Popularity Explosion: Damn, I'm Surrounded by Bai Fu! [Two-in-One, Please Keep Reading]

Digging Princess wondered if she had seen something wrong.

She stumbled several steps back, then rubbed her eyes hard. When she opened them again, a stone stele as tall as a person still stood before her, and the words carved on it were exactly what she had seen before.

She was certain that this stele had not been in the alley not long ago. That meant it had been erected recently—and by Bai Fu, or Bai Fu's name would not have been on the inscription.

"Fu Fu isn't dead?"

The moment that thought surfaced, Digging Princess's breathing stopped.

This discovery had completely exceeded her expectations, yet it also struck directly at her deepest wish.

After standing there blankly for a while, she suddenly pinched her right thigh.

Now was not the time to space out. She had to find a passerby NPC and ask what had happened, lest she celebrate for nothing.

Digging Princess rushed out of the alley. Her luck was quite good; after crossing only two streets, she encountered a passing scavenger.

She hurriedly stopped him. "Hello, I'm..."

The scavenger froze. "Aren't you that Outsider who directed us to evacuate that day? So you didn't die. Bai Fu was worried sick about you yesterday."

The instant she heard that, Digging Princess let out a long breath, followed by excitement she could not hide at all.

Hahahaha, Fu Fu really wasn't dead!

She was trying her best to restrain herself, but the smile at the corners of her mouth was impossible to conceal.

"Can you tell me what happened over the past two days? And where did Bai Fu go? I just went to her house to look for her, but she wasn't there."

"It went like this..."

The scavenger told Digging Princess everything he knew.

When she learned how Bai Fu had believed the players were dead and would never return, Digging Princess could not help but fall silent.

If she had worshipped Bai Fu before mainly because Bai Fu could bring her enormous popularity and help her go further in her career as a gaming UP Master, then things were slightly different now.

Even if Bai Fu was only an NPC, wasn't she far more warmhearted than many of the people Digging Princess had met?

Her heart had been moved.

In Digging Princess's eyes, Bai Fu was no longer merely an NPC, but a virtual companion with whom she could exchange sincerity for sincerity.

Fuck, I'm fired up!

Digging Princess was now brimming with fighting spirit. After lying low for a day, this was the perfect time for the Dragon King's return to ruthlessly crush all the mockery aimed at her!

After saying goodbye to the scavenger, she immediately opened her stream.

On Star Travel Society, players were idly chatting in a thread discussing whether Bai Fu was really dead.

[Looks like Digging Princess got hit pretty hard this time. She hasn't shown herself for hours.]

[What can you do? Anyone would be numb after something like this.]

[The game's already back online. Has anyone gone to confirm whether Bai Fu is dead or alive?]

As they chatted, a new reply appeared.

[Digging Princess has started streaming! Go watch!]

That shout immediately drew in a large number of spectators and players who liked Bai Fu. They swarmed over, and within just two or three minutes of the stream starting, Digging Princess's stream had gathered more than ten thousand viewers.

The players who arrived noticed that something was off. Digging Princess sat on a rock with a tense expression, neither speaking nor making any unnecessary movements. She was simply playing videos.

Every video she played was related to Bai Fu, and they were shown in chronological order.

Starting from when Bai Fu saved her in the alley, to when they worked together to take down Brother Dabiao, to when she somehow received the mission to assassinate Bai Fu, to Bai Fu being forced by Cao Wenliang to kill the players, to Bai Fu risking exposure to warn the players at the base...

[What is Digging Treasure doing?]

[Is this some kind of new-age performance art? A cyber funeral hall?]

The watching players were utterly confused, but no matter how puzzled they were, they kept watching, wanting to see what Digging Princess was really up to.

As scene after scene flashed by, the mood in the stream was finally stirred up.

[Digging Treasure, my condolences.]

[What a pity. How did Bai Fu end up dying?]

[Ahhh, fuck you, The Truth Society! I'll fight you to the death!]

