Chapter 186: Unrivaled Top Streamer? Nothing Special
“He bought it himself?”
The agent heard Yu Yan’s voice and only lifted his head after noticing the tone had returned to calm, hesitating: “He couldn’t have bought that many… That bet was really big…”
“Mm… But it’s not impossible. For him to leech off you, nothing he does would be surprising…”
Yu Yan: “……”
He still couldn’t believe the message he’d heard.
Because it had been too long since anyone had challenged him in the “Traffic” field, too long, too long… Since when had that started?
Right, it wasn’t after returning to the country; even before returning, he had achieved unrivaled leading popularity in South Korea as a Chinese person.
So, he didn’t believe Chi Ye could really surpass him. That wasn’t scientific, extremely unscientific.
“……How about I tell the fans not to wait and just rush the album’s overall sales.”
“Go all out now? Spend money to buy the single first.”
The agent probed.
Album releases have several forms. One is like Chi Ye did before, dropping the entire EP at once, but generally, unrivaled top streamers choose a few lead singles to build hype, releasing one per week or even one per day, and only at the end does the full album go live on all major platforms.
The benefit of doing this is that it allows fans to gather “combat power” in advance, while also helping promote the album.
Yu Yan hadn’t gone to Singer this time at all, so he needed to promote using this publicity and distribution strategy.
Chi Ye actually didn’t need to, but he chose to do so.
So, the industry unanimously thought he was deliberately Peng Ci after seeing his official announcement.
Indeed, “Chi Ye’s intentions are known to all bystanders.”
But no matter how “known to all bystanders” you are, you can’t actually Peng Ci Yu Yan!
At this moment, after learning that Chi Ye’s single sales had surprisingly surpassed Yu Yan’s by one million, everyone in the industry and beyond who was paying attention to this was completely confused.
It wasn’t shock; they were utterly dumbfounded, unable to comprehend how Yu Yan, who was always “invincible in battle,” had been stepped on by Chi Ye in this opening single.
This… how is this possible.
This doesn’t make sense!
Shi Jinwei had been working all day today.
It was only during the busy midday work period that she “happened” to scroll to Chi Ye’s single sales real-time data.
It was really very coincidental, so coincidental that she could even scroll to the latest internal sales data for Jian Ni.
“This… this isn’t right.”
She could stay calm at first, but watching the two names “Chi Ye” and “Yu Yan” intertwine every half hour, going back and forth, her mind went blank, somewhat crashing.
Unable to understand, unable to comprehend, unwilling to believe.
Chi Ye…
Beat Yu Yan?
Even if temporary, that’s still a win, still stepping on his head!
Still that phrase: Internal Entertainment Circle’s only unrivaled top streamer being stepped on—no matter how many reasons or excuses, getting stepped on once is just wrong!
Unrivaled means staying high above, far ahead.
In the past, top streamers among young “singers” in the circle like Peng Chen, Shi Jinwei, Hua Yichen, etc., basically couldn’t even see the taillights of Yu Yan’s album sales.
Right, not to mention going back and forth—even getting close was impossible, far behind, Yu Yan’s highest single sales could reach 180 million, while Hua Yichen’s entire album combined couldn’t match even a fraction of one of his songs’ sales.
Chi Ye’s last Reboot managed 70 million sales with crazy marketing, shocking the entire industry and beyond, and Chi Ye gained his first career upgrade star power and ascension because of it.
But still, it didn’t match even a fraction of Yu Yan’s single sales.
And now, just over half a year later, Chi Ye’s first official album after Reboot, its lead song, was actually competing neck-and-neck with Yu Yan.
Now even in the leading position.
You this…
Isn’t your progress a bit too fast?
Fast to the point of “absurd”!
Sister Qianzi felt her previous “positioning” and “impression” of Chi Ye shattered once again.
She couldn’t figure out what Chi Ye was up to now, or how he managed all this.
Could it be that Singer gave him such a huge boost?
Golden Eagle Festival’s traffic… Did he convert 100% of it?
“Sister Shi, Sister Shi, you told me to buy the single, I bought 50,000 worth, what do you think?”
The little assistant bounced in excitedly and said cheerfully.
Sister Qianzi snapped back, displeased: “Who told you to buy it?”
“Ah?”
The little assistant was stunned, then reacted and hurriedly said: “I stole your money to buy it myself, Sister Shi, you won’t blame me, right?”
“……No next time.”
Shi Jinwei’s face had a strangely calm expression, looking expressionless and in a bad mood.
Actually, she was completely dumbfounded now; she needed to adapt and understand… what was happening next.
Looks like no vocal practice for a while.
Chi Ye, you are really hateful.
……
Let’s Go recording site.
“How much now, how much?”
