[VIDEO POSTED!]
[Current Views: 0]
[Current Engagement: 0]
"Now what?"
[Now we wait and you should probably eat something, stress cultivation burns calories.]
Lin Wei wasn't hungry, but he forced himself to chew on some dried meat from his supplies. He tried not to stare at his jade slip.
Minutes passed.
Then:
[DING! First view!]
Lin Wei's head snapped up. "Someone watched it?"
[Yep! Anonymous viewer. They watched for... forty-five seconds. That's the whole video! They actually finished it!]
"Did they engage?"
[Not yet, but they WATCHED. That's progress!]
Lin Wei's heart hammered. One view, that was all he needed for the mission—one genuine engagement.
But the viewer hadn't commented or liked.
Another minute passed.
[DING! Second view!]
Then:
[DING! Third view!]
[DING! DING! DING!]
Views were coming in faster now.
[Okay, something's happening. The algorithm is picking it up, your video is getting recommended to more people.]
Lin Wei watched the counter climb. Five views. Ten. Twenty.
Then the first comment appeared:
[User @MorningDewDisciple: "...Is this serious?"]
[ENGAGEMENT ACHIEVED! MISSION COMPLETE!]
The system's announcement blazed across his vision in glowing text.
[MISSION: INTRODUCTION CONTENT - SUCCESS!]
[REWARDS DISTRIBUTING...]
Lin Wei gasped as energy flooded his body.
His Lust Core—dormant until now, suddenly ignited. Not with fire but with a warm, pulsing sensation that spread through his meridians. The broken pathways that had caused him so much pain suddenly felt... not healed exactly, but responsive.
[LUST CORE: ACTIVATED]
[QI CIRCULATION: RESTORED (Basic Level)]
[MERIDIAN INTEGRITY: 23% → 28%]
[SUBSCRIBER COUNT: 1]
[ATTRACTION RATING: 4.5 → 5.2]
Lin Wei fell to his knees as the transformation completed. For the first time since he was twelve years old, his Qi moved smoothly. Not perfectly—his meridians were still damaged, but smoothly.
"Holy shit," he said. "It actually worked."
[Told you! Now check your subscriber!]
He pulled up the interface. Sure enough, one person had clicked "follow" on his @TrashPhoenix account.
[User @MorningDewDisciple is now following you!]
But the views were still climbing. Thirty. Forty. Fifty.
And the comments were starting to pour in:
[@OuterSectGossip: "I can't tell if this is a joke or the most unintentionally hilarious thing I've seen all week."]
[@SwordSaintWannabe: "Why am I watching this? Why can't I stop watching this?"]
[@Anonymous47: "...Is he single?"]
[@InnerSectJade: "The AUDACITY of posting this to the public forum. I'm impressed."]
Lin Wei watched in real time as his video became... viral.
One hundred views.
Then two hundred.
The subscriber count ticked up. Two. Three. Five. Ten.
[OH MY GOD, HOST! YOU'RE TRENDING! #1 on the Outer Sect forum! #3 on the General feed!]
"This is a disaster," Lin Wei said.
[This is AMAZING! Look at the engagement!]
More comments rolled in:
[@HuoLiang: "Trash Wei is posting thirst traps now? Pathetic."]
[@DefenderOfJustice: "@HuoLiang You're just jealous his form is better than yours."]
[@RandomDisciple: "I showed this to my friend and she asked for his contact info. What is HAPPENING."]
[DING! DING! DING!]
Subscribers kept climbing. Twenty. Thirty. Forty.
[This is incredible! The algorithm LOVES you! The engagement rate is off the charts!]
Lin Wei felt dizzy. In the span of an hour, he'd gone from zero views to several hundred and climbing. His ridiculous, glitched, completely unintentional thirst trap was spreading across the sect like wildfire.
[MILESTONE REACHED: 50 SUBSCRIBERS!]
[BONUS REWARD: QI PURITY +10, New Title Unlocked: "Accidental Heartthrob"]
[ACHIEVEMENT: "Viral First Post" - Your debut content reached 500+ views within 24 hours!]
By the time evening fell, the video had been viewed over a thousand times.
Lin Wei had one hundred subscribers.
And his Attraction Rating had jumped to 6.0.
[CONGRATULATIONS, HOST! You're officially 'moderately attractive'! The system rates you as 'would definitely get a second glance in the marketplace'!]
"I'm never leaving this shack again," Lin Wei said, face buried in his hands.
[Nonsense! You're POPULAR now! This is just the beginning!]
A notification appeared:
[NEW DAILY MISSION UNLOCKED!]
[Tomorrow: "Morning Flexibility Routine (Shirtless)"]
[Reward: +5 Qi Purity]
[Failure: Qi Stagnation for 24 hours]
Lin Wei looked up slowly.
"Shirtless?"
[Yep! Gotta keep the momentum going! Your audience expects content now. Can't disappoint them! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]
"I'm going to die."
[Probably not! Though your reputation might. But that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make!]
Lin Wei flopped backwards onto his sleeping mat and stared at the ceiling.
One hundred subscribers.
A viral video.
And a system that apparently had no sense of shame whatsoever.
Is this his life now??