Chapter 426: Chapter 239: The World’s Impression of China! (Part 3)
As Lin Yu’an drifted into a deep sleep in the warmth of Wiseman’s Wooden House, the video was sweeping across the world like a wildfire!
The explosive popularity during the first few hours of the video’s release was predictable. The expectations that had been building for six months, compressed to their limits, erupted with astonishing force.
Bilibili’s trending list, YouTube’s recommendation algorithm, pushed this two-hour construction epic to eager fans and passersby drawn in by the "hardcore" label.
The 2.1 million views he saw were merely a spark in this wildfire. That was just the initial energy contributed by the core fans and the first batch of algorithm-suggested passersby.
The real force driving this storm to continuously mutate and eventually sweep across the globe came from a detail he never anticipated.
A two-hour, fifteen-minute, and thirty-seven-second video, what was the background music?
For the vast majority of viewers aimlessly scrolling through their phones on Christmas afternoon, the answer to this question was vague.
That melody, as ubiquitous yet indescribable as the air in Alaska, seamlessly merged with the visuals, becoming part of the emotion.
Music was merely the catalyst binding the entire sensory experience together. They found it pleasing and fitting but did not deeply inquire about its origin.
However, in the comments section of YouTube, some subtle exchanges, akin to secret communications of underground parties, began to quietly surface amidst the flood of information.
A comment in German read: [Merry Christmas! And this music... isn’t it an old song by Bieber? It keeps repeating.]
A French reply quickly followed: [Yes! I feel it’s Recovery from the album Journals! What an unbelievable and crazy Christmas gift!]
These sporadic sparks initially didn’t garner widespread attention. After all, discussing Justin Bieber in the comments section of a hardcore construction video seemed somewhat out of place.
But there’s always a group of people in the world, their ears have a religious-like devotion to a particular sound.
They are Justin Bieber’s "Beliebers," the faithful companions who have walked with him through highs and lows, familiar with his every melody and vocal inflection.
To them, the existence of this song was like discovering a secret signature belonging to their idol in a realistic landscape oil painting.
December 25th, 19:14, United Kingdom, London, a student apartment
Chloe Harrison was aimlessly poking at the leftover Christmas roast chicken on her plate as the night had long fallen outside in London.
The festive lights reflected a mesmerizing glow on the wet streets. As an international student remaining at school alone, Christmas for her was merely a day she could stay online all night.
As the operator of the Twitter account "Bieber’s Journals" with 200,000 followers, her digital world was far more exciting than her real life.
She was planning to watch a romance movie, but YouTube’s algorithm, like a diligent Santa Claus, recommended her the video she clicked on in the afternoon.
This time, she noticed that the video views had already surpassed five million and were visibly increasing.
Next to the "trending" flame tag, there was even a "phenomenon-level" recommendation note.
"Okay, okay, ’My Full Log Cabin Build in Alaska.’ I must see what makes it so magical." She mumbled, clicking on the video.
The video started with a one-minute aerial shot, the drone was like a silent snow falcon, soaring over the endless coniferous forest, finally hovering over a cleared open space.
The scene was so silent, you could hear the wind, and the loneliness of the wilderness almost overflowed from the screen.
Then, the music began.
Just a simple, somewhat melancholic electric piano intro, but Chloe’s body jerked as if struck by an electric current.
This melody...
Her heart started to pound wildly! Quickly dragging the progress bar to different time points.
At 15 minutes and 21 seconds, the man was using a band saw to cut huge logs; at 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 40 seconds, the cabin frame stood against the sunset...
No matter where she paused the mouse pointer, that familiar melody and Justin’s young, clear voice, with a hint of struggle and vulnerability, repeated over and over.
"Oh my God..." Chloe covered her mouth with her hand, trying to suppress the scream that was about to escape.
"It’s Recovery!"
Not "Baby," not "Sorry," not any globally popular chart-topping singles even played in Christmas malls.
But a song from the 2013 album Journals, an album considered a turning point in Bieber’s music career, yet commercially far from successful, seen as an experimental album.
A track only die-hard fans would listen to repeatedly, a song seen as a true reflection of Bieber’s internal struggles at that time, a "hidden gem."
And this creator, he simply and bluntly looped the entire song, playing it thirty-seven times throughout the over two-hour-long video!
Initially, Chloe found this treatment strange.
But as she immersed herself in the video, watching the man chopping trees, slicing, and building with endless repetition, she slowly savored an incredibly fascinating sensation.
The roar of the chainsaw, the crisp sound of the axe, the pounding of the hammer... these real-world white noises, paired with the song singing about "recovery" and "healing," formed a magical counterpoint!
As if the man was responding to the illusory, inner struggle in the music with real, arduous labor.
Every cycle seemed like a self-inquiry; every construction like an answer to that inquiry.
The monotonous cycle did not bore but instead, in this extreme repetition, wholly drew the audience into the protagonist’s lonely, focused world.
Chloe’s breathing became rapid, a missionary-like sense of duty seized her. She had to tell the world, tell every Belieber, about this most special "Christmas gift"!
Her fingers danced across the keyboard like a blur, and a tweet, carrying all her excitement and love at that moment, was sent out: [Beliebers! Merry Christmas! I found the best Christmas gift this year!
A Chinese creator built a log cabin in the Alaska wilderness and looped the song Recovery non-stop for over two hours!
This is the most crazy and romantic tribute I have ever seen! He practically lived out the song!]
She clicked send, and the tweet, like a spark falling into hot oil, instantly ignited the fan’s quiet Christmas night.
——
(Here comes the second update! Tomorrow’s update might be late... because... ε=(´ο｀*))) sigh...)
(There’s no escape, does this look like a monthly ticket to you?)
