Chapter 123: An Epic Fantasy

After watching it, from the perspective of an amateur like Wu You, the video was already perfect.

He dialed Lu Yang’s number directly. It was answered after only one ring, as if someone had been hovering over the phone the entire time.

"Hello, Boss Wu? Do you have any feedback on the video?" Lu Yang’s voice came through, sounding somewhat anxious.

"The video is fantastic. It doesn't need any more changes. Go ahead and upload it to the self-media channel on the video site we set up."

Hearing their boss’s affirmation through the speakerphone, the people gathered around Lu Yang cheered in low voices. It made them feel that their mission and hard work had been recognized. As someone who had only been waiting to watch the final product, Wu You clearly had poured less effort into this than they had.

Once Lu Yang hung up, a female colleague asked impatiently, "Can we post it now?"

Lu Yang answered with action. He clicked on the web browser, logged into the self-media channel’s backend, and uploaded the video directly from his local drive. With the company’s internet connection, the 400MB video was uploaded to the server in just a few minutes.

He labeled it "Mystic Tales: Episode 1," and titled the video "Battle of the Two Dragons." After filling in the details, he clicked publish. When the screen prompted that the video was under review, the group breathed a brief sigh of relief. Since there were no signs of copyright infringement or watermarks from other videos, the clip passed the review process in ten minutes.

However, as a video program with no reputation, no one had discovered it yet. They had to start by sharing the link in a few online communities for video enthusiasts, followed by promotions on WeChat and among friends.

***

Song Xiaoyu was a small-time streamer. These days, as long as you want, anyone can register a streamer account on a live-streaming site and transform into a web celebrity. Because he lacked confidence in his appearance and was a man with a steady job who didn’t particularly want to become an influencer, he never showed his face on camera.

Song Xiaoyu’s content was a bit of a mixed bag. He streamed video and game commentary, specifically seeking out obscure games to mock for comedic effect, or finding videos that no one watched to ridicule their exaggerated and pretentious flaws. Unlike some film review programs that trash garbage movies, the difference with live streaming was that he could interact directly with the audience; it was more relaxed and didn't require post-production.

Although his stream didn’t have many viewers at first, his humorous language and the fact that the garbage videos he found were often full of hilarious flaws helped him gradually accumulate a certain level of popularity. Each stream now attracted over a thousand viewers, and since he did this as a hobby in his spare time, he had a blast even if few people tipped him. Such a show required novelty, so naturally, he had to look for new, obscure videos.

At this moment, Song Xiaoyu had just started his stream. Two hundred people flooded into the room immediately.

"Ahem, hello everyone, I’m Xiaoyu 9527. Nice to see you all again. No need for small talk; let’s go find some fresh, bizarre videos."

The regular viewers immediately started flooding the chat.

"People are going crazy to get famous these days. Last time I saw someone eating poop, it grossed me out so bad."
"Holy crap, the person above, I think I saw that too. Ugh..."
"Is that the one where they put poop in a condom, deep-fried it, and then ate it? Xiaoyu, are you going to find that one to watch?"
"Hey, hey, hey, why have you all seen that..."
"Please stop talking about it, the mental image is too strong, I can't take it!!!"
"Can I just say I’m eating right now..."
"I’ve already thrown up..."

Song Xiaoyu intervened at the right moment: "Come, come, come, let’s stop discussing such disgusting things. Help me look for something."

Several major video websites were already open on his computer screen. "Let’s see what new videos have been uploaded. Well, we usually skip the ones that are already trending."

Just then, a video he hadn't seen before appeared on the page: *Mystic Tales Episode 1: Battle of the Two Dragons*. Looking at the upload time, it had been posted an hour ago, but it already had several hundred views, and the thumbnail looked quite decent.

"Look everyone, this video looks promising. The title sounds like a rip-off of a Japanese show, and the thumbnail art looks very flashy. But I bet you anything it’s just a stolen illustration, and as for the content... heh."

Saying this, Song Xiaoyu clicked on the video.

