The girl froze.

It’s over—this is what a crush feels like.

“Andy.” Another male voice sounded; it was Brian Clark’s boss for the past few hours, “Autumn Foster.” He teased, “How are you so awesome? My friend is about to fall for you.”

The reason they called him Andy was because they didn’t know his age and weren’t sure how to address him, so they just all called him that.

The girl was a bit embarrassed: “…What are you talking about?”

Brian Clark licked some accessories and medicine packs from his bag and smiled, “It’s fine, I’ll take every heart that comes my way.”

Autumn said, “Haha, so cheeky.”

But just as they finished looting and entered the second circle, they got ambushed. Two of the three teammates weren’t very good, only Autumn was a bit better, so it was basically two against four.

They won the gunfight in the end, but the other three teammates all died.

Brian Clark, carrying the team’s hopes, managed to survive into the final circle.

He lay next to a tree, watching the number of survivors in the top right corner drop lower and lower, until finally, it was down to 3.

The other two were on the same team—a two versus one situation.

The opponents were extremely cocky, relying on their numbers, firing wildly into the open to intimidate.

Brian Clark could never swallow this kind of arrogance. He straightened his back, and when one of them started reloading, he immediately crouched up and sprayed at him!

At the same time, that guy’s teammate spotted his position, and a hail of bullets came his way!

[You knocked down mxllwe with AKM]

Almost at the same moment, he flicked his mouse quickly to the right, locked onto the other guy’s position, and fired, expertly controlling the recoil—

Two seconds later, the screen froze.

[Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!]

Brian Clark pulled off a 1v2 clutch and won with a sliver of health.

“Amazing!” the girl shouted excitedly.

Brian Clark let out a sigh of relief. After exiting the game, YY pinged again—it was a private message.

Autumn Foster: “Andy, can I ask you something? Don’t get mad.”

Brian Clark replied with a “sure.”

Autumn Foster: “…Are you cheating?”

Playing this well, not belonging to any team, not streaming—having this suspicion was actually pretty normal.

Brian Clark had lost count of how many times he’d been asked this question.

Seeing no reply, the other side quickly sent another message.

Autumn Foster: “I don’t mean anything by it, just saying—even if you cheat, you can still stream. But just… don’t use anything too obvious, you know? A lot of streamers cheat these days, it’s normal.”

Andy: “I don’t cheat, I’m just really good.”

Autumn Foster: “……”

There was a knock at the door—it was his food delivery. He picked it up, told the others he wouldn’t play for now, closed the game, and focused on eating.

——

The next morning, after getting up, Brian Clark was about to log onto YY to take orders when an email suddenly popped up in the bottom right corner.

[Starry Sky TV: Streamer Application Approved. Please confirm your personal information and contact us…]

He took a bite of his fried dough stick, and when he saw the email subject, he was so excited he stopped chewing.

He hadn’t refused Wendy Foster’s streaming invitation yesterday because he didn’t want to go, but because he had another plan—he had applied for a streamer support program that Starry Sky TV was running for a small group.

The streamer support program, as the name suggests, meant signing an internal contract with Starry Sky TV. The contract terms were stricter than those for regular streamers; basically, there was no chance of switching platforms for three years. Likewise, Starry Sky TV would give you special recommendation slots.

Although the revenue split and penalty fees were a bit harsh, it was still better than streaming under another streamer. Brian Clark was good at games, and birds of a feather flock together, so he knew some top players—some of whom had been screwed over by famous streamers, streaming for months without earning a cent.

After adding the contact, the first thing the other party asked was:

“Do you cheat?”

……

Why did he keep getting this question lately?

“No.”

“Send me your game ID. Where do you live? Do you have equipment that can handle streaming? Our company headquarters is in Jincheng. If it’s convenient, you can come directly for an in-person interview and contract signing.”

Jincheng—it was a bit far.

“…It’s a bit far. Can’t I sign if I’m not in Jincheng?”

“It’s possible, we can do an electronic contract, but it’s a bit of a hassle with mailing things back and forth. Just fill in your info and send it over.”

The signing process was indeed complicated. Once the electronic contract was ready, he took it to his uncle, who was a lawyer—his actual uncle.

“Brian Clark, what’s this…” Eric Clark looked at the contract in his hand, his brows furrowed tightly. “You’re already nineteen, and you’re still obsessed with games?”

“Uncle, I’m streaming—it’s a job,” Brian Clark said.

“I don’t approve!” Eric Clark tossed the contract onto the table. “Your parents passed away early. I didn’t have the means before and couldn’t send you to school, and I already regret it. Now that I have some savings, I want you to repeat a year, but you won’t. I want you to intern at my company, but you refuse. And now you want to be a gaming streamer? No way!”

“Uncle… never mind, I’m bothering you. Don’t be angry.”

Brian Clark picked up the contract and was about to leave.