Chapter 39: Internet Famous
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“What’s wrong?” Zhang Zhou Wei saw Meng Fan’s ghostly expression and reined in his excitement. His brow creased as he asked, “Did Mr. Ma did not let you get by?”
Meng Fan shook his head and flopped onto his bed. “Mr. Ma’s issue is resolved. Speak, what’s wrong on your end now?”
“Nothing went wrong with him? Then why is your face so sour?” Zhang Zhou Wei sighed in relief, then became excited again. “This is a good thing!”
As he spoke, Zhang Zhou Wei took out his phone and handed it to Meng Fan, clicking open the screen and let out a laugh that sounded like a croak.”The dumba.s.s in this video is you, isn’t it?!”
“Like, like, like…”
Isn’t this a video of Meng Fan’s ‘”thumbs up” dance performance on the city wall at Song Cheng? It was edited to include a horrifying accelerated rendition of the ‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ song.
“Who are you trying to kill?!” Zhang Zhou Wei cackled. “You said you were gonna take a walk and look for inspiration, is this your f**king inspiration? It’s too amazing!”
“It’s got almost 1 million likes! Fatty, you’ve become an internet-famous fatty!” Xing Ta Ge added to the clamor on the side. “You don’t say, you look pretty good when you’re shaking like that! Look at these comments, a chain of them saying you’re cute and your dance is fresh, and one netizen even said they were blinded by your eyes!”
Chen Dan Qiang who had also returned from his day said with a serious expression. “Chic, you’re real chic! We both came from the same 9-year educational system, yet you are so much chicer than us!”
Meng Fan s.n.a.t.c.hed Zhang Zhou Wei’s phone, turning on the sound. It was probably filmed by one of the tourists there, then uploaded it with music to the APP.
980,000 likes!
After seeing the like b.u.t.ton to the right, Meng Fan felt very conflicted.
These likes had nothing to do with him!
His hours spent in Song Chen spamming ‘thumbs up’s’ paled in comparison to a video someone had filmed.
Okay, there was still a difference. One was a click, the other was a collective.
But even then… Meng Fan suddenly perked up. This many likes meant even more people had seen the video. They definitely saw his array of thumbs, so how could there be no ‘experience’ to gain?
Unless his form of ‘liking’ had to be done in person for it to count as ‘experience’?
When recorded on video, was it useless to the people across the screen on the internet?
If the internet likes counted, and real-life ‘likes’ counted, then could the two be combined?
Meng Fan didn’t know if his guess is right, but he was certain it was useless to give ‘likes’ through a video. As for his live broadcast, he had to confirm tonight.
Stupid bullsh*t system with its bullsh*t settings!
Are people this bored now? Filming a random pa.s.serby, and the video got so many likes, too!
Are the times changing too fast, or was he just getting left behind?
“Meng boss, you’re back?”
“Meng Boss is that really you? Haha, you’re great!”
“Dear internet Famous Mr. Meng, please take us away!”
Several cla.s.smates had poked their heads in the dormitory with fresh smiles on their faces.
They said all sorts of things, but none of them asked Meng Fan to perform the dance again. At least they had some dignity.
Of course, most of it was kind-hearted laughter, some to make trouble, but none were making fun of him.
Meng Fan was fat, but at least he wasn’t greasy. Even though n.o.body accepted his confession—after all, they had to consider the possibility of being crushed by someone of Meng Fan’s weight category—many people, both boys, and girls were happy to be friends with him. At least his popularity was pa.s.sable.
“Go, go, go go go.” Zhang Zhou Wei began to hustle people out. “My fatty just found out he is famous now, he needs time to process, if you want autographs you’ll have to wait. Wait until my fatty accepts the reality, then his manager yours truly will arrange a meeting for you, handshakes, autographs, hugs and anything of that sort.”
If the validation attribute hadn’t been so poisoned, Meng Fan was ready to stick his thumbs in the faces of the guys who had come in to see the fuss.
As for his unexpected fame on TikTok, Meng Fan was not too phased by it. After all, it didn’t really benefit him. But the disadvantages, heh. At most, people will recognize him, increasing their head turn rate. At least, this wouldn’t be unusual anyways with his added validation points.
