Chapter 50: The Cross-Dressing Game Streamer is Actually… (2)
By the time Huo Xian had collected his last paycheck, gotten a haircut, and returned to the university, it was already noon. He headed straight for the school cafeteria to fill his stomach.
The cafeteria food was mediocre, its only redeeming quality being the affordable price.
âHuo Xian!â Just as Huo Xian was about to leave after finishing his meal, someone called out to him.
A university is a small society, but that was an overstatement for their school and major. The class had started with twelve people, but four years later, only nine remained. They could barely put names to faces, with only dorm mates being slightly more familiar.
The original owner was a bit introverted but not unapproachable. At least in terms of personality, he was much more personable than the “Huo Xian” of the previous world.
But I digressâŚ
The person who called out to him was, naturally, Zhao Xiyou. Zhao Xiyou was a one-hundred-and-eighty-centimeter-tall boy with exquisite features, so handsome he could almost be described as beautiful, yet he would never be mistaken for a girl. In a world that judged by appearances, his looks were a huge hit with fans. It could be said that his initial success as a streamer was built on his appearance, though he later proved with his skills the meaning of âthe more beautiful the face, the more ruthless the hand.â
All in all, he was more like a protagonist than the actual Son of Destiny.
âWhyâd you cut your hair so short?â At first, Zhao Xiyou thought he had seen the wrong person. If he hadnât recognized Huo Xianâs worn-out down jacket, he wouldnât have approached. Before Huo Xian could answer, he came up with his own reason. âOh, I know. Itâs inconvenient to wear a wig with too much hair, right?â
Huo Xian gave him a meaningful look and replied with a hint of a smile, âA new hairstyle for a new mood.â
Zhao Xiyou didnât catch the deeper meaning in his words. He noticed the large bags Huo Xian was carrying and asked in surprise, âWhyâd you buy so much cat food? Are you really planning on keeping that cat?â
âMeow!â [Whatâs wrong with keeping me? Am I eating your food?]
Zhao Xiyouâs attention was drawn to the kitten in the pocket, his surprise growing. âWhy did you bring it out?â
Huo Xian gently stroked Huo Yuanâs little head, pushing him further down into his pocket as it was cold outside. âI wasnât comfortable leaving him in the dorm alone.â
Zhao Xiyou was just asking casually, a subtle hint of displeasure in his heart. âBy the way, why didnât you stream this morning? Let me tell you, the streaming industry is competitive. You canât just dip in and out like this; you wonât be able to keep your fans.â
âI was busy this morning. Iâll stream this afternoon,â Huo Xian replied perfunctorily.
âWell, get on it soon. Iâll boost your popularity for you. You can do it!â Zhao Xiyou made a fist to cheer him on.
The original ownerâs stream name was âYangchun Baixue.â Before going live, Huo Xian changed it to âShocking! The Cross-Dressing Streamer Is ActuallyâŚâ
[Huo Xian, youâre reallyâŚ] Huo Yuanâs entire cat-self was in shock as he looked at Huo Xian, who had changed back into the pink Lolita dress. His voice even trembled.
It wasnât his fault for reacting this way. The Huo Xian of this world was 190 centimeters tall, already at the peak height of his previous world self. Even though the dress was an extra-large size and he was thin, the originally knee-length skirt barely reached his thighs. If it werenât for Huo Xianâs stunning looks carrying the outfit, Huo Yuan would have wanted to experience the literal meaning of gouging his own eyes out.
Huo Xian was suffering too, but to get out of the dress, he had to be unpredictable.
[Huo Yuan, one last time, are you sure the costume change only costs 20 points?] Huo Xian asked again before starting the stream.
Huo Yuan buried his face in his little paws again, his voice muffled. [If Iâm lying, may I never be able to go back.]
Huo Xian reached out and gently stroked his little head, smiling. [Itâs my fault for being so cynical. Donât worry, Iâll complete the missions with you and earn you the most points.]
Thinking of the âSâ rating Huo Xian received in the last world, Huo Yuanâs heart surged with excitement.
When the stream officially began, Huo Xian didnât speak right away. He casually started a small game and played at a leisurely pace, waiting for the number of viewers to grow. Hmm⌠after a full half hour, there were only 167 people in the stream, just under half of his 345 followers.
