Hair in the Sewers

After cleaning the hair from the sewer, Lu Ban threw it all into the trash can. He then put the cap back on the shampoo bottle and hid it behind the body wash.

He went to the computer and turned it on. On the desktop, he saw a folder named "One Night Carnival."

"Mediocre rewards, looks barely acceptable."

On the computer screen, the usual icons changed to the system's style.

Lu Ban previously had 4036 Silence Points. Including the 4800 points already settled, he now had only 8836 Silence Points, still a little short of the Essence requirement for [Last Words].

It wasn't a big problem.

After completing the career development task and editing/publishing these video materials, he should be able to earn some more points. The Essence was practically guaranteed.

Lu Ban first checked the video materials.

As expected for a mediocre rating, the image quality was indeed lower. Many angles were also missing, such as Lu Ban's first-person perspective. Most of it was shot from fixed third-person viewpoints by the bus's surveillance cameras, interspersed with some close-ups and long shots from inside the bus.

Overall, there weren't many ways to play with the footage.

Lu Ban also didn't see any unexpected scenes like the Lan Lan Lu doll on his shoulder in the first video.

"It's not very suitable for realistic videos; after all, monsters have appeared. Forcing realism might ruin the atmosphere. But if made into short films, the plot feels a bit disjointed."

Lu Ban pondered for a moment and decided to look for inspiration on video websites.

His follower count had already exceeded 100,000, making him a minor internet celebrity. However, Lu Ban wasn't proud of this. Instead, he humbly sought to learn from others.

He watched videos from streamers who explored abandoned locations, then searched for supernatural short videos, and even watched reviews of horror escape rooms and murder mystery games.

"Presenting it in a mockumentary style might be a good option. Minimize the shots of the Rat People and Fish as much as possible, making them mysterious and unknown, which can better stimulate the audience's imagination and let them fill in the blanks."

"As for the grass and plants, cinematic fixed shots could be used. These scenes can evoke a sense of physical revulsion, acting as direct stimuli."

"Finally, the information about the Rat People can be cut. Directly leave the chilling smile of the Stone, and end it abruptly."

Lu Ban sketched out a rough storyboard with a pencil and quickly came up with a plan.

"I should buy a drawing tablet to use."

He stretched and checked the time. It was half-past eleven.

"I'll go downstairs for a late-night snack."

Although only a few hours had passed in real-time, Lu Ban had experienced nearly nine hours on the roads of the Ruined Capital. The rat meat he had eaten seemed to have already been digested, and he was feeling quite hungry.

Grabbing his keys and phone, Lu Ban planned to take the opportunity to throw the garbage containing the wet hair into the trash at the late-night snack stall to avoid it lingering overnight.

But when he reached the trash can by the living room, he found that the clumps of hair in the trash bag were gone.

"."

Lu Ban turned back to the bathroom and saw that the drain entrance was empty, with nothing there.

After checking, he put on his slippers and walked out of the house.

The moment he closed the door, Lu Ban seemed to hear the sound of rushing water.

He used his key to open the door and quickly went to the bathroom.

There was no one in the bathroom.

However, the shampoo bottle hidden behind the body wash had been moved outside at some point, and its cap was open.

Lu Ban silently put the cap back on, squatted down, and glanced at the drain entrance.

A clump of hair was tangled on the floor drain.

Lu Ban reached out and picked up the clump of hair.

Just as he pulled his hand back, Lu Ban saw an eye looking at him from below the sewer's floor drain.

Lu Ban blinked, and the floor drain was empty again. Even the hair in Lu Ban's hand had disappeared.

Drip—

He heard the sound of water and stood up, tightening the faucet.

After some thought, Lu Ban picked up the shampoo bottle, walked out of the house, and placed it in the water meter room in the hallway. This was usually where delivery drivers left packages.

After confirming, Lu Ban closed the door to the water meter room.

Going downstairs, Lu Ban ordered two skewers of grilled gluten, half a dozen lamb skewers, grilled chicken wings, grilled mushrooms, grilled broccoli, grilled green peppers, grilled chicken feet, grilled stinky tofu, grilled eggplant, and a portion of egg fried rice, along with a bottle of iced cola. He happily ate his late-night snack while browsing his phone.

Jiangcheng's nights were always lively. People in the residential area were still out eating and drinking. At the next table, a group of young men and women dressed like college students were downing bottles with their grilled skewers, spending their youthful days. The TV in the barbecue stall was playing a football match, and several middle-aged men with thinning hair were staring intently at the screen, forgetting even to eat their skewers.

Lu Ban enjoyed his meal alone. The night breeze was cool and exceptionally pleasant.

Compared to the nights in the Ruined Capital, Lu Ban felt this world was truly wonderful and was filled with hope for the future.

He saw the advertising slogan on the cola bottle distort, forming the system's cold text.

[Career Development Task]

[Try various creative methods and test your creative theories. The door to a new world is opening for you!]

[Task Requirements: Submit to different sections and receive 500,000 likes and 100,000 coins, or other equivalent value.]

[Likes Received: 0/500000]

[Obtained Coins: 0/100000]

"Next time for sure!"

"Five hundred thousand likes and a hundred thousand coins... that's a bit difficult."

Lu Ban quickly opened his phone and checked the likes and coins for his previous videos.

For his two videos with five million views, the first had only around 300,000 likes, while the second was a bit higher, close to 400,000. Both were close to his target of 500,000 likes, and with a little effort, he could reach it.

As for coins, the gap was much larger. The first video only had over 20,000 coins, and the second had a bit more, less than 40,000.

These numbers were typical and followed the growth patterns of videos that suddenly went viral by catching a trend.

Likes could be given by any user, an unlimited number of times per day, so the like count would naturally be higher.

However, ordinary users could only obtain one coin per day, and coins could also be exchanged on the Old Days Video Network for website accessories, name change cards, and other items. Therefore, the coin count would be lower.

When a viewer likes, coins, and saves your video – commonly known as the "triple connection" – it represents the viewer's true approval of the video.

On a short video platform like Tomorrow Online, 500,000 likes was also an excellent metric. It was possible that only one in ten thousand short videos would achieve 500,000 likes. Furthermore, Lu Ban noticed that the system's evaluation criteria for Tomorrow Online were 500,000 likes and 300,000 followers, and his current follower count on that platform was just over ten thousand. Reaching 500,000 followers would be incredibly difficult.

This time, he wouldn't have Song Yunyan to help him; he'd have to rely on his own strength.

"...Huh, wait a minute."

Inspiration struck Lu Ban.

"I can ask her for help this time too!"

*

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