The emails were all more or less the same, filled with nothing but profanity and abuse.

They furiously flamed him, calling him a scumbag and a creep, and even threw in some "cordial greetings" for his family.

It was only then that Lin Ye belatedly realized.

His opponent in the final match, it seemed, was a celebrity with a massive fanbase.

These must be what they call "rabid fans."

Lin Ye couldn’t even be bothered to get angry at this kind of cyberbullying.

With a blank expression, he selected "delete all" and then, without a second thought, went into his system settings and checked the box for "Do not accept emails from strangers."

The world, in an instant, fell quiet.

Having done all that, he logged out of the virtual battle system.

...

Night fell, and the city lights began to glow.

In Yanjing City, at a high-end restaurant called Jingshui Pavilion.

The restaurant was nestled deep within a quiet alley in the heart of the city. Its quaint, traditional courtyard design completely sealed it off from the urban clamor.

Inside a private room, a round red sandalwood table was laden with several exquisite dishes that looked like works of art.

A server in a modern-style cheongsam moved with gentle grace.

After silently refilling their tea, she bowed and retreated, leaving the guests to their privacy.

Dong Dongchen, dressed in a casual suit, wore an expression of unconcealable excitement and satisfaction.

He personally picked up a bottle of expensive wine and poured a glass for the young man sitting across from him.

"Come on, come on, Mr. Long. Do me the honor. Try this Azure Sea, Rising Tide I ordered especially for you."

The young man sitting across from him was named Long Bohan.

He was handsome with a calm, steady demeanor, yet completely unpretentious. He simply smiled and waved his hand at the remark.

"Alright, Dongchen, cut it out. It’s just us here."

"So what was so urgent that you had to drag me out here today? You know I’ve been completely swamped lately."

Dong Dongchen chuckled, pushing the wine glass toward him with a teasing tone.

"Yes, yes, our Mr. Long is a man of great importance, about to be promoted to Hall Master of the Xinhuo Yanjing Sub-Palace. I have to start currying favor early, don’t I?"

Long Bohan took a sip of wine and replied with a playful scoff, "Spit it out. Pull this act on me again and I’m really leaving."

The two had been practically joined at the hip since childhood, and their families were also intricately connected and very close.

Long Bohan’s father was a Commissioner at the headquarters of the Firewood Martial Hall.

Following in his father’s footsteps, he had already become an Officer at the Yanjing Sub-Palace at a young age, with a boundless future ahead of him.

Seeing his friend’s patience wearing thin, Dong Dongchen stopped beating around the bush. He leaned forward slightly, his expression turning serious. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"All right, no more joking. Let’s get down to business."

"Bo Han, as an Officer, isn’t one of your duties to scout and sign promising newcomers for the Martial Hall?"

"Let me tell you, I’ve found a true dragon!"

At this, Long Bohan raised an eyebrow.

He knew his childhood friend all too well. Though he was usually a slacker...

...when it came to discovering new talent, his eye was incredibly sharp.

He put down his teacup, a playful smile touching his lips. "Alright, show me what you’ve got. If this person is as amazing as you say, this meal’s on me."

"You said it!"

Dong Dongchen immediately opened his personal terminal and sent Long Bohan a link to a video.

It was the very same analysis video he had spent the entire afternoon pouring his heart and soul into.

Long Bohan clicked the link. Seeing the video page that had just loaded, he couldn’t help but scoff.

"How have you not even broken ten thousand views? Are your hundreds of thousands of followers all bots?"

Dong Dongchen froze.

The smug look on his face instantly vanished.

He pulled up his channel’s analytics, and sure enough, the data was so dismal it was disheartening.

It was probably because the video was a full forty-five minutes long.

In an era dominated by short-form content, the platform wouldn’t give any traffic recommendations to a video that long.

"Damn it, all my hard work this afternoon was for nothing..."

Dong Dongchen cursed in frustration.

He had watched the final cut no less than ten times. The script, the voice-over, the editing pace—everything was perfect. It was the piece of work he was most proud of in his entire career.

He’d thought it would be his ticket to overnight fame, that he’d gain a huge wave of new followers, but reality had been harsh.

Long Bohan didn’t tease his friend any further.

He projected the video onto the massive high-definition screen on the wall of the private room.

They started to watch as they ate.

The video began.

Long Bohan had just picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks, about to bring it to his mouth.

The next second, his hand froze in midair.

Seeing this, Dong Dongchen broke into a mischievous grin, as if his plan had succeeded.

It was as if he were saying, ’I knew you’d be surprised.’

Long Bohan slowly lowered his chopsticks, picked up the remote, and hit pause.

The image on the massive screen froze.

Dong Dongchen understood the principle of making a powerful first impression.

Instead of opening with any fight footage, he had started the video by throwing Lin Ye’s outrageous combat record right in the viewer’s face in the most impactful way possible.

[ID: Goblin Soldiers]

[Total Matches: 124]

[Win Rate: 98.38%]

[Max Win Streak: 122]

At the same time, page after page of a seemingly endless, densely packed match history filled the entire screen.

Long Bohan’s gaze sharpened.

His eyes immediately locked onto the top two lines of the match history.

[VS Cheng Shanhe (Rank 6776) — Victory!]

[VS Thousand Feather Illusion Spirit (Rank 5978) — Victory!]

"He just joined the New Star Sequence... Are these his two placement matches?"

Long Bohan’s voice held a barely perceptible trace of excitement.