Morning.
The sunlight streamed through the window, casting its glow onto Su Chen's face.
"What's with this blinding light?"
Groggily, Su Chen opened his eyes and looked outside. The sky was perfectly clear and cloudless. A smile of genuine happiness finally spread across his face.
The past few days had been overcast, with relentless storms and gale-force winds. It had been downright miserable.
Still, strong winds had their advantages. Su Chen glanced at the hybrid wind-solar generator outside and was surprised to see it had charged up to 90%.
"Awesome!" he thought. That should be enough to power the RV for at least two weeks—no more worrying about electricity.
It had been nearly a week since he upgraded his RV.
By that calculation, the power reserves were nearly depleted. If he hadn't installed the generator, he'd be stuck fumbling around in the dark at night.
His old van didn't require much power, but with the upgraded luxury RV came new "rich people problems."
Su Chen wasn't feeling very hungry that morning. A simple breakfast of milk and bread was enough to fill his stomach.
Today, however, he had an important task to tackle—livestreaming!
For someone like Su Chen—a socially anxious, introverted teen—this was a huge challenge.
He barely spoke during online classes, let alone streamed in front of an audience.
Although he had never livestreamed before, he'd watched plenty of streams and had a decent understanding of the mechanics.
There were many categories of livestreams, each catering to a different audience. As the saying goes, "to each their own."
But that didn't mean there weren't ways to game the system. The more popular streaming categories typically had larger audiences, like gaming, mukbang (eating streams), face-cam streamers, and voice streamers.
These were the major categories, and Su Chen had a fair understanding of them.
He had originally planned to stream his camping life, but he needed a clear theme—otherwise, nobody would bother watching. Especially in the RV World, where most people were out working and didn't have time for livestreams.
Plus, many people simply didn't enjoy watching them.
That meant Su Chen risked failing his objective.
He needed to hit 1,000 followers to unlock a big reward—but that wasn't necessarily tied to how many people watched the stream.
Gaining followers required a hook, something that would draw people in—and luckily, Su Chen had just the thing.
Although Su Chen was fairly handsome, he had no intention of showing his face. Becoming a face-cam streamer was out of the question.
Gaming was the most universally popular category—but he didn't have the setup for it, so that was off the table too.
That left mukbang and voice streaming.
Mukbang had a higher barrier to entry, but Su Chen saw it as his best bet. As for voice streaming—forget it. He didn't like talking during streams. Speaking a few lines now and then was fine, but constantly chatting was a nightmare.
He surveyed his surroundings. The area was nice, but it lacked that "idyllic paradise" feel that would draw people in.
He'd need to move camp. This time, setting up the tent would be a trial run.
Now that he was more experienced, it wouldn't take him hours to pitch it like before.
He packed the tent back into the RV. No more delaying—it was time to move.
Su Chen knew that for livestreams, presentation was key. The moment someone clicked into a stream, the background could determine whether they stayed or clicked out.
People were visual. They liked pretty things—whether it was a person or the setting.
Even stylish outfits without showing a face could attract a large audience.
After driving for two hours, Su Chen's eyes were starting to feel strained.
But finally—he found it. A spot that took his breath away.
He stopped the RV and carefully surveyed the surroundings.
As soon as he stepped out, he felt something special. A soft, lush meadow stretched beneath his feet. The grass was thick and springy—it felt great just walking on it.
"Wow~"
He lay down in the grass, basking in the warm sunlight—it was almost too comfortable.
Thankfully, he had sunglasses with him to block the sun's glare.
Perfect. He could fall asleep right here.
Nearby was a small pond with crystal-clear water. He wasn't sure if it had fish, but if it did, he could pass the time fishing.
But what really won him over was the cherry blossom grove behind him—a picture-perfect backdrop for any stream.
If it weren't for the need to go out and scavenge for supplies, Su Chen would've happily lived here forever.
Still, the mission came first, and Su Chen quickly got to work.
This time, he pitched the tent much faster—at least twice as quick as before.
The theme of today's stream was mukbang, and the most important part was making the food look irresistible.
Barbecue and hotpot were beloved by nearly everyone these days—they were staples of friend gatherings and couple dates.
This trend was red-hot.
Su Chen didn't just want to make his mukbang interesting—he wanted to enjoy the food too.
His plan was to present the whole thing like a vlog, which would also help extend the stream's runtime.
That way, reaching 1,000 followers would be much easier. If he only streamed himself eating, people might miss the stream entirely before it even picked up traction.
Streaming isn't as easy as it looks.
Su Chen put on a clown mask and launched the stream—just like that, it was live.
Right now, he was the only one who could stream, so there was no competition over viewers. Content was king.
There were 3.5 billion humans in this world now—if even a small fraction tuned in, getting 1,000 followers would be a breeze.
Survivors across the globe were currently eating breakfast—or had just finished—and were hanging out in the World Chat.
Some had already formed small groups and spent their free time chatting.
At that moment, everyone received a system message:
[Ding! 'Saint Cherry Tomato' is currently livestreaming.]
("What the hell? I've been here this long, and this is the first time I've seen a livestream feature!"
"This is awesome! Livestreaming used to be my favorite hobby. Finally, it's my turn again!"
"Huh? Why don't I have a livestream button? Has anyone streamed yet? Can someone explain how?")
Turns out, the streaming feature was a hidden function unlocked by the Warrior Emblem. Most people had no idea it even existed.
Su Chen had never mentioned it either—he figured by now everyone was scrambling in confusion, wondering if they were just dumb for not discovering it sooner.
But right now, their attention wasn't on Su Chen's stream—they were all obsessed with figuring out how to start their own.
Being able to stream meant being able to talk and hang out with others, a huge morale boost for people who used to have tons of entertainment in their lives.
Without distractions, even the most relaxing lifestyle gets boring eventually.
After all, it was already 2021—not the '80s or '90s anymore.
These days, even elementary school kids were playing mobile games like Honor of Kings.
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