Chapter 117: Chapter 116: The Episode with the Most Internet Spirit

This felt nice.

Lori grinned foolishly at the friend request.

It seemed his status as an outstanding student of Repin Academy was quite popular.

Of course, the "outstanding" part was self-proclaimed.

He opened the friend request and saw the profile picture was a photo.

’Is this really her?’

Although the clothes worn by the person in the photo weren’t revealing in the slightest, they were quite form-fitting, accentuating her beautiful curves.

’She’s not a little girl, she’s a young woman.’

Lori felt a little bashful.

’What’s wrong with me, getting all worked up over such a normal photo?’

He tried clicking her profile picture, originally just wanting to zoom in for a closer look.

To his surprise, it opened up her personal homepage.

From the homepage, he could navigate to other sections and view the user’s posts.

First, he clicked on the "Weibo" section.

Lori didn’t even know what "Weibo" meant.

"Wow, Teacher Raul is so handsome!"

Below it was a shared photo of Raul standing in the snow, dressed like a nobleman.

Raul?

’That name sounds familiar.’

’Oh, right. He’s that Demon Shadow Actor. Even my mom back home became a huge fan after watching a Shadow of Evil broadcast on her Magic Vision Device.’

’But why call an actor "Teacher"?’

’With this costume, he must be filming another Shadow of Evil movie.’

Lori wasn’t particularly interested in Shadow of Evil; he preferred comics. However, he had heard that "Mechanical Warrior" was being adapted into a Magic Shadow Drama, so he would have to check it out then.

He scrolled down.

"Who says girls can’t like Mechanical Warrior?"

Next was a photo of the girl wearing a Mechanical Belt and striking a transformation pose.

Lori felt his heart skip a beat.

’Could it really be such a coincidence?’

’Upperclassman? What upperclassman? I don’t know her!’

Lori immediately accepted the friend request from the "little girl who dreams of Repin."

"Wow, hi, senior!"

’She called me senior! Hehehe...’

Lori clumsily typed a reply.

’Is your profile picture really you?’ He immediately deleted it. ’Too creepy.’

He started again. ’You’ll definitely get in.’ ’Still not right. We don’t know each other that well.’

’I like Mechanical Warrior too.’ ’No, can’t do that.’

’That would reveal I was snooping on her Weibo page!’

After much deliberation, Lori pecked out "Hello." with his two index fingers.

"Wow, you replied even though it’s so late! I’m so happy! I hope I’m not bothering your studies. I heard Repin Academy’s final exams are coming up."

’She’s worried about me.’

’She cares!’

Lori felt he should show off his prowess as an outstanding student.

"It’s fine, no bother at all. It’s just finals. As long as you study hard normally, exams are a breeze."

’Heh, she must be so impressed by my confidence.’

—--

「Meanwhile, at the Deer Spirit Social Circle customer service department, far away in the Northern Domain.」

The center was housed in a lavishly decorated four-story villa that had once belonged to a famous local merchant.

However, after the merchant’s assets were seized, the building was converted into a customer service center.

All the Minstrels, swindlers, and various fast-talkers from across the Northern Domain who made a living with their gift of gab had been gathered here to become the Zog Group’s first batch of full-time customer service representatives. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

However, their main duty wasn’t answering users’ difficult questions.

After all, aside from internal employee accounts, there were only a few hundred genuine new users. How could there be that many questions?

Therefore, their primary job was to generate content.

At present, ninety-nine percent of the content seen on the forums and message boards was written by these reps.

As their pay was commission-based, calculated by the amount of content posted, this band of "masters" from all walks of life had created over twenty thousand topics and more than a hundred thousand posts in just three days.

It was a masterclass in creating a false sense of activity.

And then there was their other job: being chat companions.

On the Illusion Mimicry screen in front of agent 9527, more than twenty chat windows were open at once.

Just a month ago, he was a conman locked in a dungeon.

But now, he was simultaneously a noble from a fallen house, a wounded and retired Ranger, a wife neglected by her husband, a sheltered young lady yearning for freedom, and a little girl dreaming of attending Repin.

One had to wonder if poor Lori would cry his heart out if he discovered the truth—that the "little girl" he was chatting with was actually a pot-bellied, middle-aged ex-conman picking his feet.

It wasn’t a complete fabrication, though. The profile picture and the photos on the Weibo page were from a photoshoot with a famous socialite from the Northern Domain.

