Chapter 4 The First Victim

Lu Zhixing had always been a person of action; once he decided to do something, he would take the initiative instead of passively waiting for an opportunity.

But in the current situation, how was he supposed to take action?

Game channel resources, whether in his past life or this world, were a very rare and precious commodity. Companies that controlled these channels could almost be said to be making money while lying down, and Lu Zhixing certainly didn't possess such resources.

After pondering for a moment, he opened the video website and searched for gaming critique shows, then followed the trail to find several big YouTubers with over a million followers.

Among them was Xu Jing, who he had coincidentally encountered in the park that night.

Seeing Xu Jing's account, Lu Zhixing's heart skipped a beat, almost with a resigned determination, he clicked to open her live broadcast replay.

As expected, there was that segment from the park...

However, after going through a toe-curling bout of awkwardness, Lu Zhixing found that this little episode hadn't attracted too much attention. It had become a meme with moderate popularity only within Xu Jing's fan community and hadn't sparked any discussions beyond that circle.

Moreover, the scene at the time was quite dark and Xu Jing's phone camera didn't have particularly high resolution, so it was unlikely that anyone would recognize him as Lu Zhixing.

"That's a relief, not social death," he thought.

Lu Zhixing let out a sigh of relief and decided he must find a way to keep his distance from this streamer in the future.

It was best if they never met again in this lifetime.

After this selection process, Lu Zhixing quickly narrowed down an initial list of victims from these million-follower YouTubers.

Then, he started looking for their contact information.

YouTubers generally posted their business contact information on their main page, but obviously, Lu Zhixing didn't have the money to engage in any business collaboration with them.

He was looking for fan groups.

Before long, Lu Zhixing turned these YouTubers' profiles and posts upside down and managed to find the fan groups of three of them, joining them under the guise of a fan.

He opened the three chat windows and patiently waited for the YouTubers to appear.

Although there were many fish in the group, it was pointless to cast a net for others. He had to wait for the big fish themselves, the YouTubers, to surface and then decisively go in for the catch.

After several hours of patient waiting, from noon until evening, Lu Zhixing finally saw one of the YouTubers bubble up in one of the groups.

The YouTuber's ID was "Wandering Casanova," real name Liu Liang, affectionately called "Niu" by his fans. He had over 1.3 million followers on the Changteng video website and was quite an influential well-known gaming YouTuber.

Lu Zhixing was very pleased.

Alright, you'll be the first victim!

...

As soon as Liu Liang showed up, the group immediately became lively.

"Eh, are you starting to livestream?"

"What game will Niu play today?"

"Hurry up, I've already soaked my noodles, just waiting for your live stream to dine!"

Most YouTubers primarily make videos, with their live streams not being particularly popular, but Liu Liang seemed to be an exception. His live streams were quite popular, often breaking into the top ten in the live streaming section of the Changteng video site.

This only reinforced Lu Zhixing's notion of the perfect victim.

Wandering Casanova (Group Admin): "Not sure yet, I'll start the stream and go to the official platform to look for some new games, randomly pick a lucky game to reveal."

Now was the moment!

Lu Zhixing seized the opportunity; as the man spoke, he instantly sent the message he had prepared in the chat box.

This was to ensure the YouTuber would see it to the greatest extent.

"Niu, I highly recommend the new game 'Zen'! The game is really fun, full of philosophy, and the puzzle content is very rich. After playing it, you could easily make a video with at least a million views!"

To ensure the YouTuber saw it, the same message should ideally be sent several times. However, spamming is against the rules in most groups, and it could easily backfire, so Lu Zhixing sent it only once, then patiently waited.

Luckily, his message wasn't drowned out by the idle chatter of his fellow group members but instead successfully steered the conversation.

"Zen? Is that a game title? How come I've never heard of it before?"

"Must be an indie game, right?"

"Full of philosophy? Rich in puzzle content? What kind of game is it? Art? Escape room?"

Many in the group were intrigued.

After a while, Liu Liang spoke up: "OK, noted, I'll give it a try when I start streaming."

Not bad, quite a fan-pleasing YouTuber.

The messages that Lu Zhixing had crafted were very carefully considered; "fun" represented the game's entertainment, "full of philosophy" the game's intellectual depth, and "rich in puzzle content" likely to stimulate the YouTuber's sense of challenge.

The most important was the last part, "at least a million views on a video," which was an irresistible temptation for YouTubers!

Of course, the real situation of the game...

Let's just say that it's best not to take the word of fans in the group too seriously, or the host might learn about the dangers of deceit.

Lu Zhixing opened the live stream on his computer, waiting patiently.

Whether the game would catch fire or not hinged on this moment!

...

"Moo?"

"Guys, I'm here."

"Today we'll try out some new games, let's see, uh, first let's play the game a group member recommended, what was it called?"

"Oh right, Zen."

Liu Liang started his live stream; his voice was quite distinctive, which is an important asset for YouTubers and streamers. Besides a recognizable voice, the ability to create showmanship and a unique sense of humor are also essential.