In the main hall of the bar, the DJ's music was pulsing and the colored lights were mesmerizing.
Guo Feng was thrilled to be holding hands and dancing with the girl in front of him, Jingjing.
This girl, Jingjing, was totally his type. Her looks, her figure—not to mention she was young, only nineteen.
Knowing she was just part of the hype crew the owner had called in for the night, he wasn't in a rush. He maintained a gentlemanly facade—otherwise, he'd have just made a big gesture and would already have his arms all over her.
As they were dancing, the bar's lights suddenly dimmed. The DJ stopped, switching to a gentler tune.
Guo Feng knew it was time for the warm-up acts. Usually, this meant performances by dancers and gogo girls, a guest singer, a liquor auction, and so on.
But they all knew what the deal was with Extreme Bar, didn't they?
Few of the dancers or gogo girls were anything special to look at.
Chen Jincheng sighed as he watched the girls doing a flashy hand dance to the music. They were certainly trying hard, but their "hardware" was lacking, and so was their appeal.
"Boss, the dance is ending. You're on after the DJ's announcement!" Wang Yuan said, rushing over.
"Hold my phone," Chen Jincheng said with a nod, handing the phone he was using for his live stream to Wang Yuan.
Wang Yuan took the phone automatically, only to see the fans in the stream chat erupting.
"Boss? Did I just mishear that?"
"You heard right. Cheng isn't at a gig—is this his own bar?"
When Wang Yuan appeared on camera, they got even more worked up.
"Wait, who's this guy?"
"Pan over to Cheng!"
"Turn the camera!"
Wang Yuan quickly switched to the rear camera and pointed it at Chen Jincheng.
Soon, the dancers and gogo girls left the stage. The lights dimmed, and text appeared on the large screen.
The melancholic text on the bar's big screen was a standard routine, especially the "Simp's Diary" series. Every regular knew it.
Guo Feng was one such patron; he could recite some of the lines by heart.
But today, the text on the Extreme Bar's screen made him pause.
'Never ask a woman if she's single. If she likes you, she's single. —Chen Jincheng'
The screen changed to a new line:
'Don't fail a good girl, and don't waste a bad girl. —Chen Jincheng'
Weren't those the words of the Ancestral Master?
Guo Feng had watched plenty of his streams. He used to be deeply in love with a girl, his "little treasure." He did everything to please her, spent money and time on her, but she didn't care. He was a total simp, miserable and pathetic.
But after watching a few of the Ancestral Master's streams, he saw the light. He stopped obsessing over his "little treasure" and let her go. In no time at all, he'd hooked up with her best friend—the one who'd been dropping hints all along.
But then, his "little treasure" got upset and wanted him back.
But he wasn't the same man anymore. He started hooking up with his "little treasure" on one side and her best friend on the other. The thrill of juggling them both was something his old life couldn't compare to.
It lasted until he was found out. They actually demanded he choose one, so he decisively said goodbye to them both. In the words of Chen Jincheng himself: 'The next one will be more compliant, and there will always be a next one.'
「At that moment.」
The MC's voice boomed through the speakers. "Now that you've enjoyed the ladies' hot dance, it's time for our main event! I'm sure some of you recognized the quotes on the screen, right? That's correct! Tonight, the man known as the Ancestral Master, Chen Jincheng, will be here to meet you all and sing a song! Now, let's give a warm welcome to the Ancestral Master, Chen Jincheng!"
"Holy shit!" Guo Feng cursed, his face a mask of disbelief.
The young guys around him were just as shocked.
They wouldn't be surprised by any other influencer—plenty of bars hire them for performances—but this guy was different.
There was a reason, after all, why people called him the Ancestral Master.
And since Guo Feng watched his streams all the time, they had seen a few bits and pieces themselves.
The other customers in the bar were also paying attention now. Some of them knew of the Ancestral Master, Chen Jincheng, having seen him online.
Others didn't, but had still seen his quotes floating around the internet.
Especially that scumbag's maxim: 'Don't fail a good girl, and don't waste a bad girl.' It was way too famous.
In the next moment, everyone saw a handsome, 180cm-tall young man walk onto the stage.
"Holy crap, it's really him!" Guo Feng hadn't expected a surprise like this tonight. He immediately pulled out his phone, logged into Tiao Yin, and found the Ancestral Master's channel was still live.
He quickly jumped into the stream and typed: "Can you guys believe it? Cheng is right here in front of me!"
