Chapter 27: There’s a mole! Oh, turns out I’m also the mole.
The trending topic was obviously just clickbait, but hey, headlines get traffic, and that’s all that matters!
Its contents listed a series of antics by some loli NPC from a certain village, affectionately dubbed “Nuclear Bomb Little Sister.”
The post placed heavy emphasis on the “Nuclear Incident” and the “Express Delivery Incident.”
On top of that, someone even went out of their way to investigate this NPC’s background, only to find absolutely nothing. Not even her name!
Isn’t that just the perfect protagonist template?
The so-called protagonists are actually a type of character in Otherworld, responsible for pushing the game’s main storyline forward and issuing main quests.
Of course, all of this is simply speculation; as of now, no one knows what the main quest actually is.
The comments section was ablaze with opinions, buzzing with various thoughts, mercilessly critiquing this NPC.
Like—
What protagonist? She’s obviously my wife!
Who needs to be a protagonist? She can be my master instead.
Small, soft, fragrant—hee hee hee…
I could savor those little feet for a year.
The original poster made some valid points, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Still, I saw love in their illustrations.
Yeah, the comments section was a total power surge. The haters had moved on to vent their ire in the other two trending topics, leaving this space as a sanctuary.
You can trash the game developers, trash the 281st Beginner’s Village—I fully support that! But if you dare to insult this cute little loli, we will go to war!
What’s wrong with the little loli? She’s just a weak, pitiful, and helpless NPC.
Of course, some people were spending money to hype the post, but the intention was kinda similar to Fiery Conflict Across the Sky.
But that alone wasn’t enough to skyrocket the post to number one; what really detonated it was the top-rated comment—
[Little Moon]: I’ve heard from my uncle’s cousin’s brother’s uncle’s boss that this NPC will be moving to the main city soon!
[Closed Heart, No Longer in Love]: Holy cow! Is your info legit? Does this mean all of us players can finally meet her?
[Little Moon]: Absolutely!
[Northeast Mud Player]: Charge forth! Time to level up!
…
When Xu Xiaofeng woke up from his nap and sat on the bed scrolling through his phone, he finally caught sight of the trending topics.
When he saw the third item, the light bulb above his head went off. He thought this BOSS was a bit ridiculous before, but now he got the reason.
Upon seeing the second one, he silently gave the original poster a thumbs up. Exactly, let them take all the credit for defeating the BOSS; I’m just a small fry—the rewards are all mine!
But when he saw the first item… his face turned black.
d*mn clickbait! And it’s an anonymous post! Don’t let me find out who you are; otherwise, I will nuke your whole family!
Then he glanced at the comments section, aiming for the highest-rated comment…
“Little Moon?” Xu Xiaofeng furrowed his brows in thought.
This ID seemed familiar; he felt like he had seen it somewhere…
Suddenly, it hit him: “Xu Xiaoyue!”
Wait a minute! Didn’t you say you’d tell your friends? Why’d you post it online directly?
Oh, online friends count as friends too, so no biggie.
With the post’s popularity soaring, most players would now know I’m heading to the main city.
But thinking it over, that might not be such a bad thing.
Merchants make money, and promotion is key.
In today’s society, without good publicity, even the best products will sink into oblivion—nice wine doesn’t fear a deep alley, but it does fear drowning, right?
Seriously, which new game that comes out doesn’t have its promotional materials flying everywhere weeks in advance?
Sure, it might end up being a total flop, like someone trying to lure people in with catnip, and sure, they might get roasted for it, but hey—they still make money!
And now? Thanks to her, the promotional buzz is through the roof, and she doesn’t even need to spend a dime on it! This is textbook marketing; PR folks could learn from this for years!
Thinking about all this put him in a much better mood.
Hey, don’t kid me; Little Moon looks like she truly has some skills when it comes to this undercover business.
Mmm, an undercover agent among players.
And I, Xu Xiaofeng? The head honcho of moles!
And so, he got out of bed and knocked on Xu Xiaoyue’s door.
After a short wait, the door swung open.
Xu Xiaoyue, with a stormy expression, glared at her brother: “What are you doing, waking people up so early?”
“Hey, what’s sleep when there’s business at hand? Did you post this?” Xu Xiaofeng shoved his phone toward her.
“Yeah…” Xu Xiaoyue took a glance and instantly perked up, “Whoa! It’s already so hot? Over a million likes?!”
“Enjoying the attention, are we?”
“Of course! Who doesn’t love getting likes, especially from so many people?”
“Heh, you interested in keeping the good times rolling?”
Xu Xiaofeng understood. If he weren’t in a special position in the game, he’d love to feel that constant ping of new likes too.
So he tucked his phone away and slowly walked to the sofa, building the suspense.
Xu Xiaoyue caught on and followed, immediately giving him a shoulder rub as soon as he sat down.
“Brother~, you must have some tricks up your sleeve, right?”
“Ha! Joke’s on you! Do you even understand how high-rank players roll?”
“Right, right! So what’s the scoop? Spill it!”
Scoop? He’s got plenty! Even if he doesn’t, he can always make some up!
If not, he could just… cough cough, let’s not go there.
Seeing that Xu Xiaofeng only had a slight smirk and seemed unwilling to elaborate, Xu Xiaoyue switched to shaking his arm instead.
Oh, dear reader, there’s more to this chapter, so please click to the next page for more excitement!
Not just the gossip and likes, she wanted to munch on some drama too.
“Bro~”
“My dear brother~”
“Mhm~”
“Stop it! Don’t act cute; it’s kinda gross!”
“No way~”
“Alright, alright, you chill for a moment.”
Xu Xiaofeng wiped the nonexistent sweat off his forehead. He finally understood what it felt like to be Edward, who often got pulled into his antics.
It was simply—his bones were practically turning to jelly.
“You know, I’m really quite close to that… um, Nuclear Bomb Little Sister. Of course, I’ll know some insider info. With that kind of traffic, even a tiny little whisper could send likes soaring.”
“But you know, today’s explosive news hasn’t actually made you enough money.”
Xu Xiaoyue’s interest piqued: “How so?”
“What’s the most practical use of maximum traffic?”
“What is it?”
“Monetization! Let me tell you; next time you drop some insider info, just post it yourself and set up something like a paywall or tips. Can’t you see? It’s an automatic money printer!”
“But if it’s paid, wouldn’t people tune out?”
“You can offer part paywall and part free access! Besides, the whispers can be a mix of truth and fiction; when it comes to grapevine gossip, it’s never 100% real anyway.”
“You really are devious, huh…”
“What? Say that again.”
Xu Xiaoyue laughed: “I said you’re brilliant, brother!”
“Just wait; I’ll keep you posted about any updates. My special circumstances mean I won’t be in the spotlight.”
“Got it! So bro, how about we go out for a stroll today?”
“No way, no way! You’re just itching to watch people flirt with me while you munch on popcorn!”
“But bro, we’re not too far from school; you can’t just hide away forever.”
“Let’s wait until school starts; we still have five days!”
