Infinite Game Host

Xue Chao looked wildly ambitious, but in truth he had no grand aspirations.

On the night of his twenty-third birthday, he sincerely made his one and only wish: to live a simple life and slack off forever.

Then the TV in his powerless home turned on by itself.

A few lines of bloody text flashed across the static:

[Congratulations, you have been successfully hired. Your first instance is loading. 3, 2, 1...]

[Please host an exciting game for the audience!]

**

The new host of the infinite game was breathtakingly handsome and radiated the air of a powerful figure.

But his attitude toward work was terrible. He half-heartedly followed the procedures, brushed off the top players and major guilds, couldn't care less whether the audience watched, and didn't care whether the bosses lived or died. If anyone dared mess with him, he'd fight them without hesitation.

As he put it: "I'm having a good time. Do whatever you want."

Everyone laughed at him, convinced he had no idea what he was doing, and waited with ill intent for him to meet a gruesome end.

But after waiting and waiting, they realized not only had the guy survived, he'd trounced every top player. One after another, they fought to enter the instances he hosted. The major guilds eagerly sucked up to him, the NPCs made fervent declarations of love, and even the bosses seemed remarkably familiar with him, either wary of him or showing him favor...

His rooms topped the live-streaming home page every time, and his name had even taken the number-one spot on the overall rankings!

Even the greatest of the evil gods, whose name no one dared speak aloud, seemed to have become his "simp." It followed him into every instance, sometimes pursuing him, sometimes trying to kill him. Its intentions were unclear, but the tension between them was undeniable.

For example, right now.

The sinister evil god, dressed half in mourning clothes and half in wedding robes, gripped Xue Chao by the throat. Its cold dragon scales brushed his cheek as it smiled. "Tell me, should I kiss you now, or kill you?"

Xue Chao stabbed the evil god in the heart with his knife, then licked his lips. "I think there's something more fun we could do."

"Like what?"

"Kiss me, then kill this game with me."

**

A vast harbor with cruise ships, a school full of bizarre-headed students, a Chinese folk-horror tabletop adventure, cyber-Buddhism, simulated horror...

In the final instance, Xue Chao straightened his clothes and set up the microphone. As always, he began in a languid voice:

"Hello, players."

"The rules of this game are..."

"I am the rules."

∞ Reader's guide:

1. Xue Chao is the bottom. The top is a real headcase, and his personality can change on a whim. They truly want to kill each other, but they truly love each other too. They are soulmates, each other's one and only, and evenly matched.

2. Entirely fictional setting. This isn't pure wish fulfillment, but it's a happy ending about everyone uniting to overturn the world together, with a bit of an ensemble cast.

3. The author is a beginner. If you don't like it, escape while you can!

Theme: Take control of our own destiny.