Chapter 2: The Top Player—Ten Carnivals in One Breath
He Yu took a deep breath. Since he was here, he might as well see what kind of trick was hidden inside.
“Activate!”
The thought remained unspoken, merely flashing through his consciousness.
*Ding!*
A crisp sound, unlike anything from the mortal world, exploded inside He Yu’s skull.
“Congratulations, host! You have acquired the advanced skill—‘Streaming King’!”
“Skill effect: Significantly increases fan cohesion and trust. The host’s words gain extraordinary influence, making it easier to evoke emotional resonance from the audience.”
In the next moment, a warm current arose from nowhere—not from any part of his body, but from the deepest depths of every cell and bone—bursting outward all at once!
That warmth washed through his limbs and marrow, dispelling the chill and exhaustion that had nested deep in his bones for days.
His mind cleared like never before.
The despair brought by failing the college entrance exam, the confusion about the future, the suffocating pressure of reality—all were swept away by this surge of power, like ice meeting lava, instantly evaporating without a trace.
In their place bloomed a confidence bordering on arrogance.
As if he was born to stand at the center of this stage, to be the focus of countless eyes.
He Yu’s chest instinctively straightened, his jaw tightened slightly, and in just three seconds, his entire demeanor transformed utterly.
He lifted his eyes and refocused on the computer screen.
The live chat continued scrolling, the comforting words now taking on a different tone in his eyes.
They were sympathy, pity.
A condescending, routine consolation offered to a failure.
A thought struck him like lightning piercing through storm clouds, wildly forming in his mind.
The system had given him a mission and a skill.
So why not… go all in?
With the blessing of the “Streaming King” skill, he could even feel his vocal cords trembling slightly, his resonating chamber adjusting to a perfect angle.
He leaned closer to the microphone.
“Brothers, thank you all for your comfort.”
At the moment his voice emerged, even He Yu was taken aback.
It was not the timid, slightly hoarse voice he once had.
This voice was clear and steady, with a magnetic quality that compelled listeners to fall silent and pay attention.
The scrolling messages visibly thinned for a moment.
“I’ve been thinking a lot just now.”
His pace was steady; each word was enunciated clearly and forcefully, filled with sincerity.
“We students of Nanhe Province have been running alongside every year, facing disappointment year after year. Are we just supposed to accept this fate?”
That sentence pierced the hearts of every local viewer in the live chat like a needle.
“No!”
“I refuse to accept it!”
He Yu’s voice suddenly rose, no longer calm narration but a roar suppressed for too long! That resentment, that fury, surged through the wires, shattered the screens, and struck every heart with brutal force!
“Just now, I made a decision!”
His voice brimmed with a resolute determination, as if burning bridges behind him.
“I will build a university—a top-tier university belonging solely to Nanhe Province!”
“It will be called ‘Longhai University’!”
A thunderclap!
The moment these words left his mouth, the entire live chat fell into a strange, eerie silence.
Time seemed to freeze; the endless flood of messages stopped completely for the first time.
One second.
Two seconds.
Then three seconds later, an eruption—a tidal wave of reactions!
“???????”
A wall of question marks flooded the screen, as if everyone’s brains had crashed simultaneously.
“Are you okay, streamer? Have you lost your mind?”
“Bro, I get that failing the exam hurts, but you’re not crazy, right? Should I call an ambulance for you?”
“Build a university? Why not say you’re going to handcraft a lithography machine? Wake up, it’s not even dark yet and you’re already dreaming!”
“I declare the top spot on today’s ‘magical moments’ list! A failed college entrance exam streamer wants to build a university during a live broadcast!”
“Everyone disperse, the streamer has completely lost his mind. Confirmed. You might as well believe I’m Qin Shi Huang and send me 50 coins to hear the secret of immortality—that’s more believable than this.”
Mockery.
Doubt.
Ridicule.
A torrent of negative emotions converged into a flood of words, nearly drowning the tiny “Xiaoyu’s World” live room.
Everyone assumed this pitiful young man had been crushed beneath the weight of the college entrance exam and had finally snapped.
He Yu watched all this expressionlessly.
The “Streaming King” skill granted him extraordinary emotional control; none of the mockery wavered him in the slightest.
He was simply waiting.
Waiting for a moment, a trigger to ignite all the emotions.
Then, at that very moment—
Amid the flood of scorn and disdain—
A dazzling, domineering golden light suddenly tore through the entire live screen without warning!
The light was so fierce, as if a tiny sun exploded at the center of the screen, instantly devouring all the grayish messages!
Everyone squinted against the sudden glare.
Immediately after, a giant gift icon made of pure golden effects—the Carnival—smashed down with the platform’s deafening exclusive sound effect!
One!
Two!
Three!
…
The special effects came one after another without pause, like an endless saturated bombardment!
At the bottom of the screen, system notifications popped up frantically!
“Nanhe Old Zhang sent Carnival x1 in ‘Xiaoyu’s World’ live room!”
“Nanhe Old Zhang sent Carnival x2 in ‘Xiaoyu’s World’ live room!”
…
“Nanhe Old Zhang sent Carnival x10 in ‘Xiaoyu’s World’ live room!”
Ten of them!
A full ten Carnivals!
The platform’s highest-tier gift, each worth three thousand yuan!
Ten of them meant thirty thousand yuan!
For a small streamer with only a few thousand fans, this sum was astronomical!
Everyone in the live room, whether typing ridicule or about to exit, froze their fingers on the keyboard and mouse.
The chat stalled again.
This time, the silence was not confusion but pure, overwhelming shock!
Then, a golden message of the highest display priority, rendered by the system, slowly and majestically sailed across the top of the screen like an imperial cruiser.
Every word was etched clearly into everyone’s retinas.
“Nanhe Old Zhang: ‘I’m from Nanhe too. I missed the vocational college by three points back then and now I’m in business. Your idea is crazy, but I support it! So that no Nanhe student has regrets anymore!’”
At that moment, time seemed to freeze.
All the voices of mockery, all the words of doubt, were crushed and vanished under the weight of this golden message.
He Yu stared at the slowly drifting golden text, then glanced down at the fifteen thousand yuan commission instantly credited in the live room backend from the thirty thousand yuan gift.
Without warning, his eyes grew moist once more.
The emotions suppressed by the “Streaming King” skill now surged up as an even fiercer wave, rushing straight to his nose.
He knew this thirty thousand yuan was no impulsive spending.
This was no wealthy patron’s casual gift.
This was the deepest, most fervent hope from a predecessor who had lived through regrets and dissatisfaction himself—a sincere wish extended to all those struggling in the same mire.