Tokyo: The evil god doesn't want to be the top star

Chapter 360: Heavenly Network
"Tenjin Network Customer Service Co., Ltd." is nominally a company that provides "outsourced network customer service" to large companies, but in fact it specializes in gray network business.

From falsifying data, manipulating online public opinion, inflating sales, monopolizing charts, and placing advertisements, to creating black material, fabricating chat records, and AI face-changing action videos, as long as they have enough funds, they can do any kind of online business.

It can be said that the false prosperity of the entertainment industry on the Internet is entirely due to such "outsourcing companies", where technical geeks work diligently at their workstations to "produce data".

The three Internet giants, J, A, and S, are the long-term meal tickets of "Tenjin Network Customer Service Co., Ltd.". Usually, manipulating hot searches, concocting topics, and ranking traffic are all "routine business"...

During the recent "Idol Birth Festival", the production team also sent many orders for controlling the market, promoting topics, swiping support votes, and bad-mouthing a certain trainee...

But this is the first time such a large order with “no upper limit” has been placed.

"Generate unique negative review texts based on the 'negative topics' provided by the sponsor? This is easy. Just use my 'universal negative review template generator'..."

"Wait, why are there so many 'custom topics' this time, and they are all aimed at this 'Xia Fan', the templates are not enough!"

An employee who was originally thought to have been assigned an easy task had a frozen expression on his face.

"The vote-rigging task on my side is also very strange. Usually, each trainee is assigned a certain number of votes, and then they just vote directly... This time, the rule is 'vote unlimitedly for the people behind Xia Fan until he falls out of ninth place'?"

After a while, the man with glasses sitting at the workstation next to him also let out a low cry of surprise.

"My only requirement for these 'hot search rankings' is to suppress Xia Fan's hot search. The sponsor even provided an 'optional hot search list'..."

"What? Yours is also 'Xia Fan'. The order I was assigned was also to formulate whitewashing rhetoric for Xia Fan's rap content and guide the direction of public opinion..."

A lively discussion immediately broke out in the large office made up of cubicles.

When these programmers, who usually work on their own, got together, they discovered that the tasks just assigned by President Fukuyama were all aimed at "Xia Fan".

"If I remember correctly, this person seemed to be the top-ranked trainee in the "Idol Birth Festival" before, and is now ranked around 2nd or 3rd?"

"In other words, the sponsor spent a huge amount of money just to prevent this kid named Xia Fan from making his debut?"

"Oh, by the way, I remember last week I received a request to buy tickets for other trainees who were scheduled to participate in the show..."

J Company, A Company and S Company, at all costs, jointly targeted a trainee who had not yet debuted, which aroused the curiosity of these "Internet data workers" who usually don't even watch boy band idols.

"Let me check... Xia Fan... is he so handsome?"

"I see, she's a burning type, a dragon countryman, with great looks, and is also very good at singing, dancing and rapping... If she debuts, wouldn't J-company's program be a wedding dress for B-company?"

"Hey, look! Xia Fan actually revealed the 'inside story' of the industry through rap in the latest episode. No wonder he attracted so much hatred!"

After a brief search, they roughly understood why Xia Fan had received "such an honor".

"Wait a minute, isn't he destroying our jobs in disguise by talking nonsense like this?"

"This pretty boy who relies on his good looks, ability to make money and attract girls actually wants to take away the last rice bowl of poor fellows like us..."

"This is an unforgivable crime. I still have 28 months of installments left on my newly purchased life-size silicone doll!"

After coming to their senses, thinking about the bleak future with no data to brush, these tech geeks' resentment towards Xia Fan, along with their usual jealousy towards these "gigolo idols" who could make money even as men in the lower positions, all turned into a raging torrent.

“You bunch of idiots…” “Pa…pa…pa…pa…pa…pa…pa…”

"The sponsor told us to start work immediately... and you are slacking off here?!"

After crushing the cigarette butt in his hand, Fushan rolled up the documents and knocked them on the back of the men's heads one by one.

"This bunch of unreliable guys... Never mind. This business is too important. It affects the company's turnover this year. I will personally take charge..."

Walking to the center of the conference room, Fushan sat in a high-tech, arc-shaped integrated computer cockpit.

"360° zero-gravity cockpit with no blind spots activated."

After he sat in, the cockpit lit up with RGB lights and rotated backwards to a lying position.

"The full-circle screen is activated..."

Wearing the top-of-the-line mixed reality headset, a data window like flowing water filled Fushan's entire field of vision.

"Summarize the current public opinion about 'Xia Fan'..."

"The latest episode of 'Idol Birth Festival' has been aired for two hours, and topics related to 'Xia Fan' are becoming increasingly popular. They are all shared on your virtual display screen..."

The voice of an employee came from the headset, and the largest window in front of him showed a summary of hot search keywords and the corresponding network popularity data.

"How many times do I have to say it? It's the 'full screen'..."

After muttering this, Fushan carefully read the hot searches about Xia Fan.

"A beautiful boy who only appears once in five thousand years... a high pitched ceiling... supreme white chocolate abs..."

"Set a new world record for a giant elbow swing... high-speed rap..."

"Idol talent shows have hidden rules... Xia Fan is being suppressed..."

"Has Xia Fan monopolized the hot search list? If we continue to let the situation develop like this, the sponsor will probably be so desperate that he will cancel the order..."

Reading the densely packed contents on the form, he couldn't help but complain.

Because of the recent "software ticket abolition incident", Xia Fan, who finally gave up the first throne, was already in the midst of public controversy.

During the recording of the last episode, thanks to the fans' more diligent "purely handmade, no-additive voting", his popularity ranking also recovered to second place, and he was vigorously attacking Hirano Yuta from behind.

After the latest episode of "Idol Birth Festival" was aired, Xia Fan set off a storm of public opinion on the Internet with his explosive performance in various meanings and angles, as well as his uncharacteristically rebellious attitude and words...

Naturally, fans were full of confidence and praised Xia Fan crazily for his “ceiling” level strength and impeccable performance.

But there are also many "enthusiastic netizens" who think that he is outspoken and "crossing the line" and his attitude is too arrogant.

(End of this chapter)