Frenzied Hype

To be honest, hype is nothing to be ashamed of; it is simply a form of self-promotion.

Internet hype, in particular, is a low-cost, highly efficient method of promotion. Back on Earth in his previous life, celebrities, authors, and anyone with a shred of fame would use the internet to stir up massive hype to boost their popularity.

Whenever a film or television project was released, the relevant personnel would take the initiative to engage in frantic, round-the-clock promotion across message boards, forums, and social media, ensuring that everyone knew about it.

After all, this is no longer an era where "good wine needs no bush." In fact, good wine requires even more promotion and hype to ensure business booms and massive profits are made.

Xia Ping is naturally no saint. In his previous life, he witnessed plenty of darkness; for a work to become a massive hit, fifty percent relies on quality, while the other fifty percent relies on marketing!

On Yanhuang Planet, however, netizens seem quite naive. They have never experienced the kind of insane hype seen on Earth's internet; they simply post and discuss things honestly and straightforwardly.

Against this backdrop, he figured that as long as he pulled out a few of those Earth-based hype techniques, he should be able to go viral immediately and increase the popularity of his novel.

Thinking of this, Xia Ping immediately took action. He began his hype campaign on the Sky Eagle Forum, the most famous forum on Yanhuang Planet, starting by registering a sock-puppet account.

Using this account, he immediately wrote a post titled: "Teacher Bai Rong, this is the most outstanding erotic novel I have read in years; all those previous novels were just dog shit."

This post was pure sycophancy, praising the novel from every angle—plot, creativity, depth, and prose—describing it as a work that had no equal in heaven or on earth, claiming that one hadn't truly lived if they hadn't read it. It was so nauseating that even Xia Ping blushed a little.

But this was only the beginning. He then registered five or six different sock-puppet accounts to reply underneath.

"Big thumbs up! The OP is right. While this novel might not be the best in the world, there isn't a single one currently that can compare to it. It is a masterpiece that carries the banner of erotic literature, a mudslide of brilliance amidst countless piles of trash. I can conclude that it will definitely be the hottest erotic novel of the year; a master of the genre is rising."

One puppet account boasted.

"Blow it out your ass, can you not brag? A master? Why aren't you a pile of shit instead? I've read this novel, and it's absolute garbage, unreadable. Even a primary school student could write better than this."

Another puppet account attacked with full force. After all, hype cannot be all praise, or others will immediately spot the flaw; there must be both praise and criticism to make it seem authentic.

"The guy above is right. I went to take a look, and it turns out it was written by a dog from Yangzhou District. Who doesn't know that that district is a cultural desert on Yanhuang Planet? They've never produced a literary master. What could possibly be good about a novel written by someone from Yangzhou? Just a pile of trash. To be honest, don't hit me, but people from Yangzhou have no culture at all. They're at least a hundred years behind my Jizhou District."

One puppet account was particularly malicious, inciting regional conflict.

Because Yanhuang Planet is unified, the entire planet is divided into nine major districts: Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Yizhou, and Yongzhou.

Each district has different levels of development, which naturally makes it easy to trigger friction between them. They look down on each other, and from time to time, regional bashing and flame wars erupt on the internet.

"Screw you, you Jizhou dog! Don't think you're so great just because Jizhou produced a few famous people. You're all just relying on the old guard; not a single person from the younger generation has made a name for themselves. You've long since declined and are just living off your past glory. To say nothing else, this novel alone could crush your Jizhou District for a hundred years without wavering."

One puppet account screamed hysterically, acting like an aggrieved resident of Yangzhou.

"That's right, I've long been sick of that bunch of trash from Jizhou. It's a dying place; what's there to be so arrogant about?" an uninformed bystander chimed in. "Of course, as a resident of Qingzhou, I'm saying this from a very impartial perspective."

"Dying place your sister, impartial your sister! A starving camel is still bigger than a horse. No matter how bad Jizhou is, it's not something trash like you can compare to. You people from Qingzhou aren't any better, pretending to be impartial here. Who doesn't know that you have the most scammers there? I don't even know how many telecom fraud cases have been busted in your area."

A resident of Jizhou was annoyed and immediately posted a rebuttal.

Because it was evening, the time when the most people were online, this highly controversial thread immediately went viral on the Sky Eagle Forum, drawing in countless curious onlookers.

In just one hour, the post had already reached 3.6 million views, with 89,000 replies—it was almost impossible to keep up with the scrolling text.

People from the nine districts began hurling insults at each other, reaching the level of personal attacks. Some were even clamoring that as soon as they made some money, they would hire people to cross districts and beat the others up. The atmosphere was incredibly heated.

Even the moderator of the Sky Eagle Forum was alarmed and had to step in to maintain order.

Xia Ping, the instigator, was speechless. He hadn't expected these people to be so pure and easily provoked; the intensity of the atmosphere far exceeded his imagination.

But then again, these were hype techniques far more advanced than anything from his previous life on Earth. The "newbies" on Yanhuang Planet had suddenly encountered such sophisticated tactics, and they were all completely bewildered. It was only natural for such an effect to occur.

However, it was impossible for him to stop now. For a topic to be hyped, it requires countless people to participate. This was only the beginning; it was far from over.

And so, he went to some forums for infertility, registered several more sock-puppet accounts, and one of them quickly started a thread with the theme: "A gospel for the infertile: the erotic novel Teacher Bai Rong."

"This novel is too good. In the past, even if I took Viagra, I couldn't get it up, but ever since I read this novel, my back doesn't ache, my legs don't hurt, I feel refreshed, and I can run up to the ninth floor in one breath without panting. Even my wife stopped hitting me and often looks at me with eyes full of admiration. I feel like this novel has changed my life and given me a second spring. It's not just a simple novel; it's practically a miracle doctor, even better than Viagra."

One puppet account shared their personal experience.

"Everyone, don't doubt it. I feel the same way. I didn't believe it at first either, but my older brother introduced it to me, and after reading it with skepticism, it really is effective. It's much better than taking medicine."

Another puppet account chimed in.

"That's right, you have to spend money to see a doctor anyway, but reading this novel doesn't cost much. Why not give it a try? Maybe you'll succeed." One puppet account was very devious in its persuasion.

"Is it for real? Is it really that effective? I'm going to give it a try."

"Big brother, thank you so much! If it's really that powerful, then you've saved our lives."

"Yeah, ever since I got this illness, I've been looked down upon by my boss at work and my wife at home. Even when I go out to visit prostitutes, the nightingales look down on me. It's too miserable; there's no joy in life anymore."

A group of uninformed netizens expressed their deep gratitude.

"Don't mention it. I'm just a helpful person by nature; no need to thank me too much."

Xia Ping's puppet account replied immediately.