It had only been around fourteen hours since Chu Lian uploaded her video, yet the view count had already reached 140,569—averaging over ten thousand views per hour. That meant just during her conversation with Ayase, the video had gained more than ten thousand additional views.
While it could be attributed to the Saturday internet traffic peak, the sheer pace of the growth was still nothing short of miraculous.
Don't be fooled by the millions of views on some videos on M Station. Even though the site had over a million registered users, those videos didn't hit those numbers overnight.
Most of those massively popular videos were unrestricted—available for all to view—and their view counts had accumulated over long periods. Many of them had earned the title "Station Treasure" and were evergreen content, drawing in viewers years after their initial release thanks to constant recommendations and word of mouth.
Of course, it's not to say that those legendary videos had slower starts than Chu Lian's. On the contrary, their opening viewership was often even higher. But unlike those, Chu Lian's video had already been tagged as "Members Only," meaning only registered users could watch it. Given the subject matter and the slightly sensitive 2P video, restrictions were inevitable.
She casually scrolled through the comments and saw that most were compliments. Some asked if she was truly the literary prodigy from Sucheng. Naturally, being the internet, there were trolls too.
But most of the offensive comments were promptly reported and taken down. Even those that remained didn't faze her. She'd grown used to this kind of thing. Now, unless it came from someone she cared about, she barely gave it a second glance.
If not for the system's constraints, she might have ended up with the icy, untouchable persona of a snow queen.
She knew some things couldn't stay hidden forever. So, since she'd been found out, she didn't try to deny it. She replied to a few of the most-liked comments, answering their questions directly, and even posted a comment of her own:
"I'm really happy everyone likes BlackNeko's video, but please don't focus too much on BlackNeko's personal life. Online, BlackNeko is just that—not the literary genius Chu Lian from Sucheng. Let's not dwell on it, okay?"
"BlackNeko hopes you'll truly enjoy her songs, and not just like her for her looks or other reasons. That would honestly be disheartening. This is my first try at something new, and I really want it to succeed."
"I'm uploading videos to gradually build up a following—because I plan to release more books, songs, and other works in the future. You'll need to buy them, right? If I'm not prepared now, what happens if my sales flop?"
"Okay, okay, I'll stop messing around. Truth is, I'm genuinely interested in this stuff, which is why I'm giving it a try. For now, I'll mostly be doing covers. I'm new at this and, honestly, I've only figured out six of the seven holes in music theory.""
"Covering songs helps me learn techniques from the originals and lets me practice singing through mimicry."
"So, instead of just liking BlackNeko, why not like her songs? I'm still young, and I'm not for everyone's tastes—except maybe for a few with very specific preferences, haha. Respecting BlackNeko's privacy is a way of showing your support. Please keep that in mind."
"But don't worry—I won't be deleting 2P. Even though my dear sister basically sold me out, it didn't really bother me much. I'm just bummed that my identity got exposed too soon. There goes my mysterious charm. No more teasing people with that. What a shame~"
"Mhm~ Like BlackNeko's work? If you do, follow me! Also, go follow BlackNeko on MySong too, since that's where you can download the songs. And here's BlackNeko's Weibo..."
"After all that, I think everyone should have a pretty accurate first impression of BlackNeko now, right? Don't ask why I sang this particular song—I was forced! Secretly telling you all, my big sister is a stunning beauty, but she's a full-blown sis-con and loli-con, so... you get the picture."
"Lastly, BlackNeko will say this: the next song will be a Chinese one~ Just as catchy, just as lovable!"
"And, definitely not telling you that the next thing I'm going to do is cosplay. Nope. And I'm absolutely not going to drop a cosplay link under the second video either. Hmph!"
"If my identity hadn't been exposed, I wouldn't have said a thing. So hmph again!"
Ayase, watching from the side, didn't seem to mind Chu Lian throwing her under the bus like that. Instead, she chuckled as she read the comment, clearly amused.
"Clear mind, clear heart... I see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing..." Chu Lian muttered, doing her best to ignore Ayase's teasing laughter. She double-checked her comment, tweaked the order of a few lines, and the whole thing ended up oozing with cuteness. Honestly, after writing it, she felt a bit grossed out herself.
