After clicking it open, Su Yan was surprised to find that the short story had actually received a great response, with a flood of praise below.
Of course, that wasn’t what made her happiest; the happiest thing was, naturally, the small fortune.
Su Yan earned more from this novel than any of her previous ones, a full 30,000 yuan.
Although for her now, 30,000 might not seem like much, money earned from writing was ultimately different from other sources; it carried a greater sense of accomplishment.
The next evening, Su Yan and her three dorm mates went out for a hotpot meal.
On their way back, she unexpectedly discovered a martial arts training class not far from the school.
“Huh? Was this here before?”
Su Yan looked puzzled.
She’d been at university for two years and didn’t remember a training class opening here.
He Yuxin glanced at it, then said knowingly, “Oh, that opened last month. It’s not very well-known, so of course you, a person who spends all her time holed up in the dorm, wouldn’t know.”
Su Yan retorted, feeling a bit aggrieved, “Don’t you usually stay in the dorm too? How do you know everything about the surroundings?”
He Yuxin shot her a disdainful look, “Pure homebodies don’t get to talk. Even if I don’t go out, my childhood friend tells me all the fresh news around here!”
Ah, well… Su Yan felt a bit discriminated against.
But a martial arts training class…
Su Yan raised an eyebrow, recalling what “Brother Tiger” had said in the dungeon.
Indeed, at least in the previous “River of Colors” dungeon, it was clear that guests with high combat power had a significant advantage.
If she also had the ability to fight crocodiles head-on like “Brother Tiger,” she wouldn’t have had to go through so much trouble.
Thinking this, Su Yan suddenly asked, “Has your childhood friend been to this martial arts training class?”
He Yuxin’s childhood friend was a bit of a rich second-generation kid, usually fond of new things.
He’d typically be the first to check out anything new.
He Yuxin shook her head, “I don’t know, I’m not interested in that stuff.”
As she said this, her eyes narrowed slightly as she leaned closer to Su Yan, “What? Are you going to learn martial arts?”
Su Yan knew she would eventually go learn, so she didn’t intend to hide it from them.
She brushed her short hair back and said matter-of-factly, “With my natural beauty, shouldn’t I learn some martial arts to protect myself?”
He Yuxin and Feng Di both made a gagging expression, “Ugh!”
Wu Xiaoxiao, however, pushed up her glasses and said seriously, “I think learning martial arts is indeed a good choice, but I suggest you find a reliable training class. Don’t spend money and learn nothing.”
Su Yan nodded, “I’ll go inquire about this one in a couple of days. If it’s near the school, that would be even better, of course.”
Seeing that Su Yan was serious, He Yuxin picked up her phone and sent a text message, “I’ll ask Old Sun; he should have been there.”
They were all good friends, so Su Yan didn’t hesitate, buying a cup of milk tea to treat her helpful friend.
***
She put the matter aside for now and began transforming the content of this dungeon into a novel.
The previous success seemed to have revealed some truths about horror novels to her again, and this time, it could definitely be written as an adventure novel.
A week later, in the afternoon, Su Yan finally remembered her app.
Thinking that today was the day her episode aired, Su Yan quickly opened the app, ready to check the situation.
As before, Xiaoya was already in the app. Su Yan asked with some surprise, “How come you’re always here when I come? Don’t you need to rest?”
Xiaoya sighed, looking quite speechless, “Last time, you were called by me, so naturally I was here. This time, it’s your first episode going live, so as your guide, I naturally have to be on standby at all times.”
That made sense.
Su Yan felt a bit guilty and sheepishly agreed.
Xiaoya scrunched up her small face and questioned, “Shouldn’t you, as the participant, be more excited about this? Why are you only just showing up now?”
It’s because I forgot!
Su Yan secretly chided herself, putting on a humble and repentant expression, and asked curiously, “So, how’s the growth? How many saves do I have?”
***
The originally gray interface had turned a light blue, looking a bit brighter.
And the number on it was even more striking—a whopping 5573 people had followed her!
When this topic came up, Xiaoya was excited.
She showed Su Yan the follower interface, and Su Yan also raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.
Xiaoya explained from the side, “This color means you’ve left the danger zone. When it turns green, it means you’ve become one of the top fifty percent.”
Su Yan asked, “Then how much attention is needed to turn green?”
Xiao Ya had specifically researched this, so she confidently replied, “Over 100,000 should be fine.”
“100,000!”
Su Yan looked shocked.
“No way? That much? If I gain 10,000 per game, it’ll take at least ten games to reach fifty percent?”
She had thought her progress was quite fast!
Now, looking at it, she realized she had been overthinking.
Seeing Su Yan’s distraught expression, Xiao Ya shook her head and quickly explained, “It’s not like that, Master, you don’t need to belittle yourself. You’ve already gained a lot, and your episode hasn’t even finished airing yet!”
