I have a persona specifically for acting.

After adjusting the camera, Tong Zhao posted a message on Weibo:

@TongZhaoV:

Streaming for a bit. [Bilibili stream link]

[Is Sis doing a live stream? Why not on Weibo?]

[Feels like the dimension wall has been broken…]

[Zhao’s become a mature streamer, already knows how to promote herself!]

The first episode of ‘One Life Survivor’ had just aired, and the audience was left wanting more. A bunch of “variety show refugees” were venting their excitement on Weibo, forums, Zhihu, and their social media feeds. Many were even leaving confessions under her previous Weibo posts. In short, there were plenty of netizens lurking under her posts, and when a new one popped up, they excitedly rushed to comment in the first row.

But refreshing it? Well, no chance of being in the first row now.

With one refresh, thousands of comments had already flooded in!

Following the link Tong Zhao provided, fans clicked into the stream, expecting to be visually stunned by her beauty. However, they found that her face only took up a small corner of the screen, about the size of a palm in the bottom right. Tong Zhao was sitting in a pink bunny-themed gaming chair, her hair tied loosely in a bun. Her pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes weren’t looking at the camera but at something ahead—likely her computer screen.

She was very focused.

No distracted smiles for the audience, nor any seductive glances like at the gala.

Yet even without filters, her well-defined features easily outshone a whole district of female streamers.

She’s too beautiful, making people sigh in awe. No wonder she’s a celebrity; she’s on a completely different level from internet influencers. When on the same platform, it feels like she’s effortlessly outshining them. However, this dominance isn’t as noticeable on Bilibili, where many viewers are fans of virtual streamers, which has led to memes like “[VTB Simps Are Among Us.jpg]”.

“Ah, it’s all set,” she said.

As soon as she spoke, the screen of Tong Zhao’s computer appeared in the livestream.

It was a game.

Specifically, ‘PUBG’, which is popular worldwide. The male character on-screen looked quite flashy, wearing a leopard-print face scarf and a Leather Hoodie jacket—clearly an expensive outfit. Tong Zhao not only plays games but plays them well. Part of it is due to often playing with Wei Zekai in the past, but another part is her natural talent.

In many ways, Tong Zhao is a bit of a polymath.

Otherwise, how could she repeatedly succeed in clearing different worlds in the fast-travel genre?

Even though she plays well, Tong Zhao rarely spends money on in-game purchases. This outfit was part of a “team uniform” that Wei Zekai had bought for their group. The black-clad look was just his style, exuding an air of wealth. He’s the type of person who, in ‘CS:GO’, would wield a brand-new blue-flamed karambit knife paired with a dragon-themed sniper rifle, flaunting his financial prowess.

Fans and viewers were stunned.

What was happening?

Tong Zhao streaming a game? And it’s ‘PUBG’?

The information overload left the audience a bit overwhelmed.

Tong Zhao started a match right away and casually chatted with viewers during the loading time: “I saw a lot of people discussing why my instinctive shooting skills seem so good, and why I stay so calm. I figured I’d show you all in action and clear up the confusion.”

After she explained, the viewers were even more puzzled.

The chat was flooded with questions:

[Zhao Zhao, what does playing games have to do with instinctive shooting skills?]
[Sis, are you trying to say you honed your shooting skills from playing PUBG?]
[I don’t believe it! There’s no way this theory is true! The forum pros can’t be right!]

The so-called bragging from forums like Tieba and Zhihu, if all of it were true, China would have unified the world by now. Some overconfident kids talk big on forums, citing their achievements in shooting games, fantasizing that if they were on a real battlefield, they’d definitely dominate.

Of course, that’s impossible.

In reality, the recoil from a real gun would be enough to humble these kids who can barely lift a grocery bag.

The live-streaming site Tong Zhao picked was well-suited for this kind of crowd. The viewers in the comments were savvy and started playing along with the jokes.

[Everyone shut up! You can’t compare everyone’s physical ability the same way. Zhao Zhao once took on eleven strong men by herself in a fit of extreme rage.]
[So what? I became her fan the day she slid tackled a tiger to death. That move was legendary.]
[Totally normal. Do you know why American soldiers are so tough? They train by playing PUBG on Steam with pro gamers. Their coordination comes from playing ‘Human: Fall Flat’, and their strategic backstabbing from ‘Fall Guys’.]

Tong Zhao glanced at the chat and was amused.

When she smiled, the slight upward curve of her eyes gave off an unconscious hint of allure.