By the time the footage showed Bai Fu smiling as she handed the lure bait to Patrick Star, then jumped off the pickup truck and single-handedly held back over thirty mimics, Digging Princess's face was full of emotion.

[To be honest, not long ago, I was just like all of you. I thought this was the end of the story. Bai Fu appeared like a ray of light, then turned into a streak of light that saved the Abandoned Cooling Plant and departed. The story was short, but at least it had a beginning and an end, and it was moving too. But...]

She suddenly fell silent, then rose and walked to the entrance of an alley.

[You definitely don't know what I found here.]

Those words hooked every player's curiosity.

They began exploring the alley behind Digging Princess. As they walked deeper, they discovered a stone stele standing in the middle of the alley.

[Is this what Digging Treasure was talking about?]

[It was just a stone monument. What was so strange about that? Could it be related to a hidden quest?]

[Could this be Fu Fu's tombstone?]

[Don't be ridiculous. Who puts a tombstone in the middle of the road?]

Watching the comments drift across the virtual screen, Digging Princess knew the time was ripe. She stopped.

[I'm not going any farther. See for yourselves.]

She locked the camera onto the stone monument and began zooming in until the inscription was clearly displayed in the livestream.

[In memory of the Braves who sacrificed themselves to save the Abandoned Cooling Plant—

Bai Fu]

Including "Bai Fu," there were twenty-two characters in total.

Thinking of the footage Digging Princess had played earlier, the players felt as though they were not looking at twenty-two words, but twenty-two bullets. Those bullets pierced through the virtual screen and shot into their hearts one after another with unstoppable force.

Bang! Bang bang bang!

Anyone who was not an idiot understood what the signature Bai Fu meant.

Yes, Bai Fu was not dead!

That news alone was explosive enough. Combined with the words on the memorial, its impact was comparable to a supervolcanic eruption, blasting the comments from Digging Princess's livestream into silence for several seconds.

The first to collapse were the players who liked Bai Fu.

They had worried for hours, only to suddenly receive such wonderful news. They were so happy that they jumped to their feet—who had time to send comments?

The next to fall were the players who had been dissatisfied because the NPCs they liked had been overshadowed by Bai Fu in popularity. They felt as though they had suffered a devastating blow.

At that moment, the same thought arose in all their minds.

It's over. Bai Fu's popularity is about to soar into the heavens. Unless an even more distinctive NPC appears later in the story, if Bai Fu enters that Popular Female NPC Contest, every other NPC can only obediently compete for second place!

Finally, the spectacle-seekers were hit by the shockwave.

They had come to watch Digging Princess make a fool of herself, but instead of getting their entertainment, they witnessed this stunning scene.

An NPC had built a memorial for players. Most of them had never encountered something like that before. Even onlookers found it deeply satisfying—who did not like being respected and held in high regard?

Before long, those spectacle-seekers started having fun again. They went wherever there was entertainment. Even if they could no longer enjoy Digging Princess's misfortune, with this matter generating so much buzz, were they really going to lack other entertainment?

[Awesome awesome awesome!]

[You can always trust Fu Fu—the NPC who cares most about players, and also our strongest support!]

[Hahaha, I knew Fu Fu couldn't possibly die so easily!]

[I hereby declare that the story planner is a god today!]

Watching her livestream get instantly drowned in comments, Digging Princess smiled slightly. There was no need to rush—she still had one trump card in hand.

[Don't you think this alley looks familiar?]

Familiar?

At last, a player with a good memory realized it.

[Holy shit, isn't this where Fu Fu first met Digging Treasure?]

As soon as that comment appeared, the density of comments in Digging Princess's livestream reached a new peak.

[No wonder the memorial was built in such a remote place. This is where Fu Fu first formed a bond with us!]

[I'm seriously crying. I never thought Fu Fu would even consider this.]

[Ahhh, I can't take it anymore. How can my wife be so thoughtful?]

With a chuckle, Digging Princess began recounting everything she had heard from the scavengers.

