ordered a gaming laptop online. From signing for the delivery to unboxing, downloading the game, and entering the Wind and Cloud Conference, the entire process was livestreamed. Then he used that gaming laptop to play thirty matches of the Wind and Cloud Conference, slaughtering his opponents in every single one.
Of course, there were haters who wouldn’t give up, firmly believing he colluded with the courier and that the gaming laptop had been tampered with beforehand, claiming it was all an act from start to finish. Huo Xian couldn’t be bothered to explain further; he continued to fight and rank up without hesitation.
Back to the main topic.
[Huo Xian, do your best! Beat him up!] Huo Yuan felt like he was back in the previous world during Huo Xian’s college entrance exams—feeling particularly excited and nervous, yet full of motivation.
[OK!] Huo Xian agreed readily.
He was full of confidence here; little did he know, Zhao Xiyou had long sworn to wipe away his past shame.
But whether he could actually wipe away that shame was an unknown variable.
Zhao Xiyou had watched every recording of Huo Xian’s streams. He believed he knew Huo Xian’s operational habits like the back of his hand. He had practiced predictions countless times in his mind and sought out many Wan Jian Sect players to spar with. Therefore, he defined tonight as his battle for revenge.
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