Playing House? An Outright Targeting!

"Welcome to Myriad Phenomena City, survivors."

The voice held no emotion. Vast and hollow, it came from all directions, yet seemed to ring directly inside everyone's minds.

It carried an unquestionable authority. Xia Yao and Kachi's expressions instantly turned slightly grave!

"I am Lilian, the Lord of Myriad Phenomena City. I will now announce the will of the Master."

The vast voice gave no one time to react before announcing the new survival game.

"Game Name: Playing House."

"Game Duration: Three months."

"Game Rules: 'Live' in this city and earn enough 'Ghost Coins.'

Anyone who fails to reach their target amount by the end of the game will be completely erased."

As the voice fell silent, the air in the center of the playground rippled, and a huge virtual screen appeared out of thin air.

Rows of cold text appeared on the screen, clearly listing each person's "worth."

[A-Class roommate, target amount: 50,000 Ghost Coins.]

[S-Class roommate, target amount: 100,000 Ghost Coins.]

[SS-Class roommate, target amount: 1,000,000 Ghost Coins.]

[SSS-Class roommate, target amount: 10,000,000 Ghost Coins.]

At almost the same moment, a sleek new phone and a pure-black bank card appeared out of thin air in every survivor's hands.

The phones powered on automatically. The screen showed only one lone app, called "Ghost Coin Wallet."

The survivors instinctively tapped it open. Every person's starting balance was the same glaring red number.

-3,000.

Clearly, that was the manufacturing fee for the phone and bank card.

Starting in debt. This was definitely a world of the supernatural.

"Ten million?" Chu He's heart skipped as he looked at the target amount for SSS-Class roommates.

Just then, City Lord Lilian's emotionless voice rang out again. This time, however, it carried deliberate emphasis.

"Special notice: Dragon Country's participant, Chu He, has two SSS-Class roommates. Their target amounts are combined."

"Total: 20,000,000 Ghost Coins."

The moment she said it, the entire playground fell deathly silent—then erupted into an uproar!

"Twenty million? Hahaha! Earn twenty million in three months?"

"My god, this is going to be good! That'll teach him to act so smug before, with a beauty in each arm!"

"Serves him right! It's karma! Our targets are at most a hundred thousand, but his is two hundred times that!"

The international elites who had been jealous and resentful of Chu He now wore gleeful expressions.

Their eyes brimmed with undisguised malice and mockery, as though they could already see him being erased in three months.

Chu He's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.

Twenty million!

This wasn't playing house—it was preparing for my funeral!

Kachi, however, gave a dismissive little pout and waved her hand, speaking in a childish voice. "Just twenty million. It's not even a hair on my fortune."

Xia Yao was just as expressionless, her gaze utterly matter-of-fact.

To her, money was just a number. Forget twenty million—even two hundred billion was something she could make appear with a snap of her fingers.

With two SSS-Class powerhouses whose wealth rivaled that of nations backing him, a target of twenty million... didn't seem all that difficult?

The survivors' jeers were immediately stifled beneath the two queens' imposing presence.

Quite a few people grumbled to themselves. Damn, we forgot this guy lives off women! With two SSS-Class big shots protecting him, twenty million would be a piece of cake, right?

But just as everyone was thinking that, Lilian's next words came crashing down on Chu He like divine punishment from the heavens.

"Supplementary Rule One: Participants may not use their roommates' funds in any way. Roommates may only spend the participants' money to survive, and may not provide the participants with any financial assistance."

Boom!

Chu He's mind rang, and he froze.

I can't use my roommates' money?

And they can only spend mine?

I'm three thousand in debt right now! What the hell am I supposed to give you to spend? Northwest wind?

At the announcement of the rule, Kachi and Xia Yao were both dumbfounded.

After half a second of silence, the survivors burst into even louder, more uninhibited laughter than before!

"Hahahaha! I'm dying! They can't use their roommates' money!"

"What a masterstroke! That's brutal!"

"This is great! Those two SSS-Class cash machines have turned into two SSS-Class Gold Swallowers! He has to keep two big shots alive for three months and earn twenty million on top of that! How's that even possible?"

"Of course," Lilian continued, her voice still devoid of emotion. "To ensure the game remains playable at a basic level, the 'Master' has graciously given you some initial assistance."

"Supplementary Rule Two: Every participant will receive a loan allowance according to their roommates' levels. A-Class roommates: 50,000; S-Class: 100,000; SS-Class: 1,000,000; SSS-Class: 10,000,000."

"Dragon Country's participant, Chu He, your total loan allowance is: 20,000,000 Ghost Coins."

As her words fell, Chu He opened his Ghost Coin Wallet. Beneath his negative balance of three thousand, a new line of small text had appeared.

[Available loan allowance: 20,000,000]

What kind of graciousness was this?

This was clearly pushing him into a pit of fire!

They'd given him the means to spend money, but also saddled him with a massive burden that could crush him at any moment!

Now he had to earn enough to meet his twenty-million target, and pay back any loans he might take out!

This wasn't just targeting him. They were blatantly trying to kill him!

"Unforgivable!"

A cold shout rang through the sky!

Xia Yao could no longer suppress her fury.

A terrifying surge of energy erupted from her petite frame. Her blood-red killing intent swept across the entire playground like a tangible storm!

The sky darkened in an instant, and the air filled with a sweet, coppery stench of blood. Every survivor was pinned to the ground by the pressure, struggling even to breathe!

She was actually going to challenge the Master's rules directly!

"Don't be impulsive!"

At the very moment Xia Yao was about to act, Kachi grabbed her wrist tightly and shouted in her ear with unprecedented urgency.

"Yao Yao! This is His trap! If we act, we'll give Him a reason to erase Little He He!"

For the first time, Kachi's pretty face, usually adorned with a sly smile, showed a complicated expression—part frustration, part fury, and part frenzied fighting spirit.

She knew that from the moment they had caught the Master's attention, this game had stopped being a simple matter of survival.

Xia Yao stared fixedly at the sky with blood-red eyes, her chest heaving. In the end, she forcibly suppressed the power that could have destroyed the world.

It was also the first time Chu He had seen Xia Yao truly lose her temper. Her normally lifeless black eyes had turned such a terrifying shade of red.

Inside a distant and majestic divine palace.

Xia Yan sat before a massive water mirror, which clearly reflected everything happening on the playground.

When he saw Chu He's face turn from black to white, then from white to green, and finally grow deathly pale, he couldn't hold back any longer.

"Pfft—hahahahahaha!"

Xia Yan clutched his stomach and laughed so hard he doubled over. His burly frame shook on the throne, and tears streamed from his eyes.

"Master, you did great! That felt so damn good!"

Laughing wildly, he slapped his thigh and muttered to himself.

"That'll teach you to mess with my family's cabbage! That'll teach you to wrap my niece around your little finger! That'll teach you to make me form a Blood Pact!"

"Twenty million! And he can't even use their money! Hahahahaha!"

Xia Yan's laughter echoed through the empty divine palace, brimming with the thrill of revenge.

On the playground.

Chu He's face had gone far beyond pale.

This wasn't just picking on an honest man anymore.

They were tormenting the poor guy to death!