I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

A light, cheerful voice came from inside, making Lu Ban a little confused.

"Video? Ah...you saw it?"

Lu Ban then remembered the video he had uploaded that morning, never expecting that his classmate would see it.

That was kind of awkward.

It's like the embarrassing feeling of having your own YY ​​(fantasy/imagination) novel published on a fiction website discovered by your Chinese language teacher mother, who then meticulously nitpicks every single grammatical error.

"Yeah, it's pretty scary, but also quite interesting... By the way, are you still in Jiangcheng?"

"exist."

"Want to grab a bite sometime? We haven't seen each other since graduation, have we..."

"Yes, if I have time... I'll definitely do it next time!"

Lu Ban mumbled a reply, then stared blankly at the phone screen after the call ended before remembering what his old squad leader had mentioned.

This definitely wasn't because the old squad leader had a crush on him and secretly followed his old video account on his old video website to ask about it after seeing the video.

So there's only one answer left.

He turned on his computer, opened the Old Days Video website, and as soon as he opened the homepage, he saw an automatically cropped underworld cover image appear in the top of the popular recommendations.

The old video website used big data algorithms, and manual recommendations had very low weight. Now it appears on the homepage and is popular, which is 100% due to the surge in clicks and other data.

Upon closer inspection, Lu Ban was astonished to find that his video had already reached 1.5 million views and over 10,000 comments in just half a day.

Could it be that this video has actually taken off?

"real or fake?"

Lu Ban clicked in out of curiosity, wanting to see how the more than 10,000 comments were praising him.

[I saw this video on the subway, and it almost made me run away! How can people be so despicable these days, doing all this kind of nonsense!]

This kind of work in the underworld is definitely not something that people in the mortal world could do!

I was a little sleepy at first, but after reading this, I feel completely refreshed. I'm not saying anything more, my cabinet moved, I'm going to check it out.

[Any brave souls willing to try this game tonight?]

May all evil spirits be banished! No offense intended!

[I watched it. It's obviously special effects editing; it's not scary at all. The main thing is the good idea; it must be from a professional team.]

No way, I have to give this video a like, comment, and share it! I can't be the only one who gets scammed!

I was watching this video in bed early this morning, completely engrossed, when I couldn't help but touch my wife's cold hand next to me. Wait, where did I get old...?

[I just want to ask, is the person in the video still alive?]

Most of these comments are from people who were scared by the video and then turned around to criticize Lu Ban, or they criticize Lu Ban while forwarding, liking, and giving coins to support him and give back to society.

Lu Ban looked at the comments criticizing him, but instead of being angry, he even felt like laughing.

For a creator of horror films, the audience's fear is the best reward. If they can scare a few more people and make them curse, then the creator has done a good deed.

Moreover, Lu Ban's videos don't have many sudden scary actions or disgusting scenes. They rely almost entirely on environmental rendering, so the level of horror and fright isn't that high. This, in fact, becomes an advantage that facilitates their spread.

Many frightened people, in order to avoid becoming the only victim, kept forwarding the video and boosting its popularity, trying to get it on the list to harm more people.

This is the direct reason why the video went viral in such a short time.

Lu Ban's private messages on the old video website were overflowing. He glanced at them casually and found that some people were just coming to reread the video comments, some were checking if Lu Ban was still alive, some were asking about the game details and wanted to try it themselves, and some were from talent agencies inquiring about cooperation.

Dear Mr. "Immovable", we would like to invite you to star in our online feature film...

There were even talent scouts.

Lu Ban ignored it for the time being.

After he finished washing up and returned to his computer, the number of clicks increased by nearly 50,000.

At this rate, the video could reach five million views by tomorrow at the latest. Keep in mind that it's not even noon yet, and most people are watching it while commuting to work. Lu Ban guessed that the real growth point for the video's views would be in the evening.

From this perspective, Lu Ban was actually quite grateful to his "friend under the bed".

"..."

Lu Ban couldn't help but look under the bed again, and sure enough, there was nothing there.

He thought for a moment, then picked up a broom and mop and swept the room inside and out, cleaning even the area under the bed. The whole room looked brand new.

I refreshed the page again and the number of clicks reached 1.6 million.

This refreshing process is quite addictive.

However, Lu Ban's own account only gained a little over two thousand followers, which pales in comparison to the big UP masters with millions of fans on the old video website.

Some students may ask, why are there so many views but so few new followers?

As Lu Ban had previously researched and learned, the virality of a video has many accidental and unrepeatable factors, and reaching millions of views requires a historical process.

For a newcomer like him to have achieved this level of success by uploading videos is honestly just good luck.