“Not finished?”
Su Yan was a little surprised.
Xiao Ya nodded, “Each episode is divided into two parts. Only the first part has aired, and you’ve just turned the ‘cat-eye glasses’ into sunglasses.”
At this point, Xiao Ya also seemed a bit confused.
“Although I don’t know what you plan to do, by tomorrow morning, I estimate you’ll definitely have more than that number.”
“They really know how to cliffhang,” Su Yan marveled.
If she were writing a story and left the plot at such a crucial high point, she’d probably get her head ripped off by angry readers.
Xiao Ya saw Su Yan’s fluctuating expression and couldn’t figure out what she was thinking for a moment.
So she continued to comfort her, “Besides, it’s okay if you don’t have many followers now; there are still special notifications anyway.”
Su Yan was confused by this non sequitur.
“What? What does this have to do with special notifications?”
Xiao Ya chuckled, “For newcomers like you, too many give up quickly. So many old viewers won’t follow newcomers directly but set up a special notification. When your show airs, it will remind them to watch.”
“Oh, I see,” Su Yan nodded.
“So, if I participate in more shows, these latent followers will become visible ones?”
“Exactly,” Xiao Ya affirmed.
Su Yan couldn’t resist and refreshed her screen.
The original “5573” had turned into “5772”; the increase was still very fast.
Su Yan thought about it; before she made the sunglasses, her only high point seemed to be sneaking and diving, right?
It seemed Nicksians cared more about strength; even without too many high points, many were willing to follow her.
She just wondered how many people would curse her ghost stories once the latter half came out.
Su Yan gave two “tsk” sounds, indicating her anticipation.
Xiao Ya remembered something and suddenly said, “Oh, right, the app recently launched a new feature that allows guests and Nicksians to interact simply.”
Su Yan curiously asked, “How does the interaction work?”
Xiao Ya pointed with her small hand, opening a new interface.
“Here, it’s this. You can post one update each month as a fan benefit. If used well, it’s also a great way to attract fans.”
Su Yan nodded, already knowing what to write.
She tapped a few times, and a fresh update was ready.
“Wishing everyone sweet dreams tonight.”
Xiao Ya didn’t even have time to stop Su Yan, watching helplessly as a precious monthly opportunity was used up like that.
“Oh no! What are you doing?!”
Xiao Ya looked anxious.
“Why did you post content like that?”
Looking at Su Yan’s bland update, Xiao Ya sighed heavily and asked, “Are you trying to be a caring older sister? That’s fine, but honestly, we Nicksians aren’t very into that persona.”
Su Yan just smiled without speaking.
Wishing them a good night’s sleep was her sincerest blessing to the Nicksians who hadn’t heard ghost stories yet.
She hoped they would feel her sincerity and be more harmonious.
Thousands of followers were not for show; soon after Su Yan posted, there were a few scattered comments below.
“The young lady is so gentle! Wishing you sweet dreams too!”
“The young lady’s guide isn’t good, is she? Why post such content? Suggest a change.”
Xiao Ya, seeing this comment, was speechless!
She wanted to stop Su Yan, but the problem was Su Yan didn’t give her the chance.
Su Yan asked, “Can’t I reply to comments?”
Xiao Ya nodded, “No, to prevent guests from saying anything inappropriate.”
After another refresh, several more comments appeared.
Among the comments praising Su Yan’s gentleness, one stood out conspicuously, “Heh heh, just you wait!”
Su Yan raised an eyebrow, knowing what it meant.
This was probably a viewer who had watched the live broadcast.
Xiao Ya didn’t understand and indignantly said, “This person is too much! Someone’s arguing even with this kind of update? Probably a professional contrarian!”
Seeing her expression, she looked like she wanted to roll up her sleeves and personally confront this person across the air.
Su Yan could only silently pray that Xiao Ya wouldn’t fight her when she found out the truth.
Soon, several people replied to that seemingly contrarian comment.
Most of them were cursing him.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Can’t the young lady even say a blessing? Are you jealous?”
“The young lady is too pitiful; someone’s arguing even with comments like this.”
“Brother, I get you, but none of us will say anything. Let’s give them a big surprise.”
“Can we report comments like this? So annoying!”
Su Yan spotted that unique comment at a glance.
She had to thank the Nicksians for their mischievousness.
If they had spoiled it beforehand, the element of surprise would have been greatly diminished.
Although she wasn’t sure if it would ultimately be a surprise for the Nicksians, it would most likely be a fright.
Xiao Ya also saw that comment, but she didn’t think much of it, only saying, “Even if he wants to spoil it, he can’t! To ensure viewership, the Childhood Variety Show production team strictly prohibits spoilers. Violators will be held legally responsible.”
Upon hearing this, Su Yan felt relieved but also more guilty.
If that were the case, her comment section would surely explode tomorrow.