Pretending to Be an Alpha in an All-Alpha Boy Band - Chapter 47
Chapter 47 Pure Forum Style
—The Circle Emperor has arrived, salute the Circle Emperor!
OP: Oh my, this really is the enthronement of the Circle Emperor! Little Yuan’s first magazine issue not only instantly outsold the rival group, it easily broke a record. You know the last time a record was broken was five years ago! There are all kinds of livestream clips trending and fanfics pouring out. Oh my, why is this Yuan so popular? [smug][record-breaking sales image][screenshot of #1 on mainstream e-commerce platform sales][screenshot of top domestic and overseas trending]
—Being a Circle fan is the best, woohoo, I’m so thrilled! Not only the magazine sales, Yuan is on all the hot search lists now; random people clicking in are complimenting his looks. Yuan’s beauty, Yuan fans’ pride! [thumbs up][goofy grin]
—Tone it down, fam. The Circle Emperor’s arrival has literally sent some haters into hiding; a few even said they would quit the internet. You don’t know how satisfied that makes me. [tongue out]
—Recommend the rival fans switch allegiance—save yourselves from daily meltdowns. [funny]
—Hilarious, several notorious Yuan haters deleted their accounts and ran. Before leaving they still pretended the sales were fake. Then the official platform clapped back—doesn’t that hurt?
—Are the haters sick or what? We couldn’t even get the magazine, and they still had to fight us for it. Some rival fans really can’t accept losing—they went as far as accusing our Yuan royalty of using the femme fatale trick to seduce them and trading bodies for sales. I can’t even.
—? They’re actually slandering our Yuan? I feel like they’re secret Yuan stans themselves. Or they lost it so badly they mistook their own vibrator for my Yuan’s personal massager? [cover face]
—Getting anxious, getting anxious—some people just don’t have enough Emperor in them and are jealous of our Yuan, huh?
—The Circle Emperor has arrived; your stan is doomed. He got outshone by ours in no time—sorry about that. [shrug]
—Also, isn’t it too funny? Everyone knows that entire N boy group is royalty—what right do they have to call others royal? Don’t they see how their own resources were obtained?
—Uh, stepping back a million steps—so what if Yuan really is royal? Who wouldn’t want their stan to be Emperor-level? The only complaint I’d have is that our Yuan isn’t regal enough, okay? Can all businesses in the world please kiss up to my Yuan, thanks. [hands clasped]
—People who say that are just bitter—their stans have no resources or screen time and then they get quiet. Besides, Yuan looks like that—what’s wrong with being a little royal? [one enlarged Polaroid-style pretty photo of Yuan (cropped to cut out teammates’ faces in the background)]
—Seconded. Is it shameful for Yuan to be royal? If Yuan actually has backing, I’d be even happier—better to have a strong background so no one dares bully him, way better than being manipulated by insiders.
—I’m a random viewer; I accidentally clicked into Yuan Shiyuan’s tag and was stunned by his looks, and then I clicked through the forum. To be honest, I don’t follow idols, but compared to some ugly, deformed ones, I’d rather look at royal types like Yuan. At least it’s pleasing to the eye and makes me comfortable.
—? Comfortable how? [horror][scream]
—Don’t act like a random viewer—change that cute Yuan QQ avatar of yours first. [eye roll]
—”How did you figure out I’m an Alpha” [classic]
—Yuan’s been so hot lately, lots of riffraff have mixed into the forum. [wiping sweat]
—Putting other things aside, someone was staking out near Starry Night Entertainment Company and spotted Silence’s head of headquarters, Pierre! What’s he doing here? Could he be trying to collaborate with our Yuan?
—Don’t feed the rumor—wait for the company’s official announcement! Getting excited now and then having no collaboration would just make you a laughingstock later.
—I know that, but a few fellow stans and I heard Pierre come up and shout Yuan’s name, even specifically asked to see Yuan. It caused quite a commotion. If anyone was nearby then, they definitely would’ve seen it.
——I didn’t mean to say anything, but I’m really curious about Pierre’s attitude.
——○With that selling power and heat, it’s only natural Silence would want to work with him, right? If they really sign ○, I’ll definitely support Silence’s sales.
——Pierre wouldn’t actually want to work with our ○, would he? Like make him a brand friend? [excited]
——That’s possible too, right? After all, ○’s fans sink so much money. Speaking of which, you have to mention how much Mad Dog Dream A pours in—lots of outsiders were shocked.
——True, and they’re treating this as a chance to avenge past humiliation.
