The netizens took a closer look and discovered that Su Zhi had actually appeared in Du Weihan’s livestream.
In the camera feed, Su Zhi’s slender back looked anything but imposing, yet to Du Weihan and his fans at that moment, she was no different from a fairy descending from the heavens.
Even the BGM that had been used to heighten the horror inside the haunted house suddenly felt rousing and inspiring.
At that moment, Su Zhi was holding a name tag in her hand. It belonged to the NPC who had been bitten by Du Weihan earlier.
She casually tossed the name tag onto the ground and walked toward the NPCs who were restraining Du Weihan.
As Su Zhi advanced toward them step by step, an immense pressure rose in the NPCs’ hearts.
After witnessing how smooth and practiced her movements were when she tore off the name tag, they had already figured out who had been eliminating NPCs left and right.
Du Weihan had never expected Su Zhi to actually show up at the moment of his despair.
In that instant, Su Zhi’s figure left an indelible mark on Du Weihan’s heart.
Su Zhi…… didn’t seem quite so annoying anymore.
Just as that thought formed in his mind, he heard Su Zhi’s voice.
“Du Weihan, you look pretty miserable right now.”
Du Weihan: ……
He immediately took back his earlier thought. Su Zhi was still just as irritating as ever!
After mocking Du Weihan, Su Zhi did not spare him another glance. Instead, her gaze swept over the two remaining NPCs and said, “Are you going to eliminate yourselves, or wait to be eliminated?”
The two NPCs exchanged a glance. After hesitating for a moment, they simultaneously chose a third option— run.
Watching the two NPCs swiftly release Du Weihan and flee without looking back, Jiang Guxue felt oddly numb.
She had been tense for so long, thinking there would be a fierce battle with the NPCs.
And that was it?
Jiang Guxue turned to Su Zhi and asked, “Su Zhi, what should we do next?”
Cheng Feiran did not speak, but the look in his eyes carried the same question.
The guests had not yet realized that, unconsciously, they had already begun to follow Su Zhi’s lead.
Su Zhi snapped her fingers. “Let’s get out of the haunted house.”
The others nodded in agreement.
As for Du Weihan, who was squatting in the corner with a dark expression, they collectively ignored him.
Although Du Weihan’s fans still found Su Zhi displeasing, the comments were no longer as sharp as before. Especially after seeing her descend like a savior, quite a few fans had already started shipping Su Zhi and Du Weihan as a CP.
The haters frowned at Su Zhi on the livestream, but for once, they could not think of anything to attack her with. Her performance in the haunted house truly deserved to be called peerless.
Su Zhi’s scandals?
The haters let them go. Without evidence, they were all branded as rumors by netizens.
Su Zhi’s looks?
They could not find a single point to criticize.
Su Zhi’s character?
After witnessing her repeatedly saving others in the haunted house, no matter how hard they tried to smear her, no one believed it.
Only An Chenru’s fans were still clinging to the accusation that Su Zhi had stood by and watched him be eliminated.
But they were quickly shot down by passing netizens.
【I had a decent impression of An Chenru before this show, but I really didn’t expect him to be this useless!】
【Seriously. His shooting skills couldn’t compare to Su Zhi’s, he screamed the loudest on the roller coaster and the giant pendulum, and even in the haunted house, he caused the battle royale mode by yanking off the ghost bride’s veil. A textbook burden!】
【What’s even funnier is that his fans are still attacking Su Zhi for not saving him. Please. Forget how far away she was at the time, but wasn’t your idol the slowest runner, and that’s why he got caught?】
……
When An Chenru’s fans saw those comments, they nearly ground their teeth to dust.
Trying to distract themselves, they looked back at the livestream, only to see something that made them even angrier.
By now, Su Zhi had successfully led Jiang Guxue and the other two out through the haunted house passage.
As the four of them exited, they simultaneously heard the production team’s broadcast.
“Congratulations to guests Su Zhi, Jiang Guxue, Cheng Feiran, and Du Weihan for clearing the haunted house’s Battle Royale mode. Each of you has earned 100 Heartbeat Coins!”
In stark contrast to Su Zhi’s group were the guests waiting outside the haunted house.
Not long after Su Zhiyan had been eliminated, Bai Ye and Shen Aofu had also been caught by NPCs emerging from the secret passage.