The ninth time Jin Xia asked in ten minutes.
Chi Ye wasn’t impatient at all and casually made up: “A billion or so, probably.”
“Ah?”
Empress Dowager’s mouth fell open, muttering: “I didn’t top up that much.”
Chi Ye: “?”
The other guests who seemed not to notice them but actually had all eyes on them: “???”
“See, I told you, he definitely bought it!”
Arthur had a “you see?” look on his face.
Of course, no one was stupid enough to actually believe it.
Ling Han’s expression was equally shocked and puzzled as she stared at Chi Ye repeatedly, still unable to see how he measured up to Yu Yan anywhere.
Though Chi Ye seemed maybe just a tiny bit better looking than Yan Ge, but… he wasn’t an unrivaled top streamer!
Yan Ge was the Internal Entertainment Circle’s acknowledged unrivaled top streamer; even before returning, he was unrivaled in Korea.
He could turn recording a show next to a trash can into a viral check-in spot, breaking Guinness records on Weibo left and right.
What does Chi Ye have to compare with Yan Ge?
Looks? Strength?
Mm… seems like both work, but you just don’t have that popularity, traffic, and filter!
Ling Han was a typical “champion fan.”
She liked Yu Yan simply because his unrivaled top streamer status was too dazzling, so dazzling that Internal Entertainment Circle had no second top streamer with such “dominance”; little girls like that kind of “strongest.”
Guys like Chu Han Zhou, Peng Chen, etc., didn’t even deserve to carry Yu Yan’s shoes.
Ji Hemming was still decent, but he was done for anyway.
Mm… no… I gotta check what’s going on; I haven’t bought the single to support Yan Ge yet!
Ling Han thought of this, quietly stepped aside, pulled out her mobile phone, and tapped into Yu Yan’s CP super topic group chat.
And as she expected, at that moment, in Yu Yan’s CP super topic group chat, the Yu Yan fans who were always high and mighty had “gone mad.”
【No more waiting, I’m buying the single directly. Since becoming a fan of Yan Yan, I’ve never suffered this kind of grievance!】
【Don’t rush, everyone don’t rush. CY did it on purpose; we can’t fall for it. Yan Ge’s album sales this time are aiming for the global chart; can’t waste on the single.】
【Yeah, wait for the studio’s message… All the company’s fault; this wannabe CY openly leeches us, and the company does nothing?】
【Stupid agent, making my bro suffer! I want to kill you!】
【……】
In the group.
Some younger fans couldn’t hold back anymore.
The outside world was just shocked by Yu Yan’s single breaking 10 million sales in one minute, a terrifying performance.
Actually, this was far from “his” limit.
Because Yu Yan’s team was truly targeting the album’s overall sales this time; single sales weren’t factored in.
So, Yu Yan’s real die-hard fans hadn’t even truly gone all out—they were saving their wallets to push the album; the single was just an appetizer.
But no one expected Chi Ye to come out swinging at this time.
Yu Yan fans, who had never suffered grievance, how could they tolerate it?
Many had already started secretly buying the single.
The fan club leaders and management, who were connected to Yu Yan’s studio and company and got paid, were very anxious and helpless seeing this, constantly soothing everyone to not act impulsively; they had already surpassed Chi Ye again now.
【Yeah, everyone don’t impulse; this is nothing? CY went to all that effort and only tied us; stay calm!】
Ling Han posted with her alt account; she was also management in the group, and her words always carried “weight,” so after she spoke, most fans stopped moving.
Here, it’s worth mentioning that Yu Yan’s team’s “strictness” in fan management was absolutely comparable to real “military-style management.”
They treated fans not like ordinary artists, but more like cultivating believers; organizational ability, action ability, data ability—all top-notch, the “battle-hardened troops” of the fan circle.
Practically on par with a cult leader and followers; consumption ability and mobilization ability were both ridiculously exaggerated.
If they said ignore Chi Ye’s Peng Ci, even if ridden in the face, they wouldn’t respond.
If they said hold back since no word from “Yan Ge” yet and don’t buy all the singles, then they wouldn’t buy.
But even in this situation, many “peripheral” Yu Yan fans made moves.
Yu Yan’s Meteor, after briefly being led by Chi Ye by one million, quickly surged back ahead, with the gap widening, eventually leading Chi Ye by nearly five million in sales.
By 8 PM that evening, eight hours after the singles went live, Yu Yan’s sales were 66 million, while Chi Ye’s were just scraping 60 million.
A gap of nearly six million, after an eight-hour “tug-of-war,” left the industry and beyond “satisfied” while fully recognizing Chi Ye’s terrifying appeal in “music” now.
But…
“Still short six million, and momentum clearly weakening.”
