When Wen Ruyu entered the dungeon, the original host had already been running the online scams for some time, and part of the loan shark debt had already been repaid.
But exactly how much had been repaid, there was no corresponding memory in his mind.
"How much do I still owe?"
Perhaps because he had not spoken for a long time, or perhaps because he had just woken up, Wen Ruyu’s voice carried a faint husky quality.
It sounded alluring.
Almost sensual.
The kind of voice that could make someone’s heart skip a beat.
The other end of the phone suddenly went silent.
It was as if the call had abruptly been disconnected.
But the call had not been hung up. The call timer continued ticking.
Wen Ruyu thought his voice might have been too quiet, so he repeated himself, raising his voice slightly.
"How much do I still owe?"
"Huh? Oh. Oh, how much you still owe…"
The man on the other end seemed momentarily distracted, replying reflexively.
"You still owe 1.53 million."
Only after saying it did the man seem to realize something. As if he felt he had lost face, he coughed awkwardly and forced a threatening tone.
"Y you better not try any tricks. I always follow through on what I say."
Wen Ruyu paid no attention to the man’s awkwardness. After a brief pause he spoke again.
"Could… you give me a little more time?"
1.53 million was not a small amount.
The money the original host had scammed was far from enough.
And he could not even use that money.
"More time…? We don’t usually give extensions." The man’s voice carried a trace of hesitation, though he did not hesitate for long.
"Then I’ll give you five more days."
099: "…?"
You were not like this before.
099 was momentarily confused.
Every Special Player who entered this dungeon would go through this debt collection scene.
It was an unavoidable part of the dungeon setting.
Most players, lacking the money to repay the debt, would beg the loan sharks for more time.
But the loan sharks had never agreed.
Not once.
Not even a single day.
Most players only managed to gain a brief delay by sacrificing a leg.
Yet this was the first time the loan sharks had granted an extension without demanding any form of “interest.”
The problem was that this person had barely even begged.
And the unexpected conversation continued.
Wen Ruyu was clearly dissatisfied with the result. After thinking for a moment he spoke again.
"Five days is too short. Could you give me three months?"
"No."
This time the man refused decisively.
"Three months is too long. You’ve already owed us for a long time. At most I can give you half a month."
The man clearly spoke in the harshest tone while offering concessions.
In just a few sentences the extension had increased from five days to half a month.
099: "…"
"Half a month is still too little. I cannot gather 1.53 million." Wen Ruyu continued negotiating calmly. "What about one month?"
"Well… that’s fine too."
The man reluctantly agreed.
He threatened again, though his tone was completely different from the violent one earlier.
"Then I’ll give you one month. If you still can’t repay the money after a month, don’t blame me for personally bringing people to collect the debt."
"Alright."
Wen Ruyu hung up the phone.
Then he leisurely ordered takeout.
As if the entire incident had not affected him at all.
099 looked at the food Wen Ruyu had ordered.
It was delivery from a high end restaurant.
A single meal cost several thousand yuan at least.
Strictly speaking it was not ordinary takeout.
It was a private delivery service provided by a luxury restaurant.
For the first time, 099 spoke voluntarily.
Its enthusiastic voice carried an unusual hint of confusion.
"Dear customer, aren’t you trying to repay your debt? Why are you ordering such expensive food? Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to repay it in a month?"
Wen Ruyu did not care.
"In a month I will either be dead, or I will have cleared the dungeon and left. Why would I repay the debt?"
It was not his debt anyway.
099: "…"
How could someone with such a beautiful face say something so shameless?
The loan shark debt did not need to be repaid.
But the money obtained through the romance scams did.
After ordering the food, Wen Ruyu looked back at the computer screen in front of him.
The chat window with Number 3 was still open.
Since he had not replied, several new messages had appeared.
Number 3: "Why aren’t you replying to me?"
Number 3: "Is the money I gave you too little?"
Number 3: "Transfer 231.23 yuan."
Number 3: "Sorry. I’m useless. My salary is only this much. I’ve already given it all to you."
Number 3: "I’ll definitely earn more money in the future and give you the best life. Please don’t ignore me."
Number 3: "Are you busy?"
Aside from Number 3, he had also received messages from several other people.
Many of them included transfer notifications.
These were replies to messages the original host had sent earlier.
The original host valued these “fish” very much.
Every day he actively shared details of his life.
The moment he woke up he would begin chatting with them.
He played the role of an obedient admirer with great dedication.
Even if he secretly despised their poverty, he still provided them with ample emotional attention on the surface.
He almost always replied instantly.
This was probably the first time he had gone so long without replying.
Though only a few people had responded to him anyway.
Aside from Number 3, the other targets were rather cold.
The original host might send a large number of messages before receiving even a single reply.
Wen Ruyu disliked replying to messages.
He disliked communicating with people even more.
If it were his usual method, he would have deleted these people immediately.
But now he was the original host.
He had to handle them in a gentler way.
Wen Ruyu opened the input box and typed a line.
May Wealth Bloom: "I just fell asleep."
May Wealth Bloom was the original host’s username.
It practically spelled out his love of money.
Yet no one criticized it.
Because the persona he had created was someone obsessed with money.
A father who died early.
A sick mother.
And a younger sister still attending school.
In the eyes of others, he loved money so much only because he was trying to earn medical fees for his mother.
It was understandable.
But Wen Ruyu was not the original host.
He had no intention of maintaining these “fish.”
Nor did he want to continue chatting with them.
After sending that message, he immediately sent two more.
May Wealth Bloom: "It’s almost time for my livestream. I need to prepare."
