Chapter 1: Box Spirit

Recently, Liang Chen has been incredibly unlucky. She has hit a creative bottleneck in her music career, and to make matters worse, she had been cheated on by her boyfriend.

What's even worse is that she found out about the cheating scandal from her fans.

On that day, she was doing a live broadcast and interacting with fans as per the company's requirements. They were chatting happily when suddenly, the barrage of comments on the screen all turned into 【Chen Chen, your boyfriend is cheating on you!】, 【Why are you still broadcasting when your boyfriend is cheating?】, 【Hurry up and check, your boyfriend is cheating on you!!】

Liang Chen thought the fans were just playing a prank and chuckled, not knowing what to say.

In the end, it was her manager, Liu Yiqing, who rushed in and broke the news in panic.

As it turned out, just five minutes ago, several paparazzi accounts simultaneously leaked photos of Liang Chen's boyfriend Yue Yuxun and the popular actress Meng Lanzhi staying together in a hotel room.

Although the two were wrapped up like dumplings, the watch, the earrings, and Meng Lanzhi's tempting figure that was inadvertently revealed; all of that amounted to writing their names on their faces.

The whole internet exploded, but Liang Chen was still in a daze.

Her boyfriend cheated on her, and she found that out from her fans?

While Liu Yiqing was frantically making phone calls to ease the situation, Liang Chen sat on the couch in a daze.

What kind of situation was this?

However, now that she thought about it, the last time she had contact with Yue Yuxun was indeed five days ago.

There was no couple that could claim everything was fine after not contacting each other for five days. Liang Chen knew that her short relationship with Yue Yuxun had problems, but she didn't expect it to end like this.

While Liu Yiqing was making phone calls, Liang Chen planned to call Yue Yuxun.

However, Yue Yuxun's call came in first.

He sounded flustered and urgent; Liang Chen could imagine how helpless he was on the other end of the phone. "Chen Chen, let me explain..."

"Oh." Liang Chen said, "Then explain..."

"I..." Yue Yuxun was at a loss for words when Liang Chen agreed so readily.

The company was urging him, so he mustered up his courage and said, "Chen Chen, can you issue a statement saying that we have broken up? I can't handle this news right now..."

Liang Chen: ???

They say shameless people can even make ghosts scared.

Too scary, too scary.

Fortunately, while she was feeling down about her love life, her financial situation was looking up.

On the third day after the incident, she received an invitation from Boyuan Technology Co., Ltd.

A contract worth a million dollars.

Why did Boyuan Technology Co., Ltd. approach Liang Chen? It all started three months ago.

One day, a popular streamer of the game 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' played a solo match and got 20 kills. After the game, the streamer played a song called 'Against the Wind' by Liang Chen to all the players he had killed.

This song was from Liang Chen's album that was released earlier this year. The song itself was not very popular at the time and was mostly unknown to the public, except for Liang Chen's fans. However, since the streamer used this song to mock his opponents three months ago, the song instantly became popular and has been topping the charts of major music websites for two months.

The reason for the song's sudden rise to fame is related to the game mode of 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'. The game is somewhat similar to the movies 'The Hunger Games' and 'Battle Royale'. The rules are simple: 100 players are flown to a game map on a plane and can choose to jump out wherever they want. However, a safe zone is randomly selected, and anyone outside the zone will be killed by the radiation that the game system emits.

The goal of the players is to collect equipment, kill others, stay inside the safe zone, and eliminate all other players except for themselves. When a player is killed, a wooden box appears next to their body containing all the weapons, equipment, and items they have collected. Other players can take the items in the box.

This is why players call those who are killed early in the game 'airdrops' - meaning that their bodies and equipment drop to the ground in a box. Due to this 'box' mechanism, players refer to those who are killed as 'delivery men'. If you die very quickly in the game, then congratulations, you are at least 'SF Express'¹a popular Chinese delivery service in the game.

In terms of speed, there is no courier company that can match SF Express. Liang Chen's song not only has a name that sounds like 'SF Express' but also has lyrics that fit the game situation very well:

I came to your side following the direction of the wind; you held a love revolver and shot my heart.