[Fu Fu was very lucky. Just as she was about to be surrounded by those Morphing Bugs, Patrick Star successfully scattered the bait. More than half of the Morphing Bugs were drawn away by it, and she took the opportunity to cross the wilderness and return to the Abandoned Cooling Plant.]

[Didn't the version suddenly update back then, forcing all of us offline? Fu Fu waited for us for a long time, but we still didn't revive. She thought we had really died, so she suggested building a memorial for us.]

[Yesterday, Gene Primordial's reinforcements arrived. Fu Fu went with them to Lynn. Her mission here has been completed, so she most likely won't be coming back.]

[I've already decided. I'm going to Lynn. I'm going to find Fu Fu and tell her we're not dead, so she won't blame herself.]

Digging Princess's words won the approval of many players.

To hell with staying at the Abandoned Cooling Plant. They were going to Lynn too!

Throughout the entire livestream, Digging Princess had not said a single word about going after them, yet many players had already voluntarily gone to help her tear them apart.

The community underwent a major purge. Many players who had previously insisted that Bai Fu was dead deleted their posts and fled the moment they caught wind of the news. Many others followed Convert to My Fu's example, deleted their accounts, and started over, choosing Zu Yuan Star as the starting planet for their new characters.

It was not simply because they liked Bai Fu. After this incident, they realized that Bai Fu truly was as extraordinary as Digging Princess had said.

[I'm just saying, is it possible that Bai Fu is actually the protagonist of Zu Yuan Star's main storyline?]

Now that they mentioned it, that possibility really did exist. Judging by the current situation, even if Bai Fu was not the protagonist, she was definitely an extremely important supporting character!

Many power-gamer players felt that, rather than aimlessly exploring other beginner planets at a snail's pace, it would be better to move to Zu Yuan Star and cling tightly to Bai Fu.

Digging Princess and the others had already fully demonstrated just how great the benefits of clinging to Bai Fu could be.

During the battle with Yulia and the Insect Tide incident, Bai Fu's unexpectedly outstanding performance turned the Abandoned Cooling Plant players, who should have suffered massive losses, into people so rich they practically fainted. Their average level was now the highest among all Novice Villages.

It had to be said, the feeling of being carried by an NPC was as irresistibly sweet as candy!

Someone who loved stirring things up even posted a newbie guide on the community's main forum.

[Step One: Purchase the game equipment and register an account;

Step Two: Create a human character and choose Zu Yuan Star as your starting planet;

Step Three: Enter the game. If you find that your Novice Village isn't the Abandoned Cooling Plant, delete your account and restart from Step Two. If it is, immediately find a way to grind Bai Fu's Favorability.]

Driven by this wave of hype, the Star Travel Society briefly became the Bai Fu Travel Society.

Some players were shocked to discover that they weren't playing Above the Stars, but Oh No! I'm Surrounded by Bai Fu.

The greatest impact of this surge in popularity was that Zu Yuan Star's player count shot straight to its limit. Many players wanted to reincarnate on Zu Yuan Star, only to receive a notification saying that it was full and reincarnation was unavailable.

Seeing this situation, Bai Fu, who had been watching the spectacle unfold, couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her mouth.

What would happen if there were no player limit?

Just imagine it—a tiny Abandoned Cooling Plant suddenly crammed with tens of thousands of players. The gameplay experience would be atrocious. The problem of feeding everyone alone would be enough to drive off countless players.

"You really know how to build hype."

Bai Fu looked approvingly at Digging Princess, who was still active in the livestream.

Once Digging Princess found Lynn, Bai Fu planned to set her up as an example: first give her an advanced knowledge book, recruit her into the Silent Court, then reveal a little newly fabricated backstory to her.

Did everyone see that? Follow the crows, and you'd go hungry nine meals out of ten. Following Bai Fu was different—there was meat at every meal. With benefits this good, why weren't they hurrying over?

Unlike before, Bai Fu was now looking further ahead.

