Chapter 14 Ultimate Social Death! Zhao Kai didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

After Zhao Kai logged off, he thought he was finally free. He took a shower, made a cup of coffee, and slumped onto the sofa with a long sigh of relief. After being tormented for a day and a night, he could finally have some peace and quiet.

But he was happy too soon.

What Lin Ye had cleared for him were only the health loss and the log-off vibration effects. The core framework of the Social Death Package was still there, and Lin Ye had just added a new effect to him—Forced Nearby Channel Voice Activation.

What this effect meant was: as long as Zhao Kai was online, every word he said could be heard by all players around him. It wasn't the party channel, not the guild channel, but the Nearby Channel—forced on, unable to be turned off, and unable to be blocked.

After finishing his coffee, Zhao Kai felt like everything should be fine and cautiously logged into the game. Just as he entered the Creation Space, he heard a system prompt—

[System Prompt: You have been afflicted with the [Forced Voice Broadcast] effect. Every word you say will be automatically broadcast to the Nearby Channel. This effect cannot be turned off or blocked.]

Zhao Kai was stunned: "What?"

As soon as he spoke, a line of text popped up simultaneously in the Nearby Channels of all players in the Creation Space—

[Nearby Channel][Master Kai]: What?

Zhao Kai's face turned pale instantly. He quickly covered his mouth, but it was too late.

There were dozens of players in the Creation Space who had been kicked out of the Novice Village, and they all saw this message. They all looked at Zhao Kai in unison, their eyes full of schadenfreude.

"Hahaha! Master Kai, what kind of ghost thing is attached to you? Everyone on the server can hear you talk?"

Zhao Kai wanted to explain, but as soon as he opened his mouth, another message popped up in the Nearby Channel—

[Nearby Channel][Master Kai]: No, I—

He quickly shut his mouth, but the message had already been sent. The surrounding players doubled over with laughter.

"Master Kai, this social death effect is too brutal, isn't it? Even your breathing can be heard?"

Zhao Kai gritted his teeth, not daring to say another word. He held his breath, his face turning red, but the Nearby Channel still popped up a message—

[Nearby Channel][Master Kai]: ... (Heavy breathing sounds)

When the players across the server saw this message, they went completely crazy with laughter.

[world channel]

[Player "Onlooker": Hahaha! Master Kai doesn't even dare to breathe loudly anymore!]

[Player "Yes Little Follower": Brother Ye's move is too brutal! Forced Voice Broadcast, even the sound of breathing can be heard by the whole server!]

[Player "Invincible Sword God": Master Kai, why don't you say something? Let us hear your voice!]

[Player "Brick-Moving Expert": Master Kai is probably about to faint from holding his breath, hahaha!]

Zhao Kai looked at the mockery on the world channel, trembling with rage. He wanted to curse, but didn't dare to open his mouth. He held his breath, his face turning red, until finally he couldn't hold it anymore and took a sharp, deep breath—

[Nearby Channel][Master Kai]: Whew... ha...

The whole server burst into laughter again.

Zhao Kai completely broke down. He shut down the game and logged off. But Lin Ye had already anticipated this step—logging off was useless. He had also tagged Zhao Kai with an "Offline Forced Pop-up Fee Reminder" effect; as long as Zhao Kai was offline, the gaming pod would pop up a window every five minutes: "You have been charged. Please pay your protection fee in time. Current debt: 100,000 Gold Coins."

Zhao Kai took off his helmet and just as he lay down, the gaming pod vibrated. He climbed up to close the pop-up, and just as he lay down, it vibrated again. Close it, vibrate again. Close it, vibrate again.

For the entire night, Zhao Kai was tormented so much that he didn't close his eyes once. With two dark circles under his eyes, he slumped on the bed, his gaze vacant, his spirit on the verge of collapse.

Early the next morning, he really couldn't take it anymore. He opened the game and sent a private message to Lin Ye—

[Private Message] Master Kai: Brother Ye, I was really wrong. I beg you to clear the debuffs on me. I can't take it anymore.

Lin Ye replied instantly: "One hundred thousand Gold Coins. Pay it and I'll clear them."

[Private Message] Master Kai: ...Where would I get another hundred thousand Gold Coins? Yesterday's hundred thousand was my entire fortune.

[Private Message] Night: Then there's nothing I can do. Enjoy yourself slowly.

[Private Message] Master Kai: Wait! Brother Ye! I can find a way to scrape it together! Don't hang up yet!

Lin Ye didn't reply. Zhao Kai was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He searched through his backpack and warehouse, finding only a pile of junk. He checked his bank card balance again—there was money, but buying Gold Coins in-game took time, and he couldn't wait.

