The System Wanted Him Dead by Midnight, but I'd Fund His Immortality

Yu Qing raised his hand and seized her by the throat.

No one noticed that, in the darkness, the boy's eyes turned a vivid crimson for an instant. A hidden sound rustled softly, as though bones were being drawn out of flesh.

Then a golden needle roughly forty centimeters long appeared in Yu Qing's hand. Its shaft was perfectly straight, and held in his grip, it could pierce Granny Ghost's left temple and emerge from her right.

Though Yu Qing wasn't tall, his gaze now passed just above Granny Ghost's sparsely white-haired head.

Slaughtering a ghost couldn't have been more convenient.

As the golden needle sank deeper, Granny Ghost's struggles weakened, while the boy's smile grew ever brighter and more bewitching. "You love looking pretty, don't you?"

"?"

"What a shame. We both have white hair, but yours is hideous."

Granny Ghost glared at Yu Qing, even her struggles taking on an air of bitter resentment.

"Heh, don't get me wrong." The boy smiled. "I just can't stand you. I'm insulting you on behalf of all those girls you killed."

"Honestly, I couldn't even be bothered to kill you."

With the golden needle more than halfway through her brain, Yu Qing drawled, "But they paid twenty thousand points for your life. I had no choice but to oblige."

His voice was gentle and tender, drifting into her ears like a lover's whisper. "If you want revenge, go after them. Don't come looking for me~"

Yu Qing lowered his voice for that last sentence, keeping it from the livestream and speaking to Granny Ghost alone.

As his words faded, thud-

The blood-seeping corpse was tossed onto the floor. The cafeteria lights came back on, and the peculiar stillness returned.

The livestream had been excited from the start, and the wildly scrolling comments finally reached a frenzy when the viewers saw the corpse-

[Aaaaaah! She's dead! This is my first time seeing a rookie streamer kill an NPC. This beauty is so wild~ Let me nibble, nibble nibble nibble nibble...]

[See that? See that? It was too dark just now. You couldn't make out his expression even in night mode, but you could see the golden needle, right? The streamer has a golden needle, and it can kill NPCs!]

[Now it's gone again. So what exactly is that golden needle?]

[Wow, our little beauty looks so dazed. Is he scared? It's okay, let your big sister give you a kiss. (Tip: +30 points)]

Oh, right. I'm supposed to be scared.

Seeing that, Yu Qing hurriedly pressed a trembling hand to his chest, his pupils widening. Even the thin sheen of sweat at his collar appeared perfectly natural.

He leaned against the pillar behind him, his legs weak, as though Granny Ghost really had terrified him.

Yet his big, innocent eyes remained fixed on the livestream as he asked, "W-what else does everyone want to see? R-remember to tell me next time. I'll do my best to..."

[Beep, beep, beep...]

[Beep, beep, beep...]

Suddenly, the system screen hovering before him turned red, and all the streamer information on it vanished. While the livestream viewers were still wondering what had happened, a mechanical female system voice began its announcement.

[Streamer Yu Qing has been detected maliciously killing an NPC. All stats have been reset to zero. The system will erase him on the spot.]

Erase me?

Yu Qing's fingers trembled. This time, he truly grew nervous. After his information was wiped, he saw a line displayed on the screen: Violation of the absolute rules. Immediate erasure!

"No, that's not..." His expression remained composed. "I was following the livestream viewers' requests..."

He hid his trembling fingers in his palm and gritted his teeth, holding on. "As a streamer, I did something for the viewers who like me. I. Did. Nothing. Wrong!"

System notification: [Even at a viewer's request, streamers may only kill after reaching level one.]

[Streamers may only receive a level assessment after clearing the instance.]

[Level-zero streamers are not authorized to kill ghosts.]

As the voice fell silent, Yu Qing suddenly struggled to breathe. He sank to his knees with difficulty, veins bulging one by one across the backs of his pale hands. "You bastards... never said..."

The system cheated, withholding information. But there was nothing he could do: the game's administrators reserved the right to interpret every rule. They would randomly plant bugs in the system, and triggering one meant death.

Because they wouldn't let unlucky streamers pass.

The demand was unreasonable, yet he had no way to resist...

"Ngh..." Yu Qing let out a muffled groan and clenched his teeth hard. He turned his head without hesitation, casting the last of his peripheral vision toward the livestream.

The suffocating pressure flushed his cheeks red. The viewers were swept up in his plight, feeling a little anxious, a little inclined to save him, but they still hesitated, unable to make up their minds.

He was only a rookie streamer.

They had witnessed far too many streamers die. In their final moments, every one of them begged the viewers to save them.

Because once enough points were accumulated, a streamer could obtain a Revival Card.

So the viewers wanted to watch their streams, and the streamers needed their tips.

It was a relationship of mutual exploitation to begin with. There were no real feelings involved, nor any need to waste time on...

But a comment suddenly drifted past: [Holy shit! Holy shit, look! Yu Qing is saying goodbye to us. He doesn't have the strength to speak anymore. He's mouthing the words!]

[I can read his lips. He's saying, "I'm sorry. I'll bring you all joy again in my next life. I..."]

[Aaaaaah! Oh no, his health is about to hit zero! I can't bear to lose such a good streamer. I'm tipping, aaaaaah! (Tip: +10,000 points)]

But it wasn't enough.

A single Revival Card cost at least a million points. For Yu Qing right now, that was nowhere near enough!

There was no time left...

Yu Qing was forced to his knees on the floor. His face began to turn blue, his pupils trembled, and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed. But that one tipping comment-just that one-set off an entire wave of tips.

[I like him too. Pretty enough, ruthless enough. (Tip: +8,000 points)]

[He just killed a ghost for me, and now the system's pulling a sneak attack? Sure, I usually enjoy your shameless bullshit, but not today. (Tip: +50,000 points)]

[I'm backing Yu Qing. He's different from every other streamer. I think his feelings for me are real!!! (Tip: +20,000 points)]

[Fuck! The system wants him dead by midnight, but I'll fund his immortality! (Tip: +10,000,000 points)]