[ screenshot ]: Brothers, set aside personal grudges with the other A members of Scepter for now—let’s pump up Yuanbao’s sales hard, okay? Yuanbao’s husband-fan reputation has always been bad, and he’s been called a mad dog; today we want everyone to know our strength. We’ll proudly be A, and we’ll let Yuanbao see our love!
[ screenshot ]: Go for it, brothers! Success or failure depends on this—this is our chance to turn things around!
——Seriously, why do they always smell so intense?
——They know their topics annoy people, so they made their own subforum. Mad Dog Dream A has gone totally crazy and obsessed—they’re even debating what Yuan Shiyuan’s urine would smell like.
——Uh, you Alphas really play rough.
——They know a lot of their behavior is embarrassing—they’re only a step away from stealing ○’s underwear.
——I heard ○’s underwear actually was stolen and then shown off… but Brother Snake banned the account on the spot, and apparently he later went to stalk them in real life. (Rumor)
——Brother Snake has done plenty of real-life stalking—what face does he have to judge others? [smirk]
——Only Brother Snake could steal ○’s underwear, huh. [cover face]
——Back on topic, Little Yuan’s selling power is extraordinary—Silence might actually collaborate with him. I used to not care much for Silence and preferred a few other top luxury brands, but if they work with Little Yuan, I’ll go all out.
——Could we dream of a brand friend? But that’s the head of headquarters—Pierre is usually so arrogant. If he flew over from France in person, at minimum it would be a brand ambassador, right?
——Honestly, Silence is such a top luxury brand—landing a brand friend out of nowhere would already be amazing!
——Not to be a wet blanket… but Silence simply wouldn’t work with Yuan Shiyuan, okay? Starry Night Entertainment isn’t great at making boy groups, but they have produced many film kings and queens. They’re probably negotiating business with those stars instead.
——Rational analysis: How long has Yuan Shiyuan been signed? He has no works, no breakthrough—so far just a magazine shoot! I admit the magazine sales are impressive, but this is Silence!
——Silence is especially proud and arrogant, prides itself on taste. Unlike other top luxury brands, they’ll even refuse international superstars who ask to collaborate. How could they possibly look twice at a newly debuted rookie?
——Just rational analysis, don’t attack me. Yuan Shiyuan does have great potential, but Silence working with him is basically impossible, okay? After all, this would be Silence’s first collaboration with a Huaguo artist; they’d screen and evaluate very carefully.
——What are you babbling about? Don’t say it’s impossible—if you have time to type so much, Silence already officially announced it on their account. [cover face][clown]
——Open your eyes and look carefully: it’s not a brand friend, not a brand ambassador, but the global ambassador!
[ screenshot ]: Silence official account posted collaboration announcement: officially invites Mr. Yuan Shiyuan to serve as Silence’s global brand ambassador.
—Holy crap, is this for real? Am I dreaming? A top luxury brand just plopped into my ○’s mouth?? [stunned]
—And it’s the global ambassador, the highest possible title! Holy crap, Silence’s head designer even reshared it, saying “we will create a personal collaboration line for Mr. Yuan Shiyuan”!
—A personal collaboration—that’s the highest-level treatment a top luxury brand can offer, right…
—Wow, how long has that Weibo post been up? Silence already put him on mega screens, no ads, just put up ○’s beautiful photos—obviously they really like ○ and are going to push him hard!!
—I really have never seen a top luxury brand this enthusiastic… pouring resources and exposure, holy crap they even previewed ten haute couture looks, plus vintage haute couture—Silence is going all out, I’m literally terrified for my life! [goofy smile]
—Who says top luxury brands are aloof? They’re just not warming up to you. [sly smile]
—○ and Silence are in a passionate romance. [heart]
—Forget the earlier stuff and the later stuff, Silence just really loves him.
—And why ten looks? I heard it was originally only seven sets, but when Silence learned fans had a cute nickname for Yuan—○—they somehow thought of “completeness” (a pun on reunion and perfection) and bumped it to ten.
—As a fan of ○, I’m ecstatic!! I had been thinking a brand friend would be great for someone who just debuted, but he landed a global ambassadorship with no vetting period! This is unprecedented treatment—anyone else would kneel to accept it, but my ○ snagged it effortlessly! [proud]
—What enviable world resources—○ just snaps his fingers and claims a lifetime for himself. [goofy smile]
—The forum exploded, and everywhere outside did too! Our Little Yuanbao shot up the hot searches again, this time with Silence’s tag attached.