May Wealth Bloom: "See you in the livestream."
After typing the messages, Wen Ruyu selected both lines and sent them in a group message to everyone who had replied.
However, he was not lying.
It really was time for the original host’s livestream.
To search for romance scam targets, the original host had opened an online livestream channel where he sang and chatted by voice.
It was not purely voice.
The original host was satisfied with his hands.
So during the stream he opened a small camera window aimed at his keyboard and hands.
Viewers could only see him typing.
Sometimes revealing half was more effective than revealing nothing.
It left endless room for imagination.
But there were too many streamers on the platform.
Truly handsome people were not rare.
The original host’s little trick had little effect.
After more than two months of streaming he had only gained a few thousand followers.
When Wen Ruyu said he was preparing, there was actually nothing to prepare.
He simply turned on the computer and started the stream.
But he did not turn on the camera.
He was different from the original host.
He did not need to fish for victims.
There was no need to turn on the camera.
When the followers saw that the streamer they followed had gone live, they quickly entered the livestream.
They immediately noticed that the stream looked different from usual.
"Why didn’t the streamer turn on the camera today?"
"Whether it’s on or off makes no difference. It’s always aimed at his hands. We don’t want to see hands."
"Yeah. Now he’s even stingier. He won’t even show his hands."
"It’s so quiet. Why isn’t the streamer speaking? There’s not even background music. Isn’t he singing today?"
Wen Ruyu ignored the comments.
Instead he looked around the small rental room, trying to find something to eat.
Since entering the dungeon he had not eaten anything.
Now his stomach was beginning to ache from hunger.
But the food delivery he had ordered would take at least half an hour to arrive.
He needed something to eat first.
The original host could not cook.
His meals consisted either of takeout or instant noodles.
At the moment the only food in the room was instant noodles.
Wen Ruyu had no choice.
He poured hot water into a cup of instant noodles.
While waiting for them to finish soaking, he looked through the livestream features.
Eventually his attention settled on the PK Match function.
Connecting with another streamer for a PK match was the fastest way to earn money.
Fans would send gifts to help their streamer win.
The streamer could receive half of the gift’s value.
Under normal circumstances, the original host would never miss such an opportunity.
But his follower count was too low.
Very few people were willing to send him gifts.
And he feared the punishment tasks might reveal that he had stolen photographs.
So he had never participated in PK matches.
Wen Ruyu did not have this concern.
And he urgently needed money.
The original host had already used part of the scam money to repay loan sharks and spent the rest.
Even returning the scammed money would now be difficult.
He had to find a way to make up that amount.
By the time he finished thinking about it, the instant noodles were ready.
Wen Ruyu slowly ate them while opening the PK Match option.
He did not say a single word during the entire process.
He simply wanted to test how the feature worked.
At this moment there were fewer than fifty viewers in the livestream.
The platform had not even started promoting the stream yet.
The viewers were confused.
"What’s going on with the streamer today? He hasn’t spoken at all, and suddenly he’s starting PK matches?"
"He’s like a completely different person today. No singing, no talking, straight to PK."
"I heard him making instant noodles. He’s probably eating and can’t talk."
"If I hadn’t heard the noise I’d think nobody was there."
"This is hopeless. We barely have any viewers. Who could we possibly beat?"
PK matches were automatically matched.
Less than ten seconds after clicking the button, a match appeared.
But when the other streamer saw that Wen Ruyu had no camera on and fewer than fifty viewers, he immediately disconnected.
Wen Ruyu paused briefly.
Then he pressed the PK button again.
This time the matched streamer did not leave.
The screen quickly split in half.
Another person appeared.
It was a handsome man.
He smiled gently and greeted Wen Ruyu.
"Hello there, streamer."
Because Wen Ruyu was eating and it was inconvenient to speak, and because he did not want to speak anyway, he typed on the screen.
After finishing the message he enlarged the text so the other person could see it clearly.
"Hello."
"Can we start the PK immediately?"
A trace of displeasure flashed through the man’s eyes.
It was the first time he had encountered a streamer like this.
Someone who would not even speak.
But the man had come with a task.
So he did not leave.
He simply smiled and nodded.
"Sure. I see your PK rank isn’t very high. Is this your first PK match?"
"Usually the loser receives a punishment. What kind of punishment do you want?"
Wen Ruyu knew little about livestreams.
Before entering the dungeon he had never watched one.
So he gave the man the decision.
"You decide."
"Then I won’t hold back."
The man pretended to think.
Although he was still smiling, a trace of malice flashed in his eyes.
"If you lose, turn on your camera and kneel three times in the livestream for me."
Wen Ruyu paused in the middle of eating his noodles.
Slowly he typed a single symbol.
"?"
The man smiled again.
"Aren’t you streaming in the appearance category? This punishment should be easy for you."
"Maybe you’ll become famous after kneeling."
His tone sounded casual and teasing.
But the malice behind the words was obvious.
Wen Ruyu ignored the inexplicable hostility.
He slowly typed again.
"Choose another."
"Alright then."
The man shrugged with a smile, pretending to be understanding.
"I’ll change it."
"Then turn on your camera."
"My viewers say you’re handsome, but you’ve never shown your face."
"This time let everyone have a good look."
Compared with the previous punishment, this one seemed harmless.
But Wen Ruyu refused again.
"Choose another."
This time he did not even bother retyping the message.
He simply enlarged the text and tapped it with the mouse.
The man’s eyes curved slightly as he laughed.
"No way."
"You’re in the appearance category but you don’t dare show your face?"
"In real life… you’re not actually ugly, are you?"