The aftermath

White Ape, a peak Jonin, no longer cared about the consequences of his failed command in this battle.

He would risk his life to get the "accurate" intelligence he had gathered back to Kusagakure.

On the outskirts of Hidden Jun Village.

Groups of players were forming parties to hunt in the wild.

Dai Xiaomei, accompanied by a group of her girlfriends, had once again chosen to hang out with the bragging squad led by Emperor of Sinking.

After several outings, Dai Xiaomei had finally recognized Emperor of Sinking's absurdly good luck.

The guy was thick-skinned and a total goofball, but she had to admire his incredible luck.

At first, they had all wondered whether he was cheating.

But after going on several outings together, everyone had finally figured it out.

This guy really was a fool blessed by fortune!

Dai Xiaomei wanted to make her streams entertaining.

Of course, she also wanted some of his good luck to rub off on her, so teaming up with Emperor of Sinking had naturally become a habit.

Her viewers had also grown accustomed to the goofy duo's hilarious everyday antics.

Under Emperor of Sinking's influence, Dai Xiaomei had become increasingly over-the-top and shameless.

As they watched the streamer race down the road to shamelessness.

Rather than stopping her, the viewers provoked her with all sorts of comments.

Their goading turned Dai Xiaomei into a complete show-off whenever she had an audience.

It had to be said that once Dai Xiaomei completely let loose, the entertainment value went through the roof, and her stream's popularity soared.

Thanks to the game "Hidden Jun Ninja," Dai Xiaomei had firmly secured the top spot in the streaming world.

Countless popular online streamers were green with envy.

They pulled out every trick they knew to grab a little of that attention.

It had to be said that a hit game boosted the popularity of an entire ecosystem.

The streaming platforms were the first to benefit.

Next came the industries surrounding the new game "Hidden Jun Ninja."

Countless businesses spotted the opportunity and flooded the market with products that skirted around the game's branding.

Of course, without official authorization from "Hidden Jun Ninja," they did not dare sell related merchandise.

This left countless businesses that had spotted the opportunity sighing in frustration.

It was not that they did not want to discuss partnerships with the people behind "Hidden Jun Ninja."

But despite combing through countless sources and records, they could not find any information about the official company behind "Hidden Jun Ninja."

With no other choice, they crowded into the official forums, posting messages over and over in the hope of receiving an official reply.

The outcome was obvious: the people behind "Hidden Jun Ninja" could not even be bothered to manage their official forums, much less discuss partnerships with businesses...

The uproar in the real world grew with each passing wave.

The players inside the game world, meanwhile, remained unaffected by outside forces and played to their hearts' content.

The loudly boasting group suddenly stopped.

As one, they turned to look toward the eastern end of Hidden Jun Village.

That incongruous dark cloud was so conspicuous that it was almost impossible to miss.

Emperor of Sinking rubbed his slightly swollen cheeks. He had talked so much earlier that he seemed to have talked them swollen.

"Whoa, don't tell me this is another random event?"

Dai Xiaomei's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly:

"Who cares what kind of random event it is? As long as there are rewards, it's a good event."

As she spoke, she repeatedly waved at the empty air and said:

"Guys, we've got another random event! I'll take you over to check it out right now."

"If you haven't followed yet, hit that follow button! Follow your streamer so you don't lose your way. I'm about to take you to see some good stuff..."

With that, Dai Xiaomei took the lead and headed toward the eastern end of the village with her girlfriends.

Emperor of Sinking was also the type to chase quick gains. How could he let Dai Xiaomei steal a march on him?

The two groups charged toward the dense woods at the eastern end of the village in a large procession.

But by the time Dai Xiaomei and Emperor of Sinking arrived, One Sword Opens the Heavens was already circling around deep in the woods!

One Sword Opens the Heavens was a lone wolf, keenly alert to any stirrings within the game.

That was why he had started heading here as soon as the thunder began booming.

The gruesome scene was horrifying.

Even though everything had been charred black, quite a few female players still could not help turning away to vomit.

Everything else about this game was great. It was just far too realistic.

So realistic that the players could barely distinguish it from reality.

One Sword Opens the Heavens and the other two were seasoned players who had seen plenty of action.

Yet even their expressions changed when they saw the carnage deep in the woods.

Dai Xiaomei even turned and waved repeatedly behind her, thoughtfully warning:

"This scene is extremely graphic. Viewers with heart conditions and minors, please exercise caution."

The streaming platform also had content moderation standards for its broadcasts.

If anything inappropriate appeared, it would immediately ban the stream.

Of course, Dai Xiaomei was now a cash cow for her partner platform, so it would never ban her stream.

The effective solution was to blur the entire screen.

By the time Dai Xiaomei gave her warning, the picture was already completely blurred.

So her warning was rather redundant.

Of course, such strong professional conduct would naturally earn her some goodwill from her fans.

There were also plenty of complaints in the chat, of course.

"Damn! The whole screen's blurred! What the hell are we supposed to watch?"

"Screw you! Give me my money back!"

"It's just a little gore! Is this really necessary...?"

Where there were complaints, there were naturally people stepping forward to defend her.

"This is the only stream where we can watch 'Hidden Jun Ninja' right now. If it gets banned, will you take responsibility?"

"Exactly! Just because you can stomach it doesn't mean everyone else can!"

"Stop talking... urgh! Bro, only someone who's watched this stream through a VR headset knows how intense it is..."

"..."

Dai Xiaomei watched the squabbling in her chat with delight.

The fiercer the argument became, the more popular her stream would grow.

That was not a bad thing.

Dai Xiaomei was happy to let it continue. She even joined in, occasionally "mediating" while favoring one side, making the argument all the more heated.

As an experienced streamer, Dai Xiaomei had truly figured out how to play the traffic game.

The other two veteran players at the scene gathered together to analyze the situation.

One Sword Opens the Heavens pointed to the scorched scraps of ninja clothing on the ground and said:

"Clearly, this was another sneak attack launched by Kusagakure."

"The outcome is obvious too. Someone wiped them out with Lightning-Style Ninjutsu."

Emperor of Sinking nodded and said:

"Right. It looks like the Village Chief personally took action and wiped out these enemies."

"But..."

Emperor of Sinking pondered briefly, then continued:

"Normally, for an event offering such a rare chance to interact with an NPC, why wouldn't the developers notify the players?"

They were all veteran players. According to this game's operating logic, it would create all sorts of random events for players to participate in.

That kept things fresh, gave players a sense of involvement, and, most importantly, made them feel rewarded.