Chapter 303: The IronFans
“Did Meng Fan really reward himself? Maybe it’s an impersonator?”
“Impersonator, my a.s.s! Take a look for yourself, it is the author’s account!”
“Rewarding himself with a hundred million! That b.a.s.t.a.r.d has no shame!”
“And for a manga without a contract!”
“Come on, it doesn’t even have content!”
“I despise such shameless acts, even those online web writers don’t behave like that! Even if the money had been converted by a sockpuppet, how much boldness and confidence would it take!”
“Hahahahaha, I guess such a shameful thing could have been done only by Meng Fatty!”
“Why is it that Meng Fan is always doing only positive stuff, and yet I still think this kind of behavior is exactly his style?”
“Because Meng Fatty is trouble!”
“I don’t care how much the reward is, I just want to know when the content will be uploaded.”
“I can’t wait for Meng Fatty’s original work!”
“Can’t wait +1!”
Dozens of fan groups were all discussing this matter, and it was indeed because rewarding yourself with 100 million Penguin Coins was a shameless and extremely peculiar thing to do. In addition, the fans’ expectations for “Legend of the Mountains and Seas” were very high, too.
Meng Fan already mentioned his manga to fans a few times before. He also showed some character design and drawings of scenes during his live streams, and all the paintings were as breathtaking as they were refined. Of course, it was seen as teasing them now and then, but this time it was too much.
“d.a.m.n, guys! Quick, look at that!”
In one of the groups, a fan shared a screenshot. The screenshot was showing a list of fans of “Legend of the Mountains and Seas.” The comic’s page shows only the top ten places on such a list. Except for the dazzling 100,000,000 fan points “Donated by Meng Fan” at the top of the list, the following nine places were vacant. All of the fans got the “Leader” t.i.tle.
“What the, someone rewarded again!”
“There are more than nine. Look.”
Someone has posted a complete fan list, on which there were already more than a hundred people. The first thirty places got awarded with the “Leader” t.i.tle, and about 100,000 Penguin Coins in rewards have been transferred.
“What the h.e.l.l are these?”
“Look at the discussions of the nouveau riche!”
A few more screenshots have been sent to that fan group. These were all screenshots of a chatroom for people considered “new money”. At the beginning, they were also discussing Meng Fatty’s shamelessness and expressing their excitement about his manga, but later the atmosphere changed, as one of the magnates said he was going to take the opportunity. After a while, he shared a screenshot of himself being awarded the “Leader” t.i.tle.
As soon as this screenshot came out, other magnates in the group could not stay calm. Commenting LOL and LMAO, this group has contributed at least a dozen “Leader” t.i.tles and a number of other rewards.
In the screenshot, one could see a few messages stating that apart from just losing their heads and spending money for the h.e.l.l of it, some people also felt that they actually owed Meng Fan a reward. The reason for that was the fact that Meng Fan’s two previous manga series — of which one was a known short story, already finished, and the other one was an adaptation of a novel — got few rewards and little appreciation.
To put it simply, for die-hard IronFans — both manga fans and live stream fans — it was as if they rewarded “There’s a Spirit Underground.”
What are the IronFans? It was a nickname for Iron Tower’s fans.
Because his fanbase from live streaming and fanbase from the comic sharing website greatly overlap each other, there were many wealthy guys among Meng Fan’s enthusiasts. Of course, the most important point was that the energy of live streams attracted people with temperament similar to Meng Fan’s. All of them could be considered as quite nonchalant, doing what they want to do and finding joy in being proactive.
Shortly after successfully announcing “Legend of the Seas and Mountains,” Meng Fan lost his position as top of the fan list, since now there were more than thirty “Leaders”. At two in the afternoon, the amount of rewards started peaking. As of 3:30 p.m., more than a hundred people got the “Fan Leader” t.i.tle!
So many rewards!
There was no difference between fan clubs and parties whatsoever. Screenshots of discussions posted on online forums, gossip in manga artists’ chatrooms, and threads published on Weibo were sent to the fans’ group chats. These were exactly like “drinks” at the party. Don’t get too bubbly!
Meng Fan shamelessly rewarded himself with 100 million Penguin Coins. And a hundred of the crazy IronFans already made enough donations to get the “Fan Leader” t.i.tles. The topic was discussed not only on various forums and in online chatrooms. Meng Fan’s popularity was quickly rising on Weibo, too!
#MengFansLegendOfTheMountainsAndSeas was trending!
This time, fans certainly were being more lively and merry. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d somehow set in motion something extraordinary. This sense of partic.i.p.ation and personal user experience was crucial!
A lot of people on Weibo got to know about this hot topic by clicking on the hashtag. After reading about the matter, they either had no words for the behavior of that son of a… or were amazed by this madman’s actions and were spamming with likes. In short, it was getting more and more intense.
The editors and other employees of Penguin Animation Network were dumbfounded.
This kind of duckery was even possible?!
Of course, Meng Fan did not expect that rewarding himself with millions of coins would have such an effect, and he didn’t yet know about this whole situation.
He had imagined the beginning of his manga, but actually drawing it seemed much more difficult. Starting really was the hardest part!
The first dialogue should take up more s.p.a.ce than was usually used. Meng Fan drew all 38 panels.
With his current Drawing skills and Hand Speed, and considering that it’s going to be a black-and-white manga, not a colored one — some ill.u.s.trations, as well as covers, t.i.tle pages, and more will still be colored — normally it would take him five hours max to complete all of the 38 panels. But this time, Meng Fan drew it from noon to ten at night!
After another hour of revision, Meng Fan was satisfied.
Although this speed was enough to shock people in the industry, it was really slow for Meng Fan!
After finis.h.i.+ng this drawing, Meng Fan stood up and exercised for a bit. This activity made him hungry because he hasn’t eaten since eleven in the morning. He ordered a meal, then checked his phone and saw several missed calls and some messages, two of which were important.
One was from Wu Tong, saying that Wu Ji has arrived in j.a.pan. Meng Fan missed Wu Ji’s call, so he’ll need to call him back.
The other one was from the fourth big sister, Meng Caihe. As a matter of fact, Meng Caihe found him a tour guide. Because the incident at the Singapore Airport caused a three-hour delay in his flight, the guide wasn’t able to welcome Meng Fan. And because his cellphone was automatically rejecting strangers’ calls, she couldn’t contact him.
Meng Fan replied to Wu Tong, saying that he was fine; he had been staying in the hotel to make manga, and he did not go anywhere. Then he called Wu Ji, asking if he had time to meet.
Regarding the guide, Meng Fan thought about it and told Meng Caihe to cancel the appointment. The purpose of this trip has changed; now he didn’t plan on sightseeing and having fun, so he didn’t need a guide. As for translating and stuff like that, there were online apps for interpreting and he understood a bit of j.a.panese. He can manage.
Ding dong.
The waiter pushed in the food trolley, with way more food than at noon.
After eating, he continued to draw. He was to visit Shueisha tomorrow afternoon. He better produce five parts to show them.