Hey, isn't this everyone's favorite phrase in the game?

So Liang Chen's song 'Against the Wind' became popular.

Before the players of 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' go into battle, they first play 'Against the Wind' song on the Spawn Island, where matched players spawn before boarding the plane.

When you kill someone, play the song for the player who was killed.

When you die, play the song for yourself.

In the live broadcast of the game, once the streamer dies, the comments barrage is filled with 【Play the song 'Against the Wind', thank you.】

When the opponent dies, the comments barrage is filled with 【666, play the song 'Against the Wind' for the opponent!】

In addition, during the competition, using 'Against the Wind' to jinx the opponent is even more effective than using Hsiao Ching-Teng's 'Pray for Rain'.

In this gaming community, you may not know who Andy Lau is, but you cannot not know Liang Chen.

You may not be able to sing 'Farewell Kiss', but if you can't sing 'Against the Wind': 【I'm sorry, you are not worthy of playing games with me.】

In short, 'Against the Wind' is great!

This matter originally had little to do with Liang Chen, because she was already a popular singer with high popularity among the public and did not need to ride the wave of popularity. She had never played any games except Miracle Nikki.

The problem was that a new rising Mouse Livestreaming platform in China invited her to be its spokesperson and asked her to live stream games for two hours next month.

The Mouse Livestreaming platform was impressed by Liang Chen's high popularity in 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' and hoped to leverage her fame to increase traffic and user stickiness, so they offered a large sum of money.

But Liang Chen has been a hot female singer for six years and has won numerous awards. Would she care about the seven-figure remuneration?

Yes, she would.

So Liang Chen reluctantly accepted this endorsement.

But Liang Chen didn't have any major flaws, except that she was obsessed with saving face.

If she were to deliver packages²Referring to SF Express term that was mentioned and explained above. Meaning, if she dies in the game, that would mean she is 'SF Express', the fastest delivery service in China to deliver packages. in front of everyone next month, how would she face her fans who constantly call her 'Goddess' on Weibo?

So she turned to her good friend Sun Binyu to teach her how to play PUBG³I'll be referring 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' as PUBG from here onwards, for convenience sake..

Sun Binyu is a stage actor who occasionally acts in movies. Although he isn't very famous, he rushes to rehearsals like an office worker every day and plays games after work, living a carefree life.

Anyway, he's a single man in his thirties who can eat his fill without worrying about his family.

Three years ago, he played the male lead in one of Liang Chen's music videos, and the two became good friends.

However, this is what it's like when Sun Binyu and Liang Chen play games together on a daily basis:

"Liang Chen, let's jump to R City later. I marked it for you, so we can jump there."

"Okay."

"Oh my god, why did you jump now? This is the school!"

"Hmm?"

"Forget it, let's just stick with school. Okay, you can open your parachute now... Oh my god! When did you open your parachute?!"

"When I jumped out of the plane."

"Why did you open it so early?"

"If you don't open your parachute when you jump, is it still called skydiving?"

"Fine, just go with the flow wherever you land."

"I've landed. I'm going to loot the red house first... Oh my god?! How did you die?!"

"..."

"Say something!"

"I haven't landed yet."

"Then how did you die?"

"Two people below shot me and I died."

"..."

Sun Binyu lit a cigarette and quickly picked up his equipment while saying, "Others land and turn into loot boxes, but you're amazing; you just fly in the air and become a bird for people to shoot at you. Really, impressive."

Liang Chen: "What should I do now?"

Sun Binyu: "First, minimize the game."

Liang Chen: "Okay."

Sun Binyu: "Then, open the music player."

Liang Chen: "What kind of operation is this?"

Sun Binyu: "Don't worry about it, just listen to me."

Liang Chen: "Okay, what's next?"

Sun Binyu: "In the search bar, search for Liang Chen."

Liang Chen: "?"

Sun Binyu: "See it? The hottest song by Liang Chen, 'Against the Wind', is for you."

Liang Chen: "...Screw you!"

Finally, this master-apprentice relationship came to an end after five days.

Sun Binyu couldn't handle being tortured by Liang Chen's game antics every night.