First, a beautiful landscape appeared, followed by an aerial view of ancient cities. "Hmm, so far the transitions are pretty good. Can anyone tell where this footage was taken from?"

The chat was filled with "don't know" or people waiting for an answer. Clearly, no one recognized it.

The video soon moved to the segment about local customs and culture. Every scene felt incredibly real, because the people in it were actually living, not acting.

"666, does no one really know which show this was cut from?"
"666, I don't know either, waiting for someone to answer."
"Same here!"
"I know, it's *Water Margin*!"
"Get lost, the guy above!"

When Wu You and the two silver creatures appeared in the sky, it sparked a wave of amazement in the chat. Song Xiaoyu couldn't help but admire it too.

"As of now, unless this was stolen and cut from another movie, the CGI effects are truly invincible. These jiaolong dragons and the flying tiger beside them are made so well. Honestly, there’s nothing to mock here so far."

Someone in the chat immediately jumped out to call the streamer an idiot, correcting him that it was a Qiongqi, not a flying tiger.

But soon, both the chat and Song Xiaoyu’s commentary fell silent, because the scene had reached the moment where Ao Guang and the Blood Jiaolong collided.

A second ago, there were tons of comments mocking Wu You’s opening monologue for being too pretentious, but the next second, the shocking spectacle on screen forced everyone to put down their keyboards. The shaking city walls, the explosive sprays of water, the crashing thunder, the splashing scales and blood.

The people behind their screens were completely fired up.

The pacing that followed was extremely tight. The desperate struggle between the two giant beasts didn't look like anything that could be achieved with standard CGI. When the Blood Jiaolong smashed through the city wall and started eating people, Song Xiaoyu couldn't help but let out a "holy crap."

The chat seemed to receive a signal and started scrolling again.

"Holy crap, the people inside are doomed!"
"Holy crap, Jiaolong, hurry up and stop it!"
"The people above are getting too immersed in the story..."
"Stop spamming the chat, don't ruin the plot for me, or I'm turning the chat off!"
"We’re gonna spam it, we’re gonna spam it~~~"

Unknowingly, the number of people in the chat room had soared to nearly ten thousand. It felt like a massive public viewing room, with people occasionally chatting and commenting on the events in real-time. Song Xiaoyu kept the atmosphere in the room lively, though the number of people tipping remained pitifully low.

Finally, Ao Guang’s "Earth Throw" completely spiked the adrenaline of the room. The "666" comments completely filled the screen, but the video ended abruptly right after the climax. This triggered a wave of "holy crap," with many lamenting that the "progress bar died too early."

Song Xiaoyu’s voice rang out, sounding quite excited. "Everyone, I suggest you all click on this video again and watch it carefully. This is the best fan-made CGI and special effects I have ever seen. It’s an epic fantasy masterpiece—it’s a pity it’s not a movie!"

Many viewers in the room expressed that they wanted to watch the video properly without the interference of the chat or the "idiot" streamer. After watching, these people contributed their own influence through various channels.

If it were just a garbage video, people would only regret clicking the link. But when a video is of such stunning quality, almost everyone who watches it can't help but share the link with acquaintances, spreading the joy of having discovered a hidden treasure.

Gradually, the video's view count began to skyrocket. It had only had a few hundred views in the first hour, but in the hours that followed, it was increasing by the tens of thousands. At first, some people mocked it for ripping off the Japanese show *Tales of the Unusual*, but those comments were quickly drowned out by the endless stream of netizens.

More and more viewers began to comment that this program represented the rise of Chinese special effects, and they were very much looking forward to it being turned into a movie. The number of fans on the self-media channel began to grow explosively. Basically, as soon as anyone watched *Battle of the Two Dragons*, they couldn't help but look forward to the next episode of *Mystic Tales*.

Hiding behind his computer and watching the various interesting comments growing faster and faster under the video, not only did Lu Yang and his team feel a great sense of accomplishment, but even Wu You was laughing his head off. He was actually quite happy that his "Immortal" image had gained him a fan base—assuming the people in the comments who wanted to "have his babies" weren't just trolls.