Chapter 144: The Girl Who Wishes Upon the Stars

[System detected that the host successfully established the Demon Sect, with followers spreading across every corner of the land. Over one hundred hall masters recruited, more than a thousand ship masters enlisted, and tens of thousands of disciples gathered.]

[As the sect leader, the host’s disciples are everywhere—in every province and prefecture. The imperial court and the Demon Suppression Office find themselves powerless against the rapidly growing demonic forces led by the host and hereby award 5,000 points.]

[The host currently has 1,333 points remaining! The host may now accept newly issued missions; the card pool and danger perception functions are reopened.]

[The host no longer needs to worry about being forcibly disconnected from this system…]

Is it you who no longer needs to worry, huh?

Good heavens, this single livestream completely wiped out my negative points, didn’t it?

The system’s effort is clear as day.

Since the system is working so hard, does that mean I can finally just relax from now on?

According to the system’s info panel, those titles—hall master, ship master, disciple—are based on the amount of tips received.

Sister Lian helped out by setting titles on platforms that allow it, following Zhang Wuyong’s suggestion: those tipping over 1,000 units become hall masters; those tipping over 100 are ship masters; anyone who tips at all, whether one unit or a free virtual flower from the site, is counted as a disciple.

Those free little flowers don’t earn the streamer a single cent. Other streamers might ignore them, but Zhang Wuyong specifically encouraged everyone during the livestream to “spend less, just click those free flowers.”

Looking now, with over ten thousand disciples, it seems that tactic truly worked.

Sister Lian agrees, saying it gives those less financially able a sense of participation.

Furthermore, near the end, Honglian’s little sisters disguised themselves as locals from various provinces and set up “Local Support Clubs for Sect Leader Brother” everywhere.

They asked the joining girls to post screenshots of their backing, and based on their tipping amounts, labeled them with [Hall Master] or [Ship Master] in front of their names.

Those girls were delighted, having earned the sect leader brother’s loyalty. And the sect leader brother could only reluctantly accept the small earnings.

Judging by the data, the livestream peak really drew in twenty to thirty thousand viewers?

Wow!

Zhang Wuyong occasionally visits the streams of game broadcasters.

He often sees entire rooms with a few hundred or just a few dozen viewers.

After a hard month, they might earn three to five thousand units.

It made him think streaming was tough!

Everyone was starting to pack up, preparing to go out for dinner.

Along the way, Zhang Wuyong noticed the system’s task bar suddenly flashing a new mission.

[Host's points are positive! This system, having confirmed no bugs within itself, has once again scanned this world and detected that on June 23, an unknown error may have caused partial overlap between the two dimensional spaces.]

[This anomaly is perceived as a heavy blow from the host’s original world, possibly related to the major abnormality on June 23.]

[Special mission issued: Host must quickly accumulate more points. Upon reaching 10,000 points, the host may redeem the system’s tearful clearance item, the ‘Demonic Heart Bodhi Tree,’ to correct the major anomaly that occurred on the night of June 23.]

Zhang Wuyong really wanted to roll his eyes.

He basically understood now.

Back then, he had punched the system.

Without crossing worlds, he was naturally in the “original world,”

But the system thought he and itself were in the “other world.”

Hence, the system perceived a heavy spatial-temporal blow coming from the “original world.”

As for now, the system must have sensed something was off.

But instead of checking itself, it assumed a major world anomaly had occurred.

June 23 was the day of the college entrance exam results.

Wasn’t that night’s anomaly just the comet orbiting Earth?

Normally, the system would issue a mission, he’d complete it to earn points, then exchange for random cards and rewards.

But now, they want me to use my points to buy this Demonic Heart Bodhi Tree to clean up their mess?

Still, since Zhang Wuyong himself wanted to fix that “comet,” he reluctantly accepted.

…

Lujing City, located in a neighboring province, was an economically significant city far surpassing the provincial capital.

A slender, frail girl sat in a wheelchair.

The night was not deep yet; outside the villa, though the sea breeze rolled in, it was a summer night and not cold.

She wore a pure white dress, her legs covered by a thick blanket.

On the blanket rested a small, white Apple laptop.

Her skin was as white as winter snow.

As the livestream ended, her bright gaze slowly faded back to its usual dullness.

The slender yet beautiful girl lifted her head.

Delicate as a porcelain doll in a display case, pure and flawless… yet fragile to the touch.

Before her was a high wall, beyond which lay the sea.

She could hear the sound of waves.

She could smell the faint salty scent carried by the sea air.

But she hadn’t left the high walls or seen the sea for over half a month.

Ever since that night.

The night she quietly left the villa and saw the strange star.

…

When her parents came looking for her,

Her hands gripped the wheelchair’s wheels.

Ahead was a steep slope, below it the roaring sea.

That night, the sea wind was strong.

She lifted her head, watching the distant strange star dragging a dark red tail.

When her parents rushed over, grabbed her wheelchair, held her, and begged her to calm down,

Tears streamed down her face.

The girl named Xia Zinan lowered her head and closed the Apple laptop resting on her lap.

She had really enjoyed that livestream just now.

Though this world held no magic, under that “Demon Sect Leader's” hands, magic seemed real.

Xia Zinan hadn’t watched much magic before.

Because she found it hard to believe in miracles; when all comfort was a lie, no matter how brilliant the magic, she told herself from the start it was fake.

But just now, that person, with extraordinary charisma and absolute confidence, led her into those mysterious realms.

His deep, enigmatic gaze seemed to look right at her, telling her that if she dared to believe, magic truly existed.

Now, the show was over and the crowd had dispersed.

That incredible magic still lingered in her eyes.

Xia Zinan glanced back and saw the nanny still standing guard in a distant corner.

Since she ran away one midnight last month, her parents had feared she might do something foolish again.

But she wouldn’t.

Xia Zinan pushed her wheelchair and turned back into the villa.

Just before entering, she looked up again at the star-studded night sky.

Because that night, she had made a wish upon the mysterious star streaking across the sky.

She dared not ask for too much, fearing that if she demanded too much, even that mysterious star with its red comet tail would ignore her.

So she made a small wish.

She wanted… to live past eighteen.