“How does it feel? New experience?” Qin Chuan asked her, watching someone play a low-level character.
“Ah—it’s coming out! It’s coming out! Ahhh—” As a new tree respawned, Su Yao timed her run perfectly, but that idiot with the English nickname had already beaten her to it, chopping down the tree. How could someone time it more accurately than her, who had always been first in math, physics, and chemistry in school? She was done, she flipped the table and threw down her keyboard: “You’re too damn fast!!!”
Silence—deafening silence— Wang Shenmu felt his stomach churning as he listened to the sounds from the next room. The chair creaking, the cries of “It’s coming out, it’s coming out,” followed by the same woman cursing, “Damn, you’re too quick!” “What kind of people are these?” Wang Shenmu muttered in disgust, “They don’t even bother to get a hotel room, doing it in such a filthy internet cafe.” He turned the volume on his headphones to the max.
However, what he saw next was even more shocking than the couple next door.
The world channel was buzzing with the wedding of the King of Daxia and the Princess of Dayan reaching its climax. This had nothing to do with him; the romantic affairs in the game were less interesting than watching Zhao Zhongxiang’s “Animal World.” A name caught his eye, a name he had heard only once but was unforgettable, even if turned to ashes. Han Yanyan. A female player joyfully exclaimed in the world channel, “Haha, Han Yanyan, now that you’re married, don’t forget your old classmates, have your husband send us some red envelopes!” Wang Shenmu saw it. Han Yanyan… That infamous Princess of Yan was actually Han Yanyan. How ironic!
As an internal game developer and the chief designer, Wang Shenmu had heard his colleagues gossip about this princess who was rumored to sleep with any man. This was another reason he despised humanity. Unexpectedly, the person who shattered all his dreams was her.
Without a second thought, Wang Shenmu dashed towards the novice village where there was a portal to the wedding hall. A surge of hot blood rushed to his head, and his eyes began to burn. He had never been so angry. “Finally ran away, huh!”
Su Yao had just prepared a long speech to convince this idiot to spend some money, ready to use both hard and soft tactics, but before she could send it, he had already fled. Su Yao was lamenting her wasted effort when a private message popped up in the bottom right corner of her screen.
[Private Message] San Tuchuan: Come to the wedding site quickly.
…Ah? What? Wedding site? Su Yao was dumbfounded. Who was getting married? Him? No way, they barely knew each other.
“Stop staring, come over here.” Qin Chuan turned to urge her.
“You, said, what?”
“Hurry up and watch the good show at your husband’s wedding!”
“…Damn, isn’t your husband the one?”
When had he switched to a new account? Su Yao cursed under her breath but moved swiftly, finding the portal in the village and teleporting away. “Since when are you interested in watching others get married? Haha, I understand!” Su Yao teased as she joined the crowd outside the wedding hall. The place was packed with onlookers from Daxia, Dayan, and various smaller countries, all at peace for this occasion, especially since the marriage would unite Yan and Xia, ending any warfare. Kings and ministers from other countries were also present, offering gifts and treasures, hoping to foster good relations with the newly allied Yan-Xia.
“I followed him because I thought the guy chopping trees earlier was odd,” Qin Chuan said, his eyes sharp behind his glasses as he scanned the screen. Amidst the chaos of overlapping nicknames, he finally spotted the strange tree-chopper. “I just have a hunch he’s not that simple.”
“Oh? Why?”
“Intuition.” His answer was succinct.
Su Yao didn’t press further, pressing the direction key. They stood together in the crowd, looking like an inconspicuous pair. This was the guest area outside the grand wedding hall; only those of significant status were inside, while others waited outside for the ceremony to end and for the bride and groom to distribute red envelopes and candies.
“It’s over, it’s over!” The crowd stirred as local chat boxes popped up, almost crashing the internet cafe’s machines. The grand doors of the wedding hall opened, and the bride and groom stepped out, posing for the crowd to capture the moment. They were the blessed couple of the world, except for Wang Shenmu.
“Husband, let’s start handing out the red envelopes. Thank you all for your blessings. Now, I’ll play my favorite song for everyone,” Liuli announced through the broadcast channel.
“Love isn’t something you can buy or sell, let me break free, let me understand, let go of your love, sell your love, force you away, seeing the pain in your eyes makes my tears fall too…” The song “Love for Sale” stirred the crowd but also betrayed the bride, causing Wang Shenmu’s eyes to bloodshot.
At 18:19 Beijing time, nearly a hundred thousand spectators’ computer speakers simultaneously played the bride’s favorite song, “Love for Sale.”
At 18:20 Beijing time, nearly a hundred thousand spectators’ screens simultaneously displayed a massive black dialogue box.
Inside the black frame were three glaring white characters: “Dog Man and Woman.”
“Ah, what kind of prop is this?”
“Damn, you saw it too?”
“Hahaha, dog man and woman, hahaha, who’s causing trouble? That’s really sharp!”
“Who sent this? Come out and let us see, we want to worship you.”
“Hahaha, you guys chat, I’m off to the forum to post and earn some ingots!”
“It’s no use! I’ve already posted!”
“What kind of prop is this anyway? No one knows? The mall doesn’t even sell this kind of megaphone.”
“It’s even more powerful than the full-channel megaphone, what is it? Where can you buy it?”
“I’ll buy one for a thousand ingots, DM me if you’re selling!”
“I’ll offer fifteen hundred!”
“Two thousand!”
…Three words, and it caused an uproar among nearly a hundred thousand people.
Chapter Thirteen: The Family and Friends Group
The megaphone used by Han Yan Yan at the wedding was the most expensive one available in the in-game mall. Not only could it make all players in the global channel see her message, but it also allowed for customization of text size and color. It was used at large events like weddings to announce to the world. However, it could only be displayed in the lower left corner of the player’s screen, and if someone else spoke, her message would be washed away, which meant she had to keep spamming the megaphone to repeat her content. This was exactly what the game developers wanted, to exploit the players’ consumption psychology.
Now, this megaphone announcement could appear right in the center of every player’s screen and wouldn’t disappear for a long time, no matter how fast the chat was scrolling. This was a game-changing gadget! Wang Shenmu’s inventory still had several of these megaphones, which were used by GMs (Game Masters) during events. The game developers planned to turn this feature into a megaphone prop for public sale, which was still in internal testing. As the chief planner of “Human World,” Wang Shenmu had plenty of unreleased props in his hands.
What a satirical reality; a planning team that worked tirelessly overnight without complaints for the perfection of “Human World” suddenly got a new manager who knew nothing about gaming. In Chen’s eyes, player benefits, user experience, numerical balance, or brilliant ideas were not as important as his girlfriend’s sweet call of “husband.”
Fortunately, the new manager didn’t care about the game. After Wang Shenmu resigned overnight, his account wasn’t reclaimed, allowing him to remain a “regular player.” Seeing nearly a hundred thousand onlookers in an uproar, Wang Shenmu felt incredibly relieved.