Chapter 1: Possessed by the On-Screen Comments—I'm Rich Now!

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On a stifling early summer night, the sky was shrouded in black clouds. Rain lashed down in torrents, lightning tore through the darkness, and thunder roared overhead.

In a cramped rental apartment in the old district of Futian City, Xia Huajiao’s battered laptop—over four years old—glowed softly in the gloom. An Excel spreadsheet tracking her daily expenses was open on the screen.

Today’s expenses: food, 5 yuan.
Expected expenses for tomorrow:
Rent: 1,000 yuan.
Utilities: 122 yuan.
Food: 6 yuan.
Bank balance: 1,203 yuan.

Her only certain income in the coming days was the 1,800 yuan share from a streaming platform, scheduled to arrive in four days.

At that moment, Xia Huajiao’s phone was streaming live on the platform. Only a handful of viewers were online.

Her hair, still frizzing with static from a recent shock, was a wild mess. She sat stiffly, glaring at the paltry number of viewers, nearly fainting from frustration.

“Damn it, I’ve nearly turned myself into a zombie, and still my viewership isn’t exploding?”

She hadn’t even reached 300 viewers—outrageous!

If this continued, after two months of unemployment and constant talent shows on her live stream, she’d be eating dirt.

Of course, she could always give in to her stepmother’s wishes—go back to the countryside and marry the divorced, hard-drinking man her stepmother’s family had introduced, a rural father with a child. But she couldn’t resign herself to that fate!

She was already twenty-six, had only been in one relationship, yet she was still fresh and untouched. From middle school through college, she’d always been the class beauty: an angelic face paired with a devilish figure. Why should she marry some alcoholic divorcé just because life got tough?

Just then, a few newcomers to the live stream started bombarding her with critical comments.

[What the—what kind of streamer is this? It’s not even midnight and she’s already turned herself into a zombie?]
[What’s with that hair? Is this some twisted fashion sense? With a face like that, she dares to go live? She’s got nerves of steel!]
[I feel sick!]
[Same here!]
[Agreed! Face stiff as wax, hair a bird’s nest, and she expects us to tip her? She’s not too bright!]
[Right, this look is too much! Damn, I came here to relax, not to get my eyes burned out!]

Xia Huajiao glared at the screen in embarrassment and anger.

Her hair was just a little frazzled, her face a bit stiff from the electric shock, but she wasn’t charred—how did that make her a ghost?

These viewers had just promised that if she endured the shock without fainting, they’d tip her…

Liars, all of them! Not a single one kept their word. She’d put herself through all that for nothing.

But she was live, so she couldn’t curse them out…

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She forced down her disappointment and embarrassment, managing a strained smile for the viewers: “Sorry, I just tried a little electric shock on stream. It was… quite the experience. This isn’t makeup, it’s real.”

An old viewer commented: [You’re ruthless—shocking yourself for money!]

Indeed, she had no choice but to be ruthless—she was running out of money.

A newcomer chimed in: [Your face is a bit stiff, but not ugly. Are you sure you’re not using a beauty filter? Really sure?]

At least that was fair. Xia Huajiao felt a little better and replied cheerfully, “Of course not! I’m naturally beautiful.”

Another newcomer responded: [Are you sure you understand what ‘naturally beautiful’ means?]

Her face darkened again.

Just then, the familiar viewer “Beautifully Beautiful” commented: [You don’t know—sister Jiao has always been shameless!]

Another old viewer, “Gold Digger,” added: [Exactly. When she’s being serious, she’s all delicate and pretty, but it never seems real! This is much more authentic!]

So, when she looked a mess, she was “authentic.” When she looked nice, it was “fake.” Unbelievable!

These viewers refused to believe she was actually attractive!

At that moment, a strange ripple distorted the air before her eyes, and a holographic panel materialized out of nowhere.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully endured an electric shock, received viewer comments, and can interact normally with them. The Supreme Streaming Barrage System is now bound to you.]

[From now on, every comment (barrage) that appears on your video or streaming platform will earn you 1 yuan per character. Once you reach 100 yuan, you can withdraw directly to your Universal Bank account. Taxes will be deducted automatically by the system!]

[You currently have 15 comments in your live stream, a total of 412 characters, earning you 412 yuan, ready for withdrawal.]

Then, the panel minimized itself to the upper right of her vision, displaying only the number of comments and the amount earned.

Xia Huajiao was momentarily stunned. She blinked. Blinked again…

Several seconds ticked by.

“Damn, it’s not a hallucination!”

As reality sank in, she leaped from her seat in excitement.

Could it be that she was some kind of “electric goddess”—survived a shock and was immediately possessed by a god-tier system?

All the snarky comments that had annoyed her were now turning into her own little fortune?

She immediately tapped the [Withdraw] button next to the income display.

The comment count and income reset to zero.

A few moments later, she checked her app—sure enough, 412 yuan had arrived!

A helpless grin stretched across Xia Huajiao’s face.

Wonderful!

The system worked perfectly!

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Now that she was actually earning money, she could forgive the viewers for their snark.

Still, her own live stream had too few viewers!

Xia Huajiao’s eyes sparkled. She blew a kiss to her audience: “Darlings, thank you for your support, but something’s come up—I’ll have to go offline for now!”

After a few viewers promptly told her to go wash up, earning her another twenty-odd yuan, she quickly shut down her stream and entered the most popular channel on the platform—the handsome star streamer “Eternal Tide,” who had 320,000 online viewers!

Wow!

The moment she entered, the minimized holographic panel showed her comment count and income skyrocketing.

So many comments!

In less than twenty seconds, her income from the barrage had already surpassed 1,000 yuan!

The contrast between her own viewership and this was like night and day.

Still, watching someone else’s stream and earning money off the comments—it felt like winning without effort, so she didn’t feel envious at all!

On screen, the charismatic streamer raised a playful eyebrow and said with a half-smile, “Oh, welcome to ‘Moonlight Radiance’—what brings a fellow streamer to my channel?”

Xia Huajiao was momentarily taken aback, then typed with a nervous laugh, “Sorry, I’m just a newbie, honestly here to learn from a master!”

The moment she sent the message, the comment count increased by 25, but the income… zero.

So her own comments didn’t count?

A viewer named “I Like Pretty Girls 11111” responded: “The little streamer who shocked herself is here to apprentice? Pretty girl, Brother Tide is amazing—learn well!”

Then, a pop-up appeared on the holographic panel: [Your comment was acknowledged by a viewer. Bonus: 25 yuan!]

So her own comments only earned money if recognized by others!

And that viewer must have visited her stream to know about the self-inflicted shock.

Blushing, she quickly typed “mm-hmm,” grabbed her change of clothes from the cupboard, and headed into the shared bathroom, leaving her phone streaming atop the washing machine.

She could hear the main streamer repeating viewers’ comments—some praising his looks, others complaining he talked too much.

Meanwhile, her income from the barrage kept climbing.

Xia Huajiao cheered inwardly.

Come on, everyone—keep those comments coming!

Whether they praised or insulted the streamer, as long as people were commenting!

It wasn’t about her, anyway.

The joy of making money while spectating was unbeatable!

As she closed her eyes to undress, the holographic panel suddenly vanished.