*Allen's POV*
I didn't want to ruin the mood, so I ended up asking something silly.
"No, no, no, I'm Scarlet," she quickly shook her head in denial.
I sighed, and then a small laugh escaped from my mouth. She's a fan; I can tell because she knows the lore of my channel, and she knows that Rick is a disgusting troll.
He's one of the main culprits behind my ordering those Rozen Maiden dolls. I've tried to ban him, but I think he's a hacker because he keeps unbanning himself.
Wait...
What did MJ just say?!
"Scarlet?!"
I looked in astonishment as I stumbled. Is she Scarlet? Scarlet isn't just one of my first two viewers; she's been commenting on my main channel practically from the beginning, for years.
Mary Jane approached me and took off my glasses. "Hehe, it's nice to meet you, Gray~"
"..."
My face must have looked funny because she started blushing and laughing.
During my early days when I didn't show my face, I used a fake name like everyone else. That name was Grayman. After a few months, I decided to use my real name because I didn't end up liking that nickname, so I only used it for three months.
It's strange how the internet world works. You start with high expectations, but soon you realize that even getting two views is a struggle.
And that's not counting that, on average, only one out of every hundred people comments. That's why the existence of my founders was so special.
My initial content was simple. A camera recorded me painting figures and handmade models while providing information on the topic at hand.
Of course, in those days, only my hands were visible. The internet kept growing, and everything was new. Over time, I started talking about various topics in my videos, and I even began addressing topics that were left in the comments.
Those exchanges gradually grew, and I got to know several of my subscribers well. Among them, Scarlet... I couldn't count how many messages we exchanged over three years.
I looked at Mary Jane while she smiled, feeling like we'd known each other forever, and judging by her smile, she felt the same way.
After that, it seemed like the distance between us had completely disappeared.
We sat on a bench and, without noticing the passing of time, talked until it got dark.
MJ didn't stop smiling during this time. It's a special feeling that I can't describe well, getting to meet someone in person who's been there for so long, but whom you could never have close.
In the end, it was time to say goodbye, but I noticed that she seemed sad and somewhat worried.
"Don't worry; we've already exchanged contacts. If you need to see me, don't hesitate to call," I said before patting her on the shoulder.
I was surprised at how quickly I began to think of her as a friend at the same level as Gwen, but at the same time, it wasn't that difficult.
MJ held her phone and looked at my contact and then turned around, and I felt an inexplicable panic seeing her dim eyes.
Without knowing why, I reached out my hand to her and took hers.
"What's wrong?" MJ looked at me confused. My mind couldn't yet process what I had done or the reason behind it.
As I thought about what to say, an epiphany came to my mind, and I remembered something from over two years ago.
"I remember once reading a comment from you that you later deleted. You wrote that you had issues with your parents."
Mary's face broke, and she turned pale. "Th-that was a j-joke, Allen," she said with a shaky and scared voice.
Many memories came back to me, and I clenched my teeth a little angrily. "You later commented another day that you had a fight with your father and couldn't stand living there anymore." That's right, every time Scarlet... MJ wrote something about her personal life, she avoided the topic of her parents, and when something slipped, she ended up deleting the message.
Now that I have her in front of me, I can tell that it's something serious and heavy.
Mary Jane began to struggle, trying to free her hand from mine in a panic. "I was exaggerating!... let me go, please, I have to be back before nine!"
There's a limit...
There's a limit where even friends need to think twice before entering. That intimate area of a person's life involves delicate subjects. Pressing further with Mary Jane means I'm willing to see the darkest aspects of her life. You can't go into that with half a heart, or you could hurt someone deeply.
[That's right, Allen Walker, you must decide. Are you willing to bear Mary Jane's darkness? You can refuse and remain just a regular friend, and she a fan.]
I took a deep breath as I looked seriously at MJ. "You guys are unfair... you know everything about me, but I know nothing about you, yet you're always there."
I smiled as I stroked the girl's head. "You supported me when no one else did... You was there when I had no one... Let me be there for you too, MJ."
"Allen!..." She broke into tears with her eyes welling up. Without hesitation, I embraced her.
[Don't worry, Host, with me by your side, nothing is impossible.]
Hehe, it's true, I have a legendary system. If I can't protect a girl, it would be a mockery for everyone.
...
I arrived at my apartment with MJ, and she hesitated before entering.