Seeing Lori’s message, 9527 scratched his foot and took a sip of his ice-cold cola.

His favorite part of working for the Zog Group was, without a doubt, the unlimited supply of drinks and snacks. He had only been on the job for a few days, and his waistband already felt a little tight.

"A breeze?" 9527 couldn’t help but snort, nearly choking on his cola.

Lori’s linked Red Middle account data was displayed right there.

Last month’s playtime: 210 hours.

didn’t know anything about studying Magic, but he knew the principle of "practice makes perfect."

If he had spent two hundred hours a month playing games, he would’ve been caught and thrown in jail on his very first con.

’So, how to reply?’

According to the employee handbook, a student who liked comics and games should be funneled toward spending money in the Entertainment or Knowledge sections.

’Continue with the exam topic, or pivot to Mechanical Armor? A schoolboy like him won’t be able to resist a gorgeous girl who suddenly pops up sharing his interests.’

thought for a moment and decided to broach the topic by asking if Repin had a comics club.

"Let me see who you’re replying to." Zog’s voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

Realizing his boss was watching, 9527 immediately sat bolt upright and began frantically switching between the numerous chat windows, trying to look busy.

"I’m not here to check on you," Zog said. "I just want to see the person you’re talking to."

Zog didn’t have to personally act as a chat companion; his starting point was much better than that.

Besides increasing user activity, the chat companions were also responsible for funneling users to different sections of the platform.

Right now, growth in every section was fine, except for the one he had the highest hopes for: the Knowledge section, which was completely dead.

’This is all kinds of magical knowledge! In theory, it’s the most valuable information there is. Spellbooks cost a fortune and are tightly controlled by the major families and academies.’

’Shouldn’t young Mages be treating this place like a priceless treasure?’

But for now, the only people posting there were the old Mages within the Zog Group and the very prolific Furin.

"Hold on, don’t send anything. Let me talk to this one," Zog said.

vacated his seat.

Zog scanned the chat history, thought for a moment, then typed and sent a message.

"You’re so incredible! Are all the students at Repin Academy this amazing? I tried reading the featured tutorials in the Knowledge section, but I couldn’t understand any of them. Maybe I just don’t have any talent for it."

"Don’t worry, I’ll explain anything you don’t understand. Let me go take a look."

Back in his dorm at Repin Academy, Lori scoffed. ’A mere tutorial? As if that could stump me.’

He switched over to the Knowledge section and found the pinned "featured" post.

"The Points of Differentiation and Similarity in the Construction of Spell Models for All Schools, First through Ninth Ring. Author: Golden Dragon Loves Drawing."

He broke into a cold sweat.

Lori’s eyelid twitched as he read the title. ’What an incredibly arrogant title. Just who in the world wrote this?’

He opened the post and began to read, his surprise growing with every line.

’I know all these words individually, so why do they make no sense when strung together?’

Lori found the section on the Transformation School. ’Surely I can understand my own major,’ he thought.

"It can be easily proven that a structural commonality exists between the Enlightenment Technique and the construction of a sentient Illusion Body."

Huh?

’The Enlightenment Technique! That’s a Fifth Ring spell!’

’Forget fully understanding it, just being able to cast it reliably is enough to earn a master’s degree!’

’And this person says it’s "easily proven"? Where’s the proof?!’

’My brain is short-circuiting!’

Lori exited the post and started browsing the rest of the Knowledge section.

"On Optimizing the Transport of Ancient Giant Dragons via Super Long-Distance Legion-Level Teleportation Arrays. Author: Xiao Xiong."

’Xiao Xiong? Could it be *that* Xiao Xiong?’

"A Thesis on Using the Invisibility Technique to Cover a Castle with a Three-Thousand-Square-Meter Footprint."

...

Lori was dumbfounded. ’What kind of Knowledge section is this? One that you’re not qualified to read unless you’re Level Fifteen or higher?’

But he also quickly realized that if this forum had a large user base, the demand for low-level magical knowledge should be far greater than the demand for these topics.

’Could this be an opportunity for me?’

’If I write a featured post, or even get "Post of the Month"...’

’Wouldn’t that put the Ten Gold Coins prize within my reach?’

At this thought, Lori created a new topic.

"Repin Academy’s Transformation School: A First-Year’s Guide to Passing, Starting with 0 Ring Tricks."

"Chapter One: Understanding Spell Components..."