Chapter 42: 30 Times the Popularity

Translator: 549690339 |

Mohe?

Bi Fang suddenly shivered, not out of fear, but because it was his subconscious reaction to hearing about Mohe.

It was extremely cold there!

How cold exactly?

Well, Mohe is located at the northern foothills of the Greater Khingan Range, in the northwest of Heilonghe Province. If you wish to witness the Northern Lights without leaving the country, that’s the place to be.

The very fact that you can observe the Northern Lights there says it all about how high the latitude of Mohe is; it’s almost at the very northern tip of the country. If Bi Fang didn’t head in the right direction for survival, he reckoned he might end up crossing the border by accident.

Assuming he wasn’t shot in the head by a border guard first…

It seemed he would be facing severe cold this time, so his preliminary preparations had to be even more thorough.

The System had indicated that he could bring his own clothing, which meant there was quite a bit of wiggle room there.

He could pack several items, sterilize and seal them so that, in case of an emergency, they could be used as bandages or torn into strips to make rope.

Although the clothing Bi Fang wore last time wasn’t provided by the System, he hadn’t dared to take any extras. When he tried to pack a second jacket, the System had immediately warned him.

This served as a reminder to Bi Fang that the System’s requirements weren’t set in stone.

The mission duration also differed greatly from the last time; previously it was 15 days of preparation, 7 days of survival, this time it was 8 days of preparation, 5 days of survival.

Both the preparation time and the survival duration had been significantly reduced, indicating that the beginner’s mission was indeed for beginners.

Bi Fang sat back down at the only desk in his room and began planning once more.

Despite having over a hundred thousand in his account, he had not rushed to get a new house because outdoor activities were actually quite expensive. To truly engage in them, that sum of money could vanish in the blink of an eye.

A regular outdoor jacket alone would cost around ten thousand, not to mention the branded ones.

During his previous lottery draw, Bi Fang had won some outdoor gear, but that was pretty much limited to a water bottle, a pair of breathable sweat-wicking pants, a firesteel, a plain white T-shirt, and two orange-flavored hard candies.

Aside from the water bottle and the pants, the rest were of little use; he had to buy everything else, including the jacket.

Oh, and the candy tasted pretty good.

After completing his planning, Bi Fang notified his fans in a group chat and then called Wang Yongbo to inform him of his next live streaming location.

Wang Yongbo was also very courteous, stating that the recommendation would be arranged quickly, and that the poster would be rushed and hopefully be featured at the top of the homepage for early morning promotion.

For him, signing Bi Fang was a very lucrative deal.

Bi Fang was skilled, and his live streaming content was almost guaranteed to be a hit, something that Wolf Fang TV desperately needed. They invested with wholehearted willingness, now only concerned that they lacked a leading figurehead and were not competitive in the live streaming market.

Of the top 10 live streamers, Wolf Fang TV only had one, and that was barely hanging on, often at risk of falling off.

Moreover, the actual cost of the contract was not high; all they really had to offer was an annual salary of ten million. Even if Bi Fang’s potential was limited, they wouldn’t really incur any losses; at most, it would just be a wasted sentiment.

They could afford such a loss. As a major live streaming platform, ten million was nothing to them, hardly a scratch, and even if it turned out that way, it was like they had spent a fortune to discover a potential talent.

In the end, Wang Yongbo made a few more polite remarks, mentioned that he had arranged an assistant for Bi Fang for any upcoming matters, and then hung up.

Not long after, Bi Fang received a friend request from the assistant Wang Yongbo had arranged, Liu Qian.

They discussed the details of the promotion briefly and then made the arrangements.

In the evening, after completing his shopping at the mall, Bi Fang received a promotional poster.

The poster was predominantly white, showing a lonely expanse of snowfield with towering mountains in the distance. The blizzard was like a white sandstorm, and a tiny figure was braving the snowflakes, making his way toward the mountains.

The poster had artistic appeal, and Bi Fang was very satisfied with Wolf Fang TV’s efficiency. This was the first time he was receiving treatment reserved for a top streamer.

Having received a response, Liu Qian immediately replied to the tech department, and soon after, the recommendation was approved— it was a major homepage feature.

When Bi Fang opened Wolf Fang TV’s APP and refreshed it again, the poster had already appeared at the very top of the APP’s homepage. By clicking on it, one could enter his live stream.

However, because the live stream hadn’t started yet, the screen was still black.

But the fan group had received the news early and had already begun to “build floors” in the comments section.

[Front row seat!]

[A new journey!]

[Is this trip headed to the Arctic?]

[Who is this? I haven’t seen him on Wolf Fang before. New host?]

[Dumb, how could a new host get a major feature straightaway? Plus, there’s a pre-announcement, this guy must have been poached from another site, right?]

[What’s the use though, Wolf Fang has been on a decline, what good would poaching one or two big hosts do? Isn’t this just a desperate measure? In my opinion, they should loosen up the censorship, nowadays he who has the Isp (likes, shares, and posts) rules the world!]

[Forget it, I think Wolf Fang TV is quite refreshing, not like Tiger Fang, I don’t even want to watch when I go there.]

[It’s not about not wanting to watch, it’s about not being able to handle it (jokingly)]

[Isn’t this copying Shark Lu Wentao’s Wilderness Survival?]

[Nonsense, it’s clearly Lu Wentao who copied Master Fang!]

Amidst a flood of comments, Bi Fang saw one with many replies. It was a debate about who started doing wilderness survival first and who copied whom.

Bi Fang didn’t pay attention to this argument because he knew he was also copying, and if he were to stand on the moral high ground and accuse others while being fully aware of this fact, it would be shamelessly hypocritical.

Moreover, something like wilderness survival relies on one’s own skills. Yesterday, Bi Fang had also watched Lu Wentao’s live stream. The first map was the same as his, the Qinling Mountains, and he was also dropped randomly by a helicopter, which looked much fancier than what he had done.

However, Bi Fang only watched for a little over half an hour before he turned it off and didn’t give it another thought.

If he were to make a judgement,

It was terrible.

Awfully terrible.

Any discerning viewer could tell that Lu Wentao didn’t really understand wilderness survival, simply reciting information about certain animals or plants in a rigid manner. Often, he couldn’t answer the audience’s questions and pretended not to see them, leading to low interaction.

And unlike Bi Fang, who only brought a pack, Lu Wentao was thoroughly prepared, which put him at an immediate disadvantage.

The signs of scripting were also very apparent, almost every line seemed rehearsed, and whether hunting or making tools, he appeared clumsy, with the animals he caught looking lethargic and weak before they even died.

Sometimes, Lu Wentao would even start making certain tools right before ending the stream at night, and by the next day, when the viewers tuned in again, they would find the tools already made, with the excuse that he got up early to finish them.

Who would believe that?

Not to mention whether the tools were really made by getting up early, at least wipe off the grease by your mouth!

If it were a recorded show, this would have been fine, even showing a strong sense of professionalism because many survival points were verified, but this was a live stream!

Daring to stream live without true skills?

For now, it was just that Lu Wentao’s content seemed fresh, catching snakes and making rafts, and many new viewers found it exciting.

Unfortunately, after witnessing real wilderness survival, the fans in Bi Fang’s fan group didn’t buy what Lu Wentao was selling at all!

However, the guy’s popularity was indeed high, surpassing 800,000. If Shark TV wasn’t faking these numbers, then based on Lu Wentao’s original 30,000 popularity, it had almost multiplied by thirty times!