Whoa.

Beauty attack!

Viewers started begging for the camera feed to be enlarged, asking if the mods could zoom in on her face.

But that wasn’t happening—Tong Zhao was seriously focused on streaming her game.

“Hello? Hello? Is the random teammate a guy or a girl?”
“Damn, it’s hilarious that we have to fill our squad with randoms because Nan Nan bailed last minute.”

“He’s talking nonsense again, probably watching a virtual streamer.”

From just these few words, it was clear that the three random teammates had originally intended to play as a four-person squad, but one of them bailed last minute, leaving a spot open for Tong Zhao to fill.

Upon hearing the male voice in the game, her fans in the livestream immediately felt a mix of excitement and jealousy.

Playing a game with Tong Zhao?!
What kind of godly luck was that? Incredible.

Many comments were saying that if they could duo with Tong Zhao, they’d pay any amount of money for it.

“I accidentally queued into a four-player squad…”

Tong Zhao said, “You don’t need to spend money to play with me. If you get matched with me, we’ll play together.”

But the reality is, who’s going to get matched with her?

With her current level of fame, she could indeed make such a statement—after all, if playing with her had a price tag, that would be more like a paid companion, which would feel beneath her. Fans may joke about paying to play, but deep down they wanted their idol to be priceless.

Meanwhile, the three male players, unaware that they were the target of thousands of people’s envy, kept joking around: “How could we be so lucky to get a girl on our team? A girl solo-queuing in a four-player squad? Not having a protector is just unscientific!”

Tong Zhao hadn’t turned on her in-game mic, only speaking to the viewers: “I accidentally queued for a squad game, so I’ll just play solo for now. I’ll only talk if communication becomes necessary.”

After a brief pause, she added:

“I haven’t played much this season, so the difficulty of the match will be lower. I won’t need to talk.”

As long as one member of the team survives until the end, the whole squad wins.

“Why won’t you need to talk?”

Tong Zhao smiled lightly and said casually, “Because I play pretty well.”

The viewers at that moment had no idea that this game was about to redefine what “playing pretty well” meant…

The flight path was from the airport to the upper city. While on the plane, Tong Zhao quietly listened to her three teammates chatting via voice.

Player 2 was giving instructions: “Let’s head to Novo to scavenge. There won’t be many people up there since the flight path is away from it. We’ll loot and see what happens next.”

The other two responded with a chorus of “yeah, yeah.”

Tong Zhao, wanting to engage with her fans a bit, asked the viewers in the chat where they’d like to see her jump.

Compared to other celebrities, she didn’t interact with her fans as frequently, which inadvertently helped her maintain a higher profile. Still, she genuinely liked and valued her fans. Handshake events weren’t her style, but she tried to make the most of opportunities to interact with them.

The chat asked her to jump at the airport.

She chuckled softly, “Alright.”

Her soft, feminine voice, transmitted through top-tier sound equipment, caressed the ears of all the viewers.

Seeing that Tong Zhao was jumping into the high-risk airport area without saying a word or communicating with the team, Player 2 started complaining: “Another silent player jumping into the airport to get killed. Looks like we’re going to have to sneak through the zone to survive again, just to scrape some points. Playing as three with a random is too tough… Next game, we’re definitely pulling Nan Nan back in.”

The fans were in disbelief—how could they diss their goddess like that?!

Confused comments flooded the chat, but Tong Zhao calmly replied, “No need for question marks, they’re fine. I’m the one who didn’t turn on my mic. I just wanted to chat with you all first.”

Indeed, if you got matched with a random player who didn’t communicate, you’d feel annoyed too.

Tong Zhao’s words soothed both the PUBG players and her biased fans.

No one could stay mad after that—Tong Zhao had just said she wanted to chat with them!

Because of the rich resources, if the airport is along the flight path, players typically face around 30 to 40 opponents upon landing. However, with a recent update reducing the loot at the airport, fewer people jumped there, though there were still three to four teams, about 20 players in total.

…

Tong Zhao’s parachute landed on the tech building, and she began searching for equipment.

Surprisingly, she didn’t encounter an entire squad inside. Instead, she came across a lone player on the second floor who had been separated from his team. She quickly picked up an UMP9 and took him out with ease, then jokingly commented, “Why is there only one? Where are his teammates? Give me some action!”

As soon as she made her first move, the viewers could tell she knew how to play.

Many curious onlookers, who came just for the spectacle, began to wonder how well this actress could really play.