Moreover, because of Meng Cai Wei, he knew what internet fame was, compared to actually being ‘known’. The two were completely different things.
The situation wasn’t too bad. Besides the validation attribute, there were other tasks that remained unfinished.
At least the attributes obtained from running wouldn’t screw him over.
“Being drenched in sweat from running won’t make a person skinnier, but at least it can wash away some troubles and anger.”
Meng Fan recalled this quote by Mr. Lu Xun. It was wise indeed.
Amidst the laughter of his hysterical roommates, Meng Fan changed into his running clothes and prepared to leave. Even though the students next door had seen Meng Fan leave to run, they were still not accustomed to it. Many were doubtful as to how his t.i.tanic figure could actually be moved.
But if you think about it, the Meng boss in the video had been very flexible. Could this be related to him running?
As he walked towards the track, even with his call intercepting software installed, Meng Fan received two calls from high school cla.s.smates, ones that he didn’t talk to. They weren’t calling because they saw his video on TikTok, but… They dialed the wrong freaking number!
Can you stop for a minute?!
Meng Fan blankly shut his phone off. Anyhow, he still had his black magic running shoes to record his data and provide feedback. His armband was mostly just for show anyway.
He gritted his teeth and redeemed a black magic headset from his [Travelling Deity] taskbar. Embedded in his ear like a tiny mole, the earbuds prevented sweat, shock, and as long as Meng Fan did not give the order, they would never fall out.
It could play music, audiobooks, talk shows, interviews, cross talks, dramas, relations.h.i.+p advice, speeches, presentations and lectures, fas.h.i.+on, and various stories in the voices of many males and females; essentially containing any form of audio that existed.
Like his running shoes and his headband, there was a virtual screen which could be opened and adjusted anytime, anywhere.
After selecting some music recommended by the headset for running, Meng Fan cranked the volume to its max… The whole world suddenly went quiet!
These earbuds cost 30 points, costing much more than the 10 point headband. After experiencing them, Meng Fan deduced that the function was not as good as the headband, but worth it nonetheless.
He had had 283 points, with 253 remaining now.
This time, Meng Fan started out by driving his first-kilometer time under 7 minutes and 30 seconds. His breathing was slightly faster than before, but after the first kilometer slowly began adjusting his breath to the standard set by his running shoes.
After three kilometers, Meng Fan grew accustomed to the pace. He then increased his pace up to 7 minutes and 25 seconds, reaching an impa.s.se on his 5th kilometer. Meng Fan dropped the pace back to 7 minutes and 35 seconds, then managed to finish the seventh kilometer, but from there on maintained a steady speed of 7 minutes and 30 seconds per kilometer until the 10th kilometer. He even squeezed out the last of his strength into a sprint for the last 200 meters.
In the end, Meng Fan’s 10-kilometer time was 1 hour, 14 minutes and 47 seconds, beating his morning time by 48 seconds.
After sweating profusely and feeling the soreness wash over his body as if his soul had been scooped out, Meng Fan was still in a pleasant mood.
After running his 10 kilometers, Meng Fan paid extra attention to his post-run stretches. Running music was definitely not suitable to listen to when stretching. He switched to the seductress/big sister’s voice…
“Meng boss~~~”
Meng Fan shuddered and felt his legs go soft.
He knew that the voices could be customized, so he was not surprised, but when he felt the air in his ear as the voice spoke… This is too real!
No no no, he could listen to this a little when his physical state was okay, but right now he absolutely cannot!
After swapping it to an abstinent male voice, Meng Fan calmed down.
After stretching, he returned to the dorm to take a shower, then proceeded to devour the dinner Chen Da Qiang had brought him. Chubby and content, Meng Fan had completely forgotten about the fear he’d felt from his validation attributes, and strutted off to studio humming a small tune.
“Like like like.”
When the studio caretaker saw Meng Fan her eyes lit up, immediately sticking her thumb in Meng Fan’s face. She beamed at him. “I didn’t know you could dance, you’re pretty good.”
There weren’t that many people in the studio at this time, but all the ones who were, suddenly turned their heads.
He had finally outrun this fear. Why did it have to come back so fast?!