Chương 8: Please like and subscribe (seriously, like actually though).

She touched the notification. The blue text box condensed into a tablet and fell into her hands. It was opened to an online site for webtoons, on the summary page of Slayer's Requiem. A girl with a mysterious past finds herself under the wing of a beautiful, deadly instructor. The apocalypse looms - but before then, can Rin survive Mistress Ophelia's antics, lawsuits for property damage, and… wearing the Royal Mage Academy's school uniform? Antics? Was that the vibe her character was giving off?

And what did that last bit about the school uniform mean? Ophelia pictured the Royal Mage Academy uniform in her mind. Sky blue blazers. Charcoal pants for the boys, skirts for the girls— Wait. A skirt. Ophelia tried to imagine her feral, tomboyish protagonist in a skirt, utterly failing. Her mind refused to even conjure the image. She was pretty sure the one time Rin had gone to a ball in the story, she had worn her scrappy black leather pants and utility jacket. Well…

I guess we'll tackle that issue when we get there. Onto the story! Chapter One: Fatal Teachings The opening shot was similar to the original, sans Rin looking out at the window at the fireworks of the Blood Moon Festival. Rin hung in chains on the wall, her head down, and Lady Vyx appeared around the corner. A text bubble: "Still alive, I see. Do you think you're special, surviving my training regimen longer than any of the others?" Rin raised her head.

"T-training?" The webtoon didn't show all of their dialogue, and in some places it had been tweaked slightly for clarity and sharpness. Ophelia flicked her finger, passing through panel after panel. As with the original, the story kept strictly to Rin's POV. All of her hateful, fearful, skeptical thoughts of her new "teacher". It showed Rin escaping the restaurant and getting captured while scouting her former orphanage. The Host goading her.

The sick feeling in Rin's stomach as she resolved to mercy kill little Marika and Toma in the ring. Then, Ophelia's dramatic rescue at the last second. Rin remained skeptical, but she conclusively decided to accept the apprenticeship in exchange for saving the lives of her friends. For a second, Ophelia felt odd. She was seeing the girl's inner thoughts - not all, but the gist of them - something that a private person like Rin would find objectionable. That feeling went out the window a moment later.

I'm trying to survive over here! I need all the advantages I can get! [Click here to view the comments] Unable to help herself, she hit the button. 1 Comment FurryFoxy > Lol"…" Ophelia felt the sudden urge to hurl the tablet at the wall. One comment? Just "Lol"?? She had been fighting for her life these past few hours, her emotions teetering from one extreme to another, and all she got was "Lol"? She killed fifty people for a mere "Lol"??? Calm yourself. This is the debut chapter.

Remember when you first started posting online? Ophelia tried, but she couldn't. She'd started posting videos online in middle school, and immediately became a smash hit. Before she had been cancelled, she had millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok. Every casual picture garnered countless likes. Every video, thousands of comments. She had to mute her notifications on every app, otherwise her phone would've fried from vibrating nonstop. Her eyes went to the story's stats.

Likes: 4 Comments: 1 Subscribers: 0 Four likes? Only four? A hapless grandma could get four likes on a blurry shot that had been uploaded by accident… [Remember, you get points for every comment you get, but likes and subscribers are important too! You can earn additional rewards for hitting engagement thresholds and getting on lists like Popular This Week, and Best Ongoing!] The System didn't know what it was dealing with. Ophelia had been one of the top web celebrities in the world.

When it came to getting fans and keeping their attention, no matter the cost, no one outperformed her. In this area, she was Level 1000! This was her S-Rank Natal Skill! She clicked [Like] and [Subscribe]. [You can't like, subscribe, or comment on your own story] This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She huffed.

"System, how are you marketing this story?" [No marketing yet. You can unlock marketing capabilities once the story hits three chapters!]"Are you just coming up with arbitrary requirements for fun?" she groused.

"Can we at least buy some bot accounts to help with engagement?" [No botting]" Everybody bots." [Keep telling yourself that] She began to pace. Then, an idea struck her. Fine, if she couldn't bot, then she would just astroturf. Going back to the basics. This was what she used to do anyway before she could afford the good botting sites. Besides, people appreciated a human touch that AI comments tended to lack. Ophelia logged out of her account, aptly named LadyVyx, and created a new account. xXDemonWrathXx.

She started typing in the comments section of Slayer's Requiem. xXDemonWrathXx > This story sucks. Where is Rin's cheat? I hope the author dies for coming up with such trash wasting everyone's time. xXDemonWrathXx > Wish this site had a dislike button for stories. xXDemonWrathXx > Spatial magic is so boring and unoriginal. I wish Lady Vyx had something cool, like void powers. Just as she was about to log out and create a new account, an error message bloomed across the screen.