—Silence, could you stop buying hot searches? Leave some breathing room for others. [sly smile]
—The funniest part? Silence’s official announcement used a pretty photo of Little Yuan taken at the signing—probably because other photos weren’t ready. They couldn’t wait to proclaim it to the world, afraid Little Yuan would run off. On the other side, Starry Night Entertainment, Scepter, even Little Yuan’s own account were caught off guard! It took them like ten minutes to realize and repost.
—I guess Starry Night Entertainment wanted to be low-key. Who knew Silence would be so impatient—it’s clear Silence really loves ○!
—I can’t take it, I’m so happy I’m about to faint. How can being a fan of ○ be this great? You should know if you stan ○ you’d think I’m lucky—after that early hardship when he was at Ximi Entertainment and got mistreated, everything’s gone smoothly since. Please keep this momentum.
—Speaking of, when he was at Ximi Entertainment, how did that rumor about him being “royalty” start?
—If he were really royalty, he wouldn’t have so little screen time, and his styling was clearly maliciously made ugly…
—I clicked it—I honestly don’t get why they called him “royal.” Didn’t Ximi Entertainment even say they would sue him back then? The reason for suing was also inexplicable… In the end they were counter-sued by Starry Night for defamation, and they immediately backpedaled.
—Ximi Entertainment was clearly targeting ○, right… or were they trying to bind him to the company so he wouldn’t leave?
—Uh, but ○ wasn’t even signed to Ximi Entertainment.
—? What?? What do you mean not signed?
—How is that possible?
—You guys didn’t know? Actually this is easy to deduce: all of Ximi Entertainment’s trainees are in one group chat, like the company’s DingTalk work group. Some trainees have posted screenshots from that group, and ○’s name isn’t in there at all. There are also trainees who post their dance room check-in charts on personal accounts to show they’re working hard.
——○’s check-in records and information are strange; one attendance sheet has a note saying “part-time.”
——Just quietly saying, I have a friend who works at Ximi Entertainment. He says he doesn’t know everything, but on ○’s last day at the company he came to ask for his pay—something like a thousand yuan? The company stalled and didn’t pay, and they eventually had a dispute about it.
——…Ximi Entertainment, are you even human? You’re deducting a thousand yuan?
——As a wage earner myself, I’m really furious.
——So ○ wasn’t officially signed to Ximi Entertainment, yet netizens attacked him like this? Damn, I really want to protect my baby.
——I can vouch that Little Yuan absolutely isn’t royalty! He’s my senior, we went to the same high school. My happiest thing every day was during the long break, leaning on the classroom window watching him and his friends play basketball. His family was doing okay, but later his mom got sick and he rarely came to school.
——After that I saw him at a bubble tea shop. I asked how he was doing; he kindly told me he was fine and even gave me extra toppings. I knew Little Yuan was comforting me—there’s no way he was really fine. If he were fine he wouldn’t be skipping school to work part-time during the crucial period for university entrance exams! (ps he also had a younger brother still in school)
——Really? But that year he ranked first in the province on the gaokao and got into A University… working part-time and studying at the same time… my god.
——Oh my… a sick mother, a brother in school, his life falling apart. And ○ was still just a kid, having to support the family—I’m really about to cry T.T.
——When I say Ximi Entertainment sat back and did nothing while ○ was being slandered—he was clearly popular then. Any normal company wouldn’t let go of such a cash cow, right? Not only did they fail to capitalize on his heat, they also did those disgusting things.
——Now I get it: they were trying to cover up (tank) ○, using him to draw traffic and hype, sucking him dry, with the ultimate goal of promoting the real little crown prince Necro?
——I’m seriously about to lose it—Ximi Entertainment, Necro, just you wait. [kitchen knife]
Fans’ long-suppressed anger and pain for Yuan Shiyuan completely erupted at this moment. That afternoon, Ximi Entertainment’s and Necro’s official accounts were slaughtered.
#XimiEntertainmentOwesYuanShiyuanAnApology# #NecroExposedForTankingYuanShiyuan# and similar topics filled the screen, quickly dominating the top of the hot searches. Fans dug up previously suppressed evidence and deleted clarification posts and pushed them back up. Tens of thousands of insults were posted every minute; rival fans tried to control the comments but were soundly defeated—they couldn’t control the narrative at all!
○’s fans were already furious and went all-out in battle, pinning rival fans to the ground. Attempts to control the comments were like grains of sand thrown into a river—not even a splash.
The speed of deletion couldn’t keep up with the speed of posting.
In the end, Ximi Entertainment’s official Weibo could only temporarily close comments and play dead.
Even casual onlookers were stunned by the spectacle; anyone watching had to say one thing:
○’s fans are absolutely berserk today!