"I've been meaning to ask you guys, have you guys been secretly botting views for me?"
Lin Yu looked toward Xu Zhaoyang and the others.
In all honesty, he was still a little shocked and unconvinced by what had happened. He would have found it easier to accept if it were only the view count. However, the sudden explosion of followers he had gained seemed far too outrageous.
He had thought about a followers count of over a few hundred thousand before since the feedback from Charge Blade video he had made back then was not that bad. However, most of the viewers were strangers to him, so watching his videos once or twice would unlikely make them become followers. The only likely followers he would gain were viewers shown preferences based on their interests through B Site's own system recommendation. Showing his video to viewers with similar interests would persuade them to become his follower.
Besides, there was another major reason for his doubt. It was the fact that his previous content was uninteresting and even if anyone was tempted to become his follower, the moment they open up his main profile, they would be greeted with videos of crudely-made simple knives and swords from way back; this would spark little to no interest to the viewers.
It seemed both videos on the Charge Blade and the Hextech Gauntlets contributed slightly to his total view count since they had an ongoing series of making 'upgrades'. Hence, any viewers who watched these videos would be tempted to become one of his followers.
However, that should have been a long process. Based on his own prediction, a followers' increment of a few tens of thousands in the short term would already be the best outcome for him. Gaining more than 100,000 followers in a single night was something he found hard to imagine since he was not a viral creator that constantly gained ten followers every second.
"Oh please, why would I waste my effort to bot followers for you. Do you assume it's free to do so?"
After Xu Zhaoyang heard what Lin Yu had said, the need to take advantage of Lin Yu sparked within his heart as he replied in a bitter tone, "I can now understand the frustration you felt back then. Although we wouldn't feel a thing when looking at the tens of thousands of followers from people who basically do the same job as us. But, our hearts would grow colder when our roommate, the same person whom we shared meals and sleep with, exceed us in his success."
"Are you clear now? You should learn from me and work hard to be better."
Upon hearing Xu Zhaoyang's statement, Lin Yu chuckled and replied in a quirky yet teasing manner, "Do you want me to give you a shout out?"
The truth was he had initially felt slightly dejected due to the feud on his followers' count and the fact that this emotion stemmed mainly from his self-esteem and competitive nature. However, after he had somehow awakened his 'level up' ability, he no longer obsessed over the followers count.
"Please don't."
Xu Zhaoyang proceeded to raise his arm and reply him in a dejected tone, "Please stop choking me, alright. I apologize for the things I've done before, okay. My intentions were good."
"I mean well too. Never meant to choke you out… Forget it. Since this is now the case, you should work harder now you know, and earn the right to be better than me."
Lin Yu was stunned for a brief moment then proceeded to shrug his shoulders.
Upon hearing what Lin Yu had said, Xu Zhaoyang let out a brief chuckle and said, "Then you shall remember what you had just said. Don't you dare regret it when it happens."
Lin Yu gave him a single glare and said, "It's not even certain that you can exceed what I've accomplished here."
"Cool it, alright. Can both of you stop being so hostile to one another? Just look at what exactly Third Brother made in his video for it to go viral."
At this moment, Zhou Jie exclaimed loudly as he glanced at the video's title, "Exo suit? Such a bold title. When did you make this?"
"Oh, just last morning. The parts I've ordered had just arrived so I recorded an assembly video at the dirt hills near the college back gate."
He did not seem to look like he was actually lying, his expressions unchanged.
"You actually knew how to make this as well? It took us two to three years to find out that you're a tech nerd. Can it move?"
When the word 'Exo suit' was mentioned, his few roommates were slightly excited and erratic as there were plenty of Iron Man fans in recent years on top of a wide variety of sci-fi genre video games. It was where the viral idea of an Exo suit came from.
"It's barely movable, so it's not exactly an Exo suit."
Lin Yu shook his head and said, "There's actually plenty of videos about Exo suits online so I bought an electric motor and some parts to assemble. The main point was still borrowing on the appearance of Vi, The Piltover Enforcer's Hextech Gauntlets so that they would look cool."
It was actually really simple to make a homemade Exo suit so there was nothing to be ashamed about. Therefore, Lin Yu decided to show everyone what he had made.
However, what these people said had become somewhat of a reminder to him. There was still not much of a major issue within its first two levels, but if a major change was to occur in the future, he would not be able to explain to his roommates after knowing them for quite some time now. It would still be troublesome even if there was video evidence of the entire assembly process on his channel when they wanted to play with it. If his gauntlets were given combat abilities when he upgraded them to its second level, perhaps he would need to think about moving back home.
Or else who knows what would happen if his abilities were exposed? Based on what happened in movies and webnovels, he would have to give up everything if he was exposed.
"Sigh, it's the first time I've ever heard anyone request for their faces to be slapped. I have never heard of any requests this weird before…"
As the few of them casually chatted away, Xu Zhaoyang's laptop was finally done buffering the video on the incredibly slow speed wi-fi the dorm had provided them with. Thus, a familiar voice to Lin Yu and the other guys could be heard.
"Third Brother, you truly are something. This stable but dirty feel from your videos. Well, you've made that your own personal video style."
Upon hearing the very obvious narration difference compared to his previously made videos, Xu Zhaoyang could not help but give Lin Yu a huge thumbs up.
The worst thing that could happen when recording a video was stage fright. If the narration happened to be stuttery, it would be extremely obvious to viewers that the video creator was a novice. No matter how great the content was, a poor viewing experience would result in a swift click on the 'X' button.
Lin Yu suffered from that back then, and even Xu Zhaoyang had pointed it out to him plenty of times before. However, this was an emotional issue and could only be overcome by getting used to it or having some adjustments made. Hence, simply knowing about his issues was useless.
However, he was now able to hear the difference. Lin Yu had completely rid himself of any nervousness toward the camera. Even his narration style sounded mature. That flirtatious style he portrayed made him relate closer to his audience.
"I've only gotten rid of my stage fright. It's too early to talk about my style."
Lin Yu shook his head in a humble but slightly nonchalant manner as he turned around to sit on Xu Zhaoyang's bed and began reading the comments.
…
"Holy sh*t, he actually showed us an upgraded version to slap us in the face? Did the uploader plan for this beforehand?"
"I'm doomed, I think I'm starting to enjoy getting my face slapped by the uploader. This is a bittersweet, sinful feeling."
"Stop talking and let the face slapping increase in intensity. Do you have version 3.0? Just upload the damn thing already!"
When the video had just started, most of the comments were trolling, non-serious comments. However, when he was more than halfway done in his assembly, strings of comments praising him began flooding in.
"666, I always assumed you were an arts and craft uploader. Now you're telling me you're a tech nerd?"
"It's too awesome. I've never seen such an awesome arts and crafts uploader before."
"I'll punch your chest with my tiny fists."
The series of praises in the comments continued until the entire assembly process was over. When he began showcasing and demonstrating the new gauntlets, another wave of comments began flooding in.
"Good lord, an actual Exo suit?"
"State your price and drown my hopes and dreams, would you?"
"It can only grab and lift stuff? Can you also punch with that thing?"
"The parts are too simple. It's obviously impossible to punch anything with it. Besides, the whole thing doesn't contain any support structures. What's the point of making it if the full force of lifting heavy objects would still be directed back to the physical body?"
"Oh please, the God of live chats has returned. If there's no point, why are you still watching the video? Just click on the damn 'X' button then."
"Do you wanna bet that the uploader will make another video to slap your face again? It's gonna be hysterical."
"Stop fooling around, you truth speaker. The God of live chats is only trying to gain intel on the next upload! To be fair, will there be an update for the Charge Blade though?"