Just then, a group of villagers passed by the garbage dump. When they saw Wapol's tree-like form, they were startled at first. But they didn't run away.
Instead, they all pulled out their phones and started recording.
Their expressions were like they'd discovered a walking, talking jackpot. "This is gonna blow up! This is going viral!"
"Guys, check this out! It's a humanoid tree that walks and talks. Unreal!" one villager shouted to his camera.
"Hit that follow button, everyone! If we break 100 followers, I'll climb up and grab a specimen for y'all!" another chimed in, already fantasizing about his influencer debut.
Wapol noticed they weren't scared of him at all. They were even filming him like he was some kind of zoo attraction.
A wave of rage surged inside him, and he was just about to explode on them.
But then, a flash of inspiration struck him.
Wait a second... His body was weird. And they could film it... so why couldn't he?
He knew his ability well. As a Munch-Munch Fruit user, anything he ate, he could absorb and transform into.
If he ate a metal drum, his body became like steel. He'd eaten a tree, so now... he was a tree.
And he realized something important—no one on TikTok was doing this kind of content.
A totally untapped niche!
In other words... he was going viral!
"HAHAHA! You dumb hippos! I'm gonna go viral! I'm going viral!" Wapol cackled wildly, his laughter echoing across the dump like a lunatic.
The villagers filming nearby exchanged nervous looks.
"This guy's nuts," one of them whispered.
"Yeah, he's completely lost it."
Afraid he might actually be contagious, they quickly deleted their videos, stuffed their phones away, and backed off slowly... then ran.
Once they were gone, Wapol snorted coldly, a hint of contempt flashing in his eyes.
He was used to being misunderstood. Whatever. It wouldn't affect his plan.
With surprising dexterity, he picked up his phone, propped it on a rock, aimed the camera at himself, and hit record.
"Chat, I'm Wapol. The reformed Wapol. And today... I'm gonna eat a tree in three bites!"
He opened his massive mouth and chomped into a nearby tree.
Like it was made of cake, the tree came clean off in a single bite.
Two more bites, and the whole thing was gone.
Then Wapol turned to the camera, gave a mysterious smirk, and said, "And now... it's time to witness a miracle."
His body began to stretch.
His limbs twisted into branches, bark spread over his torso, and in the blink of an eye, Wapol had fully transformed into a giant tree.
"Hehehe..." At the end of the video, he even dropped a personal slogan:
"I'm Wapol. The omnipotent Wapol."
After binging so many videos, Wapol had cracked the formula.
All the top influencers had a gimmick. His? Omnipotence. He could eat anything. Become anything.
After reviewing the video a few times, he hit upload.
He didn't have any fans, so naturally, there were no views, no likes.
But he wasn't worried. He knew TikTok had a new creator support program. New users got priority pushes. If the video was good, traffic would snowball.
So all he had to do now... was wait.
"Give me some likes already... I'm starving here," Wapol muttered, pulling his ragged coat tighter around him. Shivering in the garbage heap, he fell asleep clutching his phone.
He had no idea...
That while he was sleeping, TikTok's backend had already flagged his video.
It got pushed to a small test audience. And those early viewers? They were hooked.
Likes, comments, shares—it all began trickling in.
By morning, Wapol's video had started gaining traction.
The moment he woke up, the first thing he did was check TikTok.
Still groggy, he rubbed his eyes, picked up his phone, and opened his account.
When he saw the comment and like counts slowly ticking up, a flicker of satisfaction crossed his face.
It wasn't much. But for a brand-new creator, it was something.
Then he tapped into the comment section, curious what people were saying.
The replies came flooding in:
"Bro what?? Three bites and he eats a whole tree???"
"Someone get this man a burger. I'm sending him sunglasses to barter for food."
"Don't gift him anything! That's Wapol, the former tyrant of Drum Kingdom!"
"Wait what? Isn't that where Doctor Chopper's from? That island's a global medical hub now!"
"Dang... this guy's got it rough. Still, it's kinda his own fault. But maybe he's really changed."
"'Changed' my foot. This guy's totally faking it!"
"Let's wait and see first."
"...."
Reading through the comments, Wapol's heart was a tangled mess.
He really had changed.
Drum Kingdom, without his rule, had become the Holy Land of Medicine. Something he'd never dreamed of.
He couldn't believe how vile he used to be. All he wanted now was to be a decent creator. Earn enough for three meals a day.
The comments didn't discourage him. They fired him up.
From that day on, he uploaded new content constantly—bizarre, ridiculous videos of him eating random junk and transforming.
He even began responding to fan requests. Want to see him eat a weird item and turn into it? You got it.
He started branding himself as "the people's creator."
If fans wanted it, he'd eat it.
If fans liked it, he'd become it.
And to his surprise... his follower count started climbing fast.
Hope returned to his eyes. His confidence surged. He doubled down on filming.
His comment section grew livelier by the day, flooded with supportive messages.
And as he read each one, Wapol's heart warmed with a strange, unfamiliar feeling.
Gratitude.
"I will go viral! You stupid hippo!"
(To be continued.)