The next eight games ended in overwhelming victories without the slightest suspense, all under the leadership of Ling Yun, the "human cheat."
Zhou Da finally stepped through the gates of the King rank as he had wished!
Zhou Da: "I'm in King rank! Holy crap! I've brought honor to my ancestors! Brother Yun, you're awesome!" (His voice trembled with excitement.)
"I can't do this anymore. I still have military training tomorrow, and I'm afraid I won't be able to get up and will end up as a target for the Drill Instructor. I'm logging off first! Good night, Brother Yun! Good night, goddess!"
Zhou Da logged off, completely satisfied.
Only Ling Yun and Jiang Yingxue remained in the team, and the atmosphere instantly became somewhat delicate.
Jiang Yingxue's earth-shattering "I'll send it to you so you can see" from earlier seemed to still be echoing in the air, bringing with it an awkward silence... and a faint, elusive flutter.
"Ahem." Ling Yun cleared his throat, breaking the silence with an unmistakably teasing smile. "Sister Yingxue, about what you said just now... does that 'promise' still count?" His lazy, magnetic voice came through the earphones.
There was silence on the other end for several seconds before Jiang Yingxue's deliberately calm voice came through, though it could not hide a slight tremor. "It counts... Why wouldn't it? I'll... I'll send it to you after I log off..."
She paused, as if she had made some sort of decision. Her voice grew quieter, tinged with embarrassed abandon. "What... what kind of style do you like?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Jiang Yingxue wanted to bite her tongue off!
Oh my god! What am I even saying?!
Her cheeks instantly felt as if they were on fire. She buried herself under the covers, leaving only a pair of shy, watery eyes staring at the screen.
Ling Yun was clearly stunned for a moment by the bold "question." Then he let out a low laugh. The sound traveled through the current with an alluring huskiness. "Anything is fine. I'm not picky. Sister Yingxue's voice is so pleasant, so you must be unbelievably beautiful too. I think that no matter what you wear... well, or don't wear... Ahem, I mean, Sister Yingxue's looks must be flawless from every angle. Anything would look good on you."
"Mm..." Jiang Yingxue felt a warm current spread from her cheeks to the roots of her ears, finally tinting even her neck pink.
She managed only a vague syllable before her embarrassment left her unable to speak. Her heart pounded wildly.
Amid that strange, ambiguous atmosphere, the two of them played five more games. Ling Yun climbed to forty stars in King rank, while Jiang Yingxue reached twenty-nine stars.
Although Jiang Yingxue did not speak again for the rest of the session, her gameplay became noticeably more focused, as if she were venting all that embarrassment and indescribable emotion through the game.
"It's getting late, Sister Yingxue. Good night."
A faint, almost imperceptible smile colored Ling Yun's voice.
Daji (Jiang Yingxue): Good night. [Emote: Good night]
"Don't forget... the photo?" Ling Yun reminded her at just the right moment, a hint of mischief in his voice.
Daji (Jiang Yingxue): ...Mm! [Emote: Shy] I'm logging off!
Jiang Yingxue logged off almost instantly, as if staying even one second longer would cause her to melt beneath the scorching embarrassment.
Ling Yun smiled and was just about to claim his daily rewards and log off when the overflowing red number in his friend request list startled him. When he opened it, he saw all sorts of remarks:
"XYG manager, sincerely inviting you to a trial!"
"AG Super Play Youth Training Camp Director, urgently requesting contact!"
"Huya Honor of Kings Operations—Daxiong, high-salary contract!"
"Douyu King Section Head, excellent benefits!"
"Bilibili Game Section Operations..."
He casually accepted a friend request from someone whose note read, "Douyin Live—Honor of Kings Operations—Li Xiang."
The other party's message popped up soon afterward. After chatting for a while, Ling Yun finally understood just how much of a sensation he had caused.
It turned out that under the ID "S of the King's Canyon," he had not only reached the top of this week's Top of the Peak with a terrifying 93.8% win rate, but his account's overall game rating had reached an astounding 109 points out of 110!
That score was practically heaven-defying in the high-ranked tiers. In particular, the one point he had lost had been in the relatively uncontrollable category of "team-fight damage."
This meant that he had achieved perfection in every hard metric, including laning, farming, survival, and KDA! This had never happened in the entire history of Honor of Kings!
"The undisputed number one by an entire tier," "an operation monster," "a human AI"... All sorts of labels were instantly attached to this mysterious ID.
The major professional teams and streaming platforms went crazy trying to find him.
After understanding the whole situation, Ling Yun immediately made up his mind: streaming! And his goal would not stop at Honor of Kings. He wanted to become an all-around super-streamer!
In the early stages, he would rely on Honor of Kings' top-tier traffic to accumulate his initial fanbase. Later, he would showcase more varied streaming content—other games, daily vlogs, or even the "talents" the system might grant him in the future, such as showing off a few "little magic tricks." He would become a super IP with one of the largest fanbases in the world!
As for becoming a professional player?
The restrictions were too great, and the cost-to-benefit ratio was far inferior to that of a top streamer.
Zhang Daxian's national popularity far exceeded that of most professional players. That was the best example.
What he wanted was widespread fame, not a single type of competitive honor.
He began contacting the heads of several major platforms one by one through WeChat voice and video calls.
As expected, the basic signing fees offered by Huya, Douyu, and Bilibili were all around three to four million yuan after tax. Gifts were split fifty-fifty, the fixed salaries were not high, and there were many restrictions on streaming content. Basically, all of them required him to focus on Honor of Kings.
That changed when he had a video call with Li Xiang from Douyin.
The moment the video connected, Li Xiang and several operations colleagues watching from beside him were visibly stunned. The young man on the other side of the screen had swordlike brows, bright eyes, a high nose bridge, and sharply defined features. Even without any beautifying filters, his looks were enough to crush a whole crowd of young male celebrities!
