Chapter 24: Famous Before It Even Airs
Yu Wanwan couldn't even remember how she got back to the classroom. All she remembered was that someone had poked her forehead...
And it had happened in such a secluded place, with just the two of them. If she hadn't run away so quickly, who knew what even more outrageous thing he might have done?
What a shame... no, what a terrifying thought.
But thinking about it carefully, poking someone's forehead wasn't exactly an intimate gesture. Friends did that all the time, didn't they?
Pu Tong had only poked her forehead.
So why had she run?
Wouldn't that just make it look like she had a guilty conscience?
Yu Wanwan buried her face in her hands in silent embarrassment.
How humiliating...
"Seriously, why did you run? I only poked your forehead."
Pu Tong arrived a little later, completely baffled by what was going through her head.
It had just been a friendly poke. What strange scenario had she imagined this time?
"N-Nothing! I was just... getting some exercise!"
"So I accidentally hit your running acupoint, and you couldn't stop yourself from sprinting back to the classroom?"
"There's no such ridiculous acupoint!" Yu Wanwan avoided his eyes, waving her hands frantically. "Don't you love studying? Then hurry up and study!"
That... actually made sense.
Without another word, Pu Tong ignored his still-flustered deskmate and returned to his solo study mode.
Whatever she's thinking doesn't matter, as long as it doesn't interfere with my studying.
Over the next few days, Yu Wanwan remained strangely distracted, constantly lost in thought. She hardly initiated any conversations with Pu Tong.
She wasn't talking to him anymore?
That was even better!
Without distractions, Pu Tong's studying efficiency skyrocketed. At one point, he even started to think he might actually be a genius student.
Sure enough, the first step to academic success was cutting off distractions from the heart.
...Wait.
What "person in my heart?"
She's just an ordinary friend.
"By the way, the preview for Episode Two should be out soon, right?"
The second episode was scheduled to air Saturday at 8 p.m., but the preview trailers were released at random times, so he wasn't sure exactly when.
Glancing at Yu Wanwan's empty seat, Pu Tong realized his deskmate had apparently gone out without him noticing.
When he was immersed in studying, he really paid attention to nothing else.
"Hey, Sakura Girl. Can I ask you something?"
Yu Wanwan had left together with Lin Yuxi, leaving Yi Zhi Xuenai as the only "insider" he could ask.
"'Sakura Girl?' I have a name, you know!"
Yi Zhi Xuenai turned around and stuck out her tongue at him.
"Okay, Sakura Girl."
"..."
"By the way, do you know Yukinoshita Yukino?"
"I don't. Is that what you wanted to ask?"
She thought for a moment before asking curiously, "Who's Yukinoshita Yukino?"
"She's obviously..."
Pu Tong paused.
...Right. This world didn't have My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. Calling her his "2D wife" would be impossible to explain.
Yi Zhi Xuenai stared at him patiently, waiting for the rest.
"...Never mind. What I actually wanted to ask was, when did the preview for Episode Two come out?"
The first episode had practically gotten him killed.
Although his screen time had been greatly reduced this episode, people would probably still pay attention to him.
Better stay cautious.
"Huh? Didn't it come out last night?"
"What?"
Pu Tong froze.
He'd really been buried in studying these past few days. He hadn't even noticed something this important.
Yi Zhi Xuenai looked at him with utter disdain, as though she were staring at a complete idiot.
I... just got looked down upon by an airhead?
"Have you ever heard the story of Doraemon?"
"What's that?"
"Like this."
Pu Tong wasn't particularly good at drawing, but Doraemon's design was simple enough.
He had learned to sketch the iconic blue robot cat before.
"So cute! Is it a cat? Why doesn't it have ears? Why is it blue? What's the pocket on its belly for?"
Even in another world, it seemed Japanese people were naturally drawn to robotic cats.
"His four-dimensional pocket contains all kinds of amazing gadgets—like the Anywhere Door, the Time Machine, the Take-copter, Memory Bread..."
Watching the Japanese girl become more and more captivated, Pu Tong abruptly stopped talking.
"Huh? Why'd you stop?"
"That's your punishment for looking down on me."
He laughed wickedly.
