Chapter 181: Chapter 168: Made Up Her Mind to Live a Good Life as Three
The top comments were full of speculation about why Gu Demiao Ning hadn’t been online. Gu Ning scrolled through several of them, which ranged from suspecting she was hibernating and had abandoned the account to wondering if she’d had some kind of accident.
More reasonable guesses suggested she was too busy with her offline work to make videos.
After all, hers was a personal account, unlike those run by film and television companies that had dedicated staff keeping them online 24/7.
To maintain their popularity, retain their audience, and avoid being overshadowed by competitors, these media accounts would also post related topics in their account forums. After passing the forum’s entry requirements, viewers could also post threads—be it text, images, or videos. It was a semi-open mini online community, a gathering place for fans.
Another benefit of the forum was that even if the account’s rank was suppressed, the forum itself wouldn’t be revoked. It served as proof of the creator’s ability to reach the Level 5 account status, and some advertisers and brands would still be interested.
But this feature was only unlocked upon reaching a Level 5 account, which was when one could open a personal forum.
Gu Ning was dying for this forum feature because, according to Pawpress’s rules, an account had to reach Level 5 to unlock more functions, such as setting up paid content and engaging in commercial collaborations.
On Pawpress, the tipping function for accounts from Level 0 to Level 4 was merely a small incentive for creators. These tips not only had a threshold for the creators but also imposed limits on how much viewers could tip.
Only by reaching Level 5 could one be considered out of the "novice zone" and truly make a living from their content.
However, reaching Level 5 was not easy.
Very few Beastmen made a living this way. Aside from some creators who did it as a hobby, another reason was how difficult it was to level up an account. The several million in tips earned before Level 5 seemed like a lot, but it would all be gone after buying a few good Inhibitors.
Instead of spending time earning this money, it was better to strive for promotion within one’s clan and perform public duties well. The higher-ups would distribute Inhibitors on time and as needed. Alternatively, one could join the Military Department or, as a lesser option, a Crystal Stone-harvesting team.
For most Beastmen, fighting Mutant Species and brawling with rival clans was much simpler than wracking their brains for artistic creation.
After gaining a deeper understanding of this world, Gu Ning gradually discovered that Beastmen didn’t have high expenses for daily necessities. Survival wasn’t difficult, especially in resource-rich areas.
Although many Beastman clans were exclusionary, they were also tightly knit. Large clans presided over numerous smaller ones, creating a system of mutual management and care with comprehensive social welfare.
If one ignored the problems of mutation and degeneration, their social system was actually quite good. At the very least, a Beastman wouldn’t have to worry about food or shelter before adulthood. The clan was even responsible for their education, after which jobs were assigned based on ability and talent.
But the biggest problem was their own biology.
Even a Beastman with superior genes had a chance of suddenly undergoing degeneration or mutation. Young Beastmen were no exception, which necessitated constant prevention.
This was where the greatest expense lay.
The raw material for Degeneration Inhibitors was Crystal Stone, which had to be harvested from Mutant Species and Crystal Stone Mines. The Crystal Stones from Mutant Species, aside from those of Leader Level, were all considered inferior and required deep refinement and purification. Better Crystal Stones required venturing deep into the No Man’s Land. Both methods of acquisition were time-consuming and labor-intensive; neither was easy. Consequently, Inhibitors were not cheap. They also had a limited shelf life and couldn’t be stockpiled, so their prices would skyrocket during shortages.
Prices typically soared during winter and periods of inter-clan conflict.
Gu Ning started to worry the moment she looked at her account balance. Even if Barto could get his hands on cheaper Inhibitors, she didn’t have nearly enough money to buy more than a few vials.
’I have to find a way to reach Level 5.’
Abandoning the account was out of the question. Of course, she couldn’t just post random content to meet the requirements, either. While that method might fulfill the conditions for leveling up, there was a high chance it would be rejected by Pawpress’s review team.
A Level 5 account was basically a commercial account; you couldn’t just level up whenever you felt like it.
Gu Ning leaned against Cook, absently scrolling through comments as her mind drifted between ideas for what to film and the events of the past few days.
’My identity has been exposed to that Beastman officer named Andrew. The Beastman soldiers standing guard outside... are they his men?’
’What will he do? As a high-ranking officer, he’ll probably report this to his superiors, right?’
Gu Ning still felt uneasy. After all, she wasn’t a real female Beastman, nor did she have a deep understanding of their lives.
Even if they determined she was a female, as possibly the only one in Zone 19, she didn’t hold any optimistic expectations. This was also why she didn’t dare to go out carelessly.
She was even a little afraid to contact Alex.
Once bitten, twice shy. Her previous experience of being mistaken for a Mimic Mixed Species had left a psychological scar.
Right now, the only ones she could completely trust were Cook and Barto.
She even considered secretly leaving with Barto and the others to live in a mid-sized city.
But after careful consideration, she realized that path was also fraught with risk. The winter was long, and in this severe cold, any small accident could cost her her life.
After some serious thought, she decided it was better to see what arrangements Alex and his people would make, or to wait for Barto to return so they could discuss things properly.
It was time to have a proper talk with him about the three of them. Since she was determined that the three of them would build a good life together, some things had to be laid bare.
Gu Ning closed the video player, opened her chat window with Alex, and stared at his name blankly.
’I wonder how Alex is doing. Has he finished dealing with his business?’
’Does he know that Kloer and the others mistook me for a Mimic Mixed Species? Or did he actually see me as a Mimic Mixed Species from the start, which is why Kloer and his group made the same mistake?’
A chill ran down Gu Ning’s spine as she dwelled on that possibility.
But Alex’s kindness to her over the past few days had felt so genuine. She didn’t want to jump to conclusions about him so easily.
Gu Ning took a deep breath and typed into the chat box: [Alex, are you free? I want to see you]
She wanted to hear him explain the business with the Mimic Mixed Species with his own mouth.
Just as she was about to hit send, a new chat window suddenly popped up, covering Alex’s.
[Mr. Gu Demiao Ning, hello. Are you safe and sound at the moment?]
[Do you require assistance?]
Gu Ning’s finger paused over the terminal screen for a moment, then curled slightly. Her gaze shifted to the account that had sent the message: Reya.
Seeing no response, Reya sent the two messages again and even made the chat window shake, as if afraid she hadn’t seen them.
Gu Ning furrowed her brow slightly and replied: [I’m fine. Didn’t I tell you not to use pop-ups?]
Reya:
[My apologies.]
[You don’t seem to check your private messages, so this is the only way I can communicate with you.]
[It’s wonderful to see you online. (smile)]
After replying, Reya closed the chat window.
Gu Ning found this strange and clicked into her account’s back-end.
Having not logged in for several days, she had no idea how many private messages had piled up. Then again, she always had a countless number of them. Aside from her pinned messages, Gu Ning only ever casually scrolled through her DMs when the mood struck.
She only had a few pinned accounts. Other than the official Pawpress account, which was pinned automatically, the ones she had manually pinned were Reya, Kloer, the superstar Idelos, and his agent, Deviant.
During the days she had been offline, the official Pawpress account and Deviant had sent a few private messages. They were all asking about her videos, with the two most recent ones inquiring about her well-being, worried that something might have happened to her.
After all, Gu Demiao Ning, the "virtual female" who held the key to massive future traffic, would be a huge loss if she were to just disappear. It would be a terrible shame.
