Anime Production, Starting by Healing the Audience, Part 8

Fang Zheng stood to the side, the corner of his mouth twitching. Brother, did you give yourself that title? I don't remember having anyone like you under my command~

Netizens had always produced talents. The ancients truly did not deceive us.

"Pfft, this guy's a real talent too!"

"Damn it, brother, help me ask Big Shot Fang if he still needs a pendant?"

"Congratulations to this bastard on getting waifu +1."

"This animal would even throw away his dignity just to win a prize."

"..."

Although Yang Li was also impressed by the bizarre names netizens came up with, she had received professional training after all. She could still handle this much.

Very quickly, Yang Li got in touch with this so-called "Number One Simp."

"Hello, may I ask—"

"I'm Big Shot Fang's Number One Simp. I'm watching the show, so there's no need to introduce yourself!"

The moment the call connected, before Yang Li could finish speaking, the hot-headed guy on the other end interrupted her and bluntly stated that he was watching the program.

"Uh..." Yang Li's expression stiffened for a moment before she casually said, "Alright. May I ask which poster Mr. Simp would like?"

Yang Li probably felt that the term "simp" was not very elegant, so after thinking for a moment, she changed it to "Mr. Simp." She had no choice—she did not know Mr. Simp's real name, so that was all she could call him.

"Pfft! Mr. Simp! Sister Yang is ruthless too!"

"Sister Yang, 666!"

"Whatever you do, don't pick my waifu Akame!"

"Grandson, if you dare steal my waifu Esdeath, I'll hunt you down for a real-life PK!"

For a moment, the moment Yang Li asked him to choose a poster, the viewers in the livestream exploded. Every viewer who had participated in the event had a poster they wanted.

The thought of their "waifu" being taken away by someone else made them anxious and frantic!

"I want Tatsumi's Demon Possession poster. If possible, I hope Big Shot Fang can sign it for me." When the guy on the other end mentioned Fang Zheng, his voice was no longer as hot-headed as it had been when speaking to Yang Li. Instead, he sounded somewhat restrained.

"Big Shot Fang, I really, really love your work, and I admire you so much. If possible, could I ask you to grant me this small wish?"

Mr. Simp's slightly trembling voice echoed through the studio via the program crew's speakers. It was not hard to tell from his words that he truly loved anime and truly admired Fang Zheng.

"Of course. Thank you for loving anime, and thank you for supporting me."

Fang Zheng had not expected to have such an adorable fan. He smiled, borrowed a pen from the crew, picked out Tatsumi's Demon Possession poster, and wrote his name along the edge.

"Once dreamed of roaming the world sword in hand; stepped out of the village and two died—Tatsumi!"

Fang Zheng smiled as he looked at the large characters he had written, nodded in satisfaction, then had a staff member package it up to be mailed to Mr. Simp later.

"Whew~ Great! My waifu Akame is still here. Waifu, wait for me—I'll take you home in a bit!"

"Guy upstairs, keep dreaming!"

"I thought he was some bastard here to steal waifus. Turns out he's a manly bro. My respects!"

"Although Tatsumi's Demon Possession is cool, I'd still choose Esdeath!"

The livestream viewers did not see exactly what Fang Zheng had written. Seeing that the first winner had not chosen the waifu they wanted, they all breathed a sigh of relief, as though they were celebrating that their waifus had not been stolen.

Time passed second by second. The dozen or so posters Fang Zheng had brought were nowhere near enough for everyone. Those who received posters were naturally overjoyed, while those who did not were consumed by envy, jealousy, and resentment.

"I won! I won!"

At Silent Reading University, Chen Qian shouted wildly in the student dormitory. Among the dozen or so lucky winners, he was one of them.

"No way, is burning incense and praying really that effective?"

"Damn, what insane luck!"

"Old Chen, can we discuss something~"

Seeing the gleaming eyes of his roommates, how could Chen Qian not know what they were plotting?

"Get lost! I'm telling you, not a chance!"

He knew his few shameless roommates far too well. He dared to guarantee that if he handed them his newly acquired poster, those lunatics would lick the color right off it by the next day!

The thought of General Esdeath, whom he adored, being held in the arms of several unscrupulous roommates and covered in their saliva made Chen Qian feel utterly sick. He immediately rejected their idea.

He made up his mind that once the poster arrived, he would frame it immediately and hang it above his bed. Every day, he would tell Esdeath good night.

Back in the studio, although Yang Li had not held much hope of winning, she still could not help feeling disappointed when she saw that her name was not on the winner list.

These posters could be considered the first batch produced since Fang Zheng became famous. They were absolutely valuable collectibles, and she personally liked Shiru, that slightly airheaded glasses girl, very much.

But unfortunately, she and that poster were simply not meant to be.

"Alright, dear viewers, the giveaway has ended, and it is about time for us to say goodbye."

Yang Li gathered herself from her disappointment and slowly walked to the center of the stage. After saying that, she turned to Fang Zheng and smiled. "Big Shot Fang, is there anything else you would like to announce to the viewers?"

