Chapter 91: Divine Sponsor
It was a vow. A tether she could not sever once forged.
Her silence lingered.
And yet, the divine being on the other side of the veil did not grow displeased.
Instead, new lines of text unfurled across her interface, glowing with faint silvery light.
[Unknown Cosmic Entity is not disappointed in you.]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity respects your caution.]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity declares: they will remain by your side regardless.]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity has chosen to sponsor you.]
Her pupils contracted slightly. ’Even without naming Fluffy?’
The screen flickered again.
[Unknown Cosmic Entity has sponsored 100 gold coins.]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity politely requests permission to remain in your stream and observe the Unknown Entity.]
Ling Yu exhaled slowly, masking her astonishment behind composure. She flicked her fingers, and the coins transferred seamlessly into her inventory.
"Fine," she whispered. "Stay. Watch, if that is what you want."
Fluffy chirped happily, bouncing against her chest, almost as if it understood the words. Ling Yu stroked its head once, but her gaze never softened.
What happened next, however, caught her off guard.
The system chimed again, this time not once, but in rapid succession, a flood of notifications filling her vision.
[Divine Stream Update: A rare Unknown Cosmic Entity has entered Ling Yu’s stream.]
[Multiple divine beings have noticed the anomaly and joined the stream out of curiosity.]
[Current Viewers: 1 → 7 → 12 → 15 → 20...]
Her eyes widened slightly. "...Twenty?"
In her past life, only veteran hunters, rankers who had survived multiple waves and earned fame, were capable of attracting such attention. And yet, here she was, at the mere end of the second wave, drawing in a crowd of gods.
Oh, well. It’s not that she was a noob anyway. Considering the timeline and her regression, she was already a veteran hunter from her former life.
The air around her seemed to hum faintly, as if unseen eyes now pressed against her reality.
The system comments began to flood her vision like an endless barrage:
[Artemis is curious about the hunter who attracted the Unknown.]
[Interesting. I didn’t think a mere little pomegranate would be able to attract him.]
[Valkyrie is wondering what is so good about a lesser being.]
[Let’s see if she’s worthy of divine steel.]
[Tyr is intrigued by the lesser being.]
[She carries herself with strategy and foresight. A potential worth investing in.]
[Unnamed Trickster God is amused by the Unique Entity]
[Kekeke! Look at that little round fluffball! How precious! Name it! Name it!]
[Ancestral Dragon God sneers at the lesser being.]
[The entity smells... familiar. Dangerous. I will observe in silence.]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity: ...]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity glares at other divine beings.]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity is scolding the divine beings for being noisy.]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity sponsored you with 100 gold coins.]
[Unknown Cosmic Entity feels apologetic towards you.]
Ling Yu’s temples throbbed. The barrage scrolled so fast it was like a swarm of locusts buzzing in her mind.
[System Alert: Stream comments are overwhelming the host. Toggle ON/OFF option available.]
"Off," Ling Yu commanded sharply, her tone colder than ice.
The notifications vanished at once, leaving only silence and her steady heartbeat.
She leaned back, eyes hooded. "Tch. Nosy deities."
Still, she couldn’t entirely ignore the truth: her stream had grown dramatically. Twenty divine sponsors. And they were not just ordinary ones, but the high-caliber named beings. This meant coins, resources and power. A foundation stronger than anything she had in her previous life.
Fluffy pecked at her sleeve, chirping happily as if proud of itself. Ling Yu glanced down, her lips curling faintly in amusement.
"...All of this attention because of you," she muttered. "Troublesome little thing."
The system chimed again.
[System Notification: Current Stream Sponsors – 20]
Artemis (Favor: 4%)
Valkyrie (Favor: 5%)
Tyr (Favor: 3%)
Unknown Cosmic Entity (Favor: 8%)
Trickster God (Favor: 1%)
...and others.]
[Total Sponsored Coins: 200 (Unknown CE) + 20 (Miscellaneous) = 120 Gold.]
Ling Yu’s mind worked quickly. More coins mean more flexibility. Better weapons, consumables, survival resources. But sponsors aren’t altruistic, they expect entertainment, growth, and results. If I don’t perform, they’ll leave immediately.
She knew this game because she had lived it before. This was how humanity became pawns in the spectacle of gods: dancing for their favor, bleeding for their amusement.
But this time, she would turn the game to her advantage.
Nie Ziyu, Ye Qingxue, and Song had noticed her distraction. Nie Ziyu tilted his head, whispering curiously, "Master Ling Yu... is something happening?"
Ling Yu glanced at him, then at the others.
For a brief moment, she debated telling them about the flood of sponsors. But then she dismissed the thought. Knowledge of divine eyes watching them could breed arrogance or despair.
"...Nothing you need to worry about," she said evenly. "Focus on mastering your weapons. That’s the only thing that matters right now."
Her tone left no room for further questions.
They nodded, turning back to their practice.
Fluffy, however, remained nestled against her chest, chirping softly as though mocking her secrecy.
Ling Yu stroked its feathers absentmindedly, her gaze distant.
’An Unknown Cosmic Entity, openly favoring me and twenty sponsors keeping an watchful eye.’
’A flood of coins.’
’This wasn’t supposed to happen so early... But perhaps... this is the butterfly effect of my rebirth.’
Her ink black eyes narrowed, gleaming faintly under the flickering lights of the ruined train station.
’Good. Then I’ll twist fate even further. If the gods wish to watch, let them see as much as they wants. But they will watch me tear apart destiny itself with my own hands.’
The system interface dimmed, and the night pressed on. Her companions trained, Fluffy cooed in the corner as it played by itself, while she stared at it blankly, and twenty unseen gods leaned closer in their seats across the divine veil, their attention locked on a single woman who carried herself like both predator and prey.
Ling Yu closed her eyes, resting her hand lightly over Fluffy’s round head.