169: Chapter 169 Purchasing "Temporary Screenwriting Rights"

As soon as Lin Chen shouted, "I'm paying for everyone's shopping today, up to a limit of one billion dimension points"—

The livestream's data exploded.

Not metaphorically.

It literally crashed the system!

120 billion viewers rushed into the mall simultaneously, placing orders like crazy! From the cheapest "Glowstick Effect" (1 dimension point) to the most expensive "Plane Projector" (5 million dimension points), the stock of every item hit zero at a rate of millions per second!

The dimension point balance in Lin Chen's backend began to plummet like a waterfall:

1 billion... 900 million... 800 million...

In just three short minutes, the one-billion-point limit was incinerated!

But the audience kept on buying!

Because Lin Chen had said "a limit of one billion," he never said he'd stop after that—he only meant "the limit I'm paying for is one billion," but the platform couldn't stop the audience from spending their own money to keep buying!

Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded:

After Lin Chen's subsidy limit was exhausted, the audience began a buying frenzy out of their own pockets! They were buying while spamming the chat:

[Boss Lin has been so generous, we have to support him!]

[Buy! Just treat it as a wedding gift!]

[User 'Not Short of Money' spent 5 million dimension points to purchase 'Cosmic Fireworks Effect' × 1000!]

The backend data broke through the ceiling once again:

[Online Viewers: 18,472,919,223 (Platform all-time record)]

[Total Tips this Period: 480 million dimension points]

[Total Mall Sales: 3.7 billion dimension points (Lin Chen paid 1 billion + Audience paid 2.7 billion)]

[Interaction Rate: 89% (Record-breaking)]

Even the Sweeper sitting nearby, recording everything, paused its hand as it flipped through its logbook.

It wrote quickly in the book:

[Subject Commercial Value Assessment: S+ Grade]

[Ability to Incite Audience Consumption: Record-breaking]

[Suggested Adjustment to Processing Plan: ...]

Before it could finish writing—

Three blood-red pillars of light suddenly descended from the sky!

They weren't attacks; they were official platform announcements!

The first pillar of light displayed:

[Emergency Notice from the Platform's Supreme Council]

[Due to streamer "Lin Chen" triggering an abnormal consumption frenzy, resulting in 37% of mall items going out of stock and affecting the normal livestreams of other streamers,]

[The following penalties are hereby imposed: dimension points frozen for 72 hours, mall purchase privileges banned for 30 days, and livestream traffic weight reduced by 50%.]

The second pillar of light:

[Additional Penalty Notice from the Screenwriting Team]

[In view of streamer "Lin Chen's" multiple violations, a "Forced Low-IQ Plot" is now being implanted. Countdown: 10 minutes.]

[In 10 minutes, the IQ of all characters in the livestream will be temporarily adjusted to 70 for a duration of 48 hours.]

The third pillar of light was the most terrifying:

[Sweeper Task Update]

[Observation period suspended. Immediately execute the "Light Formatting" procedure.]

[Formatting Scope: Streamer "Lin Chen's" memories from the last 24 hours.]

[Execution Countdown: 5 minutes.]

A triple blow, all descending at once!

"They're trying to ruin you!" Customer Service 007 screamed in Lin Chen's mind. "Once your memory is formatted, you'll forget how you awakened, and you'll turn back into that puppet streamer who follows the script!"

Su Qingyu rushed to Lin Chen's side. "What do we do?"

Zhang Hao had already pulled up the backend. "Boss! We still have... over thirty million dimension points left. What can we buy with that?"

Lin Chen stared at the three countdowns.

10 minutes until IQ reduction.

5 minutes until memory formatting.

Plus the mall ban, the traffic reduction...

He smiled.

"Seven."

"I'm here!"

"Temporary Scriptwriting Rights—how much per hour right now?"

"It used to be a million, but now that you're being sanctioned, the Screenwriting Team will definitely jack up the price—wait, let me check..."

Three seconds later, 007's voice trembled:

"They... they've adjusted the price to 5 million dimension points per hour!"

"And they've added a restriction: You can only buy 1 hour at a time, with a 12-hour cooldown."

"They're clearly trying to stop you from using it!"

A melodramatic reversal:

The chat had already gone insane:

[The platform is way too corrupt!]

[A 500-fold price hike?!]

[Tip him! Let's pool money for Boss Lin!]

[User 'Crowdfunding Rebellion' tipped 10 million dimension points!]

[User 'F*** the Dark Platform' tipped 20 million dimension points!]

But the tipping speed couldn't keep up with the countdown.

IQ reduction countdown: 9 minutes 47 seconds.

Formatting countdown: 4 minutes 47 seconds.

With the audience's tips, Lin Chen's backend balance barely climbed to 50 million dimension points—just enough to buy one hour of scriptwriting rights.