He suddenly thought of someone—the Server's Number One Divine Priest, Su Qinghan.

Su Qinghan, ID "Qinghan", a priest ranked in the top ten of the entire server. It was said that her purification skills could clear all debuffs, including those claimed to be "uncleasable." Moreover, she didn't belong to any guild and was a well-known Lone Wolf; as long as the money was right, she would take on anything.

Like grabbing a lifeline, Zhao Kai frantically flipped through his friend list and found Su Qinghan's ID.

[Private Message] Master Kai: Sister Qinghan! Help! I need your purification skill! Any amount of money is fine!

It took a long time for the other side to reply—

[Private Message] Qinghan: What debuff?

[Private Message] Master Kai: I don't know what it's called either, it's the one that Night tagged me with! Health loss, social death, forced voice, offline pop-ups... anyway, a whole bunch! Clear them for me, and I'll give you a million Gold Coins!

A million Gold Coins?

Su Qinghan looked at the private message and raised an eyebrow. She naturally knew who "Night" was—the whole server had been discussing this player with an SSS-grade Talent recently. To be able to push a Whale to this extent was indeed quite interesting.

[Private Message] Qinghan: One million Gold Coins, half as a deposit first.

Zhao Kai gritted his teeth, scraped together all his remaining savings, and transferred five hundred thousand Gold Coins over.

[Private Message] Master Kai: The money is there! Come quickly! I'm in the Creation Space!

Su Qinghan collected the Gold Coins, a playful smile curling at the corners of her mouth. She wanted to see just how ridiculous that Talent called "Night" really was.

She teleported to the Creation Space of the Novice Village. Zhao Kai was squatting in a corner, not daring to say a word. Seeing Su Qinghan arrive, he was so excited he almost cried.

Su Qinghan glanced at him and raised her hand to cast a Purification Spell—the strongest purification skill on the server, said to be able to clear even negative effects built into the system.

A white light flashed, and the debuffs on Zhao Kai... didn't budge.

Su Qinghan frowned and cast an even higher-level Purification Spell.

Still no movement.

Her expression changed slightly, and she cast an Ultimate Purification Spell—a skill with a 72-hour cooldown that she was the only person on the server who knew.

The white light flashed again, and the debuffs on Zhao Kai... remained completely unmoved.

Furthermore, Su Qinghan found that she had also been infected with a layer of Decay Debuff—although only one layer, the effect was permanent, and her attributes were permanently reduced by 1%.

[System Prompt: You have been infected by the [Perpetual Energy Level Decay] debuff. Current stacks: 1. All attributes permanently reduced by 1%.]

Su Qinghan's expression changed completely.

Her purification skill actually couldn't clear this debuff? And it even backfired?

She stared at the dense array of debuff effects on Zhao Kai, her gaze growing more and more serious.

"I can't take your order," Su Qinghan said directly.

Zhao Kai was stunned: "What?! Aren't you the Server's Number One Divine Priest? How can you not take it?!"

Su Qinghan's tone was cold: "I can't undo his debuffs."

Zhao Kai completely broke down, squatting on the ground and wailing: "Impossible! You're the number one Divine Priest, how can you not undo them?! I'm finished! I'm really finished!"

Su Qinghan ignored him and turned to leave. She had developed a great interest in this player named "Night."

She opened the friend search, typed in "Night," and sent a friend request—with a message attached: "Your Talent is very interesting. I want to get to know you."

Lin Ye was grinding mobs in Black Wind Ridge. Seeing this friend request, he was stunned for a moment. Su Qinghan? The Server's Number One Divine Priest? Why is she looking for me?

He accepted the request.

[Private Message] Night: What's up?

[Private Message] Qinghan: Your Talent, even my Purification Spell can't clear it. Interesting.

[Private Message] Night: So?

[Private Message] Qinghan: So I want to meet you. Where are you?

Lin Ye raised an eyebrow. The Server's Number One Divine Priest taking the initiative to find him? He hadn't expected that.

[Private Message] Night: Black Wind Ridge. Come on over.

[Private Message] Qinghan: Wait for me.

Su Qinghan closed the private message and teleported to Black Wind Ridge. As soon as she landed, she saw Lin Ye squatting at the entrance of the Wolf King's Lair, boredly tagging passing wild wolves with debuffs.

"You're Night?" Su Qinghan walked over and looked him up and down. "Level 8? Your equipment isn't that great either. With just this Talent, you could push Zhao Kai to that extent?"

Lin Ye looked up at her: "Want to try?"

