PDLP Chapter 10, First Live Broadcast
Chapter 10, First Live Broadcast
"Has it started?"
Lin Chen held up his phone and adjusted the angle of the camera. The waterfall at the Water Curtain Cave refracted a rainbow in the sunlight, which hung perfectly in the upper right corner of the frame. He took two steps back so that the shot could simultaneously capture the waterfall, the cave entrance, and the group of monkeys sunbathing on the rocks.
There weren't many comments yet. The live stream had just started, and there were only a few dozen viewers online.
"Let's begin, everyone." Lin Chen fixed his phone on the tripod, dusted off his hands, and said, "This is Flower Fruit Mountain, I'm Lin Chen. Today I'm going to show you something good."
The comments section started moving.
Here it comes, that fraudulent streamer!
I heard they hired the Monkey King? I'm here to see the special effects.
"I suggest the streamer show their face first, so it's not AI-generated."
Isn't Huaguo Mountain in Lianyungang? Does it really have a Water Curtain Cave?
Lin Chen ignored the sarcastic remarks. He turned and called out to the shade of a tree not far away, "Great Sage, let's get to work."
No one responded.
The monkeys were the first to stir. Several baby monkeys jumped down from the rocks, leaped onto tree branches, and looked in the same direction. The camera captured this scene; the troop of monkeys suddenly fell silent, all staring intently in the direction of the Water Curtain Cave.
There were a few more comments on the screen.
"These monkeys are well-trained."
The extras are in position.
Where are the special effects? Where's the Monkey King?
Lin Chen wasn't in a hurry. He called out again, his voice louder than before: "Great Sage, it's your first day at work, don't be late!"
A golden light flashed from the depths of the Water Curtain Cave.
The number of comments started to increase slowly.
"Holy crap, what was that light just now?"
"Drone with lights"
Here we go again. I've seen this in three different live streams with special effects.
Lin Chen glanced down at his phone screen; the number of online users had already jumped to over five hundred. He suppressed a smile and looked up at the cave entrance.
Sun Wukong emerged from the waterfall.
He didn't fly out, nor did he somersault out; he walked out of the waterfall step by step, like a human. The water parted automatically as it passed over his body, and his clothes didn't get wet at all. He was wearing a red short-sleeved shirt, without a golden headband on his head or a golden cudgel in his hand. He simply walked out with his hands in his pockets and stood in front of the camera.
The live chat exploded instantly.
The actors look so alike!
The makeup is amazing! The texture of the hair is incredible.
"Wait, he really didn't get wet while walking!"
It's definitely wire work + special effects, don't be fooled.
Lin Chen reached out and patted Sun Wukong on the shoulder, then said to the camera, "Let me introduce you. This is our Huaguo Mountain Scenic Area's Security Director and Chief Experience Officer. You can just call him Great Sage."
Sun Wukong glanced at him sideways but didn't say anything.
The comments section became even more lively.
"Great Sage, say something quickly to prove you're not an AI!"
"This actor is so aloof, hahaha."
He has hair on his shoulders; is it a real wig?
"I feel like there's something off about his eyes..."
Lin Chen zoomed in on his phone camera, pointing it at Sun Wukong's face. "Great Sage, would you like to say hello to the audience?"
Sun Wukong stared at the camera for two seconds.
His eyes were golden in the sunlight. Not the plastic gold of colored contact lenses, but a deep, luminous gold, like solidified flowing lava. When he stared at the camera, the live chat suddenly fell silent for half a second, and everyone felt a strange sense of oppression in that instant.
Then he laughed.
"I'm Lao Sun," he said, his voice low and slightly hoarse, "starting work today."
The live chat exploded with excitement.
That sound!!!
"Is this a human voice that can produce???"
I got goosebumps all over.
"There must have been post-processing, otherwise how could it have such penetrating power?"
"How come there are suddenly over 10,000 people online?"
Lin Chen glanced at the data, satisfied, and then looked away from Sun Wukong, saying, "Great Sage, how about showing off your skills to everyone?"
Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow: "What are you showing off?"
"Whatever," Lin Chen said. "You're the Monkey King, you can't just stand there."
Sun Wukong looked down at his hands, then at the camera. He seemed to be thinking about something, then suddenly looked up, his gaze sweeping across the sky above Flower Fruit Mountain.
"Then," he said, "let everyone see my seventy-two transformations."
The live chat exploded again.
"Here it comes, the special effects!"
"Seventy-two transformations! That's what I want to see most!"
"Front row to witness a large-scale CG live performance"
I bet five cents that you can turn into a bird and fly away.
Sun Wukong ignored the comments. He stood directly in front of the camera, feet apart, and crouched slightly. The wind ruffled the hem of his robe, and the sunlight cast a long shadow. The monkeys chattered in the trees, their voices drowning out the sound of the waterfall.
Lin Chen pointed his phone camera at him and held his breath.
He knew what was going to happen next. But even so, when he saw Sun Wukong's body begin to change within that golden light, he couldn't help but gasp.
A burst of golden light erupted.
It wasn't the soft, slow-motion lighting effects you see in movies. It was real, blinding light that exposed the camera to pure white. In that instant, the phone screen went completely white, the number of online viewers jumped from 20,000 to 50,000, and the barrage of comments was full of "????".
The light disappeared.
On the open ground in front of the Water Curtain Cave, a huge eagle stood there.
It's too big.
Its wingspan is at least ten meters, and its feathers are pure black, shimmering with a metallic sheen in the sunlight. Its claws are deeply embedded in the rock, carving several cracks. When it turns its head to look at the camera, one eye fills the entire frame—a vertical pupil, golden, and cold.
The barrage of comments exploded.
"Holy shit!!!! Holy shit holy shit holy shit!"
This is not special effects!! Absolutely not!!!
Did that claw crush the stone?
"I see a crack! There really is a crack in the rock!"
"Is there anyone knowledgeable who can say something?!"
The giant eagle spread its wings and flapped them twice.
Gale.
The wind whipped up from under the wings, causing the waterfall in the Water Curtain Cave to veer off course, and making the monkeys in the trees cling tightly to the trunks. Lin Chen almost lost his footing, only managing to steady his phone by holding onto the tripod. The wind carried a fishy smell, the distinctive, instinctively terrifying odor of a mountain eagle.
The giant eagle flapped its wings and took flight.
It didn't circle or show off; instead, it soared directly into the sky, circling once atop Flower and Fruit Mountain. The camera followed it, capturing a scene—the eagle's shadow swept across the mountain ridge, larger than the entire mountain itself.
Online users: 110,000.
The screen was completely flooded with comments.
Whoever just said it was CG, come out and get a beating!
If this had special effects, I'd eat my phone on live stream.
I believed it, I believed it, I believed it!
Great Sage!! I'm your fan!! My grandpa is your fan too!!!
The giant eagle circled twice in the air before swooping down.
Its speed was astonishing, like a black lightning bolt crashing into the ground. Lin Chen subconsciously took a step back, but the eagle suddenly slowed down when it was less than two meters from the ground, and the swirling air blew the fallen leaves all over the ground.
A flash of golden light.
Sun Wukong had landed on the ground and stood up straight. He dusted off his clothes, casually straightened his collar, and gave the camera a half-smile.
"good?"
The comments section went crazy.
"That's amazing! That's incredible!"
"Mom, I saw the real Monkey King!"
"Great Sage, I love you so much! Ahhhhhh!"
Who is this streamer? How did they actually manage to bring out the Monkey King?
Lin Chen didn't speak. He looked down at his phone screen, the smile on his lips growing wider.
Online users: 230,000.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he cleared his throat and said to the camera, "Welcome to Huaguo Mountain Scenic Area. The trial operation reservation channel will be online soon. The first 1,000 people who make a reservation today will receive a signed photo of the Monkey King."
Sun Wukong turned to look at him: "When did I, Old Sun, say I wanted an autograph?"