"You can now suffer endlessly in the abyss of never knowing what happens next!
Hahaha!"
"How could you!"
Yi Zhi Xuenai puffed out her cheeks.
This Doraemon story sounded way too interesting!
The agony of being left on a cliffhanger wasn't something ordinary people could endure.
Serves you right for mocking me.
"I haven't even introduced Nobita Nobi, Shizuka Minamoto, Suneo Honekawa, or Gian yet..."
"Ahhh! Stop! I don't want to hear it!"
Mentioning things but refusing to explain them...
People like him were the absolute worst!
She covered her ears and shook her head furiously while Pu Tong laughed in satisfaction.
Actually, he was simply testing whether unique pop culture from his previous world—especially anime and manga culture—would also resonate in this one.
Apparently...
It worked surprisingly well.
"What are you two doing?"
Lin Yuxi's teasing voice interrupted them.
The moment she walked in, she saw Pu Tong bullying Yi Zhi Xuenai and couldn't help laughing.
"She's already clueless enough!"
"And you're still teasing her?"
"My bad!"
"...Huh?"
Yi Zhi Xuenai blinked blankly.
She suddenly felt personally attacked.
Excuse me?
I'm not stupid!
Yu Wanwan's lips twitched slightly, but in the end, she said nothing.
For some reason...
She felt a little jealous.
The dismissal bell rang, signaling the end of another school day.
"I'll tell you about Doraemon's Enlarging and Shrinking Flashlight tomorrow!"
"Yuxi, look at him!"
"Wanwan, help me scold him!"
Pu Tong waved goodbye to the three girls, who all had private cars waiting to pick them up, before heading home alone.
As for Liu Neng...
That guy was hopelessly addicted to gaming.
He almost never went home directly after school anymore. Every day, he stopped by an internet café for a few matches first.
At the rate he was spending money there, he could practically buy himself a computer soon.
Middle school boys really are like this.
"Whoa... the view count's already this high?"
As soon as he got home, Pu Tong opened the preview trailer for Episode Two, only to discover that it had indeed been released the previous night.
Just one day later...
The view count was already astonishing.
What exactly did they edit into this thing?
Without hesitation, he hit play.
The one-and-a-half-minute trailer spent a full minute on P.E. class.
It showcased handsome basketball highlights from the male contestants, interspersed with shots of Yu Wanwan and the girls playing Werewolf.
Since there was no audio, viewers had absolutely no idea why the girls were sitting there with their eyes closed.
"Looks like Werewolf is going to become popular."
Pu Tong smiled.
The copyright and original concept were all in his hands, so he wasn't worried about anyone stealing it.
Besides, this world's copyright protection seemed exceptionally strict.
He considered it laying the groundwork for his future gaming empire.
Sure, his programming progress was painfully slow...
But there was nothing wrong with dreaming big.
"But... this trailer doesn't seem that special."
"So why are the view counts so insane?"
By the time the trailer ended...
Pu Tong understood.
The trick was in the final seconds.
The last shot froze on the pink envelope.
At the same time, an off-screen voice said:
"Do you think... it could be the love letter Pu Tong wrote to Wanwan?"
Then—
The video cut off.
That director really knows how to milk publicity.
Hadn't he already cleared everything up?
And yet...
The explanation wasn't included at all.
Yu Wanwan already generated massive traffic on her own.
Pu Tong himself had also become something of a trending figure recently.
There was no way the production team would pass up free publicity like this.
Sure, they'd promised not to deliberately film him anymore...
But because this incident involved the entire class, they could always claim:
"We were filming the celebrity students. He just happened to be there."
The CP craze between him and Yu Wanwan from Episode One hadn't even died down yet.
Ending the trailer right there was obviously designed to lure viewers into watching Episode Two.
That crafty old fox of a director.
Even after agreeing not to give him unnecessary screen time...
He still found countless creative ways to exploit him.
Honestly...
Adding even one more second would've ruined the effect.
Episode Two had become a hit before it even aired.
Pu Tong had no idea whether that was a good thing or not.
Looking at the endless barrage of comments from CP shippers celebrating wildly...
His vision went dark.
Shipping every possible pairing will only lead to suffering.
(End of Chapter)
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