"Oho~ Dug your own grave? More like live-streamed the burial… and monetized the funeral. HAHAHAHA~" Xiao Hei cackled as he bounced around through the screen.
"Ha. Ha. Great. Job. me." Jin lifelessly said, with a tearfully pained face that forced a smile.
"Right! You did~" Xiao Hei chirped, "At least your dead fanbase can't ghost you… You're the one who's haunted now~"
He then snapped his fingers, making the cursed phone on the floor levitate towards Jin and continued, "Look~ They like you, even when you're being a downer…"
Hovering just inches from Jin's face, the phone screen displayed the ongoing live stream that didn't make sense, and the live chat comments that poured in.
[👁EyelessEmmy: AWWWWWW he's so confused! I love when they're still soft 🥺]
[🩸CoffinLuvver69: omg he's kinda cute when he's having a breakdown 🥰]
[💀DeadweightDiva: FOLLOWED!! Love his scream from the tunnel!!!]
[🔥SoulSnack: YOOO FIRST STREAMER TO SURVIVE TUNNEL 13! MAD RESPECT💀💀💀]
"..."
Jin Qiang quietly read the chat and then noticed that the livestream overlay was a little different than usual.
Now that he was slowly accepting the reality of being pulled into the afterlife and forced to work for his life. His nerves calmed down, and he started to see things more clearly, and realization started to kick in.
"Wait…" Jin said as he leaned a little towards the phone's screen, checking if he was seeing this right…
[👁Viewer count: 3,210]
[567 Alive | 2,643 Dead]
"I officially welcome you to GH.ST… The only platform where the viewers are literally dying to watch you."
Xiao Hei said, doing a little spin before snapping his fingers, disappearing from the laptop screen in a puff of digital smoke, and then appearing on the cursed phone that was still hovering in front of Jin's face.
"I'm sure you've noticed it by now~ So let me continue to explain before I lose you to your horror-stricken-sad attention span." Xiao Hei grinned from the cursed phone, now orbiting Jin's head like an annoyingly peppy moon.
Jin groaned, swiping at the floating phone, which dodged him effortlessly like a smug mosquito and hovered back at his face.
"Okay, let's dive a little deeper into cursed techs… See this phone hovering, looks like a regular phone, doesn't it? But it's a cursed tech… Which means, you can use the normal apps and internet, but also access the UnderNet… It works like a regular phone but, more advanced with its haunting features…"
"Haunting features? Like how it's hovering right now?"
"Yes, and more~ Cursed techs are deeply connected to the GH.ST network system, so whatever's impossible, may be possible!"
Xiao Hei said, floating on the phone screen, showing the live stream overlay that showed a video footage of Jin Qiang at the moment as if it were a movie… Changing angles now and then. At first, it was a wide view of him with his make-believe cloak, sitting on his bed, next it zoomed in on his gaunt and gloomy face, then changed again.
It was as if it knew what the best scene was to show the viewers.
And the live chat… correction… live chats…
The live chat was split horizontally into two.
The one above had the words "Alive – Live Chat" placed in the upper left corner as the header.
And below it was another live chat window with the words "Dead – Live Chat".
"It's cool, right?!" Xiao Hei chimed, "You can even switch the stream overlays as well… Here, just press these…"
He rambled as he floated towards the upper left corner of the phone's screen, where there were three buttons.
The first button was the normal blue vector internet symbol, the second one looked like an eyeball, and the last one was Xiao Hei's purple shades.
Jin tapped the internet symbol, and the Live stream overlay that he was used to appeared. The only difference from before was that the footage had better resolution but was also glitchy.
[Alive – Live Chat]
[🦴SpookTokFan: Is this ARG or fr? Why is the vid glitching IRL?]
[💽MingzMoments: Wait is this AI? Bro, this is next-level editing!]
[💀deathbyducks: omg I want a Xiao Hei mod for my stream too…🥺]
"Glitchy right? The GH.ST system helps you film, and it also helps with editing… Remember why there's footage of you being dragged out of the tunnel by me, but it was cut off from your stream and wasn't uploaded? That's cause the system didn't allow it to be shown on the internet… There are some things the living shouldn't see. The dead have secrets to ya' know. Hehe~ Now press the next button~"
Unsure if he was prepared for what would happen next, Jin hesitantly tapped the button that looked like an eyeball.
The screen changed again, and it now showed a darker live stream overlay.