But the moment his comment appeared, the viewers in the chat started mocking him:
"Bro, you really think I believe you?"
"Dude, Cheng's right next to me too!"
"Bro, what a coincidence. Cheng's in front of me too!"
Reading these comments, Guo Feng started to get worked up. 'What the hell? Nobody believes me when I'm telling the truth!'
Once on stage, Chen Jincheng took the mic from the MC. He glanced at the sparse crowd in the hall and cut straight to the chase. "Hello, everyone. Great to see you. As for an introduction... my reputation stinks, so let's just get right to a song. This one is called 'Trajectory'."
It was simple and to the point. He then looked over to Jiang Xiaobai at the DJ booth and gave her a nod.
Jiang Xiaobai had already cued up the backing track from a USB drive. At his signal, she hit play.
The backing track for "Trajectory" started. Since it was a remix for the bar, it had more of a rock feel. But Jiang Xiaobai found the rhythm was surprisingly good. The intro alone was impressive.
Of course, she had no way of knowing this song was a classic hit from a music legend of another world.
Just then, Chen Jincheng's voice rang out:
"How can I hide my sorrow, in the place where I lost you!"
"The scent of your hair fades so fast, I can no longer keep up!"
As the first two lines, backed by the bar's custom track, left his lips, Jiang Xiaobai froze, her face a picture of disbelief.
He was an unbelievably good singer.
And after just two lines, she felt a strange sense of melancholy stirring within her.
Clearly, as Chen Jincheng began to sing, the [Sentimentality +100%] effect granted by the game system had kicked in.
It wasn't just her. As the song continued, every single patron in the bar was frozen in place.
They, too, felt an inexplicable wave of sadness wash over them, an emotion they couldn't control.
The viewers in the live stream weren't there in person, so they weren't affected by the [+100% Sentimentality] attribute. Still, as the song continued, they were all stunned.
Because the song was just that good.
"Holy shit, this isn't the Cheng I know!"
"Cheng, you're actually the real deal!"
"You call us 'bro' this and 'bro' that, but you had this kind of talent and hid it from us all along."
"Who'd believe it? The guy who calls me 'bro' all day is suddenly flexing on us."
The stream viewers were genuinely shocked. Some had already started searching online for the song "Trajectory," only to find it didn't exist. "Song not found." They rushed to the national music registry to check for new filings, and their reaction was a collective: "Holy shit!"
It was a real original!
Back in the bar, the song continued, everyone's emotions clearly stirred by an inexplicable sadness. Then came the song's climax:
"I'll stare into space, then forget you, then shut my eyes tight."
"Hoping one day someone will take your place, so I no longer have to miss you!"
The most dangerous combination in a bar is a buzz from alcohol and a sudden, sad love song. Now, under the influence of the [+100% Sentimentality] effect, the song hit its peak. Everyone felt their sadness swell into a river—it was painful, yet strangely addictive.
At a time like this, you really needed a drink.
Seeing the empty glasses on their table, a customer with a pained expression waved over a server and pointed at their drinks.
Under the influence of the [+100% Sentimentality] attribute, this was not an isolated incident.
It wasn't just in the bar. Even in Chen Jincheng's live stream, viewers who weren't affected by the attribute felt a strange pang of sadness as the song reached its climax.
What man who followed the Ancestral Master didn't have a past of his own? The song's climax hit them, and their emotions were instantly triggered.
"This is making me think about my ex-girlfriend making out with some other guy, while I'm stuck here explaining to a customer why their crawfish is missing a claw!"
"I'm getting emo. This song reminds me of my first love, driving off into the night in her boss's BMW."
"This song is killing me. Cheng, you've changed. One second you're telling us bros to love ourselves, the next you're hitting us with this emotional gut punch!"
"..."
At the DJ booth, Jiang Xiaobai also felt a wave of sadness. After all, who didn't have painful memories? But soon, she found herself staring, mesmerized, at the proud silhouette of the scoundrel, Chen Jincheng. She truly never imagined the "original song" he mentioned would be this incredible.
For someone who was a sucker for a pretty face, a handsome man with a "Talent" buff was a fatal combination.
Finally, the song concluded. The [+100% Sentimentality] effect vanished, and the tidal wave of sadness receded just as quickly as it had come. Many of the patrons stared blankly at the fresh drinks that had appeared before them.
They'd had enough to drink and were ready to leave, but after hearing that one song, they'd gotten swept up in the moment and started ordering more.
Who could make sense of it?