To be honest, hype isn't something to be ashamed of — it's also a form of self-promotion. Online hype is a low-cost, extremely high-efficiency form of publicity. In my previous life on Earth, some celebrities, authors, or people with even a bit of fame would hype themselves wildly online to increase their own exposure.
If a film or TV work was coming out, the relevant people would proactively, around the clock, hype it on forums, message boards, Weibo, etc., making sure everyone knew about it.
After all, this isn't an era where good things don't need publicity — you need to advertise a good product, stir up hype, and only then can business be booming and make massive money.
Xia Ping naturally wasn't a good person, and in his previous life he'd also seen a lot of darkness. To make something big, 50% depends on strength, and the other 50% depends on operation (promotion)!
But on Yan Huang Star, netizens seemed very innocent; they hadn't experienced the kind of crazy hype tactics seen on Earth's internet. They were honest in their forum posts and discussions.
Under such circumstances, he figured that if he just casually used some Earth hype techniques, his novel should immediately become popular and increase its fame.
Thinking of this, Xia Ping acted immediately — he started on the most famous Skyhawk Forum on Yan Huang Star and began to hype. First, he registered a sockpuppet account.
He used this sockpuppet to write an article titled:
"Teacher Bai Rong — This was the best adult novel I've read in recent years. All the other novels before this were dog shit."
This article was specially boot-licking. From plot, creativity, depth, and description, he praised this novel in every aspect — making it sound like the best thing ever. It was so over the top that even Xia Ping blushed a little from how disgusting it was.
But that was only the start. He then registered five or six more sockpuppet accounts and replied underneath.
One sockpuppet boasted:
"Huge praise! OP is right — although this novel isn't the best in the world, compared to everything out there right now there's nothing that can match it. It's a masterpiece that lifts the banner for adult novels. Among countless trash novels, this is a force of nature. I can say with certainty — it will be the most popular adult novel this year, and a rising masterwork of the generation."
Another sockpuppet blasted it aggressively:
"Fuck off — it's not even worthy of being called a novel, it's just trash. I've seen grade-school kids write better than this."
Because hype can't be all praise — otherwise people would smell something fake — he even had another sockpuppet stir up regional conflict:
"I looked — turns out this was written by some dog from Yangzhou Region. Who doesn't know that place on Yan Huang Star is a cultural desert? They've never had anything of real literary value. A novel by a Yangzhou person? Pile of trash. Honestly, don't hit me — your Yangzhou Region is just culturally backward, at least my Jizhou Region is a hundred years ahead."
Another sockpuppet jumped in full force:
"Your Jizhou dog, you think you've got celebrities? They're all supported by old fogies — the younger generation doesn't have anyone noteworthy. Jizhou's finished, only living off past glory. This novel alone beats you a hundred times over."
And then a bunch of clueless netizens who didn't know the truth chimed in to support:
"Bullshit about decline — you're trash too! I, from Qingzhou Region, stand here with what I think is a fair perspective."
And others:
"Decline my ass, fair my ass — a starving camel is bigger than a horse! My Jizhou Region still beats you trash. Qingzhou people aren't any good either — you pretend to be fair but everyone knows there are tons of scammers over there."
A person from Jizhou Region got annoyed and counter-attacked in the thread.
Because it was evening — the time with the most internet users — this controversial, fiery thread on the Skyhawk Forum blew up instantly, pulling in countless onlookers.
In just one hour, this thread had 3.6 million views and 89,000 replies — so many that it was hard to even look through them all.
People from the Nine Great Regions started insulting each other viciously, and the arguments escalated so much that some were yelling, "If it makes money, we'll send someone from another region to beat you up!" — making the entire atmosphere extremely heated and chaotic.
Even the Skyhawk Forum's moderator got alarmed and had to come out to maintain order.
Xia Ping, the instigator himself, was speechless — he didn't expect these people to be so pure and simple, to be stirred up this easily. The hype atmosphere was beyond what he imagined.
But thinking about it, these netizens had never encountered advanced marketing techniques from Earth before. When these newbies suddenly met such high-level tactics, one by one they were completely clueless — so this reaction was also understandable.
However, making him stop now was impossible — a hype topic needs numerous people to participate. This was only the beginning, far from the end.
So he went to some niche forum boards, registered more sockpuppet accounts, and then one of them rapidly opened a new thread titled:
"Gospel for the Infertile — The Adult Novel Teacher Bai Rong."
One sockpuppet offered their experience as proof:
"This novel was so attractive that even before, nothing could get me going — even Viagra couldn't help. But since reading this novel, my waist doesn't hurt and my legs aren't sore. I'm refreshed and full of energy — one breath can go up nine floors, no need to gasp for breath. Even my wife stopped hitting me and looks at me with admiration. I think this novel changed my life — it's not just a novel, it's basically a divine doctor, better than Viagra."
Another sockpuppet echoed:
"Everybody, don't disbelieve — I feel the same way. At first I didn't believe it either, but my big brother introduced me. Half skeptical, half believing, I tried it — and the effect was real. Way better than medicine."
Another pushed further:
"Right — paying money for medicine still costs money, but reading this novel doesn't cost much. Why not try it? Maybe it'll work."
And another responded:
"Seriously? It really works? I'll go try."
A group of uninformed netizens were extremely grateful.
One sockpuppet, playing humble, replied:
"No need to be so polite — I just enjoy helping others, no need to thank me too much."
And that sockpuppet immediately replied to cover the bait.