Popularity is everything; I play a super genius

Combined with his earlier actions of single-handedly covering the rear and then rushing back to save the day, his character becomes more well-rounded and three-dimensional!

This also adds depth and charm to the character of "Saki-jaku"!

Seeing this, many viewers couldn't help but recall the previous episode, when Shindai Seien called Tsukimi "a leader who carries the bright moon on his shoulders, illuminating the path ahead"—

No matter how desperate the situation, as long as he appears, he will always be able to live up to everyone's expectations...

Isn't this description quite fitting for Sakizawa right now?

As a result, the audience couldn't help but start speculating:

Is the first half of Tsukimi's life the same path that Saki is walking right now?

What exactly did Tsukimi go through to become the way he is today?

These speculations and discussions have caused the popularity and buzz surrounding "Echoes" to surge.

As more and more people began to express their feelings and opinions in the live chat, the comments section was filled with messages.

For a time, it was bustling with activity.

However, this lively atmosphere came to an abrupt end with the arrival of the next shot!

Just because—

Saki took off his mask!

"!!!!!!!!!"

In an instant, the number of comments on the screen reached its highest peak since the anime series began airing!

Just as everyone was staring at the screen, anticipating the face of Saki after she took off her mask...

Episode 6 has ended.

In an instant, the screen was filled with question marks.

"?????????"

"Holy crap! It broke right here?!"

"You damned, broken-chapter dog!"

Countless viewers lingered long after the end credits rolled, reluctant to leave.

At this point, some long-time viewers who had been following Qi Ji's live streams jumped out and showed off their superiority.

"Hahaha! Want to see the face behind the Prison Mask? We already saw it during yesterday's live stream!"

"The live stream is moving faster than the actual show!"

Upon hearing this, some people couldn't wait to ask, "What does Qi Ji's face look like under the mask? Is he handsome?", while others decisively opened Qi Ji's personal channel to look for the live replay.

Prior to this, most viewers preferred watching the carefully edited version of the video to waiting in the live stream, because the special effects and pacing were significantly better.

But at this moment, they suddenly realized that live streaming seemed... not so bad after all?

It's essentially the "director's uncut version," containing more scenes and Easter eggs that weren't shown in the main film.

In an instant, the number of online viewers and visits to Qi Ji's personal channel began to surge!

A large number of viewers who were "tortured" by the ending of the sixth episode flocked to the site to find the "complete" version of the scene where Saki takes off his mask, or to catch up on the highlights of the live broadcast that they had not seen before.

Qi Ji's backend data curve soared like a straight line!

His personal channel's popularity surpassed that of the main live stream in a short period of time!

It topped the popularity charts across all channels!

With the airing of three episodes in the second week of "Echoes", the show's popularity on Earth has exploded once again!

Like a rocket launch, it quickly rose to the top of the combined rankings of discussion, viewership, and trending search index among all new anime series of the season!

This is because most of the other new anime series this season are low-budget and small-scale productions, lacking competitiveness.

It is also because "Echoes" is of top-notch production quality that it only needs time to develop and naturally stand out.

Some veteran anime bloggers and media outlets have already started popping champagne in advance.

It has been hailed as "the pre-season champion" and "a potential dark horse of the year"...

Various fan-made videos, mashups, anime recommendation videos, and character analysis posts have sprung up on various platforms like mushrooms after rain.

【Ding! 】

At that moment, a pleasant system notification sound rang in Qi Ji's mind.

[Episodes 4, 5, and 6 of "Echoes" (full episodes) have finished airing, and the overall settlement is complete!]

[You have earned a total of +91,919 popularity points!]

Looking at the long string of numbers in front of him, Saki felt a slight sense of surprise.

The popularity of this week's anime episodes has more than doubled compared to the last one!

In addition to the revenue from those scattered fan-made videos, and the popularity-based revenue sharing from his personal channel's "Battle Edit First-Person Perspective" videos...

His total popularity score has reached a staggering 580,000!

He's already halfway to his first million-dollar goal!

If this trend continues, it won't be long before he accumulates enough popularity points to buy the "concept weapon" he's been eyeing for so long!

Thinking about it, I can't wait!

……

……

Chapter Fifty-Three: The Echoes of Saki's Desolation!

Saki's popularity has surged once again.

Having topped the popularity charts, he is undoubtedly the biggest winner of this anime series.

but--

However, he was not the one who saw the biggest increase in popularity rankings this time.

After all, he only went from second to first.

The channel with the biggest increase in rankings is actually Laoyue's personal channel.