ăWhy isnât the streamer talking today? Sore throat?ă
ăBeauty, why did you change your stream name?ă
ăIf it werenât for the familiar profile picture, I wouldâve thought my account was hacked and followed some random streamer. Orză
ăStreamer, stop playing single-player games! I followed you for your skills. Letâs play some Xiangshan Chicken Dinner!ă
ăâŚă
With few viewers, the bullet chat was sparse.
Huo Xian didnât wait any longer. He slowly began to speak, âFirst of all, Iâd like to apologize to all my followers. The way Iâm dressed right now isnât how I normally dress. Iâm sure you can tell from my voiceâŚâ
A stream of âItâs a guyâ flooded the bullet chat. Some hot-tempered viewers immediately unfollowed and left, while others started cursing, demanding to know why he had deceived them and threatening to report him. A small portion remained silent.
Huo Xian gave a helpless smile. âI lost a game of Truth or Dare with a friend, and my punishment was to stream in womenâs clothing for three days⌠This has taught me a lesson. Iâm never playing Truth or Dare again.â
A row of ââŚâ scrolled across the bullet chat.
âOnce again, I sincerely apologize to everyone. As a token of my apology, let me perform a magic trick for you all.â As he spoke, he snapped his fingers. With a flick of his little paw, Huo Yuan the kitten pulled the balcony curtain shut, dimming the room to create a better atmosphere.
Then, he pushed his computer chair back slightly, bringing his upper body into the frame. He looked at the camera, opened his arms, and smiled faintly at his audience. âWatch closely, and donât blink.â
He didnât look at the bullet chat, but he did catch a glimpse of the viewer count, which had started to rise two minutes prior.
Qingguo Live was one of the four major streaming platforms in the country. It was difficult for any newcomer on any platform to stand out. Without being featured, fans would never notice you. So, there were a couple of random feature slots, giving streams that had been live for less than an hour a chance to be recommended. If a streamer could seize this opportunity, they had a chance to make it.
Huo Yuan had calculated the approximate time he would be featured, and Huo Xian was taking advantage of this traffic to perform his âmagic trick.â
He pushed off the floor lightly with his foot, and the swivel chair spun him around completely. The next second, his face reappeared in the frame, but his appearance had changed.
ăHOLY S***!!!!!!!!!!ă
ăA live transformation??????ă
ăOMG, the streamer turned into a guy?!ă
ăExcuse me???ă
ăWow, a perfect magic trick!ă
ăAhhhhhh I love the streamerâs face!ă
ăAaaahhh streamer is so handsome! Marry me!ă
ăâŚă
Huo Xian was quite satisfied with his âperformance.â He moved the swivel chair forward, casually glanced at the bullet chat, and then said, âIâm not a female streamer; Iâm a male streamer. I only streamed in womenâs clothing because I lost a game of Truth or Dare. Once again, I apologize to my friends who were deceived. If youâve sent gifts, you can message me your account information, and Iâll refund the money.â
He had made his apology. Huo Xian didnât dwell on it further. Truth or Dare wasnât an outrageous excuse, and streaming in womenâs clothing wasnât that big of a deal. Unless someone was just looking for trouble, they wouldnât keep picking on it. As for why he didnât just create a new account, it was because streamers had to register with their real names, and each person could only have one account. To register a new one, he would have to delete the old one, and the review process could take anywhere from a week to a month.
He saw a series of thirsty comments in the bullet chat and said with a smile, âIâm a gaming streamer, not a face streamer. Alright, next up is Xiangshan Chicken Dinner. When Immortal Realm goes into open beta next week, Iâll be streaming that.â
He wasted no more words, putting on the Xiangshan Chicken Dinner VR headsetâthe only one he ownedâand began to play with concentration.
Xiangshan Chicken Dinner was a very ordinary battle royale game. If there was anything that set it apart from other similar games, it was probably that âXiangshanâ was designed to be exceptionally beautiful. Not only were the in-game landscapes scenic, but the character models were also aesthetically pleasing. The standard weapons were more suited to a historical setting, like bows and daggers, but there were also large-scale explosive weapons like Heaven-Shaking Thunders, and modes of transportation like horses.
Xiangshan Chicken Dinner had a total of 36 playable characters, six of which were default. The other 30 had to be purchased, and there were over a thousand skins. The original ownerâs account only had the default characters and skins.