But what then?

What could be done in one hour?

"Buy it," Lin Chen said.

[Purchase Successful]

[Consumed 5 million dimension points]

[Obtained "Temporary Scriptwriting Rights (Sanctioned Version)" × 1 hour]

[Remaining dimension points: 45,872,844]

He immediately used the rights.

But this time, the scriptwriting interface was extremely crude—there were only three modifiable options:

[Modify Countdown Speed (0.1x - 10x)]

[Modify Penalty Intensity (1% - 100%)]

[Modify Penalty Target (Can designate another character to receive the penalty)]

All of these only treated the symptoms, not the cause!

He couldn't even access the script library, let alone change the plot!

"They've placed restrictions," 007 said in despair. "This is a deliberate attempt to disgust you, making your money spent useless!"

IQ reduction countdown: 8 minutes 30 seconds.

Formatting countdown: 3 minutes 30 seconds.

Su Qingyu suddenly grabbed Lin Chen's hand.

"Use the third option."

"Huh?"

"Modify Penalty Target," Su Qingyu stared at the option. "Let me take it for you."

"No!" Lin Chen and 007 shouted simultaneously.

"Hear me out," Su Qingyu said quickly. "I just absorbed the Memory Virus; I have a 'Memory Firewall' in my body. If I'm the one who undergoes the formatting, the firewall will trigger, and it might... it might reflect the formatting program back."

"Might?" Zhang Hao's eyes widened. "Sis, you're gambling too much!"

"There's no time left." Su Qingyu looked at Lin Chen. "Trust me."

Lin Chen stared at her for three seconds.

Then, he nodded.

He selected [Modify Penalty Target] and typed in "Su Qingyu".

[Modification Successful]

[Memory Formatting Target changed to: Su Qingyu]

[Countdown Reset: 5 minutes]

5 minutes.

Could the Memory Firewall in Su Qingyu's body withstand the platform's official formatting program?

No one knew.

The chat held its collective breath.

The Sweeper stopped recording, its blank mask turning toward Su Qingyu.

Time passed second by second.

4 minutes.

3 minutes.

2 minutes—

"Wait!"

Customer Service 007 suddenly shouted in Lin Chen's mind:

"I found a loophole!"

"The purchase restriction for Temporary Scriptwriting Rights is '1 hour per purchase, 12-hour cooldown'—but it doesn't say you can't buy multiple copies at once!"

Lin Chen's eyes lit up. "What do you mean?"

"It means you can ask other viewers to buy them for you! After they buy them, they can transfer them to you using the 'Gift' function! That way, you can stockpile a large amount of scriptwriting rights in a short time!"

"How many can I stockpile?"

"Theoretically, there's no limit! But gifting takes a 20% processing fee, and..."

007 paused:

"The Screenwriting Team will definitely find out and plug the loophole immediately."

"So, you have to be fast."

A thrilling sensation:

Lin Chen immediately shouted at the camera:

"Everyone! I need help!"

"Go to the mall now and buy 'Temporary Scriptwriting Rights,' then send them to me using the gift function!"

"To everyone who helps, I will refund your dimension points at double the original price! Plus, I'll give you permanent VIP status at the Heaven Branch!"

The chat responded instantly:

[Buying!]

[User 'Loophole Hunter' purchased Scriptwriting Rights × 1, gifted!]

[User 'Technical Support' purchased Scriptwriting Rights × 5, gifted!]

[User 'Tycoon Squad' collectively purchased Scriptwriting Rights × 127, gifted...]

The stockpile of "Temporary Scriptwriting Rights" in Lin Chen's backend began to surge!

1 hour... 5 hours... 20 hours... 50 hours...

But almost simultaneously, a new blood-red warning descended from the sky:

[Abuse of rule loophole detected]

[Emergency patch in progress...]

[Patch Completion Countdown: 60 seconds]

Only 60 seconds!

"Faster! Even faster!" Zhang Hao stared at the inventory numbers. "We've stockpiled 83 hours! Is it enough?!"

"Not enough!" 007 said urgently. "To counter the platform's official formatting program, you need at least 500 hours of scriptwriting rights to forcibly modify the underlying code!"

60 seconds.

500 hours.

That meant stockpiling an average of 8.3 hours per second!

"Keep buying!" Lin Chen roared. "Triple refund! Plus real estate in the God Realm Development Zone!"

The chat went completely berserk!

The purchase and gift notifications scrolled so fast they were a blur!

The inventory numbers jumped wildly:

100 hours... 200 hours... 300 hours...

Countdown: 30 seconds.

Su Qingyu's formatting countdown: 1 minute 30 seconds.

The Sweeper had already stood up, a pure white formatting light-spear condensing in its hand—it was going to execute the procedure personally.

