Anime Production: Starting by Healing the Audience

"Dog of an author, you finally decided to show yourself! I've got a big treasure for you to look at!"

"Excuse me, is this Ultimate Healing Mentor's Weibo?"

"You've been lurking for a month. You finally couldn't hold your breath anymore and had to come up for air, huh~"

"Ten million followers in ten minutes—Big Shot Fang is about to take off on the spot~!"

The moment Fang Zheng opened his Weibo account, it was pushed to countless users. Everyone celebrated, and his follower count soared. The comments beneath his posts also piled up at a terrifying rate.

Holding his phone, Fang Zheng looked through some fan comments. Even he had not expected to be so popular. Seeing that terrifying follower count, his first thought was whether his fans might blow him up.

After all, everyone online now called him the "Healing Mentor," with "Ultimate" added in front. It was clear just how deeply the people who had watched Star Dream loved him~

Fang Zheng watched the follower count until it finally stabilized at nearly twenty million, leaving him secretly speechless.

Unfortunately, followers did not equal Reputation Points. Otherwise, as his fans said, he really would have taken off on the spot.

With that thought, Fang Zheng glanced at his Reputation Points.

Reputation Points: 8,000,000

These Reputation Points had clearly not been converted from his Weibo followers. They had come from viewers watching Star Dream after it went viral, recognizing it, and contributing them.

"System, can I create a website like Bilibili?"

"Ding~ The host may spend five million Reputation Points to complete its creation. The system will provide servers, security, high efficiency, zero lag..."

As Fang Zheng listened to the system brag about how amazing its servers were, his forehead filled with black lines.

Were these servers made of gold? It was asking for five million Reputation Points right off the bat.

Though he grumbled internally, Fang Zheng still endured the pain and established the website with the system's help. It was a little expensive, but anything produced by the system had to be top quality. At the very least, he would not need to worry about lag or malicious hacker attacks.

After all, the system's reputation was still reliable.

Fang Zheng named the website "ACG Community." It would be the foundation of his 2D Empire. He would build a true ACG kingdom around this site, so the server issue had to be handled properly.

Afterward, with the system's help, Fang Zheng completed a series of other tasks, such as registering trademarks and establishing ACG Culture Company.

Without even leaving home, he obtained all the paperwork. Although the system charged him five hundred thousand as a "running errands fee," Fang Zheng felt it was worth it. If he had to handle these things himself, he would not even know where to begin.

Looking at his remaining 2.5 million Reputation Points, Fang Zheng frowned. He did not like that number.

"System, upgrade my Drawing Ability a little."

Fang Zheng looked at his Attribute Panel. Every ability was Lv3. After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately decided to upgrade his Drawing Ability first.

"Ding~ One hundred thousand Reputation Points deducted. Congratulations, host. Drawing Ability has been upgraded to Lv4."

Drawing Ability: Lv4 (First Steps into Mastery)

Your drawing ability is just a tiny bit higher than before. The characters you draw can now begin to match the designs and temperament envisioned in your mind. You are now a budding master-level soul artist.

Seeing the system's evaluation, Fang Zheng's mouth twitched. What the hell was a soul artist? Did it think he did not know what that meant?

But before Fang Zheng could complain, he quickly noticed something strange.

"System, why does upgrading Drawing Ability from Lv4 to Lv5 require one million Reputation Points?!"

Fang Zheng's eyes widened as a bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart.

Sure enough, the system's explanation left Fang Zheng completely dumbfounded.

According to the system, leveling up in a game was effortless early on, but later, as your level increased, did leveling not become incredibly difficult?

The same applied to the system improving the host's abilities. Before Lv3 was the beginner phase, during which the system upgraded the host for free. But once the beginner phase ended, Reputation Points were needed to improve abilities.

Lv4 to Lv5 required one million. Lv5 to Lv6 required ten million...

Fang Zheng felt his liver ache. Wouldn't that mean he needed one hundred million later on?!!!

When was he supposed to save up that many Reputation Points?

He had thought eight million Reputation Points would be enough for him to splurge for a while, but in the end, he discovered that he was still broke.

Looking at his remaining 2.4 million Reputation Points, Fang Zheng instantly felt they were no longer appealing.

In the end, Fang Zheng gritted his teeth and raised Drawing Ability to Lv5, then raised Voice Acting Ability to Lv5, leaving him with only three hundred thousand Reputation Points.

Fang Zheng did not spend all of those Reputation Points. He chose to keep some in reserve for emergencies.

After finishing everything, Fang Zheng shook his head and forced himself to stop thinking about Reputation Points. He was afraid the enormous numbers ahead would scare him into breaking down.

After a simple dinner, Fang Zheng went to the study and skillfully turned on his computer.

Looking at the posters he had drawn before, Fang Zheng suddenly frowned slightly. Although they were exquisitely drawn, he always felt they lacked a trace of spirit.

After a long while, Fang Zheng redrew a promotional poster featuring the entire cast of Akame ga Kill! Comparing his latest poster with the previous ones, the difference was obvious.

It was not that his earlier posters had any flaws. Rather, after his Drawing Ability improved, many details he had previously failed to notice had been magnified infinitely.

After correcting those flaws, the characters' lines became softer, their eyes more lifelike, and the temperament of every character leapt from the page, making them easy to distinguish.

