When Ming Po woke up, he found he couldn't control his body.

Or rather, he was trapped inside someone else's, half-awake, watching the owner discuss something with his companions.

One of them had the face of Ai Shiping, while the other was a complete stranger to Ming Po.

However, this "Ai Shiping's" tone, demeanor, and dialect were completely different from the Ai Shiping in Ming Po's memory.

So that's how it is.

Ming Po realized instantly.

This instance actually has an introductory phase?

"How should I put it, brothers..."

"Ai Shiping" sighed. "We've been banned for three months! Three whole months! When we finally return to streaming, shouldn't we pull off something seriously crazy?"

Ming Po heard himself speaking in a slightly disgusted tone. "If you're out of ideas, just go bite a lighter! Over two thousand reports in a single stream—even Brother Liu couldn't smooth it over. We almost got banned for half a year. Are we supposed to live on thin air if we can't stream?"

"What else can we do? Other people do crazy stunts, so we have to be meaner and wilder. Otherwise, who's going to watch our stream?"

"Ai Shiping" waved his hand. "Alright, what's done is done, brothers. I already have a plan—remember that resort on the east side of the city? Think exploring that place will get us views?"

"That abandoned resort?"

"Ming Po" asked, sounding both shocked and wary. "I heard over a dozen people died there!"

"Oh, come on, bro! You actually believe that? Don't joke with me, man. There are no ghosts in this world!"

"Ai Shiping" laughed out loud, speaking with a boisterousness that completely contradicted his usual temperament. "If that many people really died, wouldn't the authorities have sealed it off long ago? They'd just bring in a massive bulldozer and flatten the whole place. I don't care if it's haunted by ghosts or zombies—even if it's infested with landmines, leveling it flat solves everything!

"I heard that back in the day, a military base was haunted, so they just hauled a cannon over, fired a few rounds, and the place went completely quiet. Gunpowder wards off evil!"

As he spoke, he patted the third person who had remained silent the entire time. "Besides, didn't I also hire a master?

"This is the best master from our village, the sole heir to old Master Guo's lineage. Even if there really is some dirty entity, it won't be able to touch us."

That person merely kept his hands tucked inside his sleeves, nodding with the calm detachment of an old monk. He didn't even raise his eyes to look at "Ming Po."

"How can you be so materialistic and superstitious at the same time?"

"Ming Po" listened to his own muttered, exasperated voice. "On one hand, you say there are no ghosts, but on the other, you hire a master. Do you actually believe or not?"

"I believe in myself, I believe in my old man, and I believe that cold hard cash is the most practical thing!"

"Ai Shiping's" voice grew louder, clearly very excited. "We still have a month—let's prepare properly!

"I'll draft a script and get some props. I'll have Xiao Li and his team go in first to set up the special effects, and then you'll follow me with the camera.

"I feel like this might actually be an opportunity. A blessing in disguise, brother. I don't think those stunt streams we did before are sustainable. One day, we'll run out of stunts—and we can't touch the truly extreme ones. Look at what happened; one extreme stunt and our channel got wiped out. What will we do then?

"If this works, we can replicate it! It's just finding places with scary rumors, getting someone to write a script, and then we go in, wail in terror, make fools of ourselves, and give the audience a thrill. I know a guy who writes tomb-raiding novels. His sales are trash, but his writing is solid. We'll buy some scripts from him and make it as terrifying as possible.

"If anyone reports us, we'll just say it's a scripted performance! When the time comes, we'll be living the good life!"

"Sure. Anything works for me. Filming is filming. If all else fails, I'll go back to shooting private boudoir photos."

"Ming Po" seemed rather indifferent. "But remember to give me the script in advance. I need to review it, otherwise I won't know what to film. It wouldn't be good if I miss the money shots."

"Hey now,"

"Ai Shiping" made a disapproving sound and patted Ming Po. "How do you still not get it, brother? The whole point is that Ican't give you the script.

"You play games, right? Ever used a wallhack? You know that if you have a wallhack on, your crosshairs will subconsciously drift in that direction? Even when you shouldn't have any info, you still peek. One look at your POV and everyone knows you're hacking.

"Same logic here—you aren't a professional actor. If I give you the script, you'll swing the camera over before the anomaly even triggers. What then?"

"Because if I don't know what's coming, I definitely won't capture it all. If my shots are incomplete, the audience won't understand what's happening."

"Ming Po" argued. "What if I can't react in time?"

"Oh, the whole point is for you to fail to react in time! It's best if it catches you completely off guard and makes you scream!"

"Ai Shiping" said with a beaming smile, "That's what makes it feel real!"

Even though he knew this wasn't the real Ai Shiping right now, that smile was just too familiar and incredibly punchable. Ming Po's hands itched with the intense urge to hit him.

"Then you'd better act well yourself."

"Ming Po" retorted harshly. "Don't pull any more garbage stunts!"

"Don't worry, even I don't know the exact details of the script. I just got a general overview so I know when to run. Can't run too early and waste the setups, but can't run too late and wander around until the atmosphere goes cold either. In short, just trust my on-the-spot reactions and crowd control!"

"Ai Shiping" waved his hand. "We're going for absolute authenticity!"

As his words faded, the vision before Ming Po's eyes began to blur.

Like a monitor with a poor signal, it hitched and distorted violently.

Blood-red text materialized over it—

[Adventure: Horror Livestream]

[Multiplayer Game, Restricted Faction: Slaughter, No Intruders]

[Difficulty: 5-10 Days]

[Roleplay is mandatory in this game. Any action exceeding the reasonable bounds of your character may lead to mortal danger.]

[This game takes place in a special world-view: Phantom Specter (Already Resolved)]

[An extra quest exists in this game. Completing the extra quest can increase the final evaluation.]

[Current identity is a long-term usable identity.]

[If the current identity is preserved, it can be used the next time you enter this world-view.]

[Next Exit Node: Complete the Horror Livestream]

[Extra Quest: Earn at least three thousand positive ratings during this livestream.]

[Current Positive Ratings: 0]

Following a bout of intense dizziness, the world before Ming Po's eyes was churned into a chaotic mess.

It felt like a melting milkshake, or the aftermath of spinning in circles dozens of times with his nose pinched.

That was a dream, and he had awakened.

At this moment, Ming Po finally realized—

He was carsick.

When Ming Po woke up, he was sitting in the passenger seat of a car.

A violent churning and nausea surged in his stomach. His face was burning hot, while his fingertips felt icy cold. Ming Po could even feel waves of numbness aching in the roots of his teeth.

Ming Po, of course, did not normally get carsick.

His physical fitness was exceptional—he didn't even get motion sickness in helicopters.

To Ming Po, this was an extremely rare experience.

As he unbuckled his seatbelt, Ming Po felt an overwhelming sense of urgency for the first time in his life. When he finally opened the door and stepped out, his footsteps were stumbling and unstable.

Because he had absolutely zero experience with motion sickness and was utterly unfamiliar with this intense vertigo, he didn't have the foresight to take small, careful steps.

As a result, taking a normal stride forward onto the unpaved dirt road caused him to nearly sprain his ankle and take a nasty spill.

Right at that moment, someone caught Ming Po with a firm grip.

That familiar, teasing voice drifted into his ears. "Whoa, are you alright? Why are you trying to bow down and worship me the moment you get out of the car?"