Huo Xian chose a loli-type character and, after a simple warm-up to get a feel for the controls, entered the game.
The Xiangshan Chicken Dinner map had five zones, and the system assigned one at random. Even the weapons and equipment spawned randomly, so following a fixed route to find gear was impossible.
The map Huo Xian got this time was called Wangbei Mountain, the main mountain of Xiangshan. It was the map most criticized, complained about, and disliked by players. Wangbei Mountain was very high, and the terrain was relatively flat. One careless step and youâd go rolling down. The mountain was covered in grass and trees, which was especially difficult for loli characters, as the tall grass completely obscured their vision. Forget finding enemies; they couldnât even see the weapons. Of course, there was an advantageâbeing short made it easy to hide.
However, Huo Xian had no intention of hiding forever.
His luck was pretty good; he picked up a crossbow right after landing. Crossbows were extremely advantageous in close-range combat. And just like that, he hadnât taken more than a few steps with the crossbow before he sent someone packing with a single headshot.
ă666666ă
ăNice shot, streamer. Rooting for you!ă
ăSo cool!!ă
ăSeriously? At that range, youâd have to be terrible to miss.ă
ăThe simps are just blindly praising him for his looks.ă
ăâŚă
Huo Xian didnât get distracted by the bullet chat. He didnât have a chat assistant, so to avoid affecting his game view, he had shielded the chat overlay.
[Huo Xian, arenât you going to engage in some witty banter with your fans?] Huo Yuan knew Huo Xian was capable of multitasking, so he wasnât worried that talking to him during a focused game would be a disturbance.
Huo Xian was indeed not disturbed. He said, [No need. Iâm a skill-based streamer. Iâll let others do the banter.]
Huo Yuan paused for a moment, then asked, [Does âothersâ refer to Zhao Xiyou?]
Huo Xianâs lips curled slightly as he slowly replied, [Yuanyuan, donât ask what you already know.]
Huo Yuan: [âŚ] When it came to the art of human language, he was still no match for Huo Xian.
But, Yuanyuan??
The original owner had played Xiangshan Chicken Dinner for years. He knew most of the details of the five maps like the back of his hand, and his mechanics were superb. Now, with Huo Xian, who had his memories and an added layer of superior intellect and calculation, the entire Wangbei Mountain felt like his personal slaughterhouse.
For the viewers, however, the experience wasnât as great, especially for fans prone to 3D motion sickness. Huo Xian adjusted his perspective at an incredible speed, often scanning and changing scenes in an instant. His weapon switching was also lightning fast. By the time the audience had finally adjusted, he had already killed someone and moved on to the next location, being incredibly decisive and efficient.
As a result, one group of viewers in the stream simply gave up on watching the game and instead stared at Huo Xianâs handsome face in the small window. Another group watched his mechanics with great interest. These were mostly people who watched for his gaming skills and were also the main source of his tips.
At the end of the round, Huo Xian successfully got the chicken dinner. Looking at the final stats, he had racked up a total of 28 kills. Considering there were 100 people in a round, scattered across the map, his kill count was more than a quarter of the total players.
[Huo Xian, you received 1 Invincible Qingguo, 2 Super Qingguos, 9 Premium Qingguos, 132 Large Qingguos, and 344 Regular Qingguos. Thatâs a total of 2,814 RMB. After the platformâs cut, youâll get 1,407 RMB.] Huo Yuan tallied the gifts and reported them to Huo Xian. [Your streamâs peak concurrent viewership was 3,199, and your current follower count is 3,010.] After a pause, he continued, [Skill is king, after all. Seventy percent of your gifts came from one rich fan. His Invincible Qingguo also brought you a lot of new followers.]
âInvincible Qingguoâ was the most expensive gift on Qingguo Live, costing 500 RMB each. It came with a server-wide announcement, and clicking on it would also grant gift points, which could be exchanged for more gifts.
âThanks to the boss for the gifts. Iâll carry you in a game sometime.â Huo Xianâs thank you was a bit perfunctory, but he also explained, âMy computerâs specs arenât great. I canât even have the bullet chat overlay on while Iâm playing. Iâll thank everyone together later.â
Next, Huo Xian demonstrated what fancy chicken dinners were all about with his superb mechanics. The viewers, whether they were skilled players or novices, all had the same thought after watchingâare we playing the same game?
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