From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

3: Chapter 3 became popular, but not universally.Alex was woken up by hunger.

It wasn’t the ordinary ”Oh, time to eat” kind of hunger; it was an epic level of starvation, as if a group of hamsters were holding a sports meet in his stomach, his chest pressed against his back, capable of gnawing on a wooden table.

He sat up groggily from the bed and looked out the window—the daylight was bright.

”The video!” This thought struck him like lightning, and the hangover-like drowsiness vanished instantly.

He scrambled to the computer, his hands shaking like he had Parkinson’s.

Turning it on, opening the browser, logging into YouTube... The crappy internet speed was so slow it made him want to kowtow to the router.

Finally, the numbers popped up.

Views: 127, Subscribers: 8, Likes: 5, Comments: 3.

Alex stared at the screen and blinked. He rubbed his eyes hard and looked again.

Views: 129 (Up by 2! Congratulations!), Subscribers: 8 (Unmoved), Likes: 5 (Steady as a mountain).

”...”

The room was so quiet he could hear the buzzing of the hard drive.

This was like finally building a rocket, lighting it for takeoff, with everyone watching—only for it to go ”poof,” jump a meter high, land steadily, puff out a little blue smoke, and that was it.

A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

He had worked hard for thirty-six hours, ran his legs off taking thousands of photos, stayed up until his eyeballs looked like ping-pong balls soaked in coffee, just to get a hundred-something views? Eight subscribers? And five of those were probably ”zombie friends and family” gifted by the system?

It felt like you had meticulously planned a spectacular magic show, but the only audience member was a passing cat, and it even yawned at you.

He numbly clicked on the three comments.

First one: ”Hahaha! The statue wearing sunglasses is amazing!” (User ”ArtLover42”)

Second one: ”It makes no sense, but why can’t I stop watching?” (User ”ConfusedCat”)

Third one: ”How did you do that? Awesome!” (User ”VideoGeek101”)

The comments were quite friendly. But these pathetic numbers were like a bucket of ice water, chilling him to the bone.

”What happened to the transmigrator who was supposed to dominate? What happened to the information gap crushing everyone?” Alex slumped in his chair, muttering to the ceiling, ”System, did you buy this cheat from a discount site? Does it only work after I get a slash in price?”

[Ding.] The system interface popped up calmly.

[Note: Popularity = Followers + Discussion. The current video is in the ’good wine fears no deep alley’ stage. It is suggested that the host actively participate in promotion.]

[Current Popularity: 147 points (growing slowly)]

Fine, it went from 101 to 147. Two days of busywork earned 46 points. He was still 3 points away from redeeming that 150-point [Memory Fragment Organization].

3 points! Stuck on these damn, easy-to-get 3 points!

Alex felt like a kitten was scratching at his heart, itching uncontrollably.

He paced the room like a trapped beast twice, then finally decided to turn his grief and indignation into appetite—he was starving to death.

He rushed out the door and charged to the nearest fast-food restaurant.

He sat at an outdoor table and launched his ”revenge” on the pile of food.

As he ate, he couldn’t help but take out his phone again to refresh.

Views: 131 (Turtle speed), Popularity: 148 (Up by 1 point! Thanks to whichever kind stranger passed by!)

Still 2 points away!

He bit into his burger fiercely, as if biting into that invisible ”barrier to dissemination.”

Just as he was considering whether to perform a backflip on the street to get some attention, his phone suddenly went ”ding-dong,” ”ding-dong” a few times.

It was a Twitter notification! The original owner’s account, which had been overgrown with weeds, actually had activity.

”@ArtLover42 shared a super funny video! Classical statues dancing to ’Single Ladies’! Link...”

”@ConfusedCat says: I’m confused but I like it. Sharing this.”

”@VideoGeek101 tweets: Tech-heavy analysis of this newcomer’s stop-motion animation. Link...”

Alex’s eyes lit up!

These few early viewers were actually spontaneously shouting for him on Twitter!

Although they might not have many followers, this... this was the seed of social dissemination!

He immediately perked up, swallowed his food whole, and rushed home.

No longer a fool acting as a ”data-watching stone,” he had to do something.

He earnestly replied to every comment, his tone as relaxed as chatting with friends.

Thanking for the praise, accepting the roasts, and revealing a few details about ”how hard it was to film.”