“The players in this match seem like noobs. Their aim doesn’t seem great. Looks like it’s a beginners’ match,” Tong Zhao said calmly, her tone carrying a soft, amused smile.

It was as if she wasn’t in a deadly battlefield, but rather playing a peaceful idle game.

Some fans who didn’t understand the game were utterly charmed by how she called them “little kids.”

Gunshots continued to ring out nearby. When Tong Zhao arrived at the scene, she couldn’t see anyone and muttered in confusion, “It’s like they’re just shooting for fun. When I need someone, there’s no one around.”

No sooner had she said this than she was shot in the back.

Before the audience could react, Tong Zhao had already swiftly turned, found cover behind a door, and quickly eliminated the ambusher with a few shots. Though her health had dropped significantly, she remained unhurried: “Now his teammates will come. What should we do?”

She calmly closed the door and started healing by a window without finishing off the downed player.

The chat exploded with viewers urging her to finish off the enemy first, because in the game, downed players don’t die instantly if their teammates are still alive.

At this point, if the ambusher’s teammates rushed over and killed Tong Zhao, they could still revive the injured player.

It’s common sense to finish off an enemy after downing them.

Of course, healing takes time, and using medicine when injured is normal.

However, she interrupted her healing just after starting, without waiting for it to complete.

After performing this series of seemingly confusing actions to regular viewers and low-ranked players, she explained:

“When this ambusher dies, there’s a death cam that allows his teammates to see how he was killed. In that replay, they can also see my actions… If his teammates see me healing, what would they think?”

“They’d probably tell their team, ‘She’s low on health! She’s healing near my loot box! Hurry up and kill her to revive me!’ … Something like that.”

“I timed it right. I jumped out the window just after their death cam ended.”

“To these three teammates, I probably look like some clueless newbie still healing next to the body.”

Just as she finished speaking, the sound of hurried footsteps grew louder.

“Look, they took the bait.”

Tong Zhao quickly vaulted out the window, tossing a grenade back into the room. It blew up the first enemy who had jumped in from the adjacent room—let’s call him Gourd Baby #1. Gourd Baby #2 then rushed in to try and revive him, while Gourd Baby #3 waited by the door, only to be stealthily taken out by Tong Zhao as she sneaked up using the shift key to move quietly. Inside, Gourd Baby #2 was desperately trying to revive his teammate…

Just two more seconds, and he’d have revived his ally, turning the fight into a 2v1!

However, what awaited Gourd Baby #2 was a grenade that had been cooking for two seconds.

Boom!

Tong Zhao chuckled at the whole situation, “Classic Gourd Babies rescuing their grandpa.”

In this 1v4, aside from her precise and swift takedown of the initial ambusher, Tong Zhao didn’t display any particularly impressive gunplay.

In higher-level games, good aim is expected. What really makes the difference is tactical movement, positioning, use of throwables, and strategy. The skill level of her opponents in this match was relatively low, and Tong Zhao had perfectly predicted their moves, securing each kill with ease.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

“See, as long as you stay calm, a 1v4 is no big deal,” Tong Zhao said.

Her three teammates couldn’t see her impressive moves. All they noticed was her health bar dropping significantly. Player 2 started grumbling, “As expected, another one who won’t make it out of the airport. Doesn’t have the skills but still won’t follow commands…”

But then, three knockdown notifications popped up.

The same player who didn’t follow orders and supposedly lacked skill had just wiped out an entire squad.

Player 3 responded, “Uh, what?”

“Uh… got lucky, huh? Didn’t see that coming,” Player 2 awkwardly laughed, quickly shifting the topic, “Alright, let’s keep looting!”

The live chat exploded with laughter at this turn of events, with viewers mocking the players for failing to recognize a pro in their midst.

Meanwhile, Tong Zhao was calmly healing in a safe spot. Her backpack, aside from essential ammo, was filled with medical supplies and throwables. “I’ve gathered enough resources. Let’s go check on what our little friends are up to,” she said.

The chat immediately switched from laughing to begging for attention, with many fans saying they wished Tong Zhao would call them “little friends.”

For once, Tong Zhao indulged them, smiling as she said, “Alright, you’re all my little friends.”

…

Compared to the cool and collected pro, her three teammates were much more down-to-earth.

Viewers listened as they cautiously looted, with Player 4 stuck debating, “Should I take the thumb grip or the vertical grip?” This indecision was too much for Player 2, the self-appointed leader, who sighed, “Whatever, I’ll go watch the bridge. Hurry up and decide!”

