Chapter 99: Episode 6

Fifty thousand popularity isn’t cheap, but with these two hundred thousand yuan, Yun Ruoxi could easily buy over quite a few UP Masters to cheer for her and, in turn, gain even more considerable popularity in return.

No wonder this was the first item to have a redemption limit.

But then, she thought it over.

Compared to spending this Promotion Fund on advertising for herself, it might actually be more effective if used elsewhere.

After all, with her current level of popularity, she didn’t really need much off-site promotion.

Her fingertips lightly tapped the virtual interface, and the blue-haired girl fell into deep thought.

Parallel Earth, August 10, 2025.

The morning after the fifth episode of “Stellar” aired.

Many small and medium-sized UP Masters in the Animation Zone on Bilibili received a rather strange private message.

An Lv1 Account named “I’ll Always Stan Aili” wanted to collaborate with them.

Accepting commissions had become routine for UP Masters on Bilibili these days.

Silly Little Deer, Holy Grail, Zhuanzhuan—these were all familiar faces, but this sponsor seemed a little… strange.

First, it was a personal account, registered only a day ago.

And the requirements were oddly simple.

No advertisements, no product promotion.

All they needed was for the UPs to make a video related to “Stellar.”

They were asked to mention Aili more, and ideally, to market Aili together with Yun Ruoxi.

Other than that, there were no requests.

One could even say—were these really “requirements”?

Just hyping up Aili in a video, that’s all. There’s no way viewers would guess this was actually stealth marketing.

So, most of them thought this must be some rich, deranged fan who adored Aili down to his bones.

So even though the fee wasn’t much—just one thousand yuan—

They happily agreed and took the five hundred yuan deposit.

But what they didn’t expect was that those chosen weren’t just Animation Zone UP Masters.

There were also some well-known doujin artists, like the long-missing Qingtan Teacher and the infamous Sister Four Little Sheep.

They were commissioned to draw all kinds of Aili doujins.

To be honest, they didn’t want to accept at first.

They might be freelance artists, but they had their own standards. Drawing a loli who was only eleven or twelve? That felt wrong.

But the offered price was simply too much to refuse.

Tens of thousands for a custom piece, and they weren’t even restricted from selling them? It was almost like charity.

Anyone would be tempted.

And so, for a long period after—

A certain pink, a certain blue, and a certain orange app all saw a surge of high-quality Aili doujins.

Which made quite a few Mech Captains overjoyed.

Of course, that’s a story for later.

***

Inside the consciousness space.

Yun Ruoxi sent off the final payment and closed the chat with the last artist, finally letting out a long sigh.

“Your foundation is too shallow. If you don’t gather popularity in the first season, you’ll be at a disadvantage by the second.”

Though Yun Ruoxi had made all kinds of bold changes to the plot, she’d always kept the main storyline intact.

After all, her knowledge of the plot—apart from the system—was her greatest trump card.

So.

Yun Ruoxi planned to sneak Aili into the main cast when the group decided to escape the war camp at the end of the first season.

She wanted to see if Aili could use this chance to become part of the main cast for season two and maybe secure a permanent spot.

Because, truthfully, Aili was just too weak.

And the road Yun Ruoxi herself had to walk later was too dangerous; even with the system’s help, there was no guarantee.

She couldn’t selfishly keep Aili by her side.

Besides, Aili joining the main cast would benefit her as well.

Because, after the second season began, her own identity as “Yun Ruoxi”—the villain—wouldn’t appear much in the early episodes.

That would inevitably cost her a lot of popularity.

At that time, Aili, who was closely tied to her, could become the crucial link between her and the main cast, reminding the audience of “Yun Ruoxi.”

But without her support, whether Aili could successfully join the main cast in season two, and how much screen time she’d get, would all depend on how much popularity she could accumulate this season.

But with “Stellar” already on its fifth episode, trying to overtake by conventional means was nearly impossible.

Yun Ruoxi had no choice but to resort to unorthodox methods, mobilizing the vast and enthusiastic online community to create hype for Aili.

After all, “bad publicity is still publicity,” and “yellow publicity” is no less so, right?

Yun Ruoxi went over her plan again in her mind, unconsciously clenching her fists, a trace of guilt flickering in her eyes.

“This plan really kills two birds with one stone. Even if it’s unfair to Aili, it’s ultimately for her own good. I hope that when she learns the truth someday, she won’t resent me too much.”

Yun Ruoxi knew she was using Aili, but this was the best plan she could come up with.

Sometimes, deception doesn’t mean betrayal—it’s just the only option left in the face of harsh reality.

“Let’s go.”

With everything in the consciousness space settled, Yun Ruoxi closed her eyes and exited the system, letting her consciousness return to reality.

***

Inside the infirmary, the door was tightly closed and the lighting was dim.

All the medical pods were lit red—currently in use.

The brutality of the Phase Two life-and-death battle was beyond imagination. Nearly every cadet had sustained serious injuries.

As a result, the war camp had come to a rare halt for ten days, giving Yun Ruoxi and the other gravely wounded some time to recover.

Inside a sealed medical pod—

Yun Ruoxi floated naked in the pale blue healing fluid. All the alloy fragments had been removed from her body.

The horrific penetrating wounds had also been mended by the pod.

Now, all that was left was for her body to heal on its own.

Swish!

Her eyes snapped open, but her vision was pitch black.

A cold sensation enveloped her whole body, as if she were soaking in ice water, but the wounds burned intensely.

Especially the area around her heart.

Each heartbeat sent sharp, stabbing pain radiating out.

Yun Ruoxi instantly broke out in a cold sweat, baring her teeth in agony.

Fortunately, the medical pod quickly detected her awakening and injected her with anesthetics again, plunging her back into deep sleep.

But just before her consciousness slipped away, Yun Ruoxi didn’t forget to set an alarm in the system.

She told the system to wake her up when episode six of “Stellar” aired.

***

Three days later, in the world of “Stellar.”

The system’s notification pulled Yun Ruoxi out of her sleep.

Pain instantly swept over her entire body.

She hurriedly activated the pain block, then looked up at the anime screen that had appeared in the top right corner of her vision.

「Ha ha ha, I’m here, Leina!」

「A new week, new Xiao Xi!」

「Lock the Aixi CP for me!」

「Are you rooting for Aixi or your own ship?」

「Where is everyone?」

「Do you know what I went through this week?!」

「Waiting a whole week for 24 minutes, I can’t even skip a second of this 3-minute OP!」

「Too short, too short! Give me another episode—everyone gets their own episode!」

“Seems like the promotion is working…”

Yun Ruoxi gazed at the occasional Aixi CP bullet comment drifting by and muttered to herself.

It still wasn’t the overwhelming flood of Linxi Faction, but seeing Aixi CP-related comments in the barrage was already an unprecedented improvement.