Chapter 85
If we were to say who among those present hated Yu Xunhuan the most and felt the most unwilling, it would undoubtedly be Ye Dong. After all, Yu Xunhuan was willing to spend dozens of gold to buy mechanical eyeballs for Lin Chengze, and even gifted him an A-grade magic eye before. So why wouldn’t he spend money to help Ye Dong fix his contract figurine?!
Just selling Lin Chengze’s talent wasn’t enough to quell the resentment in his heart. He admitted that he not only hated Yu Xunhuan for helping Lin Chengze but also envied Lin Chengze’s talent.
Suddenly, he recalled something Yu Xunhuan’s sister had said during a dinner at the Yu family: Lin Chengze had talked to Lan Cheng...
Lan Cheng? If used wisely, this could be a great angle to exploit.
Although the topic of conversation had shifted to games since the invasion, the fans were still ever-present!
In the past, it was a competition of who was more handsome or beautiful; now, it was about whose main character had a higher status!
Previously, people compared achievements and fan counts; now, they compared divine talents...
Divine talent was the new measure of achievement.
Even in the entertainment industry, stars couldn’t just abandon their careers and smoothly transition after the game invasion. In fact, this was true across all industries; most people couldn’t simply give up their previous lives. It was just that after the invasion, everyone’s lifestyles gradually aligned more with gaming.
Moreover, even after the invasion, stars in the entertainment industry still made money faster than those in other fields. No one was willing to leave the industry. In the past, fans had to spend money on endorsements for their idols, but now, as long as they found an ID and matched it with a profile picture, many devoted fans directly sent their hard-earned coins and equipment to their favorite stars.
It was absurd.
But humans are drawn to strength; even if the stars of the old era had their glories, if their abilities couldn’t keep up and their divine talents fell short, they would gradually lose the public’s attention.
Currently, the most discussed were still those on the top hundred list. Although there were still pet rankings, equipment rankings, and glory rankings yet to be opened, just the level and wealth rankings were enough for everyone to talk about for a long time.
And unlike before, when only a small group discussed the actions of stars, now almost everyone participated in the conversation. People needed a focal point to discuss all aspects of the game, and those on the top hundred list served as the best reference.
Everyone centered their discussions around them, analyzing their insights and sharing news they heard from various channels, discussing various strategies.
Yu Xunge was one of the few stars on the level top hundred list, still within the top fifty, naturally sparking discussions about her past works and her retirement. Where there were people, there were rumors. At some point, it spread that her divine talent could modify a person’s luck, and the conversation veered off to the importance of luck...
If people were discussing a retired Yu Xunge, one could only imagine how much more attention Lan Cheng would attract, especially since he was a first-tier star before the invasion.
He was also on the level top hundred list, not as high as Yu Xunge, but still ranked over seventy.
There was a wealth of information online about Lan Cheng; one could even buy intel on where he was raiding.
In the past, fans would greet stars at the airport; now, it was the other way around—fans were there to greet stars during raids. The intelligence-gathering abilities of these fans were nothing short of extraordinary.
There were many fan accounts for Lan Cheng, as not only fans loved to see their updates, but casual players were also curious about what dungeons the top hundred were raiding.
Ye Dong, Chen Wu, and Li Xiangcheng were all adept at gathering information; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been recruited by Yu Xunhuan into the studio.
Before the studio disbanded, their main job was to collect and sell information. Yu Xunhuan had initially gotten the lead on that magic eye from the information they gathered.
In just three days, using both legitimate and underhanded methods, along with some “friends” who had special divine talents, they quickly uncovered the relationship between Lan Cheng and Lin Chengze.
These two had indeed been involved, and not only that... the trio uncovered a major scandal.
This brings us to Lin Chengze. He was the youngest son of the Lin family patriarch, born when the old man was nearly fifty. As a late child, he was doted upon at home, while his older brother and strong-willed sister-in-law were often busy, leaving Lin Chengze somewhat neglected.
Who truly cared for him? It was his responsible sister-in-law and gentle, family-loving second brother who looked after his needs—food, clothing, education, and emotional support.
The family treated Lin Chengze well, not only because of the significant age gap with his brothers but also because the Lin patriarch and matriarch were quite clear-headed. Although the whole family lived together, they had divided their assets when Lin Chengze was born.
The eldest and second sons each received thirty percent, while the two daughters-in-law split ten percent, leaving Lin Chengze with twenty percent, and the elderly couple kept ten percent for their retirement, with public expenses covered from that retirement fund.
With no conflicts of interest, the relationships within the Lin family were genuinely good.
