After Shane and Karen finished lunch, they pried open a side door of the library and walked in.
In their school, someone might pretend to patrol the library in the morning, but at noon and in the afternoon? Not even a ghost would come.
They slipped into a small room labeled "Media Room," which contained some dusty videotapes and a projector.
They chose this room mainly because the door wasn't locked, and it could be locked from the inside once they entered.
Shane took an alcohol wipe from his pants pocket and started wiping the dusty sofa in the room, preparing for "battle."
"I'm going to the restroom," Karen said, turning to leave the room.
Shane nodded.
While wiping the sofa, his eyes caught a small black box covered in dust in the corner—it was a router, its indicator light still faintly blinking.
Shane walked over, picked up the router, and turned it over. A sticky note was attached underneath with the password written on it.
"Oho, free WiFi?" Shane raised an eyebrow, then took out his phone.
Although the WiFi signal in this broken school library wasn't much faster than a snail, it was better than spending money on data.
The moment the connection was successful—Buzz buzz buzz buzz!
His phone danced in his palm.
In the top right corner of the blue Facebook icon on his home screen, red notification numbers began changing constantly.
7 — 16 — 39 — finally the screen froze for a moment, and then that clump of numbers turned directly into a "99+".
"? —"
A moment later, Karen pushed the door open and came in. Seeing his phone buzzing non-stop and him staring seriously at the screen, she asked, "What's wrong? Who do you owe money to? Getting text-bombed by loan sharks?"
"Actually, I also want to know what's wrong."
Shane waited for a long time before finally opening the notification page. He wanted to see what exactly made his post blow up. You know, early Facebook didn't have "Dou+ (TikTok promotion)" to boost you. To go viral, it mostly depended on luck, and partially on strength.
The notification page loaded for several seconds, then, like the message notifications just now, instantly refreshed a huge string of information and dense reminders.
[Muscle Ripper] shared your page.
[Sleepless in Chicago] shared your post.
[Natural Bodybuilding Warrior] commented on your photo.
[Sweetheart Baby] requested to add you as a friend.
Shane kept scrolling down; he wanted to find the initial ignition point.
Finally, he scrolled to the very bottom. The first share was yesterday afternoon.
This share notification came from an account with a profile picture of a shirtless man flexing his biceps.
This person shared the post of the comparison photo of him and Kevin to a group called "Fitness Corner": "Guys, come look at this Asian kid. Look at his separation, look at his body fat. I just want to ask, can this fcking be achieved naturally?"
The replies below turned directly into a battlefield: "Definitely on gear. That tricep separation, natural training simply cannot achieve this level unless he's a genetic lottery jackpot winner!"
—
"Shut up, sour grape. You're a skinny dog yourself, so everyone looks like they're on gear to you. This muscle morphology is clearly very natural!"
"His muscles are too symmetrical, too perfect. I think it's Photoshopped."
There were many more arguments below.
Then, this post was accidentally discovered by the administrator of a fitness group with tens of thousands of members and was forwarded directly to that group chat.
Highlighted, pinned to the top.
The title was even more inflammatory: "Roid Kid or Natural Fitness Genius? Yes or No? Come vote!"
This time the controversy was ignited directly. The discussion extended from questioning the physique to race, talent, training methods, and even personal attacks.
The comment section was a mess, but the heat grew explosively because of it.
But this wasn't all.
Shane continued to scroll up and saw the third key propagation node.
An account named "Hookup Guide" (profile picture was a blurry selfie under nightclub lights).
This account cropped the best-looking solo photos he posted into a grid and forwarded them directly to several groups with ambiguous names: "Windy City Sleepless," "Chicago Bar Party," "Chicago Nightlife"...
And @mentioned his account.
"Anyone know this handsome guy? Asking for contact info!"
This time the style of the comment section was completely different from the above.
"With such a good body, his stamina must be amazing, right?"
"Am I the only one who thinks his eyes are a bit fierce? But that makes him even more delicious."
"This face, I feel like if his palm slapped my ass, I would be very comfortable~"
Shane looked at these somewhat explicit replies.
Okay, the logic chain was complete:
The fitness circle was responsible for creating controversy, bringing initial heat; then the appearance circle, or the hormone circle, was responsible for pushing the heat to a broader crowd.
In other words, drama attracts eyeballs, beauty accelerates spread.
It seems the combination of handsome guy plus muscles is Top 0 everywhere.
Karen had leaned over at some point, resting her chin on his shoulder.
Looking at those flirtatious messages sent by female profile pictures on the screen, the arm around Shane's neck tightened unconsciously.
"Hey, hey, hey, give some air, give some air."
"Look, our baby Shane is very popular online. So many sisters want to see you. Looks like your schedule tonight can't accommodate them all."
"Hey, I didn't initiate this. This is all network effect, completely uncontrollable. Look, actually it's mainly those people in the gym arguing." Shane explained hurriedly.
Karen snorted, loosening her grip slightly.
Shane clicked on the comparison photo post he posted yesterday.
Likes: 1,847
Comments: 422
Shares: Unknown (99+)
He glanced at the comments. Cursing battles accounted for the majority. Various professional and unprofessional analyses, those flaming him, those supporting him, all arguing in a mess.
But he didn't delete any comments cursing him. Instead, he picked a few representative controversial remarks and liked them, making them rank at the top.
Only controversy brings heat, only heat brings traffic. He still understood this principle.
At this time, he also saw a few more serious ones: "Anyone know which of his training plans is good?"
"Although this comparison photo is controversial, I really need to lose fat. Is the course effective?"
"How to contact for private coaching? Asking for a way."
But these inquiries couldn't get serious replies at all; they were all calling them fools.
Seeing this situation, Shane reacted quickly.
The situation now was that these serious inquiries would be drowned out by these trolls.
Those who intended to pay, if smart enough, would most likely send private messages.
Because private messages are a relatively private "space," one can ask specifically about prices and consult details without worrying about being watched and mocked.
Shane clicked open the private message inbox directly, wanting to see how many potential interested users there were and if he could earn a sum first.
When his private message inbox finally finished loading, Shane clicked on the first unread message, and a "big blessing" appeared directly in his eyes.
"Fck!"