"It seems that because the crates were too expensive, I didn't get all the rare outfits. The common outfits can only be unlocked through the regular crates."
After saying that, Mavi clicked the top-up button and, without a word, added another $200,000 to his account. The 4,500 viewers in the live stream room went crazy! How long had he been playing? And he was already topping up another $200,000?!
"Oh my gosh! Sugar daddy, I want to have your babies! I've never seen anyone spend so much money on a game before!"
"My goodness, he topped up another $200,000 in less than 5 minutes?! God, forgive me, but I don't understand the world of the super-rich."
"I used to think that eating an $8 burger for breakfast, a $20 steak for lunch, and $100 seafood for dinner was extremely extravagant. But after watching this streamer today, I deeply realize how much of a scrub I am... Spending $400,000 on a game—you could buy a Ferrari 360 with that, right!?"
...
Mavi's 'pay-to-win' live stream was the first of its kind, and the sensation it caused was unprecedented.
While he was still busy spending money to collect crates and open all the PUBG outfits, some online news editors had already started preparing material to report on his shocking actions in detail.
The headline would be, "V-Talk's Top Tycoon Starts a 'Pay-to-Win' Live Stream, Spending a Staggering $400,000 in 5 Minutes Just to Open Game Outfits!"
Once these news reports came out, Mavi's V-Talk Live would become even more popular. His newly developed game, Counter-Strike: PUBG, would also receive more enthusiastic attention. It was as if he spent $400,000 to show off and get powerful advertising—a total win-win.
"Okay, the outfits are finally all unlocked. It cost a total of $320,000, and I have over 600 crates left. So it takes about $300,000 to unlock all the gear in this game," Mavi said in a calm tone in the live stream room.
By this time, the number of viewers had risen to 7,000, which was 1,000 more than the recently popular Anne Hathaway Lee next door.
However, Mavi didn't care about this popularity. After all, he was the chairman of V-Talk Live; the entire live-streaming company belonged to him, so there was no need to compete with his employees for popularity.
"Some viewers have said that my million-dollar tip to streamer Annie the other day was a system glitch or fake data. To clarify this, please watch carefully—all this money was topped up from my bank account to V-Talk. There are no bugs or falsehoods." As the chairman of V-Talk Corporation, Mavi certainly had to come out and explain some of the malicious rumors circulating online.
After speaking, he directly opened the V-Talk video top-up page and, in front of all the viewers, topped up another $1,000,000. He then entered Anne Hathaway Lee's live stream room, starting a 'stream within a stream.'
There was no trickery in Mavi's top-up. However, he didn't mention one thing: 50% of the money he tipped would ultimately go into V-Talk's company account, which was his own pocket.
After taxes, there was still a significant amount left over. This was much better than just having random tycoons tip streamers. Plus, Mavi's tips also served as advertisements, creating momentum for V-Talk Live. So, while it was still tipping, the meaning and return were completely different.
The more than 7,000 viewers who witnessed this scene were at a loss for words to describe Mavi's wealth. Seeing the seven-figure top-up amount, it looked like he was going to use it for tipping again. This was simply "extravagant, cool, and awesome—so rich he has no friends!"
When Mavi's account, "Ma Li Ma Li Hong," the highest-level royal account on the entire platform at Lv. 56, appeared in Anne Hathaway Lee's live stream room, his privileged golden text appeared majestically in the comment section: "Royal user Ma Li Ma Li Hong has entered the room!"
The onlookers in Annie's room instantly erupted. They hadn't seen "King Ma" tip for the past few days and thought it was a system bug, as some on the internet had rumored.
"King Ma, you've finally appeared!"
"Emm, I was just wondering where our sugar daddy has been for the past few days. I didn't expect him to show up just by thinking about him."
"King Ma is here! I'm kneeling before the tycoon! How many tens of thousands are you tipping today, boss? My little universe is about to explode! I bet the scene will be spectacular!"
...
The netizens online were quite a talented bunch, and their words were very flattering.
As the screen was filled with comments of "King Ma," Anne Hathaway Lee, sitting in front of the camera, also noticed Mavi's arrival. She smiled at the camera, a captivating smile that instantly enchanted many viewers.
"I'll sing a song now to welcome a certain someone's arrival," Hathaway said with a slight smile. She had been a little disappointed that "Ma Li Ma Li Hong" hadn't appeared for the past two days, worried that her performance wasn't good enough and had made him lose interest.
So, Anne Hathaway Lee earnestly sang the classic European and American song, Lemon Tree, in front of the camera. The lively rhythm and melody, combined with the subtle sadness of the lyrics, gave the song a unique charm. With Hathaway's sweet voice, the song was so catchy that many people couldn't get the melody out of their heads after listening.
"Nice singing. Keep up the good work," Mavi wrote in a comment. He then clicked the tip button below the live stream window. In front of all the viewers, he selected the all-gold "V-Talk Super Cruise Missile."
He did this for two reasons: one was to prove that the tips from the other day were not a website glitch or fake data. The second was that he was willing to spend some money to make Anne Hathaway Lee famous. He wanted to make her the number one streamer on V-Talk Live. After all, Hathaway had the looks and the ability to reach that point.
"User Ma Li Ma Li Hong has tipped streamer Anne Hathaway Lee 2,000 V-Talk Super Cruise Missiles! Click to claim a Golden Chest!"
As the system message appeared again, 2,000 golden super cruise missiles roared across the screen from right to left, a sensational display.
"Holy cow! Another 2,000 super cruise missiles! That's a million dollars!"
"This is insane! A swarm of golden cruise missiles! This special effect for a few seconds is more expensive than the world's best fireworks! That's like $5,000 a second..."
"Long live King Ma! We all saw this million-dollar tip, from the top-up to the delivery! It's absolutely real!"