At that moment, Shen Aofu was angrily comforting Su Zhiyan, whose eyes were slightly red.
Bai Ye stood beside Su Zhiyan, watching her with a worried and attentive gaze.
Standing apart from the trio was An Chenru, the first to be eliminated.
An Chenru’s expression did not look good, but in front of the livestream cameras, he still forced a smile.
That smile stiffened the moment he saw Su Zhi.
Su Zhi seemed not to notice his discomfort and deliberately walked over to ‘comfort’ him.
“Brother Chen, are you okay? Don’t worry. Even though your Heartbeat Coins were cleared, I’ll definitely help you earn them back.”
An Chenru’s already tattered heart felt as though it had been stabbed again.
Seeing Su Zhi sprinkle salt on An Chenru’s wounds, 007 gained an even deeper understanding of how untouchable its host was.
Especially when it recalled how Su Zhi had deliberately tripped An Chenru in the haunted house, making him unveil the ghost bride and trigger the battle royale mode— causing him to be cursed by other guests’ fans while she reaped popularity— 007 clearly recognized her black-lotus[1]a person who is openly or covertly ruthless, strategic, and calculating, but highly competent and self-aware jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1629688_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1629688_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); nature.
At this point, An Chenru still had not seen Su Zhi’s true face. He was busy calculating how to salvage his popularity.
Even a fool knew that his performance in the haunted house had been disastrous and cost him fans.
So during the time after his elimination, he had been repeatedly pondering how to restore his image.
Soon, he came up with a solution— manufacture a CP.
In the entertainment industry, forming CPs was often the easiest way to gain buzz and popularity. The less popular side could even siphon off benefits from the more popular one.
If he formed a CP with Su Zhi, not only could he easily complete the task Su Chengyu had assigned him, but he could also absorb some of Su Zhi’s popularity. Why not?
Yet the moment he thought of that inexplicable prickling sensation around Su Zhi, his restless urge subsided again.
Just as An Chenru was caught in a dilemma, Su Zhi’s voice sounded beside his ear.
“Brother Chen, to earn Heartbeat Coins faster, I’m willing to go bungee jumping and ride the drop tower with you. Let’s head out now.”
An Chenru: What???
……
Meanwhile, Su Zhiyan was fully immersed in grinding Bai Ye’s favorability points.
At that moment, tears glistened at the corners of her eyes, making her look even more delicate and pitiful. Coupled with the system’s suggested methods, Bai Ye’s favorability for her rose to 40% within the next hour.
Su Zhiyan was very satisfied with this progress. As for Su Zhi, she did not take her seriously at all.
……
As the three-hour amusement park tour stipulated by the program came to an end, all the guests were physically and mentally exhausted.
Among the eight guests, the most miserable was An Chenru.
His eyes were filled with confusion, and his once meticulously styled hair was now a mess.
After the drop tower and bungee jumping, An Chenru felt as though his soul had already left his body.
At that moment, the director of 《Lover’s Trap》 appeared once more.
When he showed up in front of the eight guests, he successfully drew quite a few resentful looks.
The director cleared his throat and said to the guests, “We’re now on our way to the Heartbeat House. Before moving in, I believe you’ve already guessed the purpose of Heartbeat Coins, right? That’s correct, Heartbeat Coins are the circulating currency you can use during your stay in the Heartbeat House. The more Heartbeat Coins you have, the greater your privileges there.”
As he spoke, the director deliberately glanced at Su Zhi, only to see her sitting there, counting her Heartbeat Coins.
The corner of his mouth twitched, and he immediately looked away.
For the guests whose Heartbeat Coins had been cleared in the haunted house, those words were nothing short of a thunderbolt on a clear day.
Especially to Su Zhiyan. After her Heartbeat Coins were wiped out, she had focused solely on grinding Bai Ye’s favorability, leaving her Heartbeat Coin count stuck at zero.
Midway through, Shen Aofu had deliberately gone to play other attractions to avoid being a third wheel.
Bai Ye, wanting to cheer Su Zhiyan up, had won 30 Heartbeat Coins and a plush toy through a shooting game.
As a result, Su Zhiyan ended up— by this roundabout route— ranking dead last among the eight guests in terms of Heartbeat Coins.
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