Inventory: 400 hours.

Countdown: 15 seconds.

The audience's buying speed began to drop—because the mall's stock was almost sold out! All "Temporary Scriptwriting Rights" across every division of the platform had been swept clean!

Inventory: 450 hours.

Countdown: 5 seconds.

Still 50 hours short!

"It's over..." Zhang Hao's face was deathly pale.

At the very last second—

A shimmering golden chat message with an ∞ badge certification floated by:

[User 'Long Aotian Immortal Emperor' gifted: Temporary Scriptwriting Rights × 100 hours]

[Message: No need to pay me back, just consider it an investment. I'm looking forward to seeing you take down the platform.]

The inventory jumped to 550 hours!

The loophole patch countdown hit zero!

[Patch complete]

[Rule loophole has been plugged]

[However, historical transactions remain valid]

Lin Chen instantly activated all 550 hours of scriptwriting rights!

Buzz—!!!

An unprecedented torrent of golden data erupted from his eyes!

This time, he could do more than just modify scripts—

He saw the underlying rule code of the platform!

The base logic that constituted the "Forced Low-IQ Plot," "Memory Formatting," and "Mall Ban" lay spread before him like an open book!

"Found you..."

Lin Chen said softly.

Then, he began to modify them with brute force:

[Forced Low-IQ Plot Program] → [All-Member IQ Boost Program]

[Memory Formatting Program] → [Memory Backup and Encryption Program]

[Mall Ban Privilege] → [Mall Free Trial Voucher]

[Traffic Reduction Algorithm] → [Traffic Multiplication Algorithm]

Every line modified required dozens of hours of scriptwriting rights to fight against the platform's auto-repair!

The 550-hour stockpile burned away madly:

-100 hours!

-200 hours!

-300 hours!

When only 50 hours were left in the inventory—

All modifications took effect.

The IQ reduction countdown vanished, replaced by a temporary +50 IQ boost for all characters, lasting 48 hours.

The memory formatting program targeting Su Qingyu was forcibly reversed, becoming a triple-encrypted backup of her memory to the deepest reaches of the platform—where even the Supreme Council couldn't delete it.

The mall ban was lifted, and all viewers received a "one-hour free shopping" privilege.

The livestream traffic didn't decrease; instead, it surged from 18 billion to 22 billion online, setting the highest record since the platform's inception!

The light-spear in the Sweeper's hand slowly dissipated.

It silently opened its logbook and wrote:

[Subject now possesses "Rule-Level Resistance Capabilities"]

[Suggested upgrade of processing plan to: S-Class Crisis]

[Requesting invocation of the "Council Arbitration Tribunal"...]

At this point, it suddenly stopped.

Because it saw—

Lin Chen walking toward it.

In his hand, he held something he had just exchanged with the last 10 hours of scriptwriting rights...

A contract.

The hook:

"Mr. Sweeper."

Lin Chen held the contract in front of that blank mask.

"I saw what you just wrote."

"S-Class Crisis, Council Arbitration Tribunal—sounds like a lot of trouble."

"So, I'd like to talk business with you."

The Sweeper remained silent.

"This is a 'Labor Outsourcing Agreement'."

Lin Chen flipped to the first page of the contract:

"The content is simple: I'm hiring you to be my 'Private Rule Consultant'."

"Annual salary: 100 million dimension points."

"Job description: Within the limits of the platform's rules, tell me in advance what I can and can't do—to avoid me triggering your 'processing procedures' again."

"For you, this is compliant, because you're simply 'providing rule consultation'."

"For me, I can keep streaming and keep making money for the platform."

"It's a win-win."

A question mark slowly surfaced on the Sweeper's blank mask.

It took the contract and looked at it for a long time.

Then, it wrote in its logbook:

[Subject is attempting to bribe the executor]

[Nature of behavior: Serious violation]

[However...]

It paused.

Because at the end of the contract, Lin Chen had used his scriptwriting rights to add a hidden clause:

[If Party B (Sweeper) accepts the employment, Party A (Lin Chen) will donate 50 million dimension points monthly to the "Sweeper Department Public Welfare Fund" to improve the welfare and benefits of low-level executors.]

The hand holding the pen trembled slightly.

It looked at Lin Chen.

After a long silence.

It signed its employee ID on the contract:

[Scavenger 07]

The contract was in effect.

Lin Chen smiled.

He turned around, facing the 22 billion viewers, facing the world that had just been saved from crisis, and facing Su Qingyu and Zhang Hao by his side—

He held up the signed contract.

"Alright."

He said.

"Now—"

"We finally have an 'internal consultant'."

"Next..."

A cold light flashed in his eyes:

“It's time to find the Screenwriting Team...”

“...and settle the score once and for all.”