Master of Kaidan
Chapter 343: Dead People Are More Useful Than the Living

Chapter 343: Chapter 343: Dead People Are More Useful Than the Living

"Mr. Leon, what would you like to say about the death of your colleague?"

During a talk show, the host maliciously posed the question.

To the host’s query, Leon spread his hands and said:

"I had told him long before, just because they pay a lot for promotions doesn’t mean you use just anything, ghost hunting is a high-risk job, and the gear you carry is extremely important. Like him, using Bing Xixi’s stuff because they pay more was bound to be problematic sooner or later."

Listening to Leon’s unrestrained criticism of the Bing Xixi Consortium, the host felt a bit squeamish and immediately turned the subject with a forced chuckle:

"Since this job is so dangerous, why did you join this industry?"

"In this era, what other reason could there be besides money? You don’t seriously think I do it to fulfill my personal values, do you?"

Leon unapologetically rebutted the host, then sighed and said:

"The cost of living is a problem everyone has to face, Bing Xixi, offering you a cost-effective shopping experience..."

"Cough cough..." The host certainly had not expected that the ghost-hunting streamer who had just been criticizing his deceased colleague for using any sort of gear, would so quickly turn around and endorse the very corporation that led to his colleague’s death, and couldn’t help but prod a bit foolishly:

"Weren’t you just saying Bing Xixi’s products are unreliable?"

"Ah, that’s why you completely miss the main conflict." Leon immediately shed his promotion-pitch demeanor and seriously explained:

"My criticism isn’t of the quality of Bing Xixi’s products, but of criticising Ausikus for not understanding the situation. Every product has its place.

"Just like a pen, the luxury brand Alisu Huod can sell for as high as 70,000 credit points, whereas the ordinary brand Norma’s products can be bought for just 1 credit point each. If you just need something to write with, Norma’s pen would suffice, but if you’re discussing a big deal, an Alisu Huod pen may give the other party more confidence.

"The most important thing about a product is putting it in its rightful place, understanding product positioning. I can promote any product on a show like this, even the universally acknowledged trash brands, speaking very convincingly, because they have their own significance, their own value."

...

Watching the playback of yesterday’s interview, Feng Xue quietly felt the transformation brought by the label, and had to admit, even in the Cyberpunk era, ’appearing on TV’ was still an excellent way to increase visibility.

He had no pity for "Ausikus’s" death, nor did he plan to let him resurrect as a "ghost". From the very start when he began spreading "ghosts", he never intended to let it interact with human souls.

Even in Dunn, the ghost-hunting master’s public teachings, he repeatedly emphasized that "ghosts are not the souls of the deceased humans but a Pseudo Artifact constructed by personal and others’ Cognition."

The reason why he had to let Ausikus die in full view was not to lower the mental burden of playing multiple roles, but because he had to die.

After constructing the Kaidan entry "Researching Ghost", he realized, even for the same Kaidan, different treatment was necessary for different demographics.

Just as he used in the example during the interview, even for buying pens, different groups have different inclinations.

Similarly, for Kaidan, people’s attitudes vary, greatly affecting its congealment.

Why, when creating the atmosphere that "ghosts exist" with five people, was the first to congeal "Researching Ghost", a Kaidan spread casually?

The reason boils down to four words—

"Stakeholders involved."

Because the research on ghosts was related to their own interests, researchers had to invest immense enthusiasm, which deepened their anticipation of understanding ghosts; the subsequent inability to conduct research intensified their disappointment. The fluctuating and conflicting emotions meant that "Researching Ghost", circulating among a few, became the Kaidan that congealed first.

On the contrary, for most ordinary people, whether it’s the mayor, Hard Fate streamer, or a promotional streamer, these figures were too distant from their immediate interests. Watching the live stream was just for fun, and naturally, they wouldn’t pay much attention. With merely a playful mindset, although there was plentiful cognition, it couldn’t congeal effectively, and the speed of congealing Kaidan was naturally slower.

Following this line of thought, Feng Xue suddenly realized why his previous Kaidan congealed so swiftly—it was merely a matter of "personal interest."

So, to make the Kaidan about ghost-catching and ghost-proofing congeal faster, it was necessary to strengthen the direct connection between spirits and ordinary viewers, causing the audience to feel more oppressed.

And for that purpose, Ausikus died.

His death made the viewers in front of the screens realize that ghosts can indeed kill, even a leading figure from the Black Thorn Ghost Hunting Agency could die due to a moment of carelessness.

It wasn’t that there weren’t previous instances of ghosts killing people, but the sensation of danger is entirely different when a ghost can kill even a ghost-hunting master.

It’s like in a spirit-themed movie, if a zombie bites and kills an ordinary person, viewers won’t be surprised because this doesn’t exceed their expectations.

But if a zombie bites and kills Uncle Nine, then the shock to the audience would be tremendous.

And the death of Ausikus played a similar role, even though he was just a promotional streamer. If we use spirit-themed movies for analogy, Dunn under this alias was akin to Uncle Nine, Leon looked like a greedy and unreliable but dependable in a pinch Taoist priest with four eyes, and Ausikus was a Taoist priest who only fought in peak battles.

Now that the "Taoist priest" had fallen, the objective of enhancing audience perception of the dangers posed by ghosts had been achieved. The time had come to also extract the last remaining value of the Gambler Ghost and Ausikus.

At this realization, having changed into fresh clothes and altered his appearance, Feng Xue stood up, unlocked his personal account with a facial scan, walked out the door, and opened his live stream. As the live broadcast signal lit up, a standard smile spread across his face, and he greeted his audience in the stream:

"Good evening to all the viewers, this is the anti-superstition streamer Bert Wall’s channel; tonight, I’ll continue to lead everyone in dismantling feudal superstitions! But speaking of which, the more we oppose superstitious beliefs, the more people tend to believe them, to the point that even television stations are starting to spread rumors about ghosts killing people. This isn’t good, so I’ve decided to check out this so-called ghost that supposedly killed a ghost-catching master to see if it really is an Evil Ghost committing murder, or if it’s just heartless attention-seeking at the cost of human lives!"