Peng Chen looked at the sales comparison between Captain and Yu Yan with complex eyes.
Honestly, his scalp tingled a bit.
If it were him, he wouldn’t dare guarantee surpassing Chi Ye…
Fine, in music, he definitely couldn’t surpass.
After all, current Chi Ye was in a state with Hua Yichen’s blood sucked dry +30% of Ji Hemming’s blood + ultimate buff from ordinary fans.
He was now going head-to-head with Yu Yan!!
“Please let his next drama flop hard; if it goes viral, he could market himself as ‘Little Yu Yan’…”
In “desperation,” to avoid returning to the fear of being dominated by Captain, Lao Peng once again chose to believe in metaphysics, starting to imitate Hua Yichen, who was probably also frantically doing rituals at the same time.
Heaven and earth spirits… Take away this demon Chi Ye; end it here!
“That trailer for his You Who Came From the Stars… the quality feels off; it’s on hot search.”
At that moment, the agent finished watching the newly topped hot search #You Who Came From the Stars trailer#, and the hot words below like #What drama’s theme song is Jian Ni#, exited the interface, and confirmed: “Chi Ye Studio bought hot searches.”
“Buying hot searches is fine; buying means he’s guilty about the quality!”
Peng Chen seized the loophole.
“……But all positive reviews; this MV and song are gonna explode.”
The agent replied.
Peng Chen was stunned.
……
Jian Ni paired with Xing Ni plot’s first trailer officially topped the hot search list at 8 PM, the peak traffic time today.
In fact, during the daytime when Chi Ye and Yu Yan’s popularity exploded, Xing Ni topics had appeared several times.
This was Chi Ye Peng Ci’s ultimate goal.
You think stepping on Yu Yan is fun?
Mm… pretty fun, but that’s small fun.
Xing Ni is the big fun.
And just as Chi Ye evaluated, Xing Ni’s first trailer quality was indeed explosive—not the filters common in current domestic idol dramas, but top-tier filming techniques from South Korea.
Including costumes, sets, props, and most importantly, the male and female leads’ appearances, atmosphere… plot.
Right, plot.
The short three-minute trailer MV didn’t have much plot, but it was edited to feel like a “dimensional strike” on Internal Entertainment Circle.
It really was a dimensional strike.
Chi Ye and Jin Xia’s faces were too superior.
The two in frame together, gazing at each other, embracing, kissing—every smile and frown carried some magic, making anyone who saw this MV trailer involuntarily scream like a groundhog—and because of this “single showdown,” Jian Ni exploded in popularity, more people heard the song, leading to even more people seeing the MV.
#Chi Pan Xia Yu# CP fans went crazy.
Yes, in the whole storm, almost invisible, #Chi Pan Xia Yu# CP fans went crazy.
A year ago, this CP exploded across the web because of Jian Ni, gaining countless fans, including many famous big-spender fan club leaders from various fan circles.
No one paid attention to them, or considered their reaction to seeing this trailer MV.
What reaction?
#Chi Ye Jin Xia kiss scene#
#Xia Xia first kiss#
#Xing Ni#
Related hot words dominated the list that night.
A certain CP fan big spender threw down thousands of gold, entering the field to kuku smash Jian Ni this OST.
By noon the second day at 12 PM, 24 hours after Jian Ni single’s release, sales froze at the jaw-dropping 73 million mark that stunned everyone in and out of the circle.
Yu Yan’s Meteor froze at 72.92 million.
An 80,000 sales difference, a hair’s breadth from heaven and earth; Chi Ye solo vs. Yu Yan, successfully claiming victory in the first “showdown.”
Until the end, many “unpersuaded” Yu Yan fans were still frantically throwing money, with both sides competing so hard the three major platforms’ recharge cards glitched.
But ultimately, Jian Ni led by 80,000, ranking ahead of Yu Yan.
At the same time, Chi Ye and Yu Yan on opening day also broke multiple historical records on the three major platforms and even global digital music sales charts.
Among them, Chi Ye’s Reboot, released over half a year ago, had only accumulated 73 million sales total, yet he broke his own record in a single day.
Besides that, in this one day, Jian Ni also surpassed the cumulative album sales from half a year ago by Hua Yichen and Shi Jinwei, as well as Peng Chen’s historically highest cumulative sales album.
One day, surpassing N top streamers’ half-year or even multi-year cumulative performances.
And the most chilling part was, just like Yu Yan’s past ones, Jian Ni was a single; Reboot and others’ sales were all fucking albums!
Singles priced at three yuan, albums at double digits or more; which was higher or lower, the entire circle had fallen into an eerie silence.
—Since Ji Hemming’s persona collapse, Internal Entertainment Circle top streamer landscape was about to change.
