Server-Wide Conquest: The Straight NPC [Full-Dive]

At the end of the blurb is a preview for the upcoming novel: Big Brother's Wasting Money on Infrastructure, Little Brother, You Keep Seducing Him

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A money-grubbing, stubborn, homophobic straight bottom x a rich, idle, aloof top with a secret flirtatious side

One day, a virus invaded Lin Su's phone and planted countless pop-up ads on it:

"Online side jobs, easy money!"

And as it happened, he was short on cash.

"As long as I don't download any weird links, I should be fine..."

Oh no, he'd been pulled into a strange space.

Before him stood a shabby wardrobe, with a yellow bird perched on top:

"Welcome to the hugely popular global game Graystone. Congratulations, you've been selected by Project Zero to become the first free NPC. In the game, you can obtain fame, money, happiness, and other things you can't have all at once in real life."

"The clothes in the wardrobe represent the identities you can play. The wardrobe is currently Level 1, with a capacity of 1/1. Complete quests and try out different game modes to earn experience and coins, and expand the wardrobe's capacity..."

Lin Su only cared about two words: "Money? Can I take the money I earn in the game back to spend in the real world?"

"Yes."

"Can I make money any way I want?"

"Yes."

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Lin Su started using unconventional methods, exploiting loopholes in the rules and trying all kinds of ways to make money, including but not limited to robbery, extortion, selling game intel, and reselling goods... Of course, he also did plenty of honest money-making quests.

He constantly changed his secret identity and appeared in all kinds of PVP and PVE modes.

He didn't even realize he'd become famous, and kept his head down grinding for cash.

Before long, a server-wide announcement was posted:

[There is a free NPC in this game. Reach a certain exploration level with the free NPC to receive a divine-grade reward of your choice.]

The official forums filled with popular threads seeking the NPC:

[For personal use] Locations where the free NPC has appeared so far, and hidden quests already triggered

Anyone else think that poison-using assassin on the rankings looks a bit like the free NPC?

I bought info about the free NPC from an informant. Anyone want it? Send me 50.

To the person above: you've been scammed. The informant is actually the NPC.

Another day of narrowly missing the free NPC (^^)

You might have even read the guide posted by that free NPC

Some time later, several posts quietly made the headlines:

I saw a guy selling flowers on my way to school today, and he had the exact same face as that NPC!

An NPC in a certain game is modeled on a real person's face. Can they be sued for infringement?

P.S. 1. I revise the story; the correct version is only on Jinjiang Literature City. 2. No one's perfect, including the main and supporting characters. 3. The bottom is genuinely straight, while the top is gay. This is a straight-to-gay romance, and there'll be a few twists along the way. 4. The secondary couple has very little page time, almost none.

Here's the blurb for the upcoming novel Dad, Stop Hoarding! We Can't Spend It All!

That year, the Grant family had two geniuses: an older brother with extraordinary business talent who gave up commerce to become an artist, and a younger brother who hit his rebellious phase at twenty-two and got twenty-five piercings all over his body, yet was a scientist.

The brothers shared a bond, and both bound themselves to a System on the same day.

The older brother, a God of Wealth who considered money beneath him, bound himself to the Wastrel System.

The younger brother, a straight man who loved research more than anything, bound himself to the Seductress System.

Brother: The System says I have to spend a hundred million in a week...

Younger brother: The System says I have to seduce the governor...

The System also predicted that their honest, simple father was actually a corrupt official with connections on both sides of the law. If they didn't spend all the money their dad had embezzled, the chief governor would investigate their family in five days, and the whole family would be killed. Their family would go down in history as "the greatest embezzlers ever."

Brothers: Could Dad have bound himself to a System designed to screw over his sons?

It's fine, bro. Dad embezzles while we spend! We've got a bright future ahead!

After that, the older brother tried hard to spend money, but accidentally became obsessed with building infrastructure.

"I'm trying so hard to spend money. Why do I keep making more?"

"Bro, you're supposed to waste money, not make it."

The younger brother clumsily tried to seduce the governor, making a fool of himself and causing plenty of laughs.

Younger brother: *winks*

Governor: He's challenging me.

Later...

"Bro, what do I do? I think he's really fallen for me!"

The straight man screamed.

Younger brother: *breathes*

Governor: He's seducing me.

P.S. The older brother is Aiven, and the younger brother is Ivan. There are some messy one-sided crushes, but both brothers end up with partners. The setting is an alternate world with a hodgepodge of elements, so don't read too much into the titles and official positions.

Theme: When you're in a difficult situation, no matter which way you go, you're still moving upward.