25
The freshly minted fans of Xie Zhengjie couldn’t help but notice the same thing as Chen Linyao’s former trollish fans: the young man’s typing speed.
While faster than a rural grandpa’s, it lagged behind the urban average.
To protect him, these fans launched an all-out assault of messages against the trolls, flooding the chat until their comments were drowned out.
The overwhelming numbers made it hard for the trolls to keep up.
Many people began to think it wasn’t worth continuing the challenge against the young man, realizing they were wasting their time on a battle they would never win.
But one troll refused to give in.
‘We accept the challenge.’
Although Xie Zhengjie had suffered numerous defeats in previous matches, he had learned a lot about tower defense games.
The game in question involved two teams, each with five players, and the ultimate goal was to destroy the opposing team’s base.
This type of game, popular on both smartphones and computers, demanded real-time strategy and skill.
‘Great Deity, there’s no need for you to stoop to their level.’
‘Exactly, you shouldn’t bother with these jealous nobodies.’
The trolls were momentarily stunned, then began to think.
Could this seemingly slow-fingered streamer actually be a hidden expert, playing dumb to lure them into underestimating him?
Was he using them as stepping stones to build his fame?
But when they thought about Miss Red Mask’s infamous gameplay, they doubted it.
Given her trolling nature, if she lost matches, she’d likely summon a gaming god to exact vengeance.
Yet, her history with friends added in-game was less about winning and more about shared suffering.
‘Fine!
You’re bold, so am I.
I’ll set up the room.
Room number: 521.
Password: 4444.’
One troll, not overthinking it, decided to teach him a lesson when the other accepted the challenge.
‘Handsome Xie, don’t fall for it!
It’s a trap.
He’s confessing his love for you.
Look at the room number.” A fangirl warned, noting that the numbers “5 2 1” sounded like wǒ ài nǐ (I love you).
‘So he’s…into men?’
‘An opportunist!
Using this to confess love to Da Shen!’
‘Shame on you.
Why can’t we compete fairly?
At least pay for a handshake ticket first.”
The troll, realizing no one was joining the room, returned to the chat before quickly typing.
‘Nonsense!
I’ll create a new room.’
‘At least you have some shame.’
‘Forgiven.’
‘Forgiven +1.
But fight us fairly this time.’
After the new room number was created, Xie Zhengjie remained motionless, causing his fans to grow concerned.
‘Are you scared?
If you’re scared, you shouldn’t have acted tough in the first place.’
‘The Great Deity might be summoning his comrades.
A 5v5 game or even a 5v1—you’re the shameless ones here.’
The truth was, Xie Zhengjie didn’t have any comrades.
Even the gang leaders avoided adding him as a friend in the game.
Chen Linyao had never played with him either, leaving his friend list completely empty.
In reality, he didn’t even know how to enter the game room.
‘What should I do?’ Xie Zhengjie typed, asking for help.
Everyone was stunned.
Some speculated that the Great Deity had never played custom games before and had only let the system match opponents for him.
Volunteers quickly offered to explain.
Others suggested that Xie Zhengjie use voice chat instead of typing for faster communication.
Once he finally entered the room, the keyboard warriors had their full team of five, while Xie Zhengjie was alone, leaving everyone stunned again.
The game interface prompted players to invite friends from their friend list to fill their team.
However, the friend list of Xie Zhengjie displayed on the game screen had no friends listed at all.
“Great Deity, may I see your level?” A sensible fan typed, asking.
“Level? What’s that?” Xie Zhengjie replied, unfamiliar with the term.
By this point, he had switched to using voice chat instead of typing.
Silence fell over the chat for a moment.
Some thought there was an internet issue and tested it by typing “…”.
“…”
“…..”
“………”
After the term “level” was explained as a way to indicate a character’s progress, Xie Zhengjie realized it might be similar to cultivation stages back in his world.
He followed the instructions to check his level.
Xie Zhengjie LEVEL 5
Everyone was stunned again.
Level 5 was the rank someone could achieve in about two hours of gameplay.
His opponents, on the other hand, were all at very high levels, with everyone at their level cap.
‘Great Deity, may I trouble you again?
Can I see your runes?’ The sensible fan asked again.
He followed their guidance.
Every rune slot was empty. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
The fan sighed.
Xie Zhengjie was a complete beginner.
Runes, they explained, were enhancements for characters.
After the explanation, Xie Zhengjie understood that they were similar to magical items.
The more runes equipped, the greater the advantage in battles.
The sensible fan frowned and typed:
‘Da Shen Xie, you can borrow my account.
My account has every character unlocked and maxed-out runes.
At least this way, you won’t be at a disadvantage.’
After reading this, Xie Zhengjie typed back.
If he spoke often, he would not be able to practice the skills he wanted.
‘We do not borrow others’ strength for duels.’
There was a moment of silence before comments exploded again.
‘Great Deityyyy.
So brave.’
‘My handsome, you’re amazing.’
‘True heroism, Da Shen.
Even at a disadvantage, you remain undeterred.’
‘From now on, I’m a true fan.
Win or lose, I’ll follow your streams faithfully.’
Meanwhile, the trolls grew increasingly irritated.
Most of them didn’t have girlfriends.
Many had tried hard but failed to succeed.
They followed Miss Red Mask’s channel because, despite wearing a mask, she seemed genuinely attractive and had a cheerful, albeit mischievous, personality.
They were furious that a young man had invaded her channel.
And now this same man was charming countless other women.
How could they not be upset?
Fans of Xie Zhengjie who were confident in their gaming skills rushed to join and ‘carry’ Da Shen to help him out.
The game began.
At the loading screen, character ranks were displayed.
The trolls in the game, who hadn’t watched the stream earlier, were stunned.
Xie Zhengjie’s rank was equivalent to a player who had just created their account or played very briefly.
Was this guy mocking them by using a new account and still claiming he could beat them?
How insulting.