A Science-Minded Paranormal Investigation Streamer

[The Grim Reaper-Type Female Detective x The Ghost-Fearing "Ghost" CEO]

A purely sci-fi future setting with no supernatural elements. Everything can be explained by special, cutting-edge technology.

Miao Yun is a famous haunted-house exploration streamer, nicknamed the "Grim Reaper Girl" because every haunted house she visits eventually turns out to be the scene of a real murder.

Miao Yun herself has never confirmed or denied the nickname. She has always firmly believed there are no ghosts in this world, only people up to no good.

That is, until the day she received a special streaming assignment: to visit the abandoned private villa of the chairman of the Yu Group, who had died under mysterious circumstances three years ago.

Supposedly, the chairman died in the villa's bathroom. Ever since, cleaning staff have often seen his ghost lingering by the computer desk, accompanied by a bloodcurdling scream.

But what was the truth? Miao Yun accepted the assignment and headed straight for the bathroom, only to discover... And the ghost that appeared beside the computer desk was actually...?!

[I'll leave you in suspense for now. Read on to find out what really happened.]

[The cover features the female lead, illustrated by an artist friend.]

From then on, viewers watching Miao Yun's livestream noticed that the Grim Reaper Girl, who had always gone it alone, finally had a companion.

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Mini-scene 1:

Yu Liang: A ghost! ...Ahem, I wasn't scared. (Pale-faced)

Miao Yun: (Rolls her eyes) Get behind me.

Yu Liang: (Eyes sparkling) Okay, wifey.

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Mini-scene 2:

Miao Yun: (Sighs helplessly) How come there isn't a real ghost again? I really thought there'd be one this time...

Yu Liang: (Afraid) Am I not one...?

Miao Yun: What do you think? (Smiles)

Yu Liang: O-Of course not... (Immediately backs down)

Miao Yun: (Sighs) At least I can hack a real ghost to pieces. With you, I really don't know what to do...

Yu Liang: (Suddenly proud) That's my girl!

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Mini-scene 3:

Viewer 1: Who's the streamer flirting with...? I don't see anyone. Could it be...?!

Viewer 2: New here, huh? Can't you see our top donor dancing in the corner of the livestream? He's the Grim Reaper Girl's one and only boyfriend!

Viewer 1: ... (Even more shocked) (I've heard a little about the top donor: he's dead.)

Viewer 3: Don't be too nervous, newbie. Watch a bit more and you'll understand. (User badge: Second-Top Donor)

Viewer 1: !!! (I've heard a little about the second-top donor: she's dead.)

Viewer 1: I'm scared. I'm out...!!! (Then realizes the streamer is exploring their own house.)

Viewer 3: Looks like we've got a promising third-top donor here~ (Smiles)

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Reader's guide and content warnings:

1. To reiterate, this is not a supernatural setting. All the seemingly unscientific things above can be explained by science. There are high-tech devices, black technology, and even aliens... (Wacky face)

2. An unconventional strong-female-lead/weak-male-lead dynamic. Read with caution if that's not your thing. The male lead has no physical body at first. Read with caution if that's not your thing. The black technology has my own unique explanations. Read with caution if that's not your thing. An alternate future setting. Read with caution if that's not your thing.

3. Demons and monsters, go away... Demons and monsters, go away... Demons and monsters, go away... (Back! Back! Back!) We're good young materialists!

4. I'm new to this, so please be kind!

------ Here's a cute divider ------

Blurb for the upcoming novel Camellia Beauty's Death-Seeking Infinite Game

"Shall I roll the dice?" - Chu Hejie

On a Blue Moon night in 2046, nameless alien gods and their kin brought down a "Catastrophe," forcing everyone on Blue Star into the dangerous miniature worlds known as "Games," created by the gods themselves.

This endless, absurd game was originally just a song-and-dance show for the gods to watch for their amusement. That changed when a top player traded their life to force the gods to grant every player a "Gift." From then on, humanity had a glimmer of hope for defeating the heretics.

Four years later, ordinary girl Chu Hejie finally received her "Gift" and qualified as a player in the "Infinite Game." But a certain god's malicious whim forced her into an endless cycle between life and death.

The girl's "Gift" lets her return, after dying by any means, to any point in time she previously anchored. But beyond that, she cannot learn any "magic," "mystic arts," or "superpowers." This will be her only weapon, and the maze that imprisons her.

Yet the girl did not lament. Instead, she secretly rejoiced at receiving such a powerful Gift. The god who had given it to her regretted the decision and spitefully added a curse:

"When the number of times you have died reaches 666, time will turn back six years."

What was the world like six years ago? The "Catastrophe" had yet to arrive, and every possibility lay ahead... The girl stopped rejoicing and silently resolved to die 666 times and return to the past, before the disaster happened!

But is the god's Gift really that simple? What kind of fate awaits the "heroine" who rolls the dice?

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Chu Hejie is beautiful, and exceptionally striking at that.

So when she was first forced into the life-or-death [Infinite Game], some players predicted: "A beauty like that doesn't seem to have any impressive skills. If she doesn't become a top player's clingy little flower, she'll probably die."

But they never imagined that Chu Hejie wasn't some little green-tea girl who could only cling to others and whimper. She was a wild camellia, clever and brave, constantly dancing on the edge of death.

When others invited her to team up, she sneered and refused. When top players offered her an olive branch, she smiled inscrutably and refused. When an evil god threatened to make her a mole, she coldly refused again.

Everyone thought, "A girl who keeps courting death like that will probably be dead in the next second."

But what left everyone dumbfounded was that Chu Hejie seemed to have known the team-up invitation was ill-intentioned, the guild's olive branch was a trap, and even the evil god's offer was nothing but false sincerity. In fact, she had chosen to enter the perilous [Infinite Game] herself from the very beginning.

So someone asked why she kept courting death yet always seemed to come out unscathed. The camellia beauty, now a top player, merely raised an eyebrow. "I think we have different ideas of what courting death means."

Courage is not recklessness, and hesitation is just cowardice.

Chu Hejie only wants to tear apart this ridiculous starry sky.

Even if...

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Reader's guide:

1. All game scenarios are original, with a touch of cosmic horror. The female lead is, for the most part, just an ordinary person who happens to be pretty.

2. Replaying your death is a common skill. Please don't make a fuss about it.

3. No invincibility cheat, just an information advantage and intel warfare, the kind where you put yourself in danger to test things.

4. The official male lead doesn't have much presence. Everyone gets swept up in a harem-style misunderstanding-fest.

5. This is both a global survival story and an infinite-game story, so there will be some strange worldbuilding. But it's still acceptable... right?

6. One last thing: please be kind!!!

Theme: Believe in materialism.