How was this merely an "operation monster"? He was practically a "triple-SSS nuclear bomb of looks and ability"!
"Mr. Ling, I've heard so much about you! Your skill is truly astonishing!"
Li Xiang suppressed his amazement and spoke enthusiastically.
After learning about Ling Yun's future plans to become an "all-around streamer," the Douyin team displayed astonishing boldness and foresight.
After nearly an hour of intense but pleasant discussion, a contract far beyond Ling Yun's expectations was finalized:
1. Contract term: 3 years.
2. Signing fee: 5 million yuan after tax, paid in the first year.
3. ID requirement: The game ID must have "Douyin丶" added as a prefix (for example: Douyin丶S of the King's Canyon).
4. Peak reward: Maintaining first place in Top of the Peak each day would earn an additional 20,000 yuan! (Settled monthly.)
5. Gift split: Initial split: fifty-fifty (already a top-tier offer).
Fanbase reaches 10 million: sixty-forty split (platform receives forty).
Fanbase reaches 30 million: seventy-thirty split (platform receives thirty).
Fanbase reaches 50 million: ninety-ten split (platform receives ten)! This was a super clause Douyin had never offered any streamer before!
6. Fixed annual salary (guaranteed minimum): First year: 2 million yuan, requiring an average of 120 hours of streaming per month.
Fanbase reaches 10 million: Annual salary raised to 5 million yuan.
Fanbase reaches 30 million: Annual salary starting at 10 million yuan.
Fanbase reaches 50 million: Annual salary negotiable (implying it could reach tens of millions or even exceed 100 million yuan).
7. Exclusive renewal rights: After the contract expired, if Douyin offered renewal terms no lower than the fair market value, as recognized by both parties or assessed by a third party, Ling Yun would be required to give Douyin priority in renewing the contract. Douyin promised never to deliberately suppress the price.
The core of the contract lay in its staggeringly high tiered revenue split and exclusive renewal rights, which bound him to top-tier traffic.
Douyin was betting that Ling Yun could become a phenomenon-level, or even era-defining, super-streamer. It was willing to exchange a share of enormous future profits for a long-term partnership.
What Ling Yun valued was Douyin's terrifying traffic pool, its tolerance for diversified content, and the tempting upper limit—the ninety-ten split and potential annual salary of hundreds of millions!
"To create Douyin's own undisputed 'number-one Honor of Kings streamer,' and even an 'all-around top streamer'!" This was the Douyin team's strategic goal.
They even cited Sao Bai's 200-million-yuan transfer fee as proof of the terrifying commercial value of top Honor of Kings streamers.
And Ling Yun's looks made them see enormous potential for breaking out of the gaming circle and attracting non-gaming users!
The two sides hit it off immediately and agreed to begin his first stream on Douyin at 8 p.m. that Friday, the night his military training ended.
Douyin would invest substantial resources in promoting the debut stream and pushing traffic toward it.
Regarding showing his face, Douyin gave him professional advice: "Mr. Ling, we suggest that you not show your face during the debut stream and early stages. Maintain the persona of a 'mysterious expert' and continue creating topics and anticipation. Once your fanbase and buzz have accumulated to the point of explosive growth, choose a major moment to make a stunning face reveal! That will absolutely create a nuclear-level viral effect!"
Ling Yun deeply agreed and adopted this "hunger marketing" strategy.
After signing the electronic contract, Ling Yun let out a long breath.
The five-million-yuan signing fee would arrive tomorrow. Added to the daily Top of the Peak rewards and his future revenue share... his first fortune after being reborn had come so swiftly!
Just then, a WeChat notification sounded. It was Jiang Yingxue!
He opened the message, and a photograph instantly filled his vision.
The background was a bedroom lit by warm-toned light, which fell softly over the girl.
Jiang Yingxue sat slightly turned at the edge of the bed, her waterfall of black hair draped smoothly over her shoulders. A few strands had casually slipped onto her exquisite collarbone.
The blush had not yet completely faded from her face, resembling a newly blossomed peach flower touched by morning dew. Her eyes were lowered, her long eyelashes casting a small fan-shaped shadow beneath them. Her gaze seemed shy and timid, yet carried a trace of barely perceptible anticipation.
She wore a high-quality silk camisole nightdress. The smooth fabric hugged her delicate curves, leaving one shoulder half exposed. The hem barely covered the tops of her thighs, revealing a pair of long, fair legs with graceful lines.
The nightdress was a soft, pale lotus color. It gleamed delicately beneath the light, making her skin look whiter than snow. The entire scene was hazy and beautiful, like an orchid quietly blooming beneath the moonlight, radiating an aura that was both pure and alluring.
Ling Yun's breathing hitched slightly. His fingers paused over the screen for several seconds before he slowly typed:
Ling Yun: Sister Yingxue... [Emote: Dazed] This... is even more beautiful than I imagined. The angle and atmosphere of the photo are perfect, like a movie poster. Good night. Sweet dreams.
On the other side, Jiang Yingxue was rolling around on her bed while hugging her phone. Heaven knew what she had gone through after logging off!
She had tried every angle, lighting setup, and pose, deleting dozens of unsatisfactory photos. Her heart had raced as if it were about to leap out of her chest. After hesitating and struggling for more than an hour, she had finally summoned the courage to send the one that looked the most "natural" and... beautiful.
When she saw Ling Yun's reply, especially the words "even more beautiful than I imagined," overwhelming embarrassment and an indescribable sweetness instantly engulfed her. She hurriedly replied:
Jiang Yingxue: I'm glad you like it... I, I'm really sleepy! Let's talk tomorrow! Good night!
Ling Yun: Good night. [Emote: Moon]
Before you continue