LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 87: Suffering from success
Everybody's expectations didn't disappoint.
The release of the videos, which marked a proper debut of Tristan and Nel as artists, went splendidly from the very first day. In a week after that, it only grew bigger.
In that week, Tristan and Nel's music video, together with their documentaries, and with the videos of their live performance at the contest, gathered hundreds of thousands views!
In total, the videos made for more than a million views.
It was an astounding spike, a rare breakout debut for both artists! All slander about Nel was completely forgotten in light of their success.
Already, money was dripping from the streaming services, which were broadcasting their songs.
The pair was steadily becoming viral and gaining a fanbase.
Tristan's Second Identity System notified him he had 50 thousand fans, and over 150 thousand people that were just impressed by him!
That translated into an astounding number of 10000 Criminal Points.
Now the fans liked his posts—even the casual ones that were more for Tristan's own enjoyment than for the sake of his image—sent him adoring comments and bought his merchandise.
Derek's idea about making a documentary video really was great. It didn't get as many views as the music videos, but the story from it rapidly spread across the Internet, where people could read it and feel good about the world.
When so many celebrity posts were just rage bait, stories like these, about unlikely friendships and young talents that came from humble origins (or mysterious origins, since Tristan kept quiet about his own), were like a breath for fresh air.
The merchandise of the pair was rapidly arranged by the GTG agency in the form of simplest T-shirts, mugs, badges and posters. However, they were already making contracts for more things to sell.
At the same time, several radio stations asked for the right to play 'Dragonfly' and 'Jester Jester'—both normal and cover versions. That also meant money.
Even after the agency's cut (which recouped losses on making the videos and then racked a nice profit on top), Tristan and Nel were left with several thousand dollars each, and more were constantly trickling.
"I'm not even sure what to do with all that money at once," Nel admitted to Tristan after that. "I mean, I'm gonna pay my rent, of course! My savings were running low, anyway. But after that? Maaaaaan, there are so many things I don't even know where to start!"
"Get yourself a car," Tristan suggested.
He was already making a shopping list for himself, but most of it was probably going to be invested in his criminal undertakings. With so many Criminal Points that Tristan was waiting to spend on attributes and talents he wanted the most, he had huge plans for the next month. Especially since he will have to be in Los Angeles for the CYS contest.
Nel pouted.
"I don't know how to drive… I'd rather spend all that money on taxis, then. And more clothes never hurt… A new guitar, too. There's a guitar sold that's just like the one That Guy used at his most famous concert—I will show you the link. It's the one where he was bitten by a bat!"
"You mean HE bit a bat, no?" Read exclusive adventures at m_v-l'e|m,p-y r
"Well, yes, but then the bat bit him back and he had to take a rabies shot. No one tells THAT part, but it happened!"
Tristan laughed.
"Just get yourself something nice to play your next songs on. Chase your current hype, release more songs before it disappears!"
"Yeah, yeah. Mr. Derek already told us we should hurry and release our albums. Hey, maybe we can make a song for a duet!"
"That'd be cool, although I think I won't have time until the contest ends. That's going to slow me down…" Tristan frowned.
"It will be for the better, though. That contest can be shown on the big TV channels. If you win, you REALLY will be famous! You will leave me eating dust behind you, Tris, aha-ha-ha!"
Tristan chuckled, together with Nel's open laughter.
But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.
Of course, there were some haters, because some people hated everything, and others wrote hateful messages just to provoke a reaction.
But among them, there were some concerning people. Not all of them were even haters…
It started with a commentary under Tristan and Nel's documentary.
[I dont wanna believe that they are just friends *o* *o* *o*
I ship them so hard!]
That commentary, when Tristan noticed it, already had a thread around it, which was steadily growing in size.
He had to search for the meaning of the word "ship" in this context, and then for the phenomenon of shippers, but when he did…
Tristan groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to unsee this.
He knew the Internet was a depraved place, but this much? It was just like Jane's brief suspicion, except Jane was disgusted by the idea. That person, however, together with many other like-minded people, was eager about it!
Next day, the same person released on their page a—pretty good quality-wise, admittedly—sketch of Tristan and Nel kissing in their stage costumes.
Although the art style was stylized, the similarities were unmistakable.
Nel found out about it, too, and called Tristan in almost panic.
"What do I do, Tris? I asked Mr. Derek already, but he said to just ignore these people. But I'm not gay!"
"Calm down, Nel. Really… The art is mildly gross, and I'm sure there will be even grosser art in no time, but these people are also gonna be our most die-hard fans." Tristan sighed. "No one sane believes them, anyway."
Nel didn't sound very convinced when he replied.
"I guess… Do you think they'd change their mind if I actually dated a girl?"
"Nope."
"Ah. Damn… I just—Well."
"I get it, I get it. I'd hate it if someone called me the same insult as my shitty parents."
"Yeah… You got that right. Anyway, I didn't mean to distract you from business. Bye."
And about two hours after this call, the shippers and rumors were given new fuel when the slanderous article about Nel suddenly resurfaced from the depths where it belonged.