They don't actually think I like them, do they?

She was stunned, thinking her phone had malfunctioned, and quickly refreshed the page again. This time, it showed "99+".

For girls who are "normies" (people with a comfortable, popular lifestyle) and don't understand light novels or the charm of their characters, otaku are generally quite friendly; they'll earnestly explain things to them.

"Idiot, your mom dresses way more provocatively than Rem. I actually like your mom."

"What the hell? Why are you going crazy over the illustrations instead of reading the novel? It's like you don't understand that light novels are something to brag about. Your mother swallowed ten black dicks back in the day and didn't have this smug look on her face."

"The censored words on this Weibo are just like your mom's ruthless obsession with red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, and daggers back in the day. They're just as unlucky as your face. How about this, let's go somewhere else and I'll give you a proper lesson on light novels..."

As the "Coffee Sauce" persona became increasingly popular online, Lin Han felt a little uneasy.

After all, secrets can't stay hidden forever; sooner or later, his identity will be exposed.

Lin Han wasn't afraid of his identity being exposed, but rather that it would be exposed too hastily.

This is something that could cause an unprecedented surge in the Collapse Index, potentially surpassing any previous Collapse. Having nurtured this alt account for so long, Lin Han has to make his self-destruction a spectacular event!

The more popular and talked-about the name "coffee sauce" becomes, the greater the shock it will cause when it is revealed!

Thinking this way, Lin Han felt it was necessary to capitalize on this trend and boost his own fame.

He changed his phone number and registered a new Weibo account.

It was named "Coffee Sauce ovo".

Since girls like Orange Jam and AWM pioneered the naming style of "XX-chan ovo", a long-term imitation craze has swept the internet, with many people liking to give themselves IDs in a similar format.

This is easy to understand; such situations were not uncommon in past lives.

For example, many authors like to imitate Tang Jia San Shao's style of pen names, such as "Luo Jia Xiao Mo," which looks really silly.

Therefore, naming it "coffee sauce ovo" will not arouse suspicion among netizens.

After creating the account, Lin Han quickly applied for certification.

In less than a day, my Weibo "V" verification was granted.

[Author. Representative works: *Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend*, *Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-*]

Before long, comments began to appear under the system post below Lin Han that said, "I have opened a Weibo account."

"What?! The author of Re:Zero, Coffee Sauce?! Really?!"

"It even has verification, holy crap, looks like it's the real deal!"

"Followed, followed! Haha, now if you follow me you're a super veteran fan!"

Lin Han lay on the bed holding his phone, refreshing Weibo every now and then, and his account gained hundreds more followers.

After this back and forth, Lin Han actually started to get a little nervous.

He suddenly remembered the feeling he had when he first posted a video of a cute woman singing and playing an instrument on Bilibili, and nervously read the comments after posting it.

The happiness of that time was precisely the most touching.

By the time they woke up the next day, the account already had 16 followers.

Although it's slightly less than the more than 20 million followers on his main account, it's still a remarkably impressive number for a novelist.

After all, whether you read online novels or light novels, most people genuinely dislike browsing Weibo! They even think it's a gathering place for idiots!

Although Lin Han felt the same way, he still had to eat.

However, to Lin Han's surprise, he encountered trouble on the very second day after registering.

Suddenly, the comments section was flooded with tens of thousands of comments urging the fourth volume to be released, and many even threatened to kill someone with knives!

Lin Han was puzzled. Hadn't he already released three volumes in a row?

Lin Han had never interacted with fans on his main account, but this time, he surprisingly used this account to respond to them.

"I don't know. I wrote three volumes and sent them all to the editorial department. I don't know why they didn't publish them."

038. Caffeine Syndrome

Lin Han's casual comment quickly caused a huge reaction.

In just two hours, this simple comment garnered over four thousand likes and more than a thousand replies.

Of these more than 1,000 replies, over 800 consisted of a single title symbol:

"?"

This comment about coffee sauce was screenshotted by countless netizens and started to spread like wildfire on various forums and QQ groups!

Everyone was furious when they found out!

"Damn it! He wrote three volumes, and only one was published?!"

"No way, this idiotic editorial department even takes kickbacks from novel manuscripts?!"

"In ancient times, corrupt officials embezzled relief grain distributed by the imperial court; now, JC Light Novel Club publishes one chapter for every two chapters it takes!"

"We were so grateful just two days ago for the novel's fast update speed, what a load of rubbish!"

"My novel! They took two volumes, and I got one! Am I supposed to thank them?!"

Soon, more and more people began flocking to the JC official forum and started criticizing the official team.

Thanks to the spread of the screenshots, Lin Han gained another 120,000 followers on Weibo in just one day. And there were practically no more trolls or people stirring up trouble, because all the criticism was directed at JC Staff!

Lin Han could understand this feeling to some extent.

Everyone was already completely hooked on Re:Zero, as evidenced by the fact that the topic immediately trended on Weibo.

In Volume 3, Subaru Natsuki's death rewind, Emilia's white silk lap pillow, Rem's incredibly healing smile... each one is an explosive topic that draws you in, and it's no exaggeration to say that it makes you feel itchy all over!

However, authors aren't superhuman after all. No matter how fast they update, they can't keep providing content indefinitely, so everyone just has to put up with it.