The number of fans is a reflection of true strength and a symbol of audience recognition of their production ability. A mere supernatural horror video cannot make "Still Motion" go viral.

Lu Ban doesn't need to worry about this for now; the system task is five million views, not one million followers.

Since he had a rare good opportunity, Lu Ban didn't stay at home. He decided to go out for a walk, have lunch, and then visit the library to find some books related to the supernatural to enrich himself.

He went downstairs and into the braised chicken rice restaurant at the entrance of the community. He ordered a medium-sized braised chicken stew and was about to take out his phone to check the number of views on his video when he noticed that the little girl sitting at the next table was staring at him.

Lu Ban then looked up and stared at the opposite side.

stare--

The two stared at each other for more than ten seconds, but no sparks of romance flew. Instead, the other person jumped up and asked with a strange expression.

"...Are you alive?"

Chapter 009 is me, it's me!

One hour ago.

In the group chat of virtual anchor Li Baitu, the forwarded video sat alone at the end of the conversation, with no one responding.

This is normal. Streamers are all night owls. Even if the prime time for streaming is from 8 pm to midnight, these people will still secretly play games and eat alone until 3 or 4 am before going to sleep.

Staying up late led to waking up late; it wasn't until after 11 a.m. that one of the people in the group woke up.

Her name is Qin Tiantian, and she is also a virtual streamer. Her virtual avatar is a girl with dog ears, short gray hair, and a red scarf. Her name is Wangchuan. Her character design was created by Li Baitu, so she also refers to herself as Li Baitu's "daughter" in her live streams.

Although Qin Tiantian ended her live stream at 8 pm last night, she still secretly played games until after midnight. She got up at 11 am this morning, half asleep and half awake, and saw the video that Li Baitu posted in the group.

Do not see do not know.

Upon seeing this, Qin Tiantian was completely distraught.

She wasn't very brave to begin with, and with the most dramatic effect coming from a mobile phone, Qin Tiantian felt her scalp tingling when the scratching sound came from the speaker. She subconsciously threw her phone away, and it landed by the bed. When she reached out to pick it up, she saw it under the bed.

Then I was so startled by the bright smile of the spokesperson printed on the box I used to keep that I convulsed.

My goodness, that was absolutely terrifying.

More importantly, Qin Tiantian discovered that the house in the video was exactly the same as the house she was renting.

Qin Tiantian was certain that it was definitely in her own neighborhood; there was no other one like this bizarre one-bedroom apartment in Jiangcheng!

Thinking of this, Qin Tiantian became even more frightened.

Folklore, legends, and scary stories are just for fun.

But once these things become specific to your own surroundings, your own living space, or even your own house, they become terrifying.

Who doesn't have something under their bed?

Under that dark, dirty, dusty bed, there lurks something spying on you, something that might not even be human.

Every nightfall, that twisted, indescribable being comes to your side, gently caressing your body, leaving its mark...

Just thinking about this made Qin Tiantian feel empty and chilly in front of and behind her.

Therefore, Qin Tiantian was so startled that he didn't want to play on the computer anymore and quickly ran out to find an acquaintance to get some talismans to ward off evil spirits.

After changing into a pink, slightly oversized printed T-shirt and denim shorts, Qin Tiantian, who had the build of a middle school student, felt hungry as soon as she stepped out the door. She chose to go to the braised chicken and rice stall at the entrance of her residential complex.

While catching her breath and waiting for her delicious meal, Qin Tiantian was shocked to discover that the handsome guy sitting opposite her looked just like the person in the video!

It's not just similar, it's practically identical!

Good heavens, is this some kind of ghost?!

"...Are you alive?"

Qin Tiantian blurted it out.

"...Thanks to you, I am very healthy."

Lu Ban had no idea what kind of braised chicken this girl had eaten, that made her say such things, but he was very polite.

"...Is that you in this video?"

Qin Tiantian realized her mistake and quickly took out her phone to find the video from earlier.

Upon seeing this, Lu Ban instantly understood the whole story.

I guess she was scared by the video, and then lost her mind when she saw him.

Fortunately, the symptoms are not serious.

"Yes, that's me."

Lu Ban frankly admitted it.

"Wow, you're really fearless... What happened to that last doll?"

Qin Tiantian couldn't help but be curious.

The final shot of the video, pulling back to reveal the doll on Lu Ban's shoulder, is truly memorable.

The initial focus of the scene is on Lu Ban's face, and with the preceding build-up, viewers are subconsciously drawn to the area under the bed. Only when the camera zooms out completely do people realize the plush toy on Lu Ban's shoulder, creating a unique sense of dread and bringing the video to an abrupt end. It leaves a lingering impression and a chilling thought.

"It was thrown in the trash can."