William certainly wouldn’t need to take a plane; wherever he wants to go, it’s just a thought away in his mind.
By the afternoon, William had already returned to New York City.
No sooner had he arrived home than Lana’s call came through.
Only then did William remember that he had accepted a livestreaming job not long ago.
“William, have you familiarized yourself with the livestreaming process over the past few days?” Lana had seen potential in William. Being the chairman and CEO of a company, there weren’t many individuals she’d personally attend to.
William replied, “I have a general understanding.”
“So have you thought about what you’d livestream? If you’re not comfortable showing your face, you can wear a distinctive mask. That might give you a unique edge, and perhaps even attract a substantial audience.” Over the past few days, Lana hadn’t contacted William, but she had been seeking a custom solution for him.
These days, the competition in livestreaming was fierce, but looking at the current scene, most “internet influencers” didn’t have substantial skills or knowledge. Many relied on their appearance or humor to draw attention. In this era, even if one wasn’t naturally good-looking, with enough filters, one could easily gain followers.
But William was different. If he didn’t want to show his face, he could leverage his genuine skills and knowledge to draw attention.
To be honest, even Lana felt that William livestreaming was a bit of a waste of his talents.
If William was willing, she could undoubtedly turn him into a top celebrity.
“A mask? I do have one,” William recalled having a mask in his wooden box.
“What kind of mask?” Lana asked excitedly. “I think the V for Vendetta mask could be suitable.”
William had no idea about V for Vendetta. Shaking his head, he asked, “What’s V for Vendetta? And what am I supposed to do on my livestream?”
“After you put on the mask, I’ll connect you with the hottest streamer in our company for a joint session. Play some mini-games with her to boost your popularity first.”
“Mini-games? What kind of mini-games?” William was taken aback.
There was a moment of silence from Lana’s end. “I remember sending you a file on WhatsApp. Didn’t you check it?”
“I didn’t.”
Lana took a deep breath. If it wasn’t for William being somewhat special and having a complicated relationship with Lila, she would’ve had someone else guide him. She had already sent a document outlining the livestreaming process to William, and he hadn’t looked at it – yet he admitted it so nonchalantly.
“What you need to do now is engage in a PK (Player Kill) session with the hottest streamer from our company. Play some mini-games like riddles, Guess the Song, Charades, and the like. This way, you can quickly gather followers in a short time. Once you have a substantial fan base, you can showcase your talents, and then move on to live sales.”
William was a bit confused. He knew about riddles, but “Guess the Song” might be challenging for someone his age.
“Who do you usually listen to?” Lana inquired. She recalled William didn’t even know who Taylor Swift was. Asking this question, she had little hope for a useful answer.
“I don’t listen to music,” William replied.
“In that case… I remember you said you’re good at chatting. Start by talking to the top streamer in our company,” Lana suggested. “You know what flirting is, right? Engage in light-hearted banter to create topics.”
“Uh, I’ll try my best.” William had always considered himself well-versed in many things, but now he realized that livestreaming was quite different from his imagined street performances.
After all, street performers wouldn’t flirt openly on the main road.
Though he had agreed to give it a try, William decided to go for it.
Subsequently, Lana explained the livestreaming process to William and then asked him to go live.
William retrieved a long-forgotten bronze mask from his box.
With guidance from Lana via WhatsApp, William quickly donned the bronze mask and connected with the hottest streamer in Lana’s company, as she had instructed.
From his phone, William saw the streamer: a young girl with twin ponytails, speaking softly and appearing charmingly delicate.
“OMG! What’s going on?”
“Where did this new streamer come from? How can he connect with our Candy?”
“My God, that mask is so creepy!”
…
The mask William wore was that of an ancient Roman bronze gladiator, and only his eyes were visible. Appearing suddenly in the live room with such a mask instantly caused the comments to scroll rapidly.
“Protect your eyes!”
It’s unclear who started with this comment, but a series of similar ones followed in quick succession.
The renowned streamer’s name was Candy, and she had over twenty million followers on the streaming platform. At that moment, there were already over a million viewers online, and many devoted fans began searching for William’s account background.
Upon checking, they discovered that William was a newbie.
The fact that a rookie streamer could connect with Candy must be the handiwork of the livestreaming platform. Many viewers had already guessed that the man wearing the ancient Roman bronze mask might have been arranged by the platform to boost Candy’s popularity. Calling him a pawn of the platform wouldn’t be an exaggeration. ．ｔ
“Hello there, BronzeFace!”
Candy, recovering from her surprise, greeted William.
She only knew that the person currently voice-chatting with her was arranged by Lana. Lana straightforwardly told her that this was to help boost BronzeFace’s popularity.
With a deep and steady voice, William replied, “Hello.”
Candy, in her sweet voice, inquired, “BronzeFace, why is your name like that?”
William answered coldly, “Just look at my mask.”
Candy giggled charmingly, “I’ve been wondering, what does the face beneath your mask look like? It must be quite handsome, right?”
“It’s decent,” William thought with some regret. Why did he agree to go live?
Engaging in awkward conversation with a young girl! What was he thinking when he agreed to this?
“That’s a unique mask. Where did you find it?” Candy, having heard from Lana, knew that this streamer might not be very adept at online games. It would be best to start with some conversation and then showcase some talents.
Lana was well aware of William’s characteristics, and she was also watching the live stream at this moment. Observing their conversation, she suddenly realized that when William mentioned he was “good at chatting,” he probably meant that he could make conversations tediously long and dull.
“Candy, stop the chit-chat, go straight to a talent face-off and see who shines brighter!” Lana was on the verge of frustration. If they kept talking this way, the viewers might lose interest.
After receiving Lana’s message, Candy quickly turned to William and asked, “BronzeFace, do you have any special talents? How about we see who’s better?”
William pondered for a moment and then inquired, “Do you know how to carve?”
He didn’t have any musical instruments like a guitar or keyboard at his place, but in his storage box, he had found a carving knife. He thought live-streaming a carving session might be interesting.
“Carving?” Candy wore a puzzled look. Was Lana bringing this guy in to sabotage her broadcast?
Was he actually suggesting they compete in carving skills on the live stream?