(Oh… It's not that bad… I was expecting a jump scare or something…) He thought and internally sighed in relief.
"TADAAA!~ This is the UnderNet's version of your live stream. Not really that different from your regular one, just a black themed overlay, dead viewers, high-quality footage, and some fun, creepy special features…"
[Dead – Live Chat]
[👹gh0stbunny_: I LIKE THIS ONE. LET'S BREAK HIM SLOWLY~]
[🩸reapertips_: Scream for us, streamer. Earn your likes.]
[🥀NoPulseNeeded:Keep still. We want a clean shot of your fear.]
"Now for the third button, as you can tell already by the purple sunglass icon. It's my customized live stream overlay for you. It's the first one I showed you a while ago, the one with the split chats… I recommend you just use that one. Less hassle and confusion for you, since it has the best of both worlds. Hehe~"
"So… There are two separate live streams? One for the living and one for the dead?"
"Uhuh~ GH.ST broadcasts them on the internet and UnderNet… You're wondering why, aren't you?... Like, why not just broadcast it on the UnderNet?"
Jin silently nodded in agreement.
"Well~ That's cause…. It's for you, 'Living Hosts' … It broadcasts on the internet to keep the host alive~ Since you living ones need money to survive… As for why it separated the streams into two, it's because the living and the dead shouldn't collide or mingle… But if you're that curious, you can try to combine the chats once you upgrade the system and have the power to do so… See what happens then. Hehe~"
"Upgrade the system?"
"Yes, we'll get there later~ For now, let's go to your profile page." Xiao Hei said as he drifted towards Jin's channel profile picture at the upper right corner of the screen.
Jin stared at his profile icon, an old photo of himself doing finger hearts while covered in fake blood. Now, ironically, probably not so fake.
Xiao Hei floated beside the image like a smug gremlin tour guide.
"Okay, so this is your GH.ST Host Profile—tadaaa~!" he announced with jazz hands, pixel sparkles trailing his fingers. "Here's where you manage all the spooky streamy stuff, your stats, your upgrades, your contracts, and your survival rate~!"
Jin squinted at the interface.
On-screen, his profile page popped open, and it looked like a twisted mix between a social media account and a haunted RPG status screen, with a deep void backdrop, and icons that twitched occasionally like they were alive.
[📺Channel: GhostQiang | Host: Jin Qiang]
📊 System Status: Tier 0 - Newborn Screamer (Streamer)
🧟♂️ Host Rank: F | EXP: 0/500 |
💸 Skills: Fainting, Ghostly Potential, Ghost-Friendly Aura
📊 Followers: 1,680 (Alive: 543 | Dead: 1,137)
🔪 Survival Rate: 1%
🪙 Soul Coins: 0
✦ Sanity: 98%
📜Contracts: 2 Active
[🎥Next Haunting Event: Playground of the Forgotten - 17:09:36 - ]
A chill ran down Jin's spine. "What... the hell…"
"This is~ your life now~!" Xiao Hei sang, flipping upside down on the screen.
"Oooh~ Look at that sad little 1% survival rate! I love an underdog story. Or in your case… an underGRAVE story. HAHAHA—snort—get it?" he said, clapping with glee as he twirled mid-air.
"I'm going to die." Jin muttered, staring dead-eyed at the screen.
"Technically, you're already halfway there… but don't worry~ You're not completely doomed. You just have to rank up, upgrade the system, and earn soul coins while streaming and staying sane. Hehe~"
"Great… Sounds like a fun horror game. Ha.Ha…" Jin said sarcastically.
"I know right~ Except it's your real life, and you only get one save file!~ Hahaha!~" Xiao Hei laughed, holding his stomach.
Jin just stared at him on the phone screen when he accidentally said his thoughts out loud.
"Ha~ Why are you like this?..."
Xiao Hei puffed his cheeks. "Ruuude~ I'm trying to help you survive here~"
"...."
"... You just thought -It doesn't seem like you do- just now didn't you?"
"!!!.... No…" Jin said as he blinked and gulped.
"Hmm~ It's okay… Don't be afraid~ I won't do….. I won't attack you ~ Didn't I say I'm your no.1 fan~ Hehe~"
"You just changed what you were gonna say just now, didn't you??"
"Sooo~ Let me break it down for you in simple terms… Don't worry, I'll keep it spoon-fed for your fleshbrain~" Xiao Hei said, ignoring Jin and snapping his fingers, and disappearing from the phone's screen.