Even though she often sold cuteness like it was second nature, writing something so saccharine was still a bit much. It felt like a serious loss of integrity... And no, don't ask how she still had integrity to lose—just look at her dazzling pile of Integrity Points on the system, over a hundred thousand of them! (Even if most were earned by losing integrity in the first place...)
After posting the comment, Chu Lian closed her video tab and began browsing M Station. She needed to check out the current anime season to find the most popular shows and characters. That way, she could pick someone appealing to cosplay.
Aside from that, she also wanted to see how ACG (Anime, Comic, Game) culture had developed in this world—what was missing, what was new. It all tied into the system's Goddess Development Plan. Knowing what this world had and lacked was essential in deciding where to focus her efforts.
"Most of the trending anime are nearly identical to those from my previous world... which means..." Chu Lian browsed through the seasonal lineup and nodded as she found her answer. "Illyasviel from Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works is perfect for me to cosplay!"
Her reasoning was solid:
① If that series existed here, then the entire Type-Moon universe and its earlier works likely did too. The character popularity had been building for years—sometimes more than a decade. As long as the cosplay quality was decent, she wouldn't have to worry about people recognizing it.
② Illyasviel's storyline had emotional impact. In the show, she dies—a moment sure to generate buzz. Whether she released the cosplay before or after that moment aired, it was bound to spark discussion. Sure, she might attract haters, but that was unavoidable.
③ In terms of age and height, she fit Illya's character perfectly. After all, she was currently a 140 cm tall loli—and Illya was always portrayed as a loli. Even if the role wasn't super hot at the moment, it was simply too fitting to pass up.
④ Personally, Chu Lian just really liked Illyasviel. She'd always been dissatisfied with Illya's tragic fate and wanted to bring her back to life in a different way.
Yep, that was the plan—even if she'd never admit she was doing it for personal reasons.
"Yo, you already decided who you're going to cosplay as? I thought you'd be agonizing over it for a while." Ayase sat calmly at the edge of the bed, legs crossed, swirling her glass of red wine with one hand while using the other to keep Chu Lian from diving into her lap.
"Illya, huh? Heh, classic. So you picked a scheming little loli that matches your personality."
Since they were getting down to business, Chu Lian didn't bother arguing. She simply flopped onto the bed with a sigh. "Costumes, makeup, and stuff can be redeemed through the system. As for the rest, if the system has it, I'll redeem it. If not, I'll just buy it. I've still got over a million in savings, so I'm not too worried."
Ayase smiled faintly and downed her glass of wine in one go. She liked red wine for its color, not its taste, so she never really paid attention to its flavor. But this time, as soon as she drank it, she frowned and said quietly, "Little Lian'er, trouble's coming your way."
Chu Lian blinked, confused, just about to ask what she meant when the system's mechanical voice echoed in her mind:
"Special Task: Due to your previous assistance to Wang Tingsi, you've drawn attention from certain individuals. They have already taken action against your parents and you are now in danger."
"Task Requirements: Avoid the enemy's attack and find a way to eliminate the threat."
"Difficulty: Abyss. Time Limit: 30 minutes. Enemy Attack Commences In: 5 minutes."
"Note: You currently possess no special abilities. If you wish to survive, you'd better start thinking fast. Task reward: One special ability. Task failure: None."
She read to the end, her consciousness now submerged in the system interface, staring at the chilling crimson of that final word: "None."
"Remember what I told you about this world being incomplete?" Ayase's voice echoed softly. "That incompleteness isn't just surface-level—it's deep-rooted. Legendary beings and phenomena do exist here. They just don't interfere with the real world unless certain conditions are met."
"But your unintentional help to Wang Tingsi disrupted someone's plan. Now you've been marked."
Her tone remained light and gentle, but her words made Chu Lian's heart race.
"Good luck, little goddess. Survive. In this mission, only one side walks away a winner."
With that, Ayase fell silent.
Five minutes. She had five minutes to prepare. How was she going to make it through this?
As her mind raced, her eyes darted to the redemption tab. And then—her eyes lit up. She had an idea!