Chapter 7: Brother-in-Law Ye Chen, The Revenge Begins!
In Lin Youwei's timid and faint voice echoed pain and despair.
Lu Ming paused but did not turn around.
Lin Youwei thought Lu Ming’s stop meant he was willing to help her. She cried out, “My brother never harmed anyone. He’s always been a good person. Why? Why did they kill him...”
“Ye Chen! They’re all sent by Ye Chen. It was Ye Chen who killed my brother... I must avenge him!”
“If you help me kill Ye Chen, I’ll give you all the money I have!”
Tears streamed down Lin Youwei’s pale cheeks as she spoke. From the recent battle, she could tell Lu Ming was very powerful, so she pinned all her hopes for vengeance on him.
She opened the WeChat linked to her game account, where her balance showed 13,584.2.
This was money Lin Youwei had earned from part-time jobs during school before entering the Abyss.
Her parents had died in the Abyss when she was young, leaving her and her brother to rely on each other.
Not wanting her brother to shoulder both living expenses and her tuition alone, she had quit school after high school graduation to venture into the Abyss with him.
Just as Lin Youwei was about to ask for Lu Ming’s WeChat to transfer the money, Lu Ming silently walked away without looking back.
Watching Lu Ming’s indifferent retreat, helplessness and sorrow filled Lin Youwei’s eyes.
Lu Ming left the Shadow Forest, the sound of Lin Youwei’s heartbroken sobs clearly behind him.
In a past life, Lu Ming might have felt sympathy for this pitiful girl.
But now, he cared only for his own interests and no longer empathized with anyone else.
Ye Chen—Lu Ming was determined to find him.
But not for Lin Youwei’s sake; it was for his own revenge.
Lu Ming returned to Moonfall Town.
It was already midnight.
The town was still bustling with people.
Since the Abyss descended a century ago, the world had been split in two.
According to big data analysis: excluding the 31.82% under 18 years old, 35.97% of the remaining population chose to remain ordinary people in the real world.
Yet a full 32.21% chose to become professional players in the Abyss.
The Abyss had become humanity’s second world for survival, and its popularity only grew.
Back in town, Lu Ming went straight to a bar and found the security guard, Dick, to submit a task.
Upon receiving the diamond ring Lu Ming brought, Dick’s face lit up with joy.
“Great! My ring is finally found!”
“Thank you, young hero. Here’s a small reward—please accept it!”
As Dick finished speaking, a pleasant system notification sounded.
[Ding~ Congratulations on completing the task “Who Stole the Ring?” Progress level 10 achieved. Rewards: +1000 experience, +1 silver coin, acquired equipment: Hero’s Sword (Black Iron) +1!]
Lu Ming’s experience bar surged by 83%!
He opened his backpack and took out a sleek black iron sword lying quietly inside.
[Hero’s Sword] (Black Iron)
[Level: 5]
[Physical Attack: +28]
[Bonus: Strength +6]
[Durability: 15/15]
[Profession: Trickster, Warrior]
[Description: A sacred sword only a hero may wield. The bearer symbolizes the hero of Moonfall Town’s people...]
Lu Ming immediately replaced his level 1 basic iron sword, which only added 3 attack points, with the Hero’s Sword.
Checking his status, his attack power jumped from 10 to 41!
This 31-point increase was equivalent to the War Stomp’s attack bonus against undead warriors—quite impressive.
As for the replaced basic iron sword, Lu Ming noticed its durability had dropped from 7 to 6 after a night’s use.
“Bought it for 100, lost one durability point. Selling at 80 isn’t unreasonable,” he thought.
He listed the iron sword on the trading platform for 80.
Looking back, the first-level task rewards had been just 50 experience and 5 copper coins, with equipment only having a slim chance to be basic quality.
Compared to that, the tenth-level rewards were truly generous!
No wonder professional boosters outside charged over a thousand yuan just to pass all ten levels of a task below level 10.
After all, it was impossible for a normal player to clear from killing 10 monsters at level 1 to killing 300 at level 10 within the ten-hour task time.
Big data records showed the solo limit was only level 6.
Patting his growling stomach, Lu Ming logged out.
A white light enveloped him as he returned to the Ant Internet Café where he had logged in earlier.
It was early morning, and the street had only a few late-night pedestrians—mostly Abyss players staying up late.
Lu Ming crossed to a roast duck noodle shop and spent the last 13 yuan in his WeChat wallet on a bowl of roast duck noodles.