Su Qinghan wasn't polite and raised her hand with a Purification Spell. The white light fell on Lin Ye without any reaction. She cast another high-level Purification Spell, still no reaction.

Lin Ye smiled: "Don't bother. My Talent has a higher priority than the GM's; your Purification Spell is useless."

Su Qinghan's expression changed completely. In all her time playing the game, this was the first time she had encountered a situation where a Purification Spell was completely ineffective. This Talent was more ridiculous than any top-tier Talent she had ever seen.

"What Talent is this?" she couldn't help but ask.

"SSS-grade, Perpetual Energy Level Decay." Lin Ye stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes. "It only takes effect on malicious targets. People like Zhao Kai deserve to be fleeced."

Su Qinghan stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed: "You're quite interesting."

"The interesting part is yet to come." Lin Ye pointed outside Black Wind Ridge. "Zhao Kai brought people over again, more than fifty this time."

Su Qinghan followed his finger and indeed saw a large group of people swarming into the entrance of Black Wind Ridge, led by Zhao Kai.

Zhao Kai had somehow scraped together another fifty-plus players and was grandly charging this way. The expression on his face was both ruthless and fearful as he shouted while walking: "Night! This time I brought fifty elites and three big shots in Purple Gear! Today we're going to settle this once and for all!"

Su Qinghan frowned: "More than fifty people, can you handle it alone?"

A wicked smile curled on Lin Ye's lips: "Who said I was going to fight alone?"

He turned toward the Wolf King's Lair and shouted: "Wolf King! Come out and receive the guests!"

Hearing Lin Ye's voice, the Black Wind Wolf King shuddered. It didn't dare not to listen—it still had hundreds of layers of debuffs on it. It let out a wail and reluctantly rushed out of the lair, standing in front of Lin Ye.

Su Qinghan was stunned watching this scene.

"You... you're using a BOSS as a pet?"

Lin Ye shrugged: "Pretty much. If it doesn't behave, I'll stack debuffs on it. Stack them until it behaves."

Su Qinghan was completely sold. This man not only had a ridiculous Talent but also had so many unconventional moves; he was simply too much to her taste.

Zhao Kai led his men to the entrance of the lair. Seeing the Wolf King blocking Lin Ye, his face changed: "This trick again? Brothers, don't touch that wolf! Rush straight past and kill Night!"

More than fifty people bypassed the Wolf King and charged toward Lin Ye.

Lin Ye was unhurried. He tagged the surrounding pack of wild wolves with debuffs and then activated "Directional Tracking"—dozens of infected wild wolves frantically pounced on Zhao Kai's team. Whoever was touched was infected with the debuff.

"Holy crap! I'm infected!"

"Me too! My health is dropping too fast!"

"Priest! Heal me quickly!"

"Heal my ass! The priests can't even hold on themselves!"

In just one minute, all fifty-plus people were wiped out. Zhao Kai was no exception; he watched helplessly as his health bar emptied, and his level dropped from Level 1 back to Level 0—kicked out of the Novice Village once again.

Su Qinghan watched Lin Ye's entire operation, her eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"This operation of yours... is too wicked." She couldn't help but laugh, "But I like it."

Lin Ye retracted his Talent and looked at her: "What? You want to learn too?"

Su Qinghan shook her head: "I won't learn. But, I can help you."

"Help me?"

"Yes." Su Qinghan took a step forward, her tone serious. "Although your Talent is strong, it has a fatal weakness—you can't heal. If you encounter true top-tier experts and get focused down, you won't be able to hold on. I can help you fill that gap."

Lin Ye thought about it; it was true. No matter how strong his Talent was, his health was only so much. If he encountered a group of top-tier experts attacking simultaneously, he might not be able to withstand it. Having the Server's Number One Divine Priest as support would be completely different.

"What's the condition?"

"No conditions." Su Qinghan smiled. "I just think you're quite interesting. And—" she paused, "the thing I can't stand most is those guilds that use their power to bully others. You specifically target bad people; that suits my taste."

Lin Ye looked at her and smiled too.

"Alright, let's do it together then."

Su Qinghan reached out her hand: "Happy cooperating."

Lin Ye shook it: "Happy cooperating."

The Lack-of-Virtue Squad has added another powerful general.

Meanwhile, in the Creation Space, Zhao Kai looked at his Level 0 status and fell into complete despair. He had spent five hundred thousand Gold Coins to ask Su Qinghan for help, but not only did she not help him, she even teamed up with Lin Ye.

He slumped in his chair, staring at the ceiling, his eyes vacant.

This Night, just what kind of monster is he?