Reciprocating courtesy was one of Xia Country's most basic rules of social etiquette. Fang Zheng agreeing to appear on Modu TV Station's interview program had already given them plenty of face.

With Fang Zheng's current popularity, countless television stations wanted to invite him as a guest. Modu TV Station had merely moved faster than the others.

Since Fang Zheng had given them face, they naturally returned the favor. They did not mind Fang Zheng taking this opportunity to promote himself.

Hearing Yang Li's words, Fang Zheng gave her a grateful look. It had to be said that for this beautiful host to reach her current position, her emotional intelligence was truly frighteningly high.

After silently admiring her for a moment, Fang Zheng addressed the camera. "Dear viewers, thank you for watching my interview today, and thank you all for your support."

After a relatively formal opening, Fang Zheng finally got to the point. He had not come today merely to promote the new work Akame ga Kill!.

"To make it easier for everyone to watch anime, I have personally created a website called ACG Community. It is currently available on app stores. I hope everyone will download it and help spread the word."

The ACG community was somewhat similar to Bilibili from his previous life. Danmaku culture was still its greatest highlight, but it was not its only feature.

Livestreaming platforms already existed in this world, and danmaku had appeared long ago. It was not anything particularly novel.

But a website like Fang Zheng's ACG Community, created specifically for anime, was truly one of a kind.

"All of my works will be released on ACG Community, so viewers who like anime must not miss it." Fang Zheng smiled at the camera.

"Also, I have established ACG Culture Company. Since the company has only just been founded and is short on staff, anyone interested in working in the anime industry is welcome to submit a résumé. The email address is..."

Aside from building publicity for Akame ga Kill!, Fang Zheng's greatest purpose today was to promote his ACG Community and newly established ACG Culture Company.

After all, although he had become hugely famous thanks to Star Dream, his website and company were both newly established and essentially worthless.

Since they had only just been created, Fang Zheng did not expect them to have much name recognition.

But airing a free advertisement through today's live television broadcast was different. Although he did not know how many people had watched the livestream today, judging from the speed at which the giveaway list had scrolled earlier, he could roughly estimate it.

"Big Shot Fang started a company?!"

"I looked it up. ACG Community really exists, but it currently only has Star Dream."

"No way, I checked too, but you actually have to answer questions to register an account?"

"How many days a year can Hoshino Yume operate? Which numbered visitor was the male protagonist at the planetarium????"

"What kind of bullshit questions are these? Big Shot Fang, you're a demon, aren't you? You definitely are!"

Amid the resentful gazes filling the livestream, the interview program came to an end.

After the program, Fang Zheng began packing his things. Since the interview was over, it was time for him to leave. After all, he had just run an advertisement today, so he needed to strike while the iron was hot and get Akame ga Kill! released as soon as possible.

"Um... Mr. Fang!"

After leaving the studio, Fang Zheng politely declined the program crew's invitation to have a meal together. To be honest, compared to social obligations like that, he preferred creating alone.

Just as Fang Zheng was about to leave the Modu TV Station building, a familiar and crisp voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Miss Yang, is there something you need?"

Fang Zheng turned around, looked at Yang Li running over while out of breath, and smiled.

"Mr. Fang, um... I was wondering whether you still have any posters like those? I..." Yang Li's face turned slightly red as she spoke.

This is so embarrassing...

Fang Zheng looked at Yang Li's bashful expression, smiled, and took out the Shiru poster he had kept in his briefcase.

Back in the studio, he had noticed that Yang Li's eyes had looked somewhat unusual when she saw Shiru's character poster, so he had deliberately saved this poster for her.

"Ah! Shiru!"

The moment Yang Li saw the poster in Fang Zheng's hand, all embarrassment and concern for her image were instantly thrown beyond the clouds. How could any of that compare to the Shiru character poster in Fang Zheng's hand~

"Shiru, my Shiru~"

Seeing such a stunning beauty like Yang Li reveal a perverted smile at a poster, Fang Zheng could not help feeling a chill run down his spine.

He suddenly felt that he might have underestimated how much these fans loved Akame ga Kill!. If they ever learned that the title Akame ga Kill! was actually just a survival list, he wondered whether they would collectively explode.

"Hiss~" Fang Zheng shuddered all over. He wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible and move somewhere else. He felt that his current residence was no longer safe.

Yang Li tightly hugged Shiru's character poster. Only after quite a while did she finally pull her gaze away from it. Seeing Fang Zheng's strange expression, Yang Li's face immediately flushed with embarrassment.

"Um... actually, it's like this. A child in one of my relatives' families really likes Shiru, so they asked me to..."

Yang Li sounded extremely unconvincing as she spoke, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

Seeing how her eyes wandered, it was obvious she was trying far too hard to cover it up. Fang Zheng smiled knowingly and said, "I understand. It's your relative's child who likes the poster. I understand, I understand."

Understand my ass!

Seeing Fang Zheng's mischievous gaze and the teasing smile at the corner of his mouth that made her want to crawl into a crack in the ground, Yang Li felt completely miserable.