Could You Help Take Care of My Mortgage?

"Sure enough, nothing in the Forbidden Land can be understood using the common sense of Blue Star."

After taking down the Snow Wolf King, Xu Fan sat right on top of the beast's corpse, then leaned back and lay down.

Its fur was just the right softness—not bad at all.

Besides, he'd secured a vast stretch of forest resources for the Yan Kingdom.

At last, he could take a little break.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, who would believe a wolf could grow over five meters long?"

"It was almost as big as Wise Wolf Holo."

"And this is only a D-Rank creature."

"I wonder how ridiculous C-Rank, B-Rank, and A-Rank beasts are..."

"The most important thing is, who knows whether there are other civilizations in the Forbidden Land?"

Xu Fan mused to himself.

He still knew far too little about this world.

If all the ferocious beasts were like the Snow Wolf King, then with his current strength, he could probably plow his way through without a problem.

But what if...

"Forget it. Better to play it safe."

Xu Fan took a deep breath and began planning his next move.

Now, he had the supplies from the Zhayu Kingdom contestant.

If he rationed them carefully, he could make them last for half a month without much trouble.

It was wise to plan ahead—but the opposite was true, too.

"Anyway, I should gather as much information as possible about the Forbidden Land."

"Then I'll rest a little and leave this place."

No matter what, his fate was now tied to the Yan Kingdom's.

Any resources discovered in the Forbidden Land could be manifested in the real world.

And help humanity overcome its crisis.

How could he just stay in one corner and mind his own business?

"But then again, I'm not some noble, high-minded person. Rather than proclaiming myself a hero, I'd say..."

"I just want the people around me to have a better life."

"If I perform well in the Forbidden Land, the authorities should take good care of my family, too."

"Oh, right..."

Xu Fan suddenly remembered.

Everything he did was being livestreamed.

Meanwhile...

The number of viewers in the Live Stream Room was soaring.

Six hundred million.

Seven hundred million.

Eight hundred million...

Finally, when the notification that Xu Fan had defeated the Snow Wolf King appeared, his Live Stream Room surpassed one billion viewers!

Everyone who witnessed the scene blinked furiously, seriously wondering whether they were seeing things.

Otherwise, how could a human possibly kill a beast several times larger than himself?

But no matter how astonished the viewers were, they couldn't change what had already happened.

Xu Fan had defeated the Forest Overlord like a god of war!

The entire Yan Kingdom was in an uproar.

Many people even poured out of their homes to set off firecrackers.

They were celebrating both Xu Fan's escape from the wolf's jaws and the Yan Kingdom's acquisition of precious resources!

"I'm so uneducated that all I can say is 'holy shit'! A D-Rank Beast, just like that, got killed by our contestant Xu Fan... No, by Dad—Xu Dad! Xu Dad killed it!"

"I thought Xu Fan was a goner just now. Who knew he was so badass? Does anyone have Xu Fan's contact information? I don't even need a bride price!"

"No bride price? I'd pay a million in dowry to marry him! Anyone hoping to get him for free, step aside!"

For a time, the comments flooded the Live Stream Room. Every viewer was bursting with excitement.

Of course...

There were also viewers who were bitter about Xu Fan's performance.

"If that beast hadn't stopped, your contestant would be the dead one. What's there to brag about?"

"I saw it, too. He just got lucky."

"I seriously suspect the Yan Kingdom's contestant is using cheats. How do I report him?"

But those voices were quickly drowned out by the comments.

The Yan Kingdom's viewers couldn't even be bothered to argue. They simply shot back, "Someone's jealous!"

Wealthy viewers started showering the Live Stream Room with gifts, too.

Their usernames were changed to things like "Protecting Our Beloved Xu Fan" and "I Want to Kiss Xu Dad's Ass"—the sort of legendary names only fans could come up with.

Some viewers even temporarily left the Yan Kingdom's livestream and went to other contestants' rooms, where they exaggerated Xu Fan's performance in their retellings.

That sent the number of viewers in Xu Fan's Live Stream Room soaring once again!

The host and guests in the Live Stream Room were also stunned for quite a while before they came to their senses.

Host Xiao Ying drew in a sharp breath. "Congratulations to our contestant Xu Fan on turning a crisis into safety."

"If that beast hadn't suddenly stopped, things might have ended very differently," Yuan Yuan couldn't help saying.

Once again, she'd managed to ruin the mood.

Even the Warrior King and Brother Qiang looked a little unhappy.

"What I meant was..." Yuan Yuan realized at once that she'd said the wrong thing and quickly tried to explain. "Could something have been wrong with the beast? Maybe it wasn't feeling well?"

"I don't think so. When it charged at Xu Fan, it covered ten meters in a single stride. It was full of energy. But you're right—its sudden stop was definitely strange." Brother Qiang furrowed his brow.

Everyone had held their breath just moments ago, but now that Xu Fan was safe, they had finally calmed down.

They began noticing the smaller details, too.

But...

There was no way they could sense Conqueror's Haki from behind their screens.

Nor could they understand what had happened.

All they could do was try to explain it using their limited knowledge.

In the end, they concluded that the Snow Wolf King had some serious illness, and it had flared up just as it charged at Xu Fan!

Still...

The more forced the explanation seemed, the more Xu Fan took on the mysterious aura of someone chosen by fate.

Ever since he entered the Forbidden Land, Xu Fan's luck had been unbelievably good!

He'd scared off the Snow Wolves without even trying.

He'd casually found another contestant's supplies—and even stolen the kill.

And the Forest Overlord he'd run into had been seriously ill!

Good heavens...

Was smoke rising from his ancestors' graves or something?

"Maybe our ancestors really are protecting contestant Xu Fan from beyond the grave."

In the end, Brother Qiang, the wilderness survival expert, came to that conclusion.

Just then...

Xu Fan, on screen, suddenly looked up at the sky, as though searching for an invisible camera.

He slowly began to speak. "My parents are ordinary workers. They took on a thirty-year mortgage to help me buy a home. Could you help take care of it?"

"And..."

"I have a younger sister who'll be starting university next year. Could you help her apply for financial aid?"

No matter what, Xu Fan couldn't return to Blue Star right now.

He couldn't help worrying about how his family was doing.

So he figured he might as well ask.

Still, Xu Fan believed that even if he said nothing, the authorities would take good care of his family.

But when he made those requests...

Host Xiao Ying: "???"

The Warrior King and Brother Qiang: "???"

The other guests: "???"

And the viewers in the Live Stream Room: "???"

Was contestant Xu Fan's way of thinking really that refreshingly unconventional?

Then Xu Fan turned his gaze away and focused on the Treasure Chest he'd obtained.

He wondered...

What kind of reward would it give him?