Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Split Personality

"Xin Hua, come back with us," Han Yinglan said after wrapping up her work. She stood up, called Dai Xinhua to join her, and then pulled along Zhao Hong, who was still struggling to resist, as they left together. Zhao Hong was clearly unwilling, but facing Luo Chen’s unyielding attitude, he had no good solution. With a shake of his head and a gloomy expression, he followed them out.

With Dai Xinhua gone, Le Zhengling no longer had a reason to stay either. After saying her farewells, the room was once again left with only Luo Chen and his two companions.

Was he really about to lose his unpaid labor just like that? What about his comic? Luo Chen wanted to explain to Han Yinglan but couldn’t find the words. All he could do was watch helplessly as she left.

"Don’t worry, it seems Xin Hua really enjoys being here. She’ll probably come back," Yan He said, perhaps noticing the dim look on Luo Chen’s face, trying to comfort him.

Luo Chen could only hope so. But judging by Han Yinglan’s determined attitude before leaving, she might try to keep her daughter from returning.

...

That evening, after dinner, Luo Chen collected his thoughts and sat at his computer desk. After settling the contract matter that morning, he hadn’t wasted any time: by afternoon, he had already paid off his debts.

The agreement had been to settle it by tomorrow afternoon, but since he had the time, he figured he might as well get it done. The feeling of a mountain of debt hanging over his head wasn’t pleasant.

Being debt-free truly lightens the soul.

With that burden gone, Luo Chen’s mood improved considerably, and he decided to let the events of the morning unfold as they would.

It occurred to him that it had been over a week since he last released a new video. He wondered if his fans were up in arms over the lack of updates.

Luo Chen had heard stories of creators receiving razor blades in the mail for not updating in time. Fortunately, he had never leaked any personal information. It seemed there were benefits to keeping his identity under wraps—at least the angry fans couldn’t find him.

Unfortunately, after the live stream in a few days, it would be impossible to keep it a secret. Luo Chen imagined his fans hunting him down one day for disappearing too long without an update...

Should he wear a mask for next week’s live stream and continue hiding his identity?

Better not.

That would probably make him lose followers, and the Xingchen Platform surely wouldn’t let him get away with something like that.

He hadn’t decided yet what the live stream would be about, but there was no rush; fulfilling the agreement was next week’s business. For now, he should focus on being a proper creator. If he didn’t release new content soon, his furious fans would tear him apart during the live stream. It was best to post a video to appease them first.

With a soft laugh, Luo Chen turned on his computer and logged in to the Xingchen Platform. His previous works still lingered on the trending charts. Though no longer in the top three, it looked like they wouldn’t drop off anytime soon.

To stay on the trending charts for a full month—there really hadn’t been many outstanding new works lately.

Skipping these trivialities, Luo Chen entered his personal page and found his comment section was nearly exploding.

"Where’s the update you promised? It’s been days."
"If you don’t update soon, I’m sending you razor blades!"
"Update, update!"
"No new memes to watch, I’m about to jump off a building!"
"Watching the guy above. Please live stream."
"Already jumped. You’re welcome."
...

After a week, there were over sixty thousand comments demanding updates. Luckily, his recent releases had been frequent and of good quality, so his fans were still somewhat patient; otherwise, he might have lost them all by now.

To calm his fans, Luo Chen decided to release a new work today and announce his upcoming live stream in advance. Although the Xingchen Platform would promote it for him, he still needed to mention it himself.

As for the new video, Luo Chen didn’t intend to continue making meme videos. While he was indeed known as the king of the meme section, that wasn’t his only talent.

If he left audiences with the impression that all he could make were meme videos, it would do him no favors. In fact, he wanted to branch out into memes, gaming, and even music. He hadn’t yet decided on the live stream’s content, but he knew it would certainly be a gaming video.

But picking a game gave Luo Chen a headache—too many choices could be a real curse, especially for someone as indecisive as he was.

Countless video ideas flashed through his mind. After a while, Luo Chen opened his eyes and typed "Prison Riot: Hard Times" into the Qiandu search engine, then started the download.

The world’s history was a little different, but many games and music from his previous life also existed here. Even if the names were different, the content was about the same, which made it easier for Luo Chen to create his videos.

"Prison Riot" was a simple game where you played as a prisoner in a jail full of thugs, caught between fighting and being beaten every day. The graphics were simple, the gameplay average, just something to pass the time.

But Luo Chen wasn’t planning to make an ordinary game video. Even with a game that wasn’t very engaging, with the right editing, it could become very entertaining.

In his previous life, a creator named Old Tomato had made a video based on this game that was incredibly funny.

Old Tomato’s videos were distinctive—witty, humorous commentary that made even a gaming video feel like watching a meme compilation.

This was perfect for Luo Chen’s transition from meme videos to gaming; that way, when he started live-streaming games, his fans wouldn’t be so surprised.

The download of "Prison Riot" took only a few seconds. Luo Chen launched his recording software and closed his eyes.

If I were Old Tomato...

When he opened his eyes again, a lively cunning sparkled where there was usually calm. The split-personality Old Tomato had arrived!

He navigated the game interface with ease. Though he’d never played before, he knew all the steps without needing to re-record a single take, like a seasoned veteran starting fresh.

Special thanks to readers Senluo Yecke, Stella Lucier, Natsu Matsuri, Dream Fireworks for their generous donation of 500 Qidian credits; to reader Softie for 300 credits; to reader Qingpingyue for 200 credits; to comrades Stalin Steel, Guardian of Your Smile, Holy Light and Shadow, Qi Mo, Six Sacred Sword’s Rifleman, and Thunder Emperor for 100 credits each. Throwing virtual flowers! The theme of this chapter’s video: How to Live the Good Life in Prison? 2467931