You're busy licking your wounds, but your teammate is busy searching for clothing styles to create the perfect look. Can you tolerate it?

You tell your teammate not to wear shoes because the sound of walking can be heard by enemies, but she asks if it will hurt her feet not to wear shoes. Can you tolerate it?

And tonight, your teammate opened her parachute too early, causing her to descend very slowly. Other players had already picked up guns and ammunition, and when they looked up, they saw a delivery falling from the sky. What to do? Shoot it!

So you just watched helplessly as your teammate was shot down like a bird, how can you not feel frustrated?

So, Sun Binyu lit another cigarette and said, "Liang Chen, I can't play games with you tomorrow."

Liang Chen asked, "Why?"

Sun Binyu said, "I have to film."

Liang Chen chuckled, "But I thought you turned down those kinds of films that don't make money and require you to suffer in Kekexili."

"For the sake of art," Sun Binyu said, "I accepted it. My flight is tomorrow."

"Really?" Liang Chen asked.

"Do you want me to show you the contract?" Sun Binyu said.

"...Then what do I do?" Liang Chen asked.

Sun Binyu thought for a moment. Besides him, Liang Chen didn't have any friends who were good at playing PUBG. Even though he was leaving, he couldn't just leave Liang Chen hanging. So he said, "How about this? I have a friend who plays well, and he's pretty free. I'll ask him to play with you?"

Liang Chen asked, "Can I trust him?"

Sun Binyu said, "Would I deceive you?"

Liang Chen said, "Okay then."

Sun Binyu said, "I'll let him know."

"Wait!" Liang Chen suddenly shouted on the WeChat call, "Don't tell him that I'm Liang Chen."

"..." Sun Binyu said, "I got it."

She was once again caught up in this stubborn obsession of saving her face.

After the game ended, Sun Binyu picked up his phone and opened WeChat to find 'Herman'.

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」⁴Sun Binyu's nickname on WeChat.: Hey, little brother, can you do me a favor?

'Herman' was slow to reply to messages, but Sun Binyu was used to it and didn't wait. He went straight to Director He Jia's WeChat.

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Director He, thank you. You are truly my savior.

「He Jia」: ?

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Love you, goodnight ❤️❤️❤️

At this point, 'Herman' replied to the message.

「Herman」: What's up?

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Can you help my friend play PUBG for a month? I'm going to practice tomorrow.

「Herman」: Who?

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Just a friend, a girl, a very gentle girl.

「Herman」: Box Spirit?

"Oh my god, did you develop a third eye, Lu Jing?" Sun Binyu thought, but he didn't say it.

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Every novice has a landing box phase, but my friend is quite smart.

「Herman」: What's in it for me?

Two minutes later, Sun Binyu sent a picture to Lu Jing.

Lu Jing had just finished washing up and didn't hesitate to open it. He saw Sun Binyu's beautiful legs, with his leg hair standing tall.

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Will seduction work?

Sorry, the other party has enabled friend verification. You are not yet their friend, please send a friend verification request. After the other party verifies it, you can chat with them.

Sun Binyu: "..."

One minute later, Lu Jing accepted Sun Binyu's friend verification request.

「Herman」: Are you happy with this prank?

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Okay, okay, can you really help me out with this? Didn't you say you have no classes in your fourth year a few days ago?

「Herman」: Okay.

Sun Binyu knew it would be no problem. Although his little brother was usually cold, he was actually a very easy person to talk to and was very good to his friends.

Sun Binyu immediately went to find Liang Chen on WeChat.

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Hehe, done. My friend is a 98K master, headshots every shot, mobile sniper god, and will lead you to eat chicken dinners.

Liang Chen didn't really believe that Sun Binyu had such a friend.

「Orange」⁵Liang Chen's nickname on WeChat: Hehe.

「Popsicle, You're So Cool」: Don't believe me? You'll know if you play with him.

Sun Binyu casually sent Lu Jing's WeChat business card to Liang Chen.

Liang Chen clicked on it.

Nickname: 「The Most Cherished Male User on Dating Websites」 - Lu Jing.

Liang Chen: ???

What kind of nonsense is this??