At the bridge…

Tong Zhao drove straight there.

Player 2 had likely been ambushed near the bridge. In the voice chat, he shouted, “There’s someone here! I couldn’t hold them off! I’m down, I’m behind cover… Ah,” realizing that his teammates were still far away, he added in a dejected tone, “Never mind, I’m done for. I can see the enemy coming to finish me off. You guys won’t make it in time.”

The enemy approaching to finish him off was already very close.

Ten steps away.

Five steps…

Just at the critical moment, a gunshot rang out, followed by the sound of a bullet hitting its target. Player 2 noticed he hadn’t lost any more health.

The one who got knocked down wasn’t him—it was the enemy who had come to finish him!

“Whoa, who shot him? Did another team show up?”

Player 2, who had narrowly escaped death, was overjoyed.

But then he realized that if another team had arrived, they’d likely be after him too.

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of a throwable landing next to him echoed in his ears.

It wasn’t a grenade.

With a ‘whoosh’, a cloud of smoke spread, like the light of an angel enveloping him.

It was a smoke grenade, meant to protect him and obscure the enemy’s vision!

Player 2 quickly opened the minimap and saw that the silent teammate wasn’t dead after all, and had actually come to save him!

Player 2 exclaimed, “A living saint has descended right next to me??”

Now that they had regrouped, it was time to open comms.

Tong Zhao turned on her team mic and, at the same time, switched on a voice changer. Her usual feminine voice became a soft, gentle male tone: “There are enemies at the bridge. I’ve already knocked one. You focus on reviving your teammate. I’ll handle the rest.”

As Players 3 and 4 rushed over to save him, Player 2 secretly asked his roommate in the dormitory, “Whoa, this guy is killing it so hard. He’s not using aimbot or anything, is he? What if he suddenly teleports to my face and asks me if I want to buy hacks? Or should we team up and ambush him? I want to be the one who takes down the hacker! I won’t give in for just a few points!”

Before his roommate could answer, Tong Zhao asked, “Aren’t you leaving yet? The poison is coming, and there are meds and bags on the ground. If you need more, just take them.”

Player 2’s eyes lit up as he activated his mic, “Oh, I’m coming right now!!!”

After healing himself, he jogged over to Tong Zhao and asked, “Big brother, you’re not selling hacks, are you?”

“…”

Tong Zhao was speechless: “Have you ever seen a hacker share their meds, not kill you, and still let you play?”

“I haven’t, I haven’t! I was wrong, big brother.”

“It’s fine, let’s go.”

Player 2 thought about it; usually, he was the one calling the shots and leading the team. How could he be so easily summoned and directed by her? This feeling of being a follower…

It felt too good.

The three of them followed this boss around excitedly, killing anyone they encountered as they walked.

Mostly, Tong Zhao was the one killing; they were just there to move.

She was killing so quickly that her teammates hardly had a chance to show off their skills.

Player 2 was the highest-skilled among them, and after finally taking down a lone enemy, he shouted, “Look, look! I killed one trying to escape!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the icon indicating that the boss had eliminated a squad appeared in the top right corner.

…Okay.

Players 3 and 4 were mainly providing heavy fire to pretend to be strong.

Player 3 asked, “Mr. Chen, did you hit him?”

Player 4: “I didn’t hit him.”

Player 3: “Me neither. What do we do if we can’t hit him?”

“Are you stupid? Just shoot the ground next to the tree; he won’t dare to show his head.”

“Oh, right, right!”

During their playful banter, as the frontline opened up, the enemy who didn’t dare to show himself was precisely taken out by Tong Zhao, who had flanked him.

With the boss leading the way, they pretended to aim in the final circle, having a blast and racking up points.

Another joyful day of earning points!

The audience, who had been watching the entire time, was completely won over by her.

If she had been playing solo, it wouldn’t have had the same effect.

The key was those three clueless teammates, which gave the viewers a strong sense of immersion, as if even they were teaming up with the boss to earn points.

Usually, Tong Zhao was somewhat reserved and didn’t have a very loud image.

She would say what needed to be said, not a chatterbox, but also not too talkative.

It might also be because there were too many talkative people around her, like Shi Qianqiu and Wei Zekai, who could carry a group chat on their own, which made her seem more efficient and concise. But fans noticed that Tong Zhao actually loved to talk and was quite interesting when she did.

The live chat was filled with a sea of gifts.

