After defeating the slime boss, Shen Xin and Jing Yan’s livestream audience went mad. Absolutely mad.

【 Holy shit, what kind of play is this! Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing!!! 】

【 A perfect comeback from the brink of defeat, that was incredible!! 】

【 I get it now! Shen Xin’s “Xin” is the heart that was stolen from me!! 】

【 My god, this is what it’s like to think like a big shot, turning danger into peace. I’m in awe. 】

【 To have both the damage-boosting ring and the damage-reflection ring at the same time, incredible! 】

【 If I hadn’t been watching since the beginning, I’d think this was all an act put on by the developers. 】

【 Even more incredible is Bodhisattva Shen’s deep pockets, which allow him to sustain the high cost of the damage-reflection ring. 】

【 Money talks, and now I get it, thanks for the enlightenment, bro. 】

The barrage slowly recovered from their state of shock and began drifting toward a massive epiphany party.

At this point, a few pink screens scrolled by.

【 Thank you, I’ve shipped it, this is sweet. 】

【 Without the damage-boosting ring, the damage-reflection ring is useless; without the damage-reflection ring, the damage-boosting ring is a luxury item. 】

These two players need each other to form this super strong play style. Neither can be missing.

Damn, so sweet, I’m here for it.

The way they protect each other is too cute, I’m here for it.

So this really is a dating game, I’m here for it.

The comments section gradually turned into a sea of pink.

While the audience in the直播间 was enjoying the sugar, the engineers in UOL Games’ tech department were sweating nervously.

Zhong Suwen’s expression was extremely unsightly. He quickly walked over to the control panel and asked the staff member adjusting the parameters, “How is it? Can we add in another boss?”

“Director… that boss is already dead. Bringing it back to life will create a game bug…” the technician said quietly.

Zhong Suwen exhaled deeply, then turned to look at Shen Xin and Jing Yan on the screen, puzzled. “Where did these two come from? Our plan has been thrown completely off track!”

What the public didn’t know was that the competition Paradise was hosting wasn’t just any ordinary tournament; it was also a promotional event aimed at generating hype for the July release of the game.

Of the twenty contestants, ten were pre-selected, meaning they didn’t have to go through the qualifying trials. In addition, there were even predetermined champions.

Mingyue and Zhou Yi not only received special invitations, but the company also paid them to participate. Although the company had kept the survival aspect of the game from all the participants, many elements had been designed with these two in mind.

For example, the roles of actor and singer were specifically created for them, as well as two residential areas near the cave at the northern summit.

These designs were intended to guide the two influencers through the main storyline and attract viewers and fans to purchase the game.

The other players…were just there to accompany them.

Unfortunately, things did not go smoothly.

Zhou Yi didn’t cause any problems; he chose the singer role and diligently completed missions.

Mingyue, on the other hand, was a headache. Instead of choosing to be an actor, he picked a nurse.

At first, Zhong Suwen suspected Mingyue wanted to play up his role for the camera, but Mingyue simply wandered around the island at a snail’s pace, as if he were taking an evening stroll with the geriatric crowd. His gameplay was incredibly dull. If not for his good looks and dedicated fan base, his直播间 would have been deserted long ago!

None of these issues were major problems; however, a far more troublesome concern arose.

The cave Zhou Yi and Mingyue were supposed to discover had been found by someone else, and Jing Yan seemed to be on a rampage. Not only had he cleared the official instance for all players, but he was also on the verge of completing the first level’s challenge.

Zhong Suwen panicked. The boss was supposed to be defeated by Zhou Yi or Mingyue! Without these two, the game’s popularity wouldn’t grow!

So, he swiftly contacted the tech department, secretly sending a system notification to Zhou Yi and Mingyue, requesting they find Jing Yan, and preferably, team up with him.

The result was history.

Mingyue remained uninvolved, and Zhou Yi failed to team up with Jing Yan.

Jing Yan and Shen Xin were going to fight the boss.

The tech department analyzed their abilities, and after confirming the boss could be defeated, Zhong Suwen immediately made a decision: “Summon the second level’s boss, and replace the first boss as soon as they die. We cannot let them clear this level!”

So Shen Xin and Jing Yan did indeed defeat the boss of that level, but at the moment of their death, the UOL tech department intervened, summoning the second level’s boss into the first level’s boss instance.

Zhong Suwen thought this move would guarantee his plan’s success.

Who could have imagined that Shen Xin and Jing Yan would come up with such a bizarre strategy, to the point they defeated the second level’s boss?!

So enraged was Zhong Suwen that he had to take two heart pills at once.

But the deed was done. Zhong Suwen had no choice but to find someone to repair the game.

“Redesign the second level’s boss and patch it in immediately.” Zhong Suwen sat there pondering briefly before lifting his hand to instruct the technicians, “Also, make the game a bit harder for Shen Xin and Jing Yan; don’t let them have an easy time of it.”

Zhong Suwen originally wanted to directly increase Mingyue and Zhou Yi’s encounter rates, but doing so would be too obvious. If word got out that he was giving the two players an unfair advantage during the competition, the entire company’s reputation would be ruined.

“Or, we could portray these two players as villains, and let Mingyue and Zhou Yi defeat them…”

Zhong Suwen contemplated various ways to remedy the situation, while Shen Xin and Jing Yan discussed how to distribute their loot.

After the second boss died, the loot from the first boss also dropped to the ground, forming a small mountain of treasure chests.

Jing Yan had intended to let Shen Xin choose first, but given the situation, both parties had no choice but to squat down and open the chests together.

The chest’s name was simply [Treasure Chest], and it had no level designation. Shen Xin opened a few and found some ore and slime slime.

It wasn’t anything spectacular, but opening chests had a certain magical draw. When players opened their chests, they felt anticipation and were compelled to open another one.

This was why many pay-to-win games focused on designing chests and card gacha.

[Seed Appraiser]: An instrument used to identify random seeds. After being appraised, the seeds can be planted in the farm fields.

Shen Xin opened a new chest and acquired a white device.

“Been waiting for you!” Shen Xin’s spirits soared, and he shoved the appraiser into his backpack. He turned to Jing Yan with the good news. “We can plant random seeds now; we won’t have to fret over crops anymore.”

In the context of a game lacking seeds, this was indeed a fortuitous development.

Jing Yan also opened some small trinkets.

“Here, these are for you.” He initiated a trade, and Shen Xin accepted, gaining some silver coins, ore, and a glowing ring.

“I got these from a chest, and I figured you could use them.”

Shen Xin accepted the ring. “Oh right, your damage-reflection ring…”

She planned to return the item to Jing Yan, but when she went to take it off, she realized she was still wearing the Damage Duplication Ring.

Damage Duplication Ring… It couldn’t be removed.

If she returned the Damage Reflection Ring to Jing Yan, any damage she took in the future would be multiplied by five.

Shen Xin hesitated, then asked Jing Yan, “How about you sell it to me?”

After hearing Shen Xin’s explanation, Jing Yan simply gave her the Damage Reflection Ring. “You need this more than I do. Besides, I can’t really afford to use it anyway.”

Jing Yan’s justification was solid, but Shen Xin knew the value of the Damage Reflection Ring.

With enough money, one could ignore attack damage, making it a practically invincible item.

Shen Xin felt like she had gained an unfair advantage. “Then how about I accept the ring, and in exchange, you stop paying me for the ingredients you harvest in the morning?”

Upon hearing this, Jing Yan felt an increased pressure. The more he owed Shen Xin, the more he felt obligated to repay her!

“No, no, no, I was actually thinking about giving you the seeds and minerals I harvest in the future…”

The two kept exchanging favors, turning the loot distribution into a round of polite refusal.

“Alright, let’s forget it for now. We’ll figure it out later.” Shen Xin quickly nudged Jing Yan after seeing the contents of the next box. “It’s a ranged weapon! Do you want it?”

At the same time, Jing Yan opened a chest as well. “I got a long-range weapon too! Do you want it?”

Shen Xin stared at him.

Jing Yan stared back.

“Or…do you want to open one together?”

“Okay.”

Although they both managed to get long-range weapons, Shen Xin received a short bow, while Jing Yan got a slingshot.

A stone could be loaded onto the slingshot for use, but the short bow required arrows.

Jing Yan’s level-1 class blueprint was for arrows, so he took the short bow, while Shen Xin chose the slingshot.

There were only a few chests left, which contained a soft sofa, a slime statue, and the key to the second floor.

The sofa and statue were furniture, so Jing Yan let Shen Xin take them with the excuse, “My house can’t have furniture, or it might collapse.”

Only after asking further did Shen Xin discover that Jing Yan lived in a treehouse. It was true that too many items placed on top of a treehouse might cause it to break.

As for the remaining key, it was clearly for the monsters’ cave on the second floor.

The two explored the cave, and finally discovered a keyhole in the center of the floor.

Jing Yan inserted the key, and the stone slab opened, revealing a staircase extending downward.

“There’s light down below.” Jing Yan entered first, then came back to tell Shen Xin, “It’s a fluorescent lake!”

Shen Xin immediately followed him down to the second level.

A lake, about the size of a basketball court, lay before them, its bottom glowing with blue light and illuminating the entire cave with an icy hue.

It seemed like the legendary lake was here all along, right under their noses!

No wonder Uncle Li had been unable to find it despite searching for so many years—the legendary lake wasn’t on the surface of the island.

“I’m gonna fish!” Shen Xin took out her fishing rod, walked toward the edge of the lake, and cast her line. The glowing organisms beneath the surface seemed to surge toward it.

Suddenly, a glowing fish leapt out of the water and bit Shen Xin’s leg!

Then it died, dropping a handful of fluorescent powder.

Shen Xin took a few steps back and turned to warn Jing Yan, “Don’t get too close; there are fluorescent piranhas in there.”

Jing Yan had seen everything clearly. He looked around and noticed a small door on the opposite shore, but the lake completely separated the two sides.

If they wanted to cross, they’d likely need a boat.

He started building a wooden boat according to the blueprint while Shen Xin stood back and cast her fishing line into the water from afar.

Three seconds later, she pulled up a [Broken Ordinary Fishing Rod].

【 This area is level 2; your fishing rod is too low level to fish here. 】

Seeing how even the hook had been bitten off, Shen Xin wondered, “Don’t these fish mind getting pricked?”

It was already ruined, so Shen Xin tossed the ordinary fishing rod into the lake; it was quickly devoured.

Jing Yan watched this scene unfold, then glanced at his small wooden boat, and hesitantly asked, “Do you think this boat can last three seconds in the water?”