As expected of Drawing Ability that had entered the realm of mastery. Those Reputation Points had not been wasted!

Take Queen Esdeath on the poster, for example. On the old poster, her wild and domineering aura had been conveyed, but only through the overall image.

After his Drawing Ability rose to Lv5, merely looking into Esdeath's eyes allowed one to feel the Queen's domineering, contemptuous bearing.

That was the gap between Lv5 and Lv3!

Fang Zheng picked up the promotional poster he had drawn and admired it carefully for a while, his gaze passing over each character on it.

Esdeath's dominance, Akame's unexpected moe charm, Mine's tsundere nature, Leone's wildness, Tatsumi's passion... each character's distinct personality leapt from the page.

The varied and distinct traits were also one of the reasons Fang Zheng had chosen Akame ga Kill! as his second work.

This world did not even have the concept of anime, so naturally it did not have trait labels steeped in 2D culture such as yandere, moe, and tsundere.

Since Fang Zheng aimed to promote 2D culture, these concepts naturally had to be spread as well. Letting the audience encounter them in advance would help these inexperienced people feel the appeal of anime.

At that thought, Fang Zheng's lips curled slightly. Once Akame ga Kill! aired, who knew how many people would fall for someone else, or how many would spend their days shouting things like, "So-and-so is my waifu."

But then Fang Zheng began worrying again. If these viewers discovered that the waifu they liked had been forcibly handed a death flag by him, who knew what those agitated viewers might do.

After all, men and women in the throes of love were both crazy.

"Whew~ Looks like I'd better be more careful in the future. I don't want someone mailing me razor blades one day."

However, Fang Zheng seemed unaware that quite a few viewers who had watched Star Dream were already asking around for his address. Their purpose was naturally obvious.

While Fang Zheng worried about his personal safety after Akame ga Kill! aired, the internet had already completely exploded because he opened Weibo and posted two updates.

As a format people had never seen before, Star Dream naturally aroused a great deal of curiosity. On top of that, Star Dream truly deserved its reputation as a tearjerking masterpiece. Many people had been moved by Hoshino Yume's innocence and the cruelty of the world.

Thus, the moment Fang Zheng opened his Weibo account, his follower count kept climbing. Then, when Fang Zheng posted his second update, the people following him immediately exploded.

"The Mentor is creating a second work! I hope it won't be as depressing as Star Dream."

"I don't know what genre the new work is, but aren't those posters insanely cool? I want them so badly!"

"The poster of that blue-haired beauty in military uniform is mine. No one better fight me for her!"

"Why do I feel like the Mentor releasing news about a New Work at this time means he's up to no good?"

"You're not alone, buddy. I feel the same way."

With Fang Zheng's Weibo post, the mood online instantly shifted. Discussions about the New Work Akame ga Kill! filled every corner of the internet.

Some hoped it would not end in tragedy like Star Dream. Others argued endlessly over several characters. A considerable number speculated that Fang Zheng releasing this news at such a time clearly meant he had ill intentions.

Just look at Fang Zheng's debut work. Big Shot Fang, who had been crowned the "Ultimate Healing Mentor," was clearly a creator exceptionally skilled at portraying tragedies.

For an author like that, anyone could guess what style his new work would have.

Time flew by. Over the next few days, the online buzz remained at an incredible high, making Fang Zheng feel as though he were being roasted over a fire.

Opening any browser and checking the trending terms would reveal Star Dream, Fang Zheng, and New Work occupying the top spots. Such popularity was simply shocking and unprecedented.

The higher the online buzz became, the more uneasy Fang Zheng felt. He was genuinely beginning to worry about his personal safety once Akame ga Kill! aired.

What if angry viewers really offed him? That would be quite the joke.

"Shocking! A certain Healing Mentor was beaten to death."

"Akame ga Kill! author beaten to death by enraged viewers. Was it the distortion of human nature or the loss of morality?"

"A certain man was beaten by a crowd in public. The reason was actually..."

Fang Zheng could already imagine how varied the reports from those unscrupulous media outlets would be. If it really happened, he would probably become the first creator beaten to death for "healing" his audience~

Ring ring ring~

Fang Zheng ate breakfast while browsing news on his phone.

Just as his thoughts wandered, the phone in his hand suddenly vibrated, followed by a pleasant ringtone.

"Hello, who is this?"

Fang Zheng answered the call with a curious expression. He lived alone, and aside from 10096, his phone contacts contained no one else.

"Hello, may I ask if this is Mr. Fang Zheng?"

Once the call connected, an eager yet polite customer service voice came from the other end.

"Yes, I am. May I ask..."

Hearing such a professional customer service voice, Fang Zheng turned to look at the calendar hanging on the wall. His heart skipped a beat as he made a guess.

"Hello, Mr. Fang. This is Modu TV Station. The award ceremony will begin promptly at seven tonight and last an hour and a half. In addition, you have an interview program at eight thirty."

The customer service representative rattled off a long list without even pausing for breath, making Fang Zheng admire her. As expected of Modu TV Station's customer service—her professionalism was unmatched.

Sure enough, Fang Zheng thought to himself. He nodded with a smile. "I'll be there on time."

"Very well, Mr. Fang. The program team would like to meet with you in advance to discuss the interview. What do you think?"

Although it was a live interview program, such shows generally arranged scripts beforehand to prevent awkward situations that might embarrass both the guest and the production team.