The comments section.
"It looks like a real cat. That's a real cat, right? Right?"
"The uploader made a Sand Sculpture video to give everyone a laugh. Taking it seriously ruins the fun. That cat is obviously fake."
Most people were sensible and figured the uploader was messing around. The cat had to be fake.
No cat could go that long without blinking, let alone without changing its expression.
Everyone treated the pet unboxing and review as a comedy video. After all, it had plenty of glaring logical flaws, like the silly cat never moving and its expression staying frozen.
Of course it wouldn't move. It was fake.
After giving it some thought, Chen Momo decided to treat it as a fake cat too.
A video this entertaining had to be shared.
That cat's expression was just too hilariously mesmerizing.
Chen Momo casually forwarded it to her elementary, middle, and high school class group chats, sharing the joy of a Sand Sculpture video.
A s t r a n g e r e v i e w.
The spaces between each character in the title gave it an unmistakable Sand Sculpture vibe.
The video thumbnail featured Mur Cat, which had recently become popular in Bilibili's remix section. Chen Momo's classmates were all young, and many enjoyed browsing Bilibili. When they saw it, they clicked out of curiosity.
Before long, people returned to the class group chats after watching the video and started posting.
"What the hell is this Sand Sculpture nonsense? I'm dying! It's obviously fake, but the uploader does the unboxing and review with a totally straight face. He got me good!"
"This uploader's 3D modeling skills are amazing. The whole cat looks real."
"The view count is pretty low. I can't believe a newbie uploader made this."
Comments popped up one after another, and excitement spread through the class group chats. Even classmates who hadn't planned on watching grew curious and clicked.
Some classmates got a good laugh out of it, then shared the video with friends or posted it in groups for meeting new people.
Viewers drawn in by the strange cat thumbnail laughed, then shared it with others.
It spread in wave after wave. Chen Momo had no idea her casual gesture had helped the video take off, bringing its view count to 7,654 that evening.
That night, when Ke Meng invited Chen Momo to play PUBG, he finally learned that she had shared his video with her classmates.
"I was wondering how it suddenly hit 7,654 views. Turns out you were helping me out, little girl," Ke Meng said, pleasantly surprised.
Honestly, it hadn't occurred to him to share his strange review video in his class group chats.
Mostly, he had treated it as a hobby before, rather than taking it seriously as a career. Passion alone had kept him going.
Hearing Chen Momo's approach opened up new possibilities for Ke Meng.
If Chen Momo could do it, he could rally his own class group chats too.
He could just tell them he'd made the video. Even if some weren't interested in that kind of content, they would show an old classmate some support.
"I'm not a little girl!"
The girl's soft voice came through his phone, flustered and furious.
"Haha, you'll always be a little girl to me." Ke Meng fearlessly kept teasing her.
She huffily marched her character away, then circled back while Ke Meng was looting and secretly rolled a grenade to his feet.
Boom!
Ke Meng's game character was blown up by his teammate's grenade.
Ke Meng stared in disbelief and cried, "Hey, hey, hey! Come revive me!"
"Nope. Just die." A deeply disgruntled voice came through the phone.
With that, another grenade rolled to his feet.
Kaboom!
Ke Meng's screen went dark.
Ke Meng was helpless, but there was nothing he could do.
He could only spectate as Chen Momo fought her way to the final circle, survived the chaotic crossfire until only two players remained, then sent her opponent flying with two grenades and claimed the chicken dinner.
"Awesome!" Ke Meng cheered after being carried to victory.
After finishing that night's gaming session, Ke Meng followed Chen Momo's example and shared his video in his class group chats and his friends-and-family group chats.
As he shared it, he explained that it was his account. Old classmates he hadn't seen in years popped up to cheer him on, promising to like, favorite, and tip the video.
Some older relatives watched it and asked, "Meng, that cat of yours... certainly looks unique. Where did you buy it?"
Ke Meng: "..."
Forget it. He'd better not count on the family chats to help.
Ke Meng climbed into bed and checked the video's Bilibili views before sleeping. It had already passed 8,000.
The system's quest list showed that the actual number of viewers was 4,420.
Each person had watched it an average of 1.8 times.
He still needed 5,580 more viewers to complete the quest. In terms of views, that would probably take another ten thousand or more.
He closed his eyes and stopped thinking about it. He would check the numbers again tomorrow.
He wondered what sort of believers he would dream about next. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any offerings tonight either.
With that, Ke Meng drifted peacefully to sleep, his consciousness returning to R'lyeh beneath the deep sea.
The enormous underwater city, built from countless massive green stones, remained unchanged across the ages.
In the deep sea, the maddened sea creatures continued their endless battles against one another, their numbers dwindling.
Ke Meng opened his eyes and saw some new faces swimming through R'lyeh, sane, relaxed, and unrestrained.
But the moment he opened his eyes, the new sea creatures that had swum in from outside went mad, crashing into everything or fighting and slaughtering one another.
Watching these newcomers join the endless free-for-all filled Great Cthulhu with sorrow.
Their lives shouldn't have been like this.
But after he awoke, everything changed.
R'lyeh returned to its everyday madness.
And Great Cthulhu's life beneath the sea remained as boring and dull as ever.
Kobold Mountain Village.
The Kobold Strategist commanded from the front, lying in ambush beneath a slope with a group of strong young fellows.
Today was the day the entire Kobold Mountain Village would ambush the enemy.
To ensure they succeeded on their first attempt, the Kobold Strategist had meticulously planned the operation.
His plans included, but were not limited to, using poison.
"They're coming! They're coming!"
The Kobold sentry hurried back to the trench beneath the slope and excitedly reported to the Kobold Strategist.
The Kobolds picked up their melee weapons, their chests swelling and blood surging, red light gleaming in their eyes.
Everyone turned in unison toward the strategist.
The strategist looked around and saw that everyone was fired up, their eyes fixed on him.
Seizing the moment, he said:
"Charge!"
The Kobolds rushed out.
The five leather-armored adventurers saw a pack of Kobolds charging at them, but showed no fear whatsoever. They met the fifty Kobolds head-on.
With superior numbers and slow-acting poison smeared on their weapons, the Kobolds captured all five adventurers alive in under ten seconds.
But they also lost one of their brothers. All five adventurers had focused their attacks on him, killing him instantly before he could even use a skill.
"Brother, rest in peace. We'll make the adventurers pay for your blood with theirs!" The Kobold Strategist wiped bean-sized tears from the corners of his eyes.
The captured adventurers were bound all over with sturdy ropes. They couldn't move at all, and every joint was immobilized.
"What the hell? Why does a trash mob's immobilize last so long?"
"It has to be a bug. I've never seen an immobilize last this long."
"Could it be a rare mob?"
The five adventurers muttered among themselves and glanced at their status bars, which listed negative effects such as "Immobilized" and "Poisoned."
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