The children from both the first and second households were about the same age as Lin Chengze, and they were raised together, with the first and second households treating Lin Chengze almost like one of their own.
What about Lan Cheng? He was the secret love child born from an affair between Lin Chengze’s older brother and sister-in-law...
And Lin Chengze was aware of this.
However, the identity of Lan Cheng wasn’t something the trio had uncovered; it was revealed through a mysterious divine talent.
【Let me take a guess】: It could probe into the deepest secrets a target didn’t want anyone to know. To use it, the target’s blood was required, with a cooldown of ten natural days.
After paying online, the other party was even unwilling to tell Ye Dong and the others their ID, only instructing them to deposit the blood in a locker at a gym, promising to send someone to collect it.
For Lin Chengze’s secret, the trio spent nearly half of their funds—money that had been accumulated since the third internal test. Yu Xunhuan either didn’t care or didn’t want Lin Chengze to feel that she was too harsh on her own people. When the studio disbanded, she didn’t mention taking that money with her but instead left it in a pouch in the living room.
As for Lin Chengze’s blood, there was plenty in the studio.
He had been subjected to two eye extractions, and when his blood splattered on the carpet and curtains, they hadn’t even thought about replacing them. They simply cut out that section of the carpet and sent it over—after all, the other party had a tool that could refresh the blood, and for that, Ye Dong and the others even paid an extra fee.
What they received in return was a shocking revelation: Lin Chengze’s secret was that he didn’t want anyone to know he had been involved with his older brother and sister-in-law’s illegitimate child, Lan Cheng.
If only he had some of Yu Xunhuan’s blood, Ye Dong would have wanted to place another order to investigate her secrets.
But just Lin Chengze’s secret was explosive enough! Especially with Lan Cheng’s identity.
This meant that if the trio played their cards right, they could not only profit from Lin Chengze but also obtain valuable items from Lan Cheng.
If they were bold enough, they could even extort a sum from Lin Chengze’s older brother and sister-in-law.
Heavens, no wonder the owner of the secret talent was so secretive; they must be making a fortune!
Yu Xunge was also shocked. She happened to be changing her sanitary pad when she overheard their discussion about this talent, and in her fright, she immediately set the used pad on fire, deciding to do the same in the future.
Not only that, but she would also have to be careful to clean any blood left on her after drinking healing potions, cutting off the source to ensure her blood never fell into the wrong hands!
Wasn’t this skill a direct threat to her? She feared that if the other party used this skill on her, they might say, “This person’s secret… uh… where should I even start?”
From their conversation, she not only learned about this blood-based secret-probing talent but also discovered Lan Cheng’s identity...
Another thing she had never known until her death in her past life.
As for why Lin Chengze didn’t want anyone to know about this, there could be many reasons. Perhaps it was because his sister-in-law and second brother treated him well, and he didn’t want to hurt them. Maybe Lan Cheng had asked him not to tell anyone, or perhaps he didn’t want to see the Lin family in chaos.
Yu Xunge was intrigued.
The Lin family had never laid a hand on her in her past life; they were strangers to her. Their connection to the Su family was merely for better development, which was understandable. They probably didn’t even know who Yu Xunge was.
Which branch office would bother to get to know or inquire about an employee being bullied at the headquarters? Even if they were gossiping over a meal, they would be talking about those on the top hundred list.
So Yu Xunge truly had no feelings toward the Lin family.
Her focus was on Lan Cheng!
What a coincidence!
Another enemy of hers!
Lan Cheng had no emotional ties to her; he wasn’t a sycophant, nor was he playing the role of a deeply affectionate second male lead. But why did Yu Xunge hate him?
To be honest, the inspiration for Yu Xunhuan’s infection with AIDS in this life came from him.
In her past life, Yu Xunge had already stopped accepting Yu Xunhuan’s invitations in the second half of the year following the game invasion, even though Yu Xunhuan had always treated her well, saying how hard it was for him in the Su family and how he missed his family and Yu Xunge. But Yu Xunge wasn’t M; after being bullied by the Su, Liang, and Han families, and nearly being contracted as a slave, why would she go looking for trouble?
Yet she still managed to run into these people in various corners...
One could say she was cursed or that she had been cursed by them.
There were several times when she happened to encounter a horde of monsters that had successfully emerged from a dungeon after the rule time had passed. Naturally, they all fought together, settling any grudges after the S-rank was completed. Then she noticed that every time she got injured, Lan Cheng would move closer to her.
Once or twice, it wasn’t obvious, but what if it happened every time they met?
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