It jumped from second to last to fourth place on the overall list.

They've been enjoying too many "combat effects" perks.

In tonight's episode, Tsukimi's lineage makes a grand appearance adorned with the title of "God of the Moon Scroll," further enhanced by the enthusiastic praise from her devoted fan, Shindai Seien...

The name "Laoyue" has indeed attracted quite a few fans.

They even formed a fan club, making quite a splash.

And because Saki's popularity is currently the ceiling of "Echoes", he is an insurmountable obstacle.

Among the viewers who like Tsukimi and want to help her rise to the top, a small group of more radicals actually started to engage in "comparison and denigration".

Qi Ji has seen similar provocative posts on his personal videos and related discussion forums more than once:

"I have a piece of advice for those who prioritize power level: switch to Tsukimi as soon as possible! Saki is just a masked sports student; he's been airing for six episodes and hasn't even used Echo. I don't think he knows how to use Echo at all! Unlike our Tsuki, who's a god of the Moon Scrolls with maxed-out mechanics and stats right from the start! Saki brat, kneel down before me!"

"Exactly! What else can Saki do besides hand-to-hand combat? Look at episode five, how does Luna fight? That's what you call class! That's what you call an Echoer!"

Qi Ji looked at these comments with a mixture of surprise and amusement.

He didn't expect that fan activities would start only two weeks after the anime series aired...

And the person he was fighting against was actually Lao Yue...

However, Tsukimi only had a highlight moment in half an episode, and her fan base is nowhere near that of Saki.

Soon, some viewers who liked Saki began to fight back:

"Are you kidding? How can Haji's weak and feeble echo compare to our Brother Ji's body, which has been tempered and refined over thousands of years!"

The counterattack was met with a swift response from the other side:

"Still that fleshy body, it's hilarious! Do you want to check out the name of this anime?"

"It's called 'Echo,' so what? Don't you know that the later an Echo appears, the more powerful it is? You should pray that your Tsukimi doesn't get killed off too soon; she's obviously a character destined to be killed off! It's really funny!"

The ongoing arguments between the two groups only fueled the growing popularity of "Echoes".

Search volume and discussion have been rising steadily.

Saki wasn't too surprised by Tsukimi's sudden surge in popularity.

After all, Lao Yue's model was only slightly inferior to his, and he suffered from wearing a mask.

In addition, the current trend of "anti-involution" and "pursuing a relaxed lifestyle" persona naturally has a strong market.

Given these premises, it's perfectly normal to quickly gain a following by increasing combat power and strength.

Of course, the most important thing is that this guy got the first bonus in the anime to use a cape.

To be honest, the scene of Tsukimi using Echoes in battle is inherently much more gorgeous and cool than Saki's battle relying solely on his physical strength.

Compared to Tsukimi, Saki's biggest disadvantage is undoubtedly in the "special effects".

Thinking this through, Saki opened Tsukimi's profile and made a decision—

He will spend the entire night studying the battle of Laoyue!

Learning from others' strengths to improve oneself is a quality that Saki is proud of.

He set himself a short-term goal, which was—

Learn the Flame Fist of Fire and Wood!

Awaken your own echo!

Develop armor that is no less impressive than that of Laoyue!

He wants to become an all-around genius!

Just as Qi Ji was thinking this, the system interface in front of him flickered slightly and another new prompt popped up.

【Ding! 】

[System Functionality Update!]

[New Feature: Optimized recording and live streaming modes.]

"Huh? Another new feature?"

Saki was taken aback.

The system has been updating quite frequently these past two days.

He casually clicked on the update notes.

After checking, I realized that this was different from last night's "addition of tipping function". It can be said that a major underlying patch was implemented!

With the release of this patch, a problem that had been bothering Sakiji for some time has been resolved.

That is--

The difference in time flow between the anime world and the Earth world.

As is widely known, the anime series "Echoes" airs three episodes every other week on Earth.

During this time, the main characters in the anime will also start a live broadcast every day.

These two things are fine on their own, but when put together, something just doesn't seem right.

It is important to understand that, limited by the core framework of "plot", the scope of the anime world covered by the "three episodes a week" in the Blue Star world is not, and absolutely cannot, in a 1:1 relationship with the real time flow experienced by the characters in the anime world in "daily live broadcast".

For example, let's say next week.

If the content of "Echoes" airs next week, the storyline will span several weeks or even months in the anime world.

That would very likely lead to the contradictory situation where Qi Ji has been streaming for over a month, while the viewers on Blue Star have only experienced a week...

This update presents a very "clever" solution.

Enable recording functionality.