After the first episode of “One Life Survivor” ended, the variety show fans flooded into her livestream, creating a strong buzz. They soon discovered she was streaming a shooting game, which hit the excitement point for many male viewers—what could be more thrilling than playing a game with a goddess who was also highly skilled?

Female gamers felt proud as well. Who says women can only be cute and helpless?

Thinking about it this way, they genuinely started promoting her.

“Thank you all for the gifts and for becoming captains and admirals,”

Tong Zhao didn’t lack for popularity or gifts; she was just explaining it to herself: “In any case, my shooting skills and mindset are honed in games. I know most people can’t do it, so don’t try to learn from me. After all…”

She curved the corner of her lips, tinted with a sugary hue: “People’s physiques can’t be generalized.”

Wow.

This mixture of truth and humor made the audience find her even more enigmatic.

But a superstar needs a bit of mystery to be appealing. Following a star is about the chase; if you can grasp it and see through it, then it’s no longer a star. It’s just a meteor that fell to Earth, dragged into a lab by astronomers for study.

It’s only when it’s floating in space that it’s called a star.

Only those who are worthy of admiration and pursuit can be called celebrities.

[Alright, you’re right, sis, we’ll listen to you.]

[I’m afraid to get shot if I don’t listen/dog emoji]

[I believe it, but can Sister Zhao stream for a bit longer? I was recommended here by a friend halfway through and just caught the final circle. I want to see Sister Zhao play from the beginning!]

The chat was filled with pleas for Tong Zhao to keep streaming; one round just wasn’t enough.

To be fair, Tong Zhao made it to the end in this round, and the duration wasn’t short, but the audience still wanted more.

“Okay, let’s play another round.”

“By the way, I’m not just practicing my mindset in *PUBG*; I have other games I can stream as well.”

Tong Zhao opened her Steam account.

Wow, she had so many games that they were almost endless.

This was also thanks to Wei Zekai. It wasn’t that Tong Zhao asked him to buy games for her, but rather that this heavily addicted, fleeting enthusiasm-driven teenager wanted to play every time a new game came out. Not wanting to be lonely, he wanted to invite his friends to join him, so anyone on his Steam friends list frequently received gifts.

After finishing another round of ‘PUBG’, Tong Zhao also streamed games like ‘Bridge Building’, ‘Landlord’, and ‘League of Legends’.

Fans went from being shocked and bombarding the chat with question marks to accepting reality, and finally to numbly spamming [66666]…

Ah, their goddess’s versatility was just that simple and mundane, yet somehow dry.

After Tong Zhao ended her stream, bored onlookers began to comment on the stars within the industry who enjoyed playing games.

After counting, they found quite a few.

After all, with the rise of esports in recent years and its entry into the public eye, celebrities playing the same games as fans highlighted their down-to-earth quality. If they played well, they could attract fans, and if they were bad at the game but still addicted, it had its own charm.

[…Wait, are you all really accepting that Tong Zhao’s shooting skills and mindset were honed in games?]

[But she’s just so strong!]

[We’ve already accepted this narrative.]

Some content creators were responsible for compiling the best plays from well-known streamers each week, and thus, one bizarre clip got mixed in:

“Tong Zhao’s Airport Bloodbath: Locking Down a Team”

Not only was the highlight reel impressive, but she also coordinated perfectly with the three random players in her first match.

If they hadn’t been a last-minute match, one would think they were intentionally cast actors.

Afterward, when those three male college students found out that the incredibly strong player they had teamed up with that day was Tong Zhao, they were stunned for several days and immediately changed their dorm group name to “The Three Handsome Guys Who Played With Tong Zhao,” earning the envy of everyone in school.

The irony was that the girl the first male student was pursuing was a die-hard fan of Tong Zhao. She felt a strong sense of identification with him, even wishing she could become a boy just to be a fanboy. When she found out about this, her heart was filled with jealousy, and she said she never wanted to see him again, fearing she wouldn’t be able to control her jealousy and might end up hitting him…

It was unfair!

This situation would have ended there. Tong Zhao couldn’t possibly stream games all the time, but then a scandal broke out involving the promotion of a training app in which she had invested alongside Zeshan. The app’s originally planned spokesperson was embroiled in a violent scandal involving shoving his girlfriend while dating someone else.

Although it hadn’t reached the point of being banned, it would definitely have an impact.

If the money was refunded, the promotion of the app could be delayed.

Tong Zhao directly posted in the WeChat group:

[Delay what? I’m the best spokesperson. Let him refund the money and get lost.]