Then, he logged into his Twitter (swiftly renamed to @AlexsWonderland), retweeted those shares, and wrote: ”Thanks for the love! Looks like the secret underground dance troupe of the statues can’t be hidden anymore.” #ArtParody #DiscoverTreasureChannel

After doing all this, he felt like he had thrown a few pebbles into a calm pond.

Whether it could create ripples, he would leave to fate.

Time slipped away through his fingertips as he refreshed the page.

In the afternoon, the data started to show some ”signs of life.”

The view count sluggishly passed 300, and subscribers struggled to climb to 20.

Popularity: 149 points.

Just 1 point left!

Alex stared at the number ”149,” his eyes almost bleeding.

This last point was even more agonizing than missing a dollar when saving up money.

He wanted to rush out to the street and shout: ”Someone please like my video! Just take one look! Just one look!”

The turning point came in the evening, accompanied by a special @ notification.

An account called ”L.A. Culture Snob” retweeted his video.

This guy had some fame, specializing in sharp critiques of the local art scene, with several thousand followers.

His retweet said: ”What kind of ’artistic disaster’ has occurred in the sacred marble halls of the Getty Center? I laughed, but my artistic soul is crying. Link...”

Controversy arrived!

The door to popularity had been knocked open!

Alex held his breath and refreshed.

Views: 512 → Instantly jumped to 800+!

Subscribers started increasing by the dozens!

The comment section exploded: ”Insult to art! Grandstanding!” (The Serious Camp), ”So funny! Art shouldn’t be so high and mighty!” (The Playful Camp), ”How did the creator avoid security?” (The Off-Topic Camp).

Only with arguments can there be entertainment!

The traffic password had been activated!

Alex’s heart was thumping.

He suppressed his excitement, retweeted the ”Snob’s” post, and cleverly responded: ”Being able to trigger happy discussions about serious art might also be another value of it? Thanks for the review! #ShouldArtBeFun”

This response, neither humble nor pushy, with a dash of craftiness, made the debate even livelier.

The video link seemed to grow wings, flying from Twitter to Facebook, and even wandering into early forums.

When night truly fell, the numbers on Alex’s computer screen had turned into something that made his heart skip a beat: Views: 5,217, Subscribers: 283, Likes/Comments: Packed.

[Ding-ding-ding!]

The system prompt popped up cheerfully: [Congratulations! The video has reached the ’micro-viral’ standard!], [Popularity acquisition rate significantly increased!], [Current Popularity: 315 points!], [Achievement unlocked: ’Newbie’, Reward Popularity: 50 points!], [Total Popularity: 365 points!]

”It worked!!!”

Alex leaped up from his chair, throwing a punch in the air, almost knocking over the empty Coke can on the table.

365 points! Far exceeding the goal!

He didn’t hesitate: ”System, redeem [Memory Fragment Organization]!”

[150 points consumed. Redemption successful. Fusion starting...]

A warm and comfortable stream flowed through his brain, and those memory fragments belonging to Su Zhe and Alex, which occasionally clashed or were blurry, were gently combed, spliced, and fused into a clearer, more complete ”self.”

That vague sense of estrangement and sluggishness disappeared, and his thinking had never been so clear and sharp.

[Remaining Popularity: 215 points]

Looking at the remaining points, Alex smiled like a fool who had struck it rich overnight.

Fatigue? Non-existent!

Only full of drive and countless new ideas!

He looked at the five-thousand-plus views again, and his heart felt settled.

Did it go viral? It was a small flame, at least.

But more importantly, he had found the method, pulled the lever, and obtained his ”first pot of gold” in the true sense.

Turning off the computer, he threw himself into bed.

His body was screaming for rest, but the inspiration in his brain was popping like fireworks.

With these 215 points, he could play something cooler next time.

For example... making filming not so back-breaking and leg-cramping?

The moment before sinking into a deep sleep, he thought vaguely: This feeling, it seems pretty good.

And in another part of the Earth, a blonde girl who had finished a day of rehearsal and was curled up on the sofa scrolling through her phone, had a ”super funny statue dancing video” shared with her by a friend.

She clicked it, and as she watched, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

”Alex’s Wonderland?”

She read this interesting channel name, casually gave it a like, and then continued scrolling down.

In the ocean of the internet, two tiny starlights, amidst the waves of algorithms, unintentionally flickered, neither aware of the other.