Player One: My Talent Is a Pay-to-Win Browser Game

* A self-proclaimed straight man who doesn’t realize he’s in love, a sanctimonious tough guy seme × a wickedly playful, utterly merciless powerhouse uke * The whole world is in the apocalypse, and I’m the only one who can buy pay-to-win gift packs. So… I stand at the summit and look down, with the world beneath my feet :) On that day, the countdown reached twenty-four hours before the final apocalyptic instance of the Endless Apocalypse Survival Game. Twenty-four hours later, extraterrestrial mechanical life-forms would rain down from the sky like dumplings, scattering evenly across every corner of the Earth. Jiang Baoxian, who possessed the only Doomsday Fortress Shelter across all the game’s servers, held three Temple Ancestor Cores, and had unlocked the unique achievement [Shanhai Engraver: Jiang as in Jiang Ziya], was a powerhouse so far ahead that he was humanity’s only possible salvation. The bad news: Jiang Baoxian didn’t want to play anymore. Because he and his straight husband, Shen Xianru, seemed to be having some trouble getting along in their daily life. To do or not to do, that is a question. Other players: Can’t Mr. Shen just live a peaceful life? Why did you have to provoke him?!!!! Every player around the globe huddled inside their shelters, enduring the minutes and seconds in agony as they anxiously awaited Jiang Baoxian’s decision. Countdown to the start of the final apocalyptic instance: 23:59:59. * Jiang Baoxian was a gold digger. At twenty, before finishing university, he planned to marry the gravely ill big shot Shen Xianru to bring him good fortune. But on the second day after arriving at the Shen residence, his new husband was already on the brink of death. Shen Xianru had an only son, Shen Zhi. At eighteen, convinced he didn’t have long to live, he had used his own genes to create and edit a sequence, then brought his legitimate heir out of a cultivation tank. Now Shen Zhi had returned from overseas, ready to take care of his father’s affairs, since he was only a step away from dying, and, while he was at it… deal with his stepmother, who was a year younger than him. Jiang Baoxian: I’m doomed! … Before Jiang Baoxian could get kicked out, the global deep-freeze apocalypse descended overnight, plunging everyone into the Endless Apocalypse Survival Game. You started with a shabby wooden hut, but the System gave everyone a chance to survive. On the first day, it opened a beginner’s gift pack, and Jiang Baoxian’s starting talent was the gray F-rank [Wang Baochuan’s Shovel]. [Talent description: You’re great at digging for wild greens!] Jiang Baoxian wasn’t lovesick and had no idea why he’d been hit with this sort of punishment. “…” Just as he was despairing over his rotten luck, his eyes suddenly lit up. The System told him that, due to his extraordinary good fortune, he had bound a second starting talent: [Pay-to-Win Browser Game]. [Talent description: Pay money and get anything you want. Pay money and become king of the world!] Have you ever played one of those browser games where new servers open all the time? From the moment you enter the game, the top-up options are already flashing brightly: 6 yuan, 18 yuan, 68 yuan, 128 yuan, 648 yuan… Pay money, and you can buy all kinds of gift packs containing rare items other players can only dream of, game-clearing weapons, top-tier gear, piles of gacha tokens. In battle, you hit other players for 9999 damage with every strike, while they hit you for -1, -1, -1, or just miss, miss, miss… That’s a pay-to-win browser game. While other players freeze like dogs and toil like bugs in the wilderness for a pitiful handful of resources, Jiang Baoxian only needs six coins to painlessly and comfortably exchange items through the System from home: an endlessly expandable, indestructible, fluffy, rechargeable electric blanket that can ward off any cold (Item Rank: S), six wooden chests, and countless basic materials for upgrading his shelter. Jiang Baoxian: The game experience? The other players are my game experience :) * Reader’s Guide Also known as: “Not Reborn, But I’m Surviving the Apocalypse and Driving My Stepson Crazy” ① One-on-one romance. The uke never actually wanted to live or die over anything; that’s just what onlookers assumed. The seme has a hidden identity. The number 39 is a lie about his age (…) ② The apocalypse follows this order: deep freeze → insect disaster → zombies → extraterrestrial life-forms → extraterrestrial mechanical life-forms ③ An absurdly powerful golden finger, with lots of shock-value writing ④ Not suitable for fans with extreme preferences. Please don’t read if that’s you. Run! ⑤ No insults, arguments, or made-up plot theories ❌ The author doesn’t argue, but will delete comments. Theme: When you’re nourished by love, you’ll grow toward the sun