But that one bite had a really strong aftereffect!

During the days when there was no caffeine available, many people developed severe "caffeine syndrome"!

The most prominent manifestation of this was discussing Re:Zero-related topics with others in various QQ groups, surfing through all sorts of Re:Zero-related posts, and repeatedly going crazy under Re:Zero illustrations...

And now you're telling me there were actually two whole rolls left?! They were just confiscated?!

"You motherfucker, JC Staff, you're disgusting! Playing that scarcity marketing game, huh?!"

"I give up. Coffee Sauce painstakingly wrote three volumes as a way to give back to the readers. Are you guys holding back the release because you think those two volumes will magically multiply?"

"Coffee sauce"

"Please...please send it quickly...I'm so itchy, I can't breathe, please let me inhale it, just one breath, please..."

Because light novels are not a very mainstream genre, JC Light Novel Club has always had a very good reputation in the industry since its inception and has hardly encountered any controversies.

But today, they are facing unprecedented cyberbullying!

Adhering to the principle of "whoever didn't wear a condom, has to take responsibility for it."

The president of JC Publishing called an immediate meeting with the editorial department and resolved this mess himself!

During the meeting, Qinggua, sweating profusely, flipped through his tablet, browsing online comments, his fingers trembling slightly.

As the editor-in-chief, he made the decision to publish one issue per week, and now that something has gone wrong, he bears the greatest responsibility.

The main problem is that he didn't expect the consequences to be so serious!

First of all, I didn't expect everyone to have such a big problem with suppressing my opinions. Even if you buy a novel and read it quickly, it still takes several days to finish it, right?!

But only one day after its release, people were already urging for the next volume to be released.

No, don't you guys eat or sleep?!

Secondly, another unexpected thing was how candid the coffee sauce was.

"I don't know why they don't post it."

Such sincere and harmless words, like a dump truck, directly killed everyone in the editorial department.

He clearly had many more tactful explanations, but he chose the one that would make the editorial department feel like they were on cloud nine!

The key is that no one can say anything!

Even now, Qinggua still has room for explanation. He can use the excuse that "the editorial department can't keep up with the schedule" and "the printing plant can't keep up with the supply of three volumes," so "it's not that we're holding back the release, but that we're releasing one volume a week." This explanation still leaves netizens speechless.

After all, if the editorial department backs down this time, and releases the product just because someone criticizes you, it will be difficult to do many things in the future.

Moreover, bowing down will mean that the editorial department will always be overshadowed by Coffee Sauce, and Coffee Sauce will always be able to lead the editorial department by the nose.

But the others disagreed.

"Mr. Qinggua, why don't we just post them all? I've been tested over 300 times in the last two days, I really can't take it anymore!" Editor Niu Niu said with a mournful face.

"To avoid getting scolded, I almost spoiled the plot for them!" Xue Tu said.

Zhu Yeqing was devastated. As the editor in charge of Coffee Sauce, many people directly blamed her, and her inbox was flooded with private messages these past few days.

"Teacher Qinggua, let's make it big!" Zhu Yeqing shouted.

After thinking for a long time, Qinggua finally sighed.

"Ok."

Even if you're overwhelmed by the coffee sauce, there's nothing you can do about it.

Who can blame them when they control half of the light novel readership?! They're practically their father, they can't help it!

That evening, JC Light Novel Club released a notice.

It was stated that printing would take time, and the fourth volume of "Re:Zero" would be released on Saturday, followed by the fifth volume on Sunday.

Public opinion gradually calmed down.

Just as Lin Han was making his mark in the novel industry.

Meanwhile on the other side.

Inside the training base, three female trainees were rehearsing a dance.

As the dance ended, applause suddenly erupted at the door.

Lan Yu was taken aback. Soon after, Hu Yan walked in, clapping her hands.

"Miss Hu Yan!"

The girls quickly stood up straight.

When Hu Yan, the company's second-in-command, appears, it usually means that important instructions have been conveyed.

"Change."

Hu Yan smiled and said, "I'll take you to a concert!"

......

This is the first time the three girls have been allowed to leave during working hours since they joined Jusheng Media.

The trainees changed into their everyday clothes and skipped and jumped on the sun-drenched streets, in high spirits.

"Look, it's a 'spaceship girl'!!"

Upon arriving at the entrance of the sports center, which was packed with people, Lan Yu excitedly grabbed Fang Yumeng and Mu Xin's little hands, pointed to the giant poster in the distance, and shouted.

The poster features a super popular nine-member idol group.

"Ah~ they are all so beautiful."

Fang Yumeng stared blankly at the poster. The girls on it were all wearing colorful stage outfits, with exquisitely made-up faces and sweet smiles that only idols could have.

"Yes!" Lan Yu looked at the poster, her eyes full of excitement and longing. "I love them so much! I've been a fan since their debut!"

039. An Idol to Admire

"It seems Lan Yu is a huge fan," Hu Yan said with a smile.

"Actually, I've been following them for quite a while..." Mu Xin said, raising her hand somewhat shyly.

As the most popular idol group in the past two years, it's hard for any girl with an "idol dream" not to admire the spaceship girls.

In fact, the three girls had only been trainees at Jusheng Media for a little over two months.