[BUG FIX: USERS CANNOT CREATE NEW ACCOUNTS ON THE STORY SITE] Ophelia snickered.

"All caps, huh? Guess I really struck a nerve." Fine. Without marketing and astroturfing, she would have to make do purely with content. These first few chapters were the most important when it came to attracting readers. Although the story followed Rin, she could engineer the situations to be funny, bombastic, flashy. She wasn't an expert on storytelling, but she had already gotten rid of the tedious Pit Fighting Arc.

Ophelia knew which story arcs and characters had been major hits in the story, and which ones flopped. If she could at least avoid the duds, they should make for an improved story, right?

"Hey, System?" she asked.

"Can I take a look at the Points Shop? I would be encouraged to work harder if I knew what kinds of rewards I could get for training Rin and making this story popular."

[Points Shop] Meta Tablet - 50pts Camera - 100pts Videocorder - 200pts Story Manipulation Director's Cut Pass (Edit chapter before its posted) - 300pts Minor Character Loyalty Token (Single Use) - 500pts Interlude Pass (Choose another POV character for the chapter) - 1, 000pts Major Character Loyalty Token - 5, 000pts Defensive Items Phial of Everlasting Waters - 200pts Sympathy Arc Pass (Single Use. Reveal your tragic backstory, saving your life) - 1, 000pts Plot Armor (Single Use) - 3, 000pts Power Building Free Skill Slot - 500pts Skillbook (Any S-Rank Skill, Random) - 5, 000pts Level Boost (+100) - 10, 000pts Apprenticeship Items Inheritance Tax (every time you or Rin breaks through to the next rank, a portion will echo to the other) - 500pts Reflective Comprehension (Whenever Rin consumes a skill, gain insight into your own skills) - 500pts Fanbase Aura Modifier (The growth of Rin's fanbase increases the ease of her level-ups) - 500pts [Rewards are subject to change. Some items are hidden until certain qualifications are met] Ophelia's blood was boiling in excitement. Is this the opportunity I think it is…? Level 1000 was the absolute cap on levels unless you killed a divine - which was impossible unless you hit the jackpot on luck, or were the main character of the story. Even then, killing one divine only gave you 100 levels. With this shop, could she level up without needing to do that?

"Not bad," she praised. The only issue? She would first need to climb out of her -9800 hole before she could think about buying anything. /// The next morning, Ophelia blinked awake sandwiched between two children. Damn it. This bed is absolutely massive, but they still somehow gravitated towards me. She slowly extricated herself but Marika and Toma, who were sensitive to the slightest change in their environment, opened their eyes. The three of them stared at each other.

Then, Marika and Toma shot backwards, apologizing profusely. Ophelia struggled not to roll her eyes. Instead she clapped her hands with excitement.

"It's fine. Anyway, let's get going! It's time to buy our new house!" [OOC] Shut up! As if Lady Vyx would ever keep children anywhere except her basement. Marika and Toma shared a hopeful look.

"You…" said Marika.

"You're going to let us stay with you?" Ophelia struggled to word her feelings correctly. Did she want to take care of them? No, not really. But there was nowhere for them to go. And, as a potential positive, maybe she could redeem her image in Rin's eyes if she was seen being nice to them. It was too bad Marika and Toma were too young for the Royal Mage Academy. But she could pay for a babysitter now. Instead of speaking, Ophelia just nodded with a small smile.

Marika launched into her arms, coils of blonde hair falling over her. Toma didn't react so strongly, but his shoulders relaxed a fraction, like he was taking his first deep breath in a long time. Ophelia patted Marika on the back a few times before leaving the bed. She threw open her enormous closet and quickly selected a thin, billowing black dress that seemed to gleam purple and green like a crow's feather. She also chose a wide-brimmed, lacy black hat, setting it askew on her head.

She examined herself in the mirror. Lady Vyx was one of the few characters that had been drawn purely as fanservice. She had long, luscious black hair that fell to her tailbone, and eyes of pure gold. Her face was extremely pretty with sharp and delicate features, and a mouth that could smirk icily without any effort. Her chest was full - just shy of being distractingly obscene - her waist narrow, and her hips supple, with long legs.

She looked more like a succubus than any of the actual demons that showed up later. If there was one thing Ophelia didn't mind about Lady Vyx, it was her looks. As she gathered Rin, Marika, and Toma together so they could warp into the city, she tried to keep a positive attitude as Rin's flat ruby eyes stared a hole through her.