"We're talking about this now," Lin Chen said. "Overtime pay is separate."
Sun Wukong opened his mouth, hesitated for two seconds, but ultimately didn't refute. He raised an eyebrow at the camera: "Alright then. Anyone who wants an autograph, bring your own paper."
The barrage of comments grows in a catapult-like fashion.
"Me! Me! Me! Me! I brought a whole box of paper!"
"Where is the reservation link? I want to make a reservation!"
"Host, just name your price, any price for tickets is fine."
"Boss Lin, you are my only father."
Lin Chen took his phone off the tripod and gestured to Sun Wukong, indicating that he should come over and look at the screen together. Sun Wukong leaned closer, his golden eyes fixed on the scrolling comments on the screen.
"This CEO Wang is spamming rockets," Lin Chen said, pointing to the comments. "He's asking if you can do a somersault."
Sun Wukong frowned: "Is he making a fool of me?"
"You were born a monkey."
"I, Old Sun, am..."
"I know who the Monkey King is," Lin Chen interrupted him, smiling, "but the audience doesn't know, so you have to show them."
Sun Wukong paused for two seconds, then glanced at the ID that had sent the rocket: "Boss Wang."
"Um."
"Don't let him make an appointment tomorrow."
Lin Chen almost burst out laughing. He held his phone up to Sun Wukong's face and said, "The Great Sage said that President Wang can't make an appointment tomorrow."
The live chat instantly erupted in laughter. Boss Wang sent ten rockets, and the comments were all saying "Boss Wang is crying" and "Boss Wang is dead."
The number of viewers in the live stream exceeded 300,000.
Lin Chen glanced at the data, then at the time. He had been livestreaming for almost twenty minutes; it was time to wrap it up. He cleared his throat and said to the camera, "That's it for today's first livestream. Tomorrow at the same time, I'll take you on a tour of the back of Flower Fruit Mountain. Please follow me if you'd like to see it."
He paused, then added, "Remember, the security director of the Flower and Fruit Mountain Scenic Area is named Sun Wukong. He's not some special effects actor."
He turned to Sun Wukong: "Great Sage, would you like to say a few words to them?"
Sun Wukong was clearly not used to speaking into a screen. He frowned and thought for a long time before finally uttering a sentence that caused the comments section to explode again:
"I'll take you guys for a spin sometime."
The comments section went crazy:
"Fly around once!!!! A somersault cloud???"
"This is incredible!"
"I'll definitely come tomorrow night!!!"
"Host, you're famous now, do you even know that?"
Lin Chen turned off the live stream.
He stared at the words "Live stream duration 22 minutes, peak online viewership 378 million" displayed on the screen and let out a long breath.
Sun Wukong, standing nearby, said, "That's it?"
"It's over."
When will your "reservation channel" go live?
Lin Chen looked up at him and smiled: "I'll do it when we get back."
He stood up, dusted himself off, and looked at the waterfall in front of the Water Curtain Cave and the row of monkeys squatting not far away. Suddenly, something occurred to him...
The day after tomorrow is Sunday, the trial opening day. If the reservation channel is fully booked as soon as it opens today, how crowded will Huaguoshan be the day after tomorrow?
He patted the power bank in his pocket, then glanced at the constant stream of message notifications popping up on his phone screen: "Boss Lin, where's the booking link?" "Mr. Lin, I'm from XX Travel platform, is there a collaboration?" "Master! Please accept my bow!"
Sun Wukong squatted down beside him and watched him busy himself, then whispered, "You do your thing, I'll go feed the monkeys."
Lin Chen didn't even look up: "Salary will be paid next month."
Sun Wukong paused, "...Another wait?"
"The first month will be deducted from the budget by one month."
"...Fine. Anyway, I, Old Sun, have been starving for five hundred years."
He walked towards the monkey troop, and Lin Chen's voice came from behind him: "Great Sage."
"Um?"
"Well done."
Sun Wukong didn't turn around. But Lin Chen saw that the corner of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's mouth curved into a very clear arc under the sunlight.