Chapter 1: The Live Streaming Check-in System

"At last, the contract is finally over. I’ll never have to scrape together endless hours for such meager pay again," Jiang Yun sighed as he gazed at the somewhat haggard face staring back at him from the mirror.

He was a game streamer on SharkFight, and a fairly popular one at that. Every time he went live, there would be at least two or three thousand viewers in his stream. By all rights, someone with his audience shouldn’t be living in luxury, but he ought to be doing quite well for himself.

But reality was quite the opposite.

His monthly salary was pitifully low. Just this month, for example—his actual take-home pay was less than four thousand, worse than an average factory worker.

All this stemmed from the fact that last year, when he was just starting out, he’d been tricked into signing a contract with a guild. The terms were harsh. Each month, he was required to stream for at least 300 hours—ten hours a day, with no days off allowed! And after all that, he only got to keep ten percent of his gift income. There wasn’t even a base salary.

SharkFight took fifty percent, the guild forty. Jiang Yun had no complaints about the platform’s share; after all, he was making his living on their site, and it was standard for streaming platforms to take half. But why should the guild get forty percent?

If the guild had helped promote him, building up his audience, Jiang Yun might have accepted it. But they hadn’t. From start to finish, he was on his own. The only contact he'd ever had with the guild was the person who’d tricked him into signing. After sealing the deal, that person seldom bothered with him, only reaching out to remind him when his hours were short.

Jiang Yun had long since had enough of this vampiric arrangement. If not for the exorbitant penalty for breach of contract, and his unwillingness to throw away the hard-earned audience he’d built over the year, he would have quit long ago.

He still didn’t understand what possessed him to sign such a contract in the first place.

Now, a year had passed, and at last he was free.

Seeing the "Not signed with any MCN" line on his profile, Jiang Yun couldn’t help but smile from the bottom of his heart.

Just then, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. Activation conditions met. The Live Stream Check-In System is now active!"

Stunned, Jiang Yun blinked in confusion.

"Am I hallucinating from too much overtime?"

He muttered to himself.

Yesterday, he’d streamed over twenty hours in a row just to make up his monthly hours—nearly a full day and night. Naturally, when he heard the mechanical voice, his first thought was that he was hallucinating from exhaustion.

But then the voice sounded again.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. Streaming hours have reached 3,600. The Live Stream Check-In System is now fully activated!"

This time, Jiang Yun was certain—it wasn’t a hallucination. The voice was perfectly clear, ringing out inside his mind.

The concept of a system was hardly unfamiliar to Jiang Yun. As a young man, he’d read more than a few web novels. He’d even fantasized that one day he might awaken some overpowered system and be whisked away to the heights of life.

And now, incredibly, it had come true.

Suppressing his excitement, he tried speaking to the system in his mind.

"System, are you there?"

"Ding. I am here."

The mechanical voice replied as before.

At this response, Jiang Yun’s barely calmed heart fluttered with excitement once more.

"What can you do?"

"Ding. This system is the Live Stream Check-In System. As the name implies, as long as the Host completes the daily streaming requirement, you will gain one check-in opportunity. With each successful check-in, the system will reward you with a mystery prize. The nature of the reward will be determined based on your streaming content, influence, viewer count, and other factors."

After hearing this explanation, one thought surfaced in Jiang Yun’s mind.

"Was I truly born to be a streamer? Even my system is streaming-related."

"Ding. Host has an unclaimed Novice Gift Pack. Would you like to receive it?"

The system’s voice rang out again.

Jiang Yun didn’t hesitate for a moment. "Claim it!"

"Ding. Congratulations, Host. Novice Gift Pack opened. You have received: Physical Enhancement Serum x1."

"Ding. Congratulations, Host. Novice Gift Pack opened. You have received: Audi A8L x1."

"Rewards are being delivered..."

A flash of white light passed before Jiang Yun.

In the next instant, a bottle of blue liquid and a car key appeared in front of him.

At the same time, information flowed into Jiang Yun’s mind.

Physical Enhancement Serum: Repairs internal injuries, strengthens the user’s body. The effect varies depending on the user’s physical condition. Each person can only use one bottle.

Audi A8L: The Audi A8L is a luxury car exuding both grandeur and cutting-edge technology. Its imposing exterior is matched by a meticulously crafted interior, featuring premium materials such as genuine leather, rosewood, and piano lacquer panels...

Jiang Yun quickly digested these details, then turned his gaze to the bottle of serum and the car key now before him.

The moment his fingers touched the car key, he could almost see the Audi A8L parked downstairs by his apartment. Not only that, but the entire legitimate purchase process for the vehicle played out in his mind, as if he had witnessed it himself.

"The system is really thorough—everything by the book..."

Jiang Yun grinned, then set the key aside and picked up the Physical Enhancement Serum.

Without a second thought, he unscrewed the cap and swallowed it in one go. He was keen to see just how effective it was.

The liquid slid down his throat, leaving a cool, fragrant aftertaste.

The next moment, a gentle warmth spread through his body. He felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring, so comfortable he couldn’t help but close his eyes.

The sensation came quickly, and faded just as fast.

When it was gone, Jiang Yun looked at his reflection and found his skin noticeably fairer, his features subtly refined. He still looked like himself, but much more handsome—transformed from a handsome youth into a striking man.

Not only that, but his fatigue from all those late-night streams was completely gone.

Jiang Yun felt brimming with energy, as though he possessed inexhaustible strength.

He lifted his shirt and looked down to discover that his once-slight frame had grown powerfully muscular, like someone who’d trained in the gym for years. The defined muscles seemed like a perfect Greek sculpture—he couldn’t resist feeling them a few times in admiration.

After a moment of appreciation, Jiang Yun suddenly remembered something.

He glanced at his phone: it was already 11:52 PM—almost midnight.

He quickly asked the system, "Will the check-in refresh after midnight?"

"Ding. Yes. The Live Stream Check-In refreshes daily at 0:00. As long as you stream for two hours, you can complete the check-in and claim your reward."

Jiang Yun nodded with satisfaction.

Much more generous than that MCN contract ever was.