The enhancement she had obtained yesterday made her realize that merely increasing her popularity among players was not enough if she wanted to keep getting stronger. She also had to actively participate in all kinds of storylines, so that the game would have sufficient "reason" to enhance her.

Considering that game storylines came with all kinds of risks, she badly needed the players' help to reduce those risks.

Even aside from that, she would need players simply to defend herself against assassination attempts by The Truth Society.

Just now, she had received news from Xia Shi, who was sitting beside her. The Truth Society had issued assassination bounties targeting the three of them. Although the bounty level was not high, it had still been issued by one of Zu Yuan Star's five major factions. She had no choice but to stay on guard.

Speaking of Xia Shi, Bai Fu remembered something interesting.

Xia Shi possessed an extremely special talent: Strong Luck. So far, Xia Shi was the only person Bai Fu had ever seen with this talent.

At first, she had not taken it too seriously and had merely complained in private that Xia Shi was an infuriatingly lucky person. But after obtaining a [Lucky] talent herself, she realized that things might be far more complicated than she had imagined.

Strong Luck or whatever—was it possible that this was actually protagonist's halo?

She strongly suspected that Xia Shi was the protagonist of the main storyline in the Abandoned Cooling Plant Novice Village. Under the normal storyline, players would likely have gradually uncovered the Wildfire Gang's hidden secrets through contact with Xia Shi, then ultimately helped Xia Shi take down the Wildfire Gang. But because of Bai Fu's intervention, Xia Shi had become a peripheral character in the story.

Of course, all of this was merely Bai Fu's speculation. She needed further confirmation.

But one thing was certain: talents like [Lucky] and [Strong Luck] had enormous potential.

She must not underestimate that 10% bonus. As levels rose, more and more things players encountered would depend on probability checks.

Reading knowledge books required probability checks, analyzing blueprints required probability checks, crafting items required probability checks, drawing prizes required probability checks... The returns brought by a flat 10% bonus were extremely considerable. For now, it merely guaranteed that she would obtain the Evolution Blood template, but in the future, it might allow her to draw a god-tier skill.

Bai Fu was a little envious of Xia Shi. Her own Lucky bonus was already 10%; Strong Luck's bonus was probably over 20%.

"We're here."

Just as Bai Fu was lost in thought, Xia Shi's voice sounded beside her ear. She looked up and found that the vehicle had already stopped.

On their way there, Gene Primordial's reinforcements had already swept through the amoebas along both sides of the road, so the return trip to Lynn took nearly half as much time as the journey there.

"An Ya."

Bai Fu called softly, then jumped down from the vehicle carrying a huge suitcase.

Unlike the Abandoned Cooling Plant, which looked like ruins, the Lynn settlement was a real city. High-rises stood throughout its central district, and there was even a Radio Tower nearly a hundred meters tall.

"Lynn, I'm here!"

A delighted smile appeared on Bai Fu's face.

At the same time, more than a dozen players spawned at the Abandoned Cooling Plant.

These players were different from the others. Their names all bore the Iron Rain prefix. They were members of the famous Iron Rain Guild.

"Chairman, should we level up at the Abandoned Cooling Plant first, or go straight to Lynn?"

Iron Rain Guild chairman Sword Aura Piercing Sky said, "We're going to Lynn, but we won't be looking for Bai Fu this time."

"Huh?"

"Too many people are going after Bai Fu. If we go there, we won't gain much before we raise Bai Fu's Favorability. Rather than waste time over there, I think we'd be better off joining another faction."

"Gene Primordial?"

"No, we'll join The Truth Society. Right now, nobody wants to join The Truth Society. If we go in, we'll be the first batch and can monopolize all of The Truth Society's missions. Besides..."

Sword Aura Piercing Sky burst into laughter.

"Bai Fu is an important character in the main storyline. If we help The Truth Society deal with her, we'll definitely earn plenty of faction contribution points. With Digging Princess and the others livestreaming every day, we won't have to worry about being unable to get information on Bai Fu."

PS: Please, I'm begging for continued reads.