As he ate and pondered how to deal with Ye Ling’er and Ye Chen, he overheard a group of young people at the next table chatting.
“Who’s this ‘Emperor Chen’? Holy moly, the livestream has 100,000 viewers online! It says the streamer is just 13 km away... Does our Linhai City really have a big influencer like this?”
A bespectacled young man spoke, and the twin-tailed girl across from him proudly said, “You don’t know? I’ve been following this streamer for months! Though his popularity was low before, I always thought he had potential. Looks like I was right—he’s finally blowing up!”
Hearing the name “Emperor Chen,” Lu Ming’s heart skipped.
As if recalling something, he pulled out his phone, opened Douyin, searched for “Emperor Chen,” and entered a livestream.
On screen was a youthful, handsome boy.
This boy was Ye Ling’er’s younger brother—Ye Chen—the same as Lu Ming’s former brother-in-law in his past life.
Lu Ming knew Ye Chen had been streaming for two years, going the handsome streamer route.
Indeed, both he and his sister Ye Ling’er were quite good-looking; otherwise, Lu Ming wouldn’t have been so obsessed with Ye Ling’er in his past life.
But in Lu Ming’s memory, Ye Chen had always been a relatively unknown streamer with little fame.
Now, the livestream boasted over 100,000 viewers.
The stream was filled with luxury gifts like supercars, yachts, and rockets crowding the screen.
Countless messages scrolled rapidly in the chat—hundreds in the blink of an eye.
Lu Ming glanced through the messages, unaware he was about to become the center of the gossip.
[Little Fan of Chen]: “Chen, I heard your sister’s boyfriend died in the Abyss last night. Is that true?”
[Seeking a Sugar Mama]: “His sister already appeared on the livestream last night and confirmed it herself. She looked sad—must have been a devoted lover.”
[If You Don’t Like Me, I’ll Spam]: “Honestly, I started following you because your sister accidentally showed up on your stream once. With her looks, her ex-boyfriend was never good enough for her! No wonder he died—she deserves better!”
Reading these comments, Lu Ming expected Ye Chen to feign kindness and say some hypocritical things.
But to his surprise, Ye Chen didn’t even bother to pretend. In front of over 100,000 viewers, he openly insulted!
“You’re right! So many people pursued my sister, but she rejected them all, saying she had a boyfriend! Although she was willing to endure hardship with him, she couldn’t suffer forever!”
Ye Chen sighed dramatically, feigning disappointment: “Honestly, my sister’s ex had no money or power—I never saw her despise him. But he was lazy, loafing around all day, expecting my sister to support him.”
“Ah, if only my sister weren’t so devoted...”
His complaints instantly stirred sympathy from fans in the chat.
The comments exploded with insults:
“She’s a flower blooming in cow dung!”
“I felt sorry for your sister’s ex, but now he really deserved to die!”
“Exactly! If it were me, I’d have kicked that dead weight out long ago!”
Watching Ye Chen’s hypocrisy, Lu Ming laughed in anger.
“Lazy? Loafing around?”
Though lacking talent in his past life, Lu Ming could affirm no one worked harder or wanted to improve more than him.
Enough.
Lu Ming had no energy to dwell on this.
More important matters awaited.
Just then, Lu Ming received a text message.
[Your consigned item “Moon Demon Dark Blade” has sold successfully. After 5% commission, 2,660 yuan credited to your account ending in 649. Balance: 2,660 yuan.]
Seeing this, Lu Ming’s heart brightened.
“This sale is truly a godsend!”
He switched to a Douyin alternate account, changed his nickname to “Gentle Heart,” set the gender to female, and picked a soft, easygoing avatar.
He entered Ye Chen’s livestream.
During a lull when few gifts were sent, he bit the bullet and gifted an 899-yuan “True Love Eternal” present.
Then, feigning sincerity, he sent a chat message: “Streamer, I’m your new fan. Are you an Abyss player?”
Indeed, the gift made him stand out among hundreds of thousands of viewers, catching Ye Chen’s attention.
Ye Chen thanked “Gentle Heart” warmly and patiently answered:
“Not yet, but soon.”
“Just after midnight, I registered a two-star Abyss account, planning to officially enter the Abyss world at 8 a.m. today!”
Seizing the moment, Ye Chen confidently told all viewers:
“Family in Linhai, see you in the Abyss worldI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.