"Al, are you sure I'm not a bother?" MJ seemed calmer after crying for almost an hour, but her eyes were red.
"MJ, I'm a lonely guy in a huge apartment, I have no parents, and my aunt Natasha only comes by occasionally. I could use some company, especially if it's a woman," I said as I took off my sweater.
"Okay," she blushed and entered. I could tell she was peeking at me from the corner of her eye, but sorry, MJ, there's no fan service; I have a shirt underneath.
"The bathroom is at the end; you can take a shower. There are towels on the shelf. I've prepared some stew; I'll warm it up so you can eat after your shower. I need to do some editing, I will join you later."
Mary Jane came closer and hugged me from behind. "... thanks, Al."
"If you need anything else, call me, and remember, this is your home."
"I don't want to be a burden for you."
I looked at MJ seriously. "You're not a burden, Jane, I mean it. You can stay as long as you like... as long as you don't enter that room," I pointed to a room at the end of the hallway.
"Oh, that's the treasure room!" Jane's eyes lit up, and she was excited.
"You guys came up with that name," I rolled my eyes as she laughed. I'm glad her mood improved.
"Stop fooling around and go take a shower; you don't want to catch a cold."
"Yes~" She walked away, giving me a playful look. "Don't spy on me, Al~"
"..."
I didn't know what expression to make. There's a fine line between innocent flirting and real seduction. And if you're a man and misinterpret the signals, you could end up in jail or the bed of a beautiful girl; it's a risky bet.
I shook my head and went into my RGB room. Yeah, I shouldn't have put so many unnecessary lights. Now I regret it; my electricity bill is twice as high as my neighbor's.
I sat on the chair and checked my computer to see how today's live stream went.
The statistics show that over a thousand people were spectating live, that's ten times more. Several clips promoted my stream on Twitter and FB. I'm not surprised because fights go viral, although people usually settle for the clip and don't look for the entire fight.
I had only a thousand viewers, but the clips exceeded a hundred thousand views within hours.
But this popularity is superficial. You have to know the different types of fame. Viral fame is almost always temporary when the object that attracts the audience isn't you, but the viral content itself.
Learning how to market yourself is a basic step in this world.
A fight is always viral; it will always be. But days later, no one will remember who was fighting, and a few months later, that clip will be buried and only remembered in compilations.
The fame to strive for is perpetual popularity, and this is only achieved by building a community. A community that loves you and all your content, not just because of a viral video.
In this case, the fight isn't just viral because in this case, it's the fact that the attention has been shifted from the fight itself to me. First with provocative phrases towards Flash.
Let's suppose the title changes from:
"School Fight with Unexpected Ending" to "Potter Beats Bully." There's a big difference. In the first, the focus is on the fight, and in the second example, the focus is on Potter, the MC, meaning me, and the villain, Flash Thomson.
Now, thanks to the system, I've recorded everything from start to finish in 4k at 60fps. I could have recorded it at a higher quality, but it wasn't necessary, and it would be strange if a school fight were recorded with James Cameron's movie quality.
I opened my video editor to turn a good video into an incredible one.
Time to manipulate virality...
[Cough]
"What's going on?"
[Offensively, the host would consider using a primitive editing program over his perfect system]
Did I detect a hint of jealousy in the emotionless voice of the girl? Hehe.
"It's the best personal use editor on the market... but you win. Show me what you can do." I decided to trust the system since it's, well, a system!
The screens on my setup glowed, blinding me, and when the light disappeared, a program was open.
"Three-Body Editor?" I see, it indeed seems like something that shouldn't exist in this era... no matter, what it was to be expected from the system.
...
After a brief explanation on the screen, I could use the editor. It was simply magnificent, allowing for quick editing and smooth, almost instant rendering.
Its options were comparable to those used in movies, allowing me to use Hollywood-quality special effects, and the best part was that it was automatic.
To put it in simpler terms, with this editor and the modifications the system made to my computer, I could make a movie of James Cameron's Avatar quality all by myself in a week. Of course, filmmaking is not my thing.
Now to edit this.
In the part where I faced off against Flash, I needed a multi-shot approach. First, a shot of me getting up from my chair, then a shot of his gorilla-like surprise on his face.
I edited it so that when I delivered my first line to Flash, it was met with a deafening silence, and I gave my voice a slightly deeper tone.
I need some music... this editor can even create Hans Zimmer's quality music, for those who don't know him, think of Interstellar. Thanks to its advanced artificial intelligence program, all the music it generates is unique.
The atmosphere before the fight was heavy and dramatic, followed by a heroic touch when I started dodging attacks and used slow motion during our battle, with dynamic shots ranging from slow to fast movements.
In the final exchange, when Flash was about to hit me with all his might, I used an underwater effect to silence the voices and leave only my breathing audible.
Then, when I struck Flash's face, I repeated it three times from different angles. I added a very realistic punch effect followed by the sound of his teeth and nose breaking. Then, a close-up of his distorted face in pain and disbelief. A shot from his point of view on the ground while I stood over him, was a good shot.
Finally, Gwen arrived, and I took a shot of just the two of us silently staring at each other, with a pink aura. People love romances. Sorry, Gwen, but I need you for this shot, and I'll buy you an ice cream to make up for it later.
Now, all that's left is the right viral title and an attention-grabbing thumbnail.
This Three-Body editor also has an image editor, it's incredible. The first thing people see is the thumbnail. Thumbnails should be eye-catching and very simple, with few elements, three is ideal.
In the thumbnail, I placed Flash getting hit in the face with teeth flying, and me with a serious and indignant expression. I'll add two texts: first, "bully" pointing to Flash in large letters, and "Victim" pointing to me...
The inconsistency in the image, where the victim is smashing the bully's face, along with the suggestive words, will pique people's curiosity.
Now, the title, which is the second thing people see... "I Stood Up to My Bully... no, too simple, "I Beat Up a Bully"... no, too violent... I got it! "I Defended a Kid from a Bully, No Matter the Consequences."
Sorry, Peter, but I'll use you too. I put a small Peter covered in food but with his face censored, I didn't want to humiliate him.
I returned to the video editor and added shots of Parker on the ground, covered in food but with a mosaic over his face at all times.
There, now it doesn't look like a fight, but like a hero helping an abused guy.
[I already knew... but now I'm sure, host, you have a lot of talent in this. I'm not surprised that you're compatible with such a unique system as me.]
Well, I'm a content creator; attracting, entertaining, informing, and keeping people engaged is my job. I'd be in trouble if I didn't do it well.
I looked at my finished work, I have to say, it looks like a movie, hahaha... this is bad.
I got carried away with the editor; people will think everything is staged. But that's okay.
My goal is to increase my popularity, not for people to believe it's real. After all, the system works based on views. I should ask the system for details on how it works.
I looked at Flash several times on the ground. One shouldn't be proud of hitting someone, but I never knew... it feels so good to defeat an idiot! Why didn't I do this earlier?!
[Because the host is somewhat cowardly; I recommend that he invest his earnings in increasing his life insurance.]
Earnings?
[Yes, the host can earn three types of rewards. The first one is credits, earned based on the number of viewers and the time they spend watching your content. These credits serve as universal currency and can be used to buy things from the system's store or exchange for real money.]
Oh! I need that! Now, I won't have to steal food from restaurant dumpsters.
[The second type is golden tickets, which are used to draw from the system's store gacha. Many prizes can be won, but there's a risk of getting trash. The tickets are obtained by unlocking achievements, reaching set goals, or achieving very good results somewhere, etc.]
Gacha?! Noooo! Why gacha?!
[Host?]
System, gacha is one of the most terrible things invented by humanity, a disgusting thing that drains people's souls to death...
[If you want, I can remove that function...]
No, it's okay... I'll live with it.
[...]
Go on, system.
[Lastly, there are destiny fragments... these fragments can be the most important thing you obtain.]
Mmm, what are they for?
My words were interrupted by someone knocking on the room's door.
It could only be MJ; now that I think about it, she probably hasn't eaten yet. I removed my headphones and walked to the door. When I opened it, there was a lovely redhead with wet hair and a slight blush.
I won't lie; her fresh, sweet, and delicate scent is befitting of a young beauty like her. Her natural fragrance entered my nostrils, leaving me somewhat intoxicated.
I looked at Mary Jane with a few droplets of water falling on her moist, fair skin and swallowed. She noticed it and lowered her head to hide her embarrassment.
Unexpectedly, she moved closer to me instead of backing away and leaned on my body. I could feel the warmth of her breath on my neck.
Don't tell me today is "that" day?!
====
(A/N: I won't focus too much on technical issues, that will happen behind the camera, but this